ceptable to Sir J. P. Grant, who considered that such a concession would place it beyond the power of the inhabitants of Kingston to obtain gas on what he thought reasonable, or anything approaching reasonable, terms. The same answer was returned to Mr. T. L. Harvey who applied in 1871 for a similar concession; the Governor remarking that if gas was to be provided he would recommend that the provision be made for establishing Government gas works, thereby avoiding all the very serious objections to long monopolies to private parties. On Sir J. P. Grant referring the proposal to establish Government gas works to the Kingston Municipal Board he was met by the very curious objection that the lighting up of the streets would be attended with considerable disadvantage, unless accompanied by a more efficient Police Force, in consequence of the fact that the "unscientific and ignorant depredating class of the community have great fear of darkness, and generally take advantage of the light of the moon for their operations." In other respects the proposal was hailed with satisfaction. The objection, somewhat surprised the Governor, who thereupon called on the Police Authorities for their opinion. Major Prenderville (the Inspector General) showed that of the 74 burglaries and larcenies committed between January 1870 and September 1871, inclusive, only eighteen were committed on dark and partly moonlight nights, which were two hundred and fifty-four in number. The unanimous opinion of the Officers of Police was that street lighting would be a help to the Constabulary and a difficulty in the way of the thief, an opinion which Major Prenderville endorsed and sustained by the writings of Saint John, who said in his Gospel eighteen hundred years ago that "Every one that doeth evil hateth the light and cometh not to the light, that his works may not be reproved." Sir J. P. Grant, fortified by these opinions, caused a bill to be passed through the Legislative Council during the Session of 1872, appointing as Gas Commissioners the persons holding for the time being the respective offices of Colonial Secretary, Director of Public Works, Auditor General, Custos of Kingston and Custos of St. Andrew, and empowering them to raise by debentures the sum of £30,000 for the purpose of erecting gas works and working the same. The works were commenced early in 1875 and completed in 1877, the town being lighted with gas for the first time on the 10th May. The works were constructed under the superintendence of Mr. John Stiven. They consist of a retort house containing six beds of retorts, a building containing the exhaust engine and boilers, the two scrubbers, the station meter, the governor and photometer, the purifying and lime house, the coal shed, and two gas holders capable of holding 30,000 cubic feet each, or about one day's supply. The cost of the works, including the mains and 502 street lamps for lighting the city, was £35,676. The works are situated beyond the railway station and present a good appearance to the railway line, the building being exceptionally massive and well built. The quantity of gas made averages 14 million cubic feet per annum; the amount of coals carbonized amounting to 300 tons of cannel and 1,200 tons of common. The public lights consume about one-third the quantity of gas made, the street lamps being lit on an average 190 hours per month. The number of meters fixed up to the 31st March, 1891, was 400, supplying over 6,000 lights. The average cost of introducing gas into a dwelling house has been 10s. per light. This, of course, is exclusive of the cost of the gaseliers, which vary in value very greatly. The average consumption of gas in different institutions and dwellings has been as follows: The receipts for the year ended the 31st March, 1892, were £8,206 and the expenditure £6,175 without the charge of £1,685 15s. 8d. for interest. The prices charged for gas, &c., are as follow: For each street lamp, per annum For gas consumed, per 1,000 feet DD £5 13 0 With 20 per cent. discount 0 15 0 for prompt payment, The price charged for gas, virtually 12/ per 1,000 cubic feet, compares favourably with the rates elsewhere in the West Indies, the price being in Demerara 15/, Barbados 15, St. Thomas 15/, Havana 20/, Santiago de Cuba 24/, Panama 24/. It has been calculated that to produce a light equal to that given by the combustion of 1,000 cubic feet of gas 18 candle power would require 47 lbs. of tallow candle at 6d. per lb. £1 3 6 5 gallons of colza oil at 5/ per gallon £1 7 6 40lbs. composition candle at 1/per lb. 2 0 0 6 gallons kerosene oil at 2/ per gallon 012 0 Good gas, therefore, at 12 is far cheaper, light for light, than any other illuminant with the exception of kerosene oil and naptha, but if loss of time in trimming wicks and cost of broken chimneys be taken into account it is questionable whether gas is not cheaper than any kind of mineral oil. COMMISSIONERS. Hon. Neale Porter, C.M.G., Colonial Secretary, Chairman. Hon. V. G. Bell, M.I.C.E., Director of Public Works. R. S. Haughton, Esq., Hon. G. Stiebel, C.M.G., Custos of St. Andrew. Hon. C.J. Ward, C.M.G., Custos of Kingston Wor. Dr. Ogilvie, Mayor of Kingston. Managing Commissioner. Mr. Haughton receives, as Managing Commissioner, a salary of £100 per annum. Engineer-Mr. O. F. Monier Williams, salary £600 per annum with residence.* Assistant Engineer-Mr. Frederick Kemble, A.M.I.C.E., salary £250 per annum with £50 travelling allowance.