He had had good chances, but could not do much good for himself; and, though fertile in starting newspapers, he generally stranded them in the Insolvent Court. W h e n Mr. Kerr heard the rumour he gave it an indignant denial, protesting " that he would sooner 'knap stanes on the roadside, than serve such masters, even though the salary was a ,£icoo a year;" but, nevertheless, he had a wistful eye on theflesh-pot,and quietly bided his time. W h e n King resigned, he had as his clerical "staff" a copying clerk (Mr. J. C. Brodie), w h o acted as pro tern. T o w n Clerk, until the election of a permanent officer on the 15th May, when the following candidates were entered for the stake, viz. :—Messrs. C. C. D u n n (an ex-Council employe), J. C. Brodie, N . L. Kentish,—Andrews and R. Ocock. T h e last named, a well-known Attorney had some chance but spoiled it, byfirstapplying, then withdrawing, and again re-offering himself. D u n n had only that morning, at the persuasion of friends, entered the field. T h e result of the voting was—for D u n n , twelve, Brodie, seven, and the others nowhere. This so disgusted Brodie that he severed his connection with the Corporation. D u n n was a plodding, easy-going sort of man, w h o well and conscientiously waded through whatever he had to d o ; but he had no special qualifications for a T o w n Clerkship. H e had declared himself a candidate more through the friendly pressure brought to bear on him, than from any real desire for promotion ; and now that the plum had unexpectedly dropped into his hand, he yvas even more reluctant to taste of it, than A d a m was of the forbidden fruit; and so, after a miserable tyventy-four hours' half-regretful exultation over his victory, he trailed his new-born laurels in the dust by resigning them. His friends were chagrined, and outsiders were surprised, but Kerr whispered to himself, "the hour and the m a n have come." W h e n D u n n was chided for his supreme act of folly, he replied that he was not fitted for the T o w n Clerkship, nor it for him, and be had no notion of suffering martyrdom for the Corporation. In his letter of resignation he stated that he acted " for reasons over which he had no control," and of this there could not be a shadow of doubt. M r . Kerr had thus another opportunity of moving to the front, and of letting it be understood in Corporation circles, that there was no indisposition on his part to take the T o w n Clerkship if assured to him. O f the two sections into which the Council were split, one half were friendly to, if not enamoured of, their troublesome confrere, whilst the other half cordially hated him. There suddenly sprung up a concensus of opinion in favour of giving him the appointment and so to serve him and be rid of him ; and when the 10th of June arrived, and the new selection was to be made, though three other candidates had offered, of the seventeen members present in Council, fourteen voted for Kerr and three votes yvere " thrown away " — s o eager were both sides to be relieved of what was now admitted to be an exceedingly inconvenient incubus.
THE POLLUTION OF THE YARRA
Is no grievance of yesterday, for many a long day ago it was a source of anxiety to the City Council. Mr. John Hodgson one of the early colonists, resided at Studley Park for many years, and took kindly to the river by whose yvaters he dwelt so long. After his election to the City Council, he constituted himself a kind of river-god, whose function it was to try and save the Yarra from the contaminating influences of civilisation then threatening it on both sides from the Studley Falls to the City. Even as far back as the 24th February, 1851, Councillor Hodgson moved for a committee to inquire into and report upon the impurities affecting the waters of the river Yarra. This body submitted a report on the n t h June which stated that the causes of the impurity yvere the presence of four fellmongering establishments, two tanneries immediately adjoining the eastern city boundary, and one starch, one glue, and one large boiling-down establishment, with fellmongering operations in connection therewith. There were several other fellmongers places on the Yarra as high up as the Falls ; the only drainage these places had was the Yarra, and some of them even carried on their operations on the river. Numerous carcasses, mineral salts, and decaying vegetable matter, were also deposited in the river. Under existing laws there was a remedy for the removal of nuisances which were indictable- but this would only be a partial and temporary remedy, not preventing other establishments from being formed. T h e Committee therefore recommended that application be m a d e to the Executive to introduce a Bill to abolish those nuisances,
v
