for the year 1886. xxi 



There is one question of the gravest importance which 

 has not yet been dealt with, and that is the sewerage of the 

 city. With the rapid increase of the population and exten - 

 sion of manufactures, the quantity of foul fluid produced 

 is ever augmenting. At present this finds its way from 

 each part of the city and suburbs by the shortest course 

 into the Yarra or its tributaries. The summer flow of the 

 river is insufficient to dilute it, and render it inoffensive ; 

 the tidal scour is too feeble to render any real assistance, 

 and so the Yarra is daily becoming a greater nuisance and a 

 graver menace to public health. The valley of the Moonee 

 Ponds Creek is even worse, owing^ to the almost total cessa- 

 tion of that stream during a large part of the year. What 

 we urgently need, and must have, no matter what the cost, 

 is a complete system of intercepting sewers to carry all foul 

 water away, independently of the Yarra and its tributaries, 

 which would thus be restored to their original purity. 

 Adelaide has its system of sewers, which are pronounced a 

 complete success ; the work is well advanced in Sydney ; 

 while Melbourne alone, though the largest, and claiming to 

 be the most enterprising, of the Australian capitals, has yet 

 to take the first step in this vitally important matter. 



The new aqueduct whereby the water of the Watts River 

 will be brought into Melbourne has been commenced, and 

 in connection therewith wrought-iron pipes are being used 

 instead of cast-iron — an innovation of American origin, and 

 calculated to effect a large reduction in the cost of the work. 

 This aqueduct will bring in an enormous supply of excellent 

 water ; but as it will cut off one of the most important 

 tributaries of the Yarra, and so reduce the amount of water 

 available for flushing the filth of Melbourne away, its 

 inception is a strong additional reason why the construction 

 of the intercepting sewers should be no longer delayed. 



The completion of the railway from Melbourne to Ade- 

 laide marks a new era in intercolonial communication ; and 

 as the northern system of New South Wales will very 

 shortly connect with the Queensland lines, a continuous 



