﻿Wellington 
  PJdlosopJdcal 
  Society. 
  533 
  

  

  Seventh 
  Meeting. 
  30th 
  November, 
  1879. 
  

   J. 
  Carruthers, 
  M. 
  Inst. 
  C.E., 
  Vice-president, 
  in 
  the 
  chair. 
  

  

  1. 
  " 
  On 
  the 
  Cleansing 
  of 
  Towns," 
  by 
  J. 
  TurnbuU 
  Tliomson, 
  C.E., 
  

   F.E.G.S., 
  F.E.S.S.A., 
  Surveyor-General 
  of 
  New 
  Zealand, 
  f 
  Transactions, 
  

   p. 
  38.) 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Field 
  thought 
  that 
  credit 
  was 
  due 
  to 
  Mr. 
  Thomson 
  for 
  bringing 
  before 
  the 
  New 
  

   Zealand 
  public 
  in 
  a 
  concise 
  and 
  handy 
  form 
  the 
  opinions 
  of 
  Sir 
  John 
  Bazalgette 
  and 
  

   other 
  eminent 
  English 
  engineers. 
  He 
  regretted, 
  however, 
  that 
  the 
  Surveyor-General 
  had 
  

   not 
  made 
  any 
  allusion 
  to 
  the 
  sewage 
  farm 
  and 
  irrigation 
  works 
  of 
  Bedford, 
  a 
  town 
  

   which 
  in 
  point 
  of 
  size 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  in 
  many 
  other 
  particulars 
  closely 
  resembled 
  the 
  

   City 
  of 
  Wellington. 
  As 
  was 
  well 
  known, 
  Mr.' 
  Climie 
  had, 
  in 
  his 
  report, 
  recommended 
  

   that 
  the 
  sewage 
  of 
  the 
  whole 
  city 
  should 
  be 
  discharged 
  on 
  the 
  low 
  land 
  at 
  the 
  south-west 
  

   corner 
  of 
  Evans 
  Bay. 
  Mr. 
  Clark 
  also 
  had, 
  in 
  general 
  terms, 
  agreed 
  in 
  this 
  opinion. 
  But 
  

   various 
  objections 
  were 
  raised, 
  and 
  hitherto 
  nothing 
  had 
  been 
  done. 
  He 
  remembered, 
  

   when 
  he 
  was 
  last 
  in 
  Bedford, 
  in 
  the 
  autumn 
  of 
  1876, 
  carefully 
  going 
  over 
  the 
  sewage 
  

   farm, 
  and 
  being 
  much 
  pleased 
  with 
  the 
  excellent 
  system 
  of 
  drainage 
  in 
  that 
  town. 
  

   Previous 
  to 
  the 
  year 
  1868 
  the 
  beautiful 
  river 
  Ouse 
  had 
  been 
  poisoned 
  by 
  imperfect 
  drains 
  ; 
  

   but 
  for 
  the 
  last 
  eight 
  or 
  nine 
  years 
  a 
  complete 
  system 
  of 
  water, 
  sewerage, 
  and 
  irrigation 
  

   works 
  had 
  been 
  in 
  existence, 
  with 
  highly 
  satisfactory 
  results. 
  Through 
  the 
  centre 
  of 
  the 
  

   town 
  ran 
  one 
  main 
  sewer, 
  receiving 
  in 
  its 
  course 
  the 
  discharge 
  of 
  the 
  lateral 
  drains, 
  and 
  

   emptying 
  the 
  whole 
  into 
  a 
  tank 
  17 
  feet 
  deep, 
  from 
  which 
  it 
  was 
  pumped 
  up 
  and 
  chsti-ibuted 
  

   by 
  pipes 
  over 
  the 
  irrigation 
  farm. 
  This 
  farm 
  of 
  180 
  acres 
  was 
  rented 
  by 
  the 
  Corporation 
  

   at 
  the 
  high 
  rate 
  of 
  £1,000 
  (about) 
  per 
  annum, 
  but 
  this 
  charge 
  was 
  more 
  than 
  repaid 
  by 
  

   the 
  produce, 
  which, 
  on 
  the 
  lowest 
  average, 
  would 
  sell 
  at 
  more 
  than 
  £1,500, 
  in 
  addition 
  

   to 
  which 
  some 
  grass 
  land 
  was 
  sublet 
  for 
  £200, 
  thus 
  bringing 
  the 
  total 
  annual 
  receipts 
  to 
  

