ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 326, 10 May 1877, Page 2

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

[Wo wish it to bo most distinctly understood that *■• are not responsible for the opinions expressed by our correspondents. I ♦ OA.MA.RU waterworks. TO THE EDITOR OK THE EVENING M.UL. Sir, —A tit of the cucwl-hrx scribcudi, owing presumably to the wot weather, induces 1110 to trouble you with this letter. By some association of ideas, owing, perhaps, to the siine ciuse, my thorns will bo the M iniclpil proj 3Ci of water supply. It miybe in'..erj jcted that the time for discussion Ins gone by—that it it is now too late. Too late ! Alas ! in so many tilings frail mortals are too late. I have often wondered that the insipient dissatisfaction of so many thinking men in our community lias never assumed any concrete form. With re.']) :ct to thn particular scheme, public opinion onght to bo evoke 1, if, indeed, it is not too late. Wo are stirred to the very depths if a drunken woman is supposed to be in the least badly used, or an unfortunate schoolmaster is said to be "abroad" ; and it is well that it should be so, but on this most vital question the. oracle is dumb. Any evidence among a eummuuity of vitality is gratifying and wholesome anything rather than stagnation. " Bettor, indeed, a live dog than a dead lion." Is it that such a ponderous project passes our comprehension that we relegate it so excl isively to our " Most reverend grave and noble seignors, My very worthy and approved good masters ?" We appear paralysed with its very vastness, and suiFer ourselves to bo beguiled into such a profound lethargy. The liresent writer d spairs of any results from this letter, as in the vision of the prophet, he sees, "The valley full of bones, and behold there are vovy in uw ; and 10, they are very dry." Can, indeed, these bones live/ Can this sleepy hollow, this Tadmor of ours, be rouse! into any healthy investig ition or any hoilthy action. Cui liniio ! Tie C mnoil lias invited public investigation in a ha!f-e miidence sort of way with pi ins, without any report thereon, and in return they got a halfhearted approval. E teh step I concede gladly has been taken with much deliberation. T.ie.y have appeared, inleed, but too much bk : in en walking on the ice—by no m ans unanimous, but all discussion unreported, an 1 all scrupl.s Ird from public gaze. T-.ere lias been nine t shifting of responsibility, an I too much stress 1 uh.l upon the ha'f-hctrted approval of half-in-formed rah.-piyurs. Without a rep »rt to guide the latter lh« public p trade of the plans .-url sections fir <o many weeks was almost a fire ■ ; as well to have submitted the plans of t ie S iez 0 mal in t'\\ Mont Ceuis Tunnel, fir t.iey would have been equally without a r.-port within the scope and c inipro.h'.'iisio.L of the rat ipayers. Only on j thing app lars clear at this m i iieut, and i, is a humiliating co.ifess.on —not i.h it lire seheine will piy—:ioi; that it is the wisest or the be:t, li *h that it is eeonorica'ly and seientilie illy a desirable investment. No, no; no such thing, Mr. El.tor. It is this, viz., (hit Ll)),0,)3 or LSJ.OO3 will be cirenlited, an I in t.ie universal scramble what prop u - i.iou mty fa'l to their lot. T.ii.s is a very bald way of putting it, an 1 i:i saving so in;uh [ tread upon a great many toe?, and perchance'a great many covin. Well, this is what I want to do, and anyone is welcome to find fault with my way of doing it. We forget, however, that we might pay too dearly for our whistle, and in the long years to come we may chafe in'vain at the heavy burden we are placing upon tho present and future generations. LGO,OOO or LBO,OOO to supply Oamaru with water! Tee sum is enormous, and how is the interest and maintenance of such a rust project to be paid—say LBOOO or LIO.OOO per annum/ Owners of property, Jiavo ye pondered over this jihase of tho question / Granted that the scheme is all its most ardent a hnin.rs think it—how is this immense burden to bo met / Half of it is to come from the o.viars of superceded steam-engines. Now, is this quite certain / Can they point to any similar scheme producing any considerable revenue from such a source? 1 do not think so, and venture to opine that in this particular, even if they obtain quantity and pressure enough (which may we'll be doubted), it would still most likely eventuate in disappointment. And the other half, gentle readers, where is that to coma from / Too present rate of Is. (J I. in tho pound amounts, I am informed, to soma L3OOO, and to produce a sum of LIOOO or LSOOO a rate of 2s. will be required ! And what quid pro quo do the ratepayers get/ How mueii does it cost the public for water at present / Not as many hundreds as must hereafter be paid in thousands. Very few, indeed, of tho ratepayers pay a single shilling in the course of the year for water, but —nilly, willy—they must pay, and throng!) the nose, too, in the new order of tilings. Readily granting tho prime importance of a water supply, the question I desire to propound, however, is this: Is this expensive scheme the only feasible or the most feasible that can be propounded / I think not. There is the Devil's Bridge proposal, which I unhesitatingly affirm would produce an abundant supply for a town ten times as, large as Oamaru at a fourth or a fifth of the outlay. Having visited this romantic looality, I write confidently. Here Nature has gratuitously presented the Oamaruites with a magnificent reservoir, large gathering grounds, and a never-failing supply—capable of being at a trifling outlay transformed into a large and beautiful lake. Ah ! but Professor Somebody analised the water and pronounced it bad. Such a mistake, somehow or other, hjjs beoomo indoctrinated into the people, but, it is, I repeat, a mistake. 1 have carefully read every report of the worthy expert, and for the third time I repeat, with no needless

it is a great mistake. He says contains lime, but nowliere does lie s; y , a t this eleuii nt is objectionable. Lime ideed is a prime condition or wholesome ater, and has ever b3en so regarded by tpir.s in England. Linn-, even in the (Hsiderable proportion in which he found would be a vast recommendation. [ow common fi.r sensible hon.-;:■'••.-!v.s to nt a eke of umlacktd lime into c.ie old aliiont-d wells of the Old Country. The me authority, moreover, pronounced it hitler than Dnncdla imter at its best." e t it be born in mind that the samples t re taken from ttu running stream, that ater, by a beneficent operation of nature, iien stored in large quantities, becomes ort > r —the sun. tne air, the frost, all jQiLine to pur; fy and refine the natural ement ; and yet this sample—doubtless, irinferior to what would be supplied if illected in a reservoir, even without irtlier filtration, which indeed is always 3 53ible on. a large scale, but which, so ,r as this scheme is concerned, would ap>ar to be superfluous—is nevertheless 'better than Dnnedin water at its best." Is it indeed too late to retrace our steps, ul ask t le able and experienced Engineer j the Council to utilise this marvellous itcral reservoir within a gunshot almost ; our good town I To construct a reirvoir of equal capacity would cost many lotisaiuls t.f pounds. W.iy not avail irsel'/es of such a gratuitous service of itttfe ' Why abandon it for an expensive, jttbtfu!, cumbrous scheme, which wi 1, it ninth to Le feared, prove a millstone mad the necks o: the ratepayers J "I >,.;ika.s unto wisj men, judge ye what I ij-."—l am, &c. Pno Bon'o Publico.