THE FERRY ROAD DRAIN.

I A public meeting convened by Mr John L 'Ollivier, as a ratepayer in the Heathcote Road f Board district, was held in the Board Room [ last night for the purpose of considering matters connected with the Ferry Road drain. t There was a good attendance, including several V members of the Road Board, and other inI :fluential residents in the district. On the motion of Mr Ness, seconded hy Mr Ollivier, Mr Wisher, Chairman of 'the Heathcote Road Board, was voted to the chair. The Chairman, on rising, said the meeting had been convened by Mr Ollivier to expedite matters, for if the Road Board had taken action they would have had .to give fourteen days' notice before a meeting could be held. - Ho read the advertisement, and then said the 'time allowed' by the Supreme Court to the City Council in which to carry out measures for diverting their drainage from the Ferry road drain had expired, and six months in addition to it. The Board had, however, arrived at the decision that if they found tho City Council were endeavouring to carry out their ■- works with despatch the Board would not be ' unreasonable in allowing them a little extra -"time. The Council had not, however, made any application for an extension of time, in fact nothing official had been heard from them, but Mr Ollivier had certain facts to lay before the meeting which had recently come to his knowledge, and after hearing them it would rest entirely with the meeting to say who' her tho Ferry road drain shall be stopped ud or not. The Board had taken no measures because they believed that the City Council were going on with the work as fast as possible ; indeed, until Mr Ollivier • communicated with them on the subject the Board had no idea but the Council intended to "- carry out the condition imposed by the 1 Supreme Court with perfect good faith. He would now call on Mr Ollivier to address the meeting. Mr John Ollivier said he had felt it his duty to adopt the somewhat unusual course of calling a meeting, because he thought it > would be infinitely better to consider the ~ present aspect of the Ferry road drain ques- . ' tion now that they were just on the eve of an election of members for the Road Board, than '? to leave it until the day of election came ""round. The more so as tho latter fell on a Saturday, when doubtless many ratepayers would bo prevented, by business, from attending. (Hear, hear.) ile need not say much as to what a continued nuisance the drain was, destroying everything in the shape of comfort, -and preventing everything in the shape of improvements from being effected, on what ■ ougUk, if the nuisance were done away with, P to be one of the most enjoyable lines of road Out of Christchurch. (Cheers.) Ho would, however, ask them to think of the time thoy had suffered uuder the nuisance. It was somewhtre about five years since he had first brought the matter forward, and certainly it 4 was four years ago since himself and Mr Ken- ■' raway, who was then chairman of the Boad Board, waited upon the City Council to point out the insupportable grievance they had to complain of, and they would recollect how, I after laying the subject before the •' Council in the clearest and nio3t emphatic manner, their representations wero received in a manner which neither reflected credit on the City Council nor honour upon themselves E3 a de2Jutation from the district. (Hear, hear.) 'J hey were, in fact, simply sent back as thi y went. They were received with perfect indifference, and wero coolly told the \r Council would take time to consider the sub- " "jeefc. Finding thafc the Council did not do so, L' they took the law into their own hands and W stopped the drain up. And he would point out that this course was really essential to the interests of the district ; for if a certain time had been permitted to lapse before action was 'taken, the Council could, by the law of England, have claimed the right to the permanent use of the drain ; in fact, they would have established a prescriptive right to it. He saw that this was what the Council wore waiting for, and thus he, with a few patriotic neighbours, took upon themselves to stop the drum up. [A Voice : " And ifc must be done again."] (Cheers.) This checked the Council, who then applied to the Supreme Court, and obtained an injunction to stop the Board from closing the drain. The Board appealed against this, and the result , was that the Council had not only to pay all '" costs, hut an order was made for them to abate tho nuisance in two years. This was the period ho had suggested before the action, on the ground that as Christchurch had used ;' the drain so long, tho Heathcote district should be indulgent so long as they saw the Council took proper measures to remedy the evil. When he made the suggestion, the majority of the meeting were against him, and there was a great deal of growling, which he could not say now, but that he richly deserved. He had come to think indeed that he ought to have adopted the suggestion of the meeting, | and advocated the closing of the drain for all time to come, but at the time he thought it would scarcely be fair, and so opposed i_ No doubt the Judge saw his suggestion in the paper, and took it for his guidance in making his order, which, as they would remember, was to the effect that tho City Council should be compelled to cleanse the drain, keep it free from filth, and construct an outfall drain, within two years, with the provision thafc if it was not constructed within two years no • protection would be granted, unless clear peri mission was given to the Council by tho Road ' Board for any time in excess of tho two years required to construct the drain. Now the chairman had told them that the two years, and six months in addition, had elapsed, and he would then ask the chairman if he was not _ right in saying that no application foi- an ex- ■ tensjon of time had been made. (The , chaiimau : Yes.) Well then, he aub- >., mitted that ifc looked like a repetition of old things, that in fact tho City Council persisted in saying, " We are the chief and supreme governing power for this city and the surrounding districts. We, the Mayor and

