THE WATER SUPPLY AT WORKINGTON.

SPECIAL MEETING OF THE LOCAL BOARD.

A special meeting of the Workington Local Board was held in the Board-room on Saturday.  MR. SMITH presided, and there were also present MESSRS. PEILE, WILSON, TOWERS, IREDALE, FLETCHER, and POTTS.  The business for which the meeting had been called was receiving the resignation of MR. HARRISON HODGSON as a member of the Joint Water Committee and the re-election of MR. T. IREDALE to that body.  MR. IREDALE was from home at the time of the last meeting of the Joint Committee and for the purpose of having the full number of Workington members at that meeting, with the view of securing the chairmanship, MR. IREDALE's name was removed and MR. HODGSON's put into its place.

This ruse failed, and MR. PAISLEY, representing the Rural Authority, was re-appointed chairman.  MR. HODGSON's resignation having been accepted, MR. IREDALE was re-appointed a member of the Joint Water Committee for the purpose of being able to attend the special meeting of that body in the forenoon.

A desultory discussion took place with reference to the action of the Cockermouth Urban and Sanitary Authorities in calling in an engineer to determine the capacity of the Crummock pipe.  MR. IREDALE contended that Workington was acting fairly in offering to take all the water the Joint Committee were able to send. He had calculated the supply during the past six years, and only in one year had the delivery exceeded 1,100,000 gallons per day, and in that year the delivery was only 4,000 gallons more than that quantity.  The average daily quantity had never reached 1,100,000 gallons.  It was monstrous to think that Workington should pay for more than that quantity and was repugnant to all honest and decent commercial ideas.

The Workiington members should resist to the utmost the action of the Cockermoouth Authority at the present time, and against having to pay any of the costs incurred by the visit of the inspecting engineer.

MR. PEILE said they should be prepared to take off the ball-tap at the reservoir.  They could not say that they were taking all the water as long as this ball existed.  If they were prepared to do this they would be agreeing to the motion proposed by the late chairman, MR. FLETCHER, which the Workington members were instructed to vote against and which was lost, and in consequence of which MR. FLETCHER resigned.  So long as the ball-tap was allowed to remain in the reservoir, it cut off at certain times the flow of water.  Therefore it was impossible for them to say that they were taking all the water that could be taken through the pipe.

Several members of the Board objected to the ball tap being removed, holding that it prevented Cockermouth people rushing the water to Workington during the night.  MR. FLETCHER said that this at once brought them to the fact that they required a larger reservoir at Workington.  He thought that there was great force in what MR. PEILE had said.

Some members said that that was what Cockermouth wanted.  They wanted to saddle Workiington with the cost of a big reservoir.  The meeting then terminated.

MEETING OF THE JOINT WATER COMMITTEE.

THE CAPACITY OF THE CRUMMOCK MAIN

A special meeting of this Committee was held at the Local Board Room, Workington, on Saturday afternoon.  The whole of the members, whose names are as follows, were present:

MESSRS. T. PAISLEY (chairman), P. WEDGWOOD, LLOYD WILSON (Cockermouth Rural Sanitary Authority), G. J. SMITH, A. PEILE, T. BARBOUR, J. MILBURN and T. IREDALE (Workington Urban Sanitary Authority), with MR. JOHN MUSGRAVE (clerk).

MR. SMITH'S MOTION.

At the last ordinary meeting of the Committee MR. SMITH gave notice that he would propose at the next ordinary meeting of the Board a motion with respect to the erection by the Workington Authority of a stand pipe at the reservoir at Stainburn to be connected with the Crummock water main under certain conditions.

After that meeting was over, MR. SMITH, for some reason, came to the conclusion that it was too long to wait three months for the ordinary meeting, and availed himself of the clause in the Act which enables any two members by requisition to call a meeting, and accordingly a special meeting to consider MR. SMITH's motion was convened for and held on Saturday.  At the opening of the meeting the CHAIRMAN stated that he had been advised by the Joint Committee's legal adviser that the motion was "ultra vires" and could not legally be entertained.  In his opinion, therefore, it would be best for the matter not to come before the meeting at all.  He thought it best to mention that the motion was not in order; and if, after that MR. SMITH was still desirous of going on with it, they would hear what they had to say.

The Workington members then asked for time to have a consultation, which was granted, and they retired into the Clerk's room.  On their return, MR. SMITH said they had decided not to press his motion on the Committee, but they would hold it responsible for any damage that might arise in Workington through a want of water, which they believed the erection of this stand-pipe would entirely prevent.

THE CAPACITY OF THE CRUMMOCK MAIN.  The CHAIRMAN referred to the request by the two Cockermouth Authorities to the Local Government Board for the appointment of an engineer to ascertain and determine the delivering capacity of the Crummock main, and stated that if the Workington Authority would agree to a standard delivery of 1,200,000 gallons per day of that quantity, they (the two Authorities) would withdraw their application for the appointment of an engineer.

This offer the Workington representatives refused, and the meeting terminated.

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