   £1,700 
  odd. 
  Italian 
  rye 
  grass 
  and 
  roots 
  of 
  various 
  descriptions 
  formed 
  the 
  principal 
  

   crops, 
  and 
  grew 
  with 
  a 
  remarkable 
  luxuriance. 
  As 
  to 
  what 
  had 
  been 
  said 
  with 
  regard 
  to 
  

   the 
  stench 
  arising 
  from 
  sewage 
  farms, 
  he 
  could 
  from 
  personal 
  observation 
  assert 
  that 
  Mr. 
  

   Thomson 
  was 
  entirely 
  mistaken, 
  and 
  that, 
  except 
  in 
  very 
  rare 
  instances, 
  no 
  offensive 
  

   odom- 
  could 
  at 
  any 
  time 
  be 
  detected. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  O'Neill 
  considered 
  the 
  paper 
  a 
  very 
  valuable 
  one, 
  but 
  hoped 
  there 
  would 
  be 
  an 
  

   opportunity 
  afforded 
  of 
  renewing 
  the 
  discussion 
  ; 
  the 
  subject 
  was 
  a 
  very 
  wide 
  one, 
  and 
  

   he 
  was 
  not 
  prepared 
  to 
  enter 
  upon 
  it 
  on 
  the 
  present 
  occasion. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Newman 
  said 
  that 
  very 
  little 
  real 
  progress 
  had 
  been 
  made 
  in 
  the 
  last 
  ten 
  years 
  

   in 
  our 
  sanitary 
  knoAvledge. 
  A 
  great 
  deal 
  was 
  talked 
  and 
  written 
  about 
  the 
  subject, 
  but 
  

   no 
  fresh 
  light 
  had 
  been 
  thrown 
  on 
  the 
  matter 
  for 
  some 
  years 
  past. 
  He 
  thought 
  the 
  

   subject 
  was 
  talked 
  threadbare. 
  All 
  our 
  experience 
  had 
  taught 
  us 
  was 
  that 
  there 
  were 
  

   only 
  two 
  systems 
  — 
  the 
  wet 
  and 
  the 
  dry. 
  In 
  the 
  Sahara 
  and 
  similar 
  districts 
  the 
  wet 
  

   system 
  was 
  impossible, 
  but 
  where, 
  as 
  in 
  "Wellington, 
  there 
  was 
  abundance 
  of 
  water 
  and 
  

   good 
  outlet, 
  there 
  was 
  no 
  question 
  but 
  that 
  the 
  only 
  way 
  was 
  to 
  cast 
  it 
  into 
  the 
  sea. 
  A 
  

   sewage 
  farm 
  had 
  never 
  j^et 
  been 
  made 
  to 
  pay. 
  It 
  was 
  a 
  great 
  error 
  to 
  suppose 
  that 
  

   sewage 
  was 
  very 
  profitable; 
  it 
  was 
  really 
  almost 
  valueless, 
  and 
  the 
  products 
  of 
  precipi- 
  

   tation 
  not 
  worth 
  the 
  cost 
  of 
  carting. 
  Food, 
  such 
  as 
  bread 
  and 
  meat, 
  etc., 
  if 
  buried, 
  might 
  

   aid 
  the 
  growth 
  of 
  strawberries 
  and 
  melons, 
  but 
  if 
  eaten 
  and 
  passed 
  through 
  that 
  

   laboratory, 
  the 
  human 
  stomach, 
  it 
  became 
  disintegrated, 
  chemically 
  changed, 
  and 
  the 
  

   sewage 
  was 
  almost 
  worthless. 
  One 
  modern 
  improvement 
  was 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  cement 
  pipes 
  

   instead 
  of 
  earthenware 
  pipes. 
  

  

  