NIGHTSOIL DEPOT.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 389, 23 August 1911, Page 6

NIGHTSOIL DEPOT.

To The Editor. Sir,—Mr Walsh's letter demands a reply. My statement to the Council was*as follows: "I asked a proper and pertinent question as to the quantity of water flowing over the land, and through the courtesy of Mr Walsh got a reply; but it was not sufficiently complete. If an inch or two, then the pumice soil would absorb it; if the river overflowed then a portion of the land could be isolated by an embankment. No doubt Dr Makgil! knew his business when he recommended the site." If the ground is frequently inundated to a depth of two feet, and Maori homes are silted several inches, then Nature clearly intimates removal till such time as the added night-soil, with perhaps lime ancj ashes,shall have raised tnu land to a higher and safer level. The pumice waste might then blossom as the rose and smell as sweet. Mr Walsh's fears are groundless; because night-soil need not be offensive or objectionable. The Council will see to that. It is safe to assert that the night-soil effluvium will prove less harmful than the swamp miasma. Worse places than Te Kuiti, in Italy and elsewhere, have been raised from pestilential swamp to smiling verdure. If Dr Makgill places his wide experience at the disposal of the Council, there will be no cause for complaint; on the contrary, present and future generations will rise and call him blessed. With regard to the rest of Mr Walsh's lugubrious Jeremiad, the Council will support its expert until it sees good reason for a change. Covert reflections upon gentlemen who are not afraid to do their duty, however dis. taseful the same may be to their best friends, are certainly less beneficial than a little courteous advice. I am, 6tC " E. H. HARDY. I