THE WELLINGTON FIRE.
[Wellington correspondent of Lyttelton Times.]
Wellington, March 1.
The great fire has been the main topic of conversation here since its occurrence, or rather fire and water has, for we are suffering on account of both. With an efficient supply of water we should not have suffered so greatly by the fire, but just when the former was most needed, the main supply, which comes from Wainui-o-mata, was cut off, and there was no means of communicating with the man in charge of the reservoir. The pressure from the old service at Karori was quite inadequate for emergency, and the fire on Sunday may be said to have really burnt itself out.
The loss from the conflagration will be severely felt by the mercantile men whose properties were destroyed, for some of them were hard pressed by the commercial depression so keenly felt here for some time past. The insurance companies, too, have been hard hit, and some of them will not recover the blow they have received for a long time.
The City Council must bear a large share of blame for the devastation caused by the fire, for had they insisted upon the building regulations being adhered to, it must have been almost impossible for the flames to have spread beyond the building in which they originated and another wooden structure adjoining.
Some few months ago Laery and Campbell, auctioneers, wished to enlarge their premises, and ran up three extra wooden storeys on top of an old ramshackle building, and lined them with tar paper, without any objection being raised by the City authorities. Had the premises been constructed in brick, as they should have been, the fire could not have spread as it did.
The city authorities are also responsible for the deficient water supply. When the works were constructed four years ago at a cost of nearly £150,000, it was understood that the supply would be adequate for the requirements of the next two generations, but latterly there has been a startling diminution, till at length the citizens on the higher levels were left without any water during the greater part of the day. Surprise was expressed at the condition of affairs, but when the facts came to be known the astonishment ceased.
I have just returned from an inspection of the works, and during my visit to the reservoir I found a most disgraceful state of things existing. The stream is of ample volume to adequately supply all the needs of the city as over three and a half millions of gallons of water per day are registered at the Avoir above the reservoir, but one million gallons are allowed to run to waste, and have for months past been allowed to do so, through the faulty construction of the sluice valve, while the concrete race leading to the receiving basin is cracked and broken in all directions.
The water pouring out from the numerous leaks, varying from a few feet to twenty feet in length, and from half an inch to three inches in width. One crack emitted a million gallons a day, so that between these cracks and the defective sluice valve about two-thirds of the water which should reach town is wasted.
The concrete race, which is a mile and a quarter long, is constructed of such bad material that the inner face has all worn off, and the outer face can be scraped off as if comprised of a conglomerate of sand and large stones. The whole work has been shamefully done, and will all have to be renewed at great cost. In the meantime the city runs a risk of a serious water famine, and is in danger of destruction from fires.
