The Chronicles of Early Melbourne/Volume 2/Chapter 41
CHAPTER XLI.
FUEL, LIGHT, AND WATER.
SYNOPSIS: —Early Searches for Coal. —The Early Days of Lighting. —Mr. William Overton, the Introducer of Gas. —The Rev. John Allen's Gas Lectures. —The First Gas Company. —First Water Company. —The First Water Supply Scheme. —Arrival of Mr. James Blackburn. —Etymology of the "Yan Yean." —Melbourne's First Supply from the Yan Yean.
Firewood.
IN Early Melbourne coal was a luxury unobtainable and uncared for, and fire-grates or stoves in dwellings, with but few exceptions, were unknown. The fire-hearth was spacious, the wood-logs in abundance, and so the cold winter nights passed over in cosy, though rough, enjoyment. In summer the fires would be banished out of doors, and such was the general carelessness manifested that it was little short of miraculous that serious accidents did not frequently occur. A traffic in firewood necessarily became a primitive industry, and wood boats plied on the Upper Yarra; but the principal business was done with the bullock-drays laid on from the suburbs of South Yarra, Richmond, and Collingwood, the Merri Creek and adjacent places. Dead timber was to be found anywhere but after a time tree-felling had to be resorted to. The removal of trees was effected under regulations issued by Commissioners of Crown Lands, and, in the Melbourne Circuit, Major St. John exercised all the powers of a petty despot in a most capricious, though not illiberal manner. A good load of wood could be obtained for five or six shillings, though the rate reached as many pounds during the two or three years following the gold discoveries in 1851.
Coal.
Since the European occupation of the Province, a belief existed that both gold and coal would be found sooner or later in this portion of the Australian continent; but to coal, as the most urgently required article, public attention was specially devoted. It was a frequent topic of discussion in the columns of the early newspapers, though not until the 4th March, 1841, was there any concerted action towards the discovery of a payable coal field. Some indications of the mineral having been unearthed by a Mr. Cameron, the