THE GLOBE. THURSDAY, JULY 3, 1879.

Globe, Volume XXI, Issue 1675, 3 July 1879, Page 2

THE GLOBE. THURSDAY, JULY 3, 1879.

Once again Las tLo attention of tLo City Council been called to the manner in which the labors of the Fire Brigade are hampered by the shortness of water that exists for fire prevention purposes. In his quarterly report, presented at the last meeting of the Council, Mr. Superintendent Harris points out that at the fire at Messrs. Edwards and Bennett’s bonded warehouse, the Brigade had to contend not only against its natural enemy, but also against the feebleness of the water supply. It is now nearly two years since this matter of water supply was remitted to the City Council, and, so far as any practical stops towards the attainment of the object are concerned, they are as far off from arriving at the solution of the question as over. It would bo, wore it not so serious a matter, highly ludicrous to contemplate the outcome of so lengthened an incubation. When we remember the elaborate reports presented by that sapient body, the Water Supply Committee, the grave discussions, the valuable time which has been frittered away, it is indeed wonderful that any member should be able to express an opinion that ho is unable to say what has boon done, or is likely to bo done. Tnere can bo but one conclusion arrived at, and that is the one which, more than once, has boon urged by us in these columns. It is that the committee are incapable of dealing with the subject, and that the matter should bo taken out of the hands of those who have shown, so unmistakably, that they have failed to comprehend the bearings of the question. That they have had ample opportunity to develop their plans no one will deny, but we challenge any member of the committee to prove that anything has been done towards imjxroving our supply of water for fire-pre-vention purposes beyond the depositing of a cylinder on the banks of the Waimakariri. In the meantime, as proved by the experiences of many fires, the present water supply is totally inadequate for the purpose of preventing the spread of conflagration. The city is, more or loss, at the mercy of any careless or

evil-disposed person. The tanks now used are liable to be exhausted after two or three hours’ work by the Brigade, and, if such a calamity as that which recently bef el Wellington were to happen heroin any part of the city remote from the river, the Brigade would bo powerless to arrest the progress of the flames. Yet, with this knowledge forced upon them time after time, the Council and the Committee content themselves with doing nothing. It seems to us, then, that it is full time that the curtain should be forcibly drawn on this farce. It is not as if any gigantic, or more than ordinary, engineering difficulties presented themselves. The contour of the country is singularly favorable, and if once the matter were taken up energetically, what small difficulties might be found to exist, would easily bo overcome. One thing is certain, that the present muddling by the Water Supply Committee must, for the protection of the city, bo put an end to at the earliest possible moment.

At last we have before ns a definite proposition on tho part of the Gas Company as to the extension of the hours of lighting tho city. The offer is that an additional £1 Is per lamp per annum should bo charged for an extra two hours of light. As shown by one of the councillors, this means—supposing all the lamps in the city and suburbs to be kept alight for two hours longer—an expenditure of about £l6O beyond tho sum now paid to tho Gas Company. Weighing tho additional protection afforded to life and property, and the additional convenience to wayfarers with this sum, we assert that it is not in any way out of proportion. But, oven without tho expenditure of tho whole sum, a great improvement could be made. The whole of the lamps in tho city need not be kept alight for the additional time. Eighty out of tho hundred and fifty lamps might bo found sufficient as a first step, leaving the others to bo added as the city increases in wealth and population. At present we stand in tho unenviable position of being tho only city in the colony whore the lamps are extinguished at what wo may call an absurdly early hour. Although nominally the hour is ,1 a.m., practically tho work of extinction commences at about midnight, so that there are some localities which, in the depth of winter, only got seven hours of light from the public lamps. Wo feel sure that not one of tho ratepayers will accuse the Council or tho Lighting Committee of extravagance if they accept the terms of tho Gas Company. As we have pointed out, only one or two lamps out of three or four in a street might at present he left burning the extended time, so that perhaps about £BO might be found sufficient. There is another point, too, that might he taken into consideration. The present] staff of lamplighters is so small that, both in lighting and extinguishing, work has to ho commenced at a very early period. Lamps are, as Mr. Jenkins observed at the last meeting of the City Council, sometimes lit at 3.30 p.m. Surely some satisfactory arrangement might he arrived at by which the staff of lighters might he increased, and still additional economy he procured by ceasing to light the lamps hours before they are wanted and by ceasing to extinguish them long before they ought to be put out. It is to be hoped that, at tho nest meeting of the Council, tho Lighting Committee, to whom the offer of the Gas Company has been referred, will ho prepared to recommend its acceptance. If they do this, and tho Council favour their report, the latter body will at all events have done one good work during their term of office.