City Council of Christchurch, claim the power to do what we like, not only in the city, but also outside it." (Laughter.) In proof of this, he might say that when the question of the health of tho City of Christchurch recently arose, the Mayor said Christchurch was the healthiest town in the province, and that all fever and malaria were engendered outside its boundaries, and he would ask why was this so ? Simply because the City had the Artesian wells to cleanse their own drains, and were permitted to float their unhealthy refuse into the districts beyond. (Hear, hear and cheers.) Now, were the ratepayers of the Heathcote to continue to permit their district to be stigmatised as unhealthy, when it was caused by the stink poured into it from the City? (X0.n0.) Were they, in fact, to permit themselves to he held up to public scorn for the mere sake of being lenient to the city, whence the whole cause proceeded ? (" Certainly not.") He could not think there would be a more healthy district than the Heathcote if it were relieved of the impurities which they now received every day. The greatest possible indulgence and sympathy had been shown towards Christchurch, but ho would remind thorn there was a point beyond which human nature could not go, and they had arrived at thafc point. (Cheers.) He would not have thought so much of the matter, but that about a fortnight ago ho met a gentleman residing in Christchui-ch, and asked him how long that abominable nuisance, the Ferry road drain, was to be continued, and he said, as coolly as a cucumber, " What do you complain of F" He told him the stench from fche drain was enough to poison anyone ; that there was not a person went along the road but ought to go to Sumner to get purified from it. Ho then asked him when tho Council intended to connect their south drain with the new outfall drain, and the cool reply was, " Tho City Council do not intend to connect it until the new Heathcote and Spreydon drain is completed." Thus the Council did not intend to relieve them of the drainage until a work was done which had not even been thought of until long after the judgment of the Supremo Court had been given. And how long would this work take to complete ? The Heathcote and Spreydon Boards had spent all the money they had at disposal, and yet half tho drain was not finished. Tho drain was excellent so far a3 it went, with a fall of about 20 feet from the gas works to the river, and certainly might relieve Christchurch of all the water south of the Town belt, but it would be at the least 12 or 18 months before it could be finished. He pointed all this out to the gentleman ho referred to, and then asked him if ho thought the ratepayers of the Heathcote district would bear the intolerable nuisance now existing all that length of time, and tho reply he received was, " Oh, that's nothing lo do with us ; that's our decision in the matter." He (Mr Ollivier) replied, if that was their decision, I will immediately ask tho ratepayers what they would do. [A Voice : " Stop up Ihe Ferry road drain ; that's what we'll do" — [cheers J — and it was for this purpose that he had convened tho meeting. Personally ho was quite ready to close up the drain, and he would take his chance of the results, if even he had to go on a visit to Reston's Hotel. [Cheers, and several voices : " I'll help to fill it in."] He was very glad to hear it, and ho hoped they would. The Board were entitled to fill up the drum whenever they thought proper, and the City Council would have to bear half the cost. They had given the Council long enough to carrj' out their new drain — [A Voice: "Long enough by half"] — and another reason for the action he had taken was thafc the new city drain would not be effective in carrying off tho sewage it was required to do. He had carefully examined ifc from end to end, and was sure of what ho said. Without fear of contradiction from all the surveyors who had been employed upon it he asserted that the new drain would not carry one drop of water out of the Ferry road drain from the point they oxpectcd it to do. (Hear, hear.) Let any man of common sense look at the fall in j the FoTry road drain aiid tho position of the nr-w outfall drain, and he would sco that nofc only would water have to be taken up ahill, but up a great big hill. (Laughter) He had been all along the drain, and ho found thafc thero was from one to three inches of water — which had percolated through tho sides — in tho drain, and standing quite still with not the slightest flow in one direction or the other. That told at once that there was no outfall, and thafc it would depend entirely upon tho presßuro from the city end to