South Canterbury Times, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1882.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2770, 8 February 1882, Page 2

South Canterbury Times, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1882.

There is one point in the evidence :given during the inquiry into the wreck of the ship City of Cashmere which is worth the attention of the Harbor Board, we should imagine, and of others who are interested m the future of the port. It was stated that the portion of chain lost with the anchor through the giving way of the. shackle was nearly or altogether buried in a silt so compact that the chain had to be dug out with a spade by a diver—at any rate it was stated before it was all recovered that it would have to be so dug. A lump of the silt was produced in Court, and very tough, good-holding-ground sort of silt, it appeared to be. Now the burial of the heavy cable by a material that evidently sets too close to allow of the chain sinking far into it, must have been due to an actual deposit of the

material, and it seems to ns a matter of some interest to know whether a deposition is constantly going on or not, or rather could constantly go on under certain circumstances, and if so at what rate. It may be of no practical importance to know the truth at present. The roadstead, as a roadstead, cannot silt up, because it has’clearly been car red out by the sea," and the same forces that produced it will preserve it, but the action of these will be a good deal modified, it is to be hoped, and is believed, when the Breakwater is finished, and more or less, increasingly more, before then. When the Breakwater shall have protected a good-sized area from the scouring action of the waves on the bottom, the comparative quiescence of the water within the works will give an opportunity for the settlement of tne mud with which the waters of the bay are manifestly highly charged during high seas. Is it possible that in a few years dredges will be required to be kept constantly at work to keep the port open ? This is a question for engineers and time, particularly the latter, to settle, and there is no hurry for its settlement. Should, however, the considerable deposition upon the City of Cashmere’s cable indicate the rate at which a general deposition will take place in the sheltered area, a very few years will make a noticeable difference in the depth of water. This is a mere speculation, but it seems worth drawing attention to, and it has a substantial fact for its basis.

A word of caution to those who have the-“ water laid on” will not be unseasonable as that word has not yet been given. The house service pipes in dse here are of galvanized iron, that is, of iron made hot and dipped in melted zinc. Some waters, many waters, slowly dissolve off the zinc in the form ,pf hydrated oxide, which in considerable quantities is poisonous. When the quantity contained is large, the water has a milky appearance. The caution to be given is to empty the service pipes by taking the water for other purposes, or allowing it to run waste, before drawing for drinking or culinary purposes, and particular care should be taken to do this if the water after standing for some time in the pipes assumes a milky appearance. The metals applicable to this purpose of small water pipes are limited, in number—only lead and galvanized iron having been mentioned by the Waterworks Engineers in connection with house service pipes. Of the two, so far as our information goes, lead is the more apt to yield to the corrosive action of gases and salts soluble in water, so that the galvanized pipes being cheapest and lasting longest, on all grounds are to be preferred. The advisability of observing the effect of the Pareora water upon the pipes, however, is great, and the observation will well repay the trouble. If the water be found to have no dissolving effect upon the pipes well and good ; if otherwise the fact should be made known and the precaution of drawing off the water from the pipes should be in ail cases adopted. It is true that doctors have differed upon the question of the deterioration of water by flowing through galvanized pipes ; but while there is any chance of their opinions having varied through their having experimented with different waters, and, anyhow, while the question is undecided, it would be wise to take some trouble to guard against an imaginary evil rather than to suffer from neglect of simple precautions against a real one. It would not be quite a waste of that official’s time if thepubUc analyst were to scientifically examine some of the water supplied to Timafu after it had been allowed to stand for some hours in an ordinary service pipe.