* Secretary-Mr. C. C. Anderson. KINGSTON AND LIGUANEA WATER WORKS. THE City of Kingston and plains of Liguanea are supplied with water from two sources, namely, the Hope River and the Wag Water. The town and district were formerly dependent entirely on water supplied by wells, and that yielded by a few springs along the harbour. A Company was incorporated about the year 1847 to supply Kingston from a subterranean source supposed to exist near Barbican. Many thousands of pounds were spent in sinking shafts, driving adits and constructing a tunnel to lead the water by gravitation to Halfway-Tree. The scheme proved a total failure, but the Company in 1849 were fortunate enough in being able to purchase from the Duke of Buckingham a portion of the Hope Estate, to gether with the water rights to four-ninths of the supply in the Hope River. Re servoirs were built at Hope and Montgomery's Corner and a line of 9-inch mains was laid for the supply of the city. These works delivered an indifferent supply of unfiltered water once or twice a day for household purposes. The pressure was so poor that little or no protection was afforded the inhabitants against fire. In 1871 the Government purchased the rights of the old Company for the sum of £51,200, and immediately set to work to construct new works at a further expenditure of £87,000. These works were completed in 1876 and consist of: 1st. A concrete culvert over three miles in length, from Hope to Cavaliers. 2nd. A large settling reservoir, 256 feet long by 160 in breadth and 20 in depth, capable of containing 24 million gallons. 3rd. Two filter beds, each 200 feet long by 100 broad by 7 feet in depth. They contain the necessary filtering materials, such as small stone, gravel and sand, superposed in layers, and are each capable of filtering 1,500,000 gallons in 24 hours. 4th. A pure water tank, 200 feet by 180 and 20 feet in depth, capable of holding 3,000,000 gallons, or upwards of a days' supply to the city. The water for the town supply is drawn from this tank, which is 156 feet above the mean sea level, by a 21-inch main and is then distributed over the city by means of 12, 6, 4 and 2-inch cast iron mains measuring in the aggregate some 35 miles. * Messrs. Williams and Kemble receive their salaries for services in connection both with the Gas Works and the Water Works. Owing to successive droughts the water supplied by the Hope was found insufficient for the growing needs of Kingston and St Andrew, and in 1885 the Water Commissioners obtained powers to enable them to obtain the water rights belonging to Con stant Spring Estate. These were bought, together with nearly 800 acres of land, for the sum of £8,000. Works for utilizing this additional supply were begun in 1886 and completed in 1887 at a total cost, including the purchase of water rights and land, of £19,112. The Works themselves comprise an arched concrete intake on the bank of the river, the opening being guarded by a stout iron grating. An open culvert conducts the water to the tunnel which is thirty-six chains in length and varies in size very considerably, being some 6 feet high by 4 feet wide at the north end, but diminishing to the south end to 4 feet by 3 feet. This tunnel was constructed about a hundred years ago for the supply of Constant Spring Estate and is stated to have cost with the immense masonry dam to the aqueduct, together with the expenses of a lawsuit caused by diverting the water of the river, some £80,000. The water after leaving the tunnel flows along the bottom of a valley, where it is joined by a spring that rises on the south side of the range. From the junction the water is conveyed about 40 chains by an open culvert, terminating in a circular catch pit from whence the water is led into two reservoirs, each 200 feet long by 100 feet wide by 16 feet deep. These reservoirs contain 13 million of gallons each and are constructed of cement concrete, backed by a layer of clay puddle. A 10-inch and a 9-inch main, 3 miles long carry the water to within half a mile of Halfway-Tree, where a junction is effected with the existing system of mains. Branch mains have been laid to supply Swallowfield, Penwood, Molynes, Cassia Park and Grant's Pen. The town mains have also been extended along the Spanish Town Road and the Windward Road. In all, upwards of 15 miles of pipes have been laid in connection with these Works, and several tracts of land in St. Andrew are now rendered available as pens for raising and keeping stock that were previously of little value to the owners. The supply from both sources is on the constant and high pressure system, and all water consumed by the town, which amounts to about 3,000,000 gallons in 24 hours, is filtered at Cavalier's, but the water supplying the outlying districts is drawn direct from the reservoirs at Hope and Constant Spring and is not filtered, although the supply is constant. The water supplied to Kingston is of excellent quality as shown by the following statement of the mean of ten different analyses by Mr. J. J. Bowrey, F.C.S., F.I.C., the Government Analytical Chemist : All results, excepting "Hardness," are stated in grains per gallon of water. Mean of ten different samples taken as delivered from the pipes at Chemist's Laboratory, East Street, and at the General Penitentiary from 24th February to 5th September, 1891. 0.318 Traces. 0.00293 0.0095 0.00378 0.01448 0.02539 14.835 8.375 3.91 Mr. Bowrey in connection with the above analyses states: "On each occasion the water was clear and bright and the microscopic examination was satisfactory. The first four samples were collected during dry weather, the remaining six while there were frequent heavy showers in the hills. The results of these different conditions are very evident in the analyses. In no instance has the water, judged simply by the analytical results, been other than of first rate quality." WATER RATES. When the property shall be under the annual value of £6 (except houses included in class 1 in the 1st section of Law 27 of 1869) When the property shall be of the annual value of £6 and under £10 28. 38. per month. 46. The limits within which such rates are payable are as follows: From a line beginning at the harbour at the southern end of Paradise Street, running northerly along that street to the Windward Road, westerly along the Windward Road to Barne's Gully, thence northerly, following the course of such gully as far as the northern boundary of the parish of Kingston, as defined by Law 20 of 1867; following that boundary westward as far as the Spanish Town Road; thence south-easterly along the Spanish Town Road to the Kingston Pen Road; thence southerly along the line of the Kingston Pen Road to the harbour; and thence along the shore of the harbour to the point of starting. The occupier of a property, used for any of the purposes mentioned in the 2nd sub-section of the 6th section of Law 18 of 1875, pays in addition to the prescribed rate such sum as the Commissioners may in each case specially declare. The occupier of a property not used as a residence, nor for any of the purposes last referred to, pays a sum equal to one-third of the prescribed rate. The quantity of water to which each ratepayer is entitled under the 9th section of Law 1 of 1875 is as follows: Scales shewing the additional sums to be paid under section 10 of Law 18 of 1875 by ratepayers requiring an extra supply of water for purposes not comprehended in the 2nd sub-section of section 6: For a bath exceeding 200 gallons in capacity, 1s. 3d. per month for every 100 For extra supplies of water under section 10 of Law 18 of 1875 at the rate of 1s. THE SPANISH TOWN WATER WORKS. IN 1836, the Marquis of Sligo being Governor, a Company was formed for supplying Spanish Town with water from the Rio Cobre, which was obtained by pumping and was distributed through the town in cast iron pipes. From that year until 1870 the Company continued in operation, but the supply of water distributed was limited and very irregular, entire stoppages of several weeks' duration often occurring from various causes, and the undertaking was financially not a success. In 1870 the works were purchased by the Government and put in thorough order; the mains were relaid and extended, suitable pumping machinery was erected, and a new masonry service reservoir built to hold 150,000 gallons. The supply of water under the new arrangement was regular but not continuous, each ratepayer being entitled to water only for a certain number of hours daily, Sundays excepted, when no water was supplied. In 1877 a bill was passed through the Council (Law 16 of 1877) for providing Spanish Town with a constant supply of water from the Rio Cobre Irrigation Canal by gravitation. The new works were commenced early in 1879 and were sufficiently advanced by August in that year for pumping to be discontinued. The water is taken from the main canal at Hog Hole Pen, about two miles to the north of Spanish Town, and is led into a settling reservoir, formed at that place, having a capacity of one-and-a-half million gallons, equal to about ten days' supply. From the reservoir the water is conveyed to Spanish Town in an eight-inch cast iron main. Service pipes are laid on to every house in the town and the supply of water is constant, day and night. Within certain limits the water-rate is compulsory under the new system. The prevailing and minimum rate is 1s. 6d. per month, while formerly for an intermittent supply it was 5s. per month. COMMISSIONERS. Hon. Neale Porter, C.M.G., Colonial Secre- Hon. V. G. Bell, M.I.C.E., Director 08 Pubtary. lic Works. Hon. Thomas L. Harvey, Custos of St. Catherine. Collector-The Collector of Taxes for St. Catherine-Five per cent. commission. Superintendent of Works-Mr. T. Gayleard, salary £40 per annum. OLD HARBOUR WATER WORKS. FOR many years the want of water was very much felt at Old Harbour and the inhabitants suffered greatly in times of drought. In 1876 the late Hon. L. F. Mackinnon, then Custos of St. Catherine, brought the necessity of a water supply to the notice of the Government and the people also petitioned for the construction of water works. After several projects had been considered and reported on by the Public Works Department it was decided in 1878 that the best available supply was to be obtained from Bower's River, at a point situated five miles to the north of Old Harbour in a deep gorge on Colbeck's Estate. The late Honourable Isaac Levy was most energetic in pushing on the preliminary arrangements and in 1881 the Municipal Board requested that the necessary work should be undertaken by the Director of Public Works, under section 10 of Law 18 of 1881. The Works were accordingly commenced in December, 1881; water was delivered in Old Harbour in February, 1882, and all the householders had service pipes laid on to their premises by the first of April, 1882, from which date they have continued to receive a constant supply, day and night. The main, from the intake at Bower's River to Old Harbour, a distance of five miles, 12 chains, consists of a single line of four-inch cast iron pipes. The mains in Old Harbour consist of 957 yards of four-inch and 2,024 yards of two-inch cast iron piping. The water has been laid on to 209 houses, all of which have been supplied with separate half-inch galvanized wrought iron service pipes, brass stopcocks and delivery cocks. The Jamaica Railway and several properties outside the prescribed limits have also been supplied with water. Hydrants for fire purposes are distributed over the town. The intake being 325 feet higher than Old Harbour water can be thrown |