tako the water away to the Estuary. Well, contrast this with the Ferry road drain, down which there was a constant and rapid flow to the river, and then consider how the water running into fche Ferry road drain was to be diverted into tho new outfall driin. That was a reason therefore why the Council declined to open up the communication between the two, and was the key to what his Christchurch friend, in' his innocence, meant when he said <( We don't intend to open up the communication until the new Heathcote and Spreydon drain is finished." As giving some reason for this, the gentleman he referred to said that water from 1300 acres of land south of Christchurch which now flows into the south city drain would be diverted by the Heathcote and Spreydon drain, but he (Sir Ollivier) denied it. The truth was, the Council wanted to see how far the Heathcote and Spreydon drain would relieve them of the South town belt drainage, and if they found it answered they would come and say — " Gentlemen, we find your drain is a little better than we thought it would he. Will you let us drain a little into it?" They would, in short, be glad I o use the drain if they could, though the}' refused originally to confer with tho two Road Boards as to the advisability of constructing it. If they obtained consent to carry a portion of their water into this drain, they hoped to I carry the rest into the now outfall drain ; but were they to wait until this point was solved ? I He said No, and again No, because they had

endured it 2£ years longer than they should have done ; because they had been reasonable and patient men looking forward to the time when they would be relieved of the nuisance, and they now learned that further imposition wasintended. (Cheers.) He urged them strongly to assert their rights, and fill up the drain to its normal state — that of an ordinary roadside watercourse. (Hear, hear.) If they did so the Council might say, "We will shut out all Heathcote and Spreydon drainage from our drain." Well, he it so, they would not be injured by it. Supposing they dammed up the water by the gasworks, tho Heathcote Road Board could immediately open communication by means of pipes from fche gasworks to the bend in the new Heathcote and Spreydon drain. The city was bound to tako all water which drained naturally towards the city, and the Heathcote district was bound to do tho same with respect to the city. Well, he would say do this, but there let all drainage end. (Cheers). He then proceeded to refer to the foxing of the new outfall drain. He said they all knew what a sly old fellow a fox was — (laughter) — and he would liko to throttle this one most effectually. (Laughter.) It was a grievous fault on the part of the Road Board to have permitted it, for so long as thafc was kept open the Ferry road drain must bo kept open. As he had said, he would like to throttle ifc, and then the city would be compelled to fake all water on the north side of fche new drain down thafc drain. (Hear, hear.) The Council ought, in common justice, to have filled in Mr Mackay's land, and, instead of putting in the fox, have carried what water tliere would then be into their drain at another point. (A Voice : They're not generous enough.) Tho truth was, they knew that I foxing the drain would render it imperative for tho Ferry road drain to bj kept open. And how did they know thafc fche drain had not been foxed elsewhere, or thafc there was not a' grating in the bottom of it to let the water into the Heathcote district ? They could [not tell, and ho had not faith enough in the Council to trust them — (Cheers) — because the district had been most shamefully treated from first to last by the Council. (Cheers). Thoy wanted, in fact, to trample on tho district. He would not detain them long, bufc fervently hoped their meeting that night would not result in mere words, but in a determination to assert their rights. (Cheers.) He hoped they would show the City Council that they had waited patiently, but that matters were now beyond all tolerance, And that they would now have all finally settled. (Hear, hear and cheers.) He would move — "That this meeting is of opinion that the Heathcote Road Board should at once insist upon all communication with the Ferry Road drain from the city of Christchurch being immediately closed, and that the city of Christchurch should be called upon in accordance wifch the terms of tlie award of his Honor Mr Justice Gresson to defray one half the cost of any reasonable expense that may be therefore incirred." It was not for them to ask what tho city would do in tho future, or how tlie Heathcote and Spreydon drain would affect it, but to demand tho immediate closing up the drain down which so much dirty stinking filth flowed ; that they might put a knife into ifc and it would almost, stand upright. (Cheers). Mr Ballinger seconded the motion. He remarked that' when the matter was last brought vp f they had a gentleman to deal with as Mayor ot the city, but now they had an insolent man who wanted to dictate everything to them. The Chairman said, with respect to the foxing of the new drain, ho would like to read the resolution pa.sed by the Board on the subject. It was as follows : — " That it should havo a screen ou the north side, and constant attention should be paid to keep the under culvert clear, particularly in a time of heavy rainfall, and in addition to this, to have tho use of the land drain for the same." It would thus ho seen that the Board intended that the Ciiy Council should only have the use of tho i fox under the drain during a heavy flood. I Hitherto the Board believed that the Council had beei. acting honourably towards thera, ' bufc if whafc had been told them that evening were true — and ho must say he would like to have official information on the point. — .ben ifc was evident the Council were trying to get to windward of them, ay.d it was therefore necessary to take decisive measures. (Hear, hear.) Ho must say the Board had had many a little troubles with'the Council connected with roads in tho vicinity of tho new drain, which tho Council ought to have done quietly, but which they did not undertake until they were in v manner forced to do so. Mr Ollivier said there was one other point ho would like to refer to beforo the resolution was put. His attention was first drawn to the intentions of the City Council by the removal of the sluice-gate from Andrews' brewery to near fche city boundary at the plantations, and on looking about he saw a pipe drain within Bix feet of the east side of it. Now from this he saw that the Council had put the flood-gate in this position, so that when there was an over pressure of water on their own drain, they could open the gate and let some of it into tho Ferry road drain, thus showing that they contemplated a permanent use of the latter. [A Voice : "That is another fox."] Certainly it was. Mr Pope asked what was to become of the surface drainage — which in winter flooded all the roads — near the gasworks if the drain were closed. Mr Ollivier said he had pointed out that a pipe drain could easily be made to carry it? into the new Heathcote and Spreydon drain. After some desultory di eussion about the surface water near the gasworks and from the railway, The Chairman said, in reply to Mr Pope, that the new Heathcote and Spreydon drain would ultimately be connected from the point where it now turns off with the gasworks by a two-feet drain. ' Mr Pope said if the gasworks drainage could be attended to as said by Mr Ollivier,

he would 'vote for filling in the Ferry road 1 drain afc once. In reply to Mr Ollivier, Mr Gadd,. con tractor for- the Heathcote and Spreydon drain, said he did not think that 1300' acres- of land south. of Christchurch were now drained into the south drain which leads into the Ferry road drain. If the Road Boards could get a further sum of £1000 to £2000; the former drain could be completed from the railway station, where the present contract terminates, to Montreal street, in less than twelve months. Mr Pavitt, C.E., in reply to Mr Ollivier, said a pipe drain to carry the water from the vicinity of the gasworks to tho point where the Heathcote aud Spreydon drain turn 3 off into third street, could be made in three days. Mr Ollivier said he was told the words " expense thereby incurred " in the resolution required some explanation. Its meaning was, that whatever the Heathcote Roact Board decided should bo done wifch respect to filling up the drain, either entirely, or bo as to bring it back to its normal state of a roadside watercourse, or any other work, the City. Council would have to bear half ths cost. By the resolution, all raattei. of detail would of course be left to the Road Board to arrange. After some further discussion of an unimportant nature, the resolution was put, and unanimously agreed to. Mr Ollivier expressed the great pleasure he experienced in seeing tho unanimity which had prevailed, and thanked those present for it. Ho desired to take that opportunity of expressing deep regret that their chairman, who had worked so zealously on the Road Board during the last ten years, had decided not to offer himself for re-election. (Hear, hear, and a voice: "We can't spare him.") They could not indeed spare him. The district owed a deep debt of gratitude to him for the manner in which he had worked, to promote its interests. (Cheers.) They could not afford to lose good men, until they were used up absolutely and entirely. (Hear, hear.) And he really thought it ungrateful of Mr Fisher to think of retiring to enjoy his pipe and comforts at homo, while that abominable nuisance, the Ferry road drain, continued to exist. (Laughter and cheers.) He hoped Mr Fisher would reconsider his determination, and that the other members would do the same. (Cheers.) He now begged to move a vote of thanks to the chairman for presiding that evening. Mr Fisher, on rising to acknowledge the vote, said ho had served on the Board for ten years* and he looked upon it thafc he was keeping a good man out. He had received promotion from the district — which always rewarded those who served it well — and he thought it was time now to give way, in order that some one might go through the apprenticeship, as it were, on tho Board with a view to tho same promotion that he had roceived. Ho had endeavoured to do his duty, and he might say that all the time he had been on the Board ho had never known any of his colleagues to get a road made to their own door as ifc wero. (Hear, hear.) Ho hoped tho Board would continue to be characterised by this spirit, and had only again to thank the meeting for the vote of thanks accorded to him. A vote of thanks to Mr Ollivier for tho action he had taken in convening tho meeting was proposed by Mr J. E. March and agreed to, after which the proceedings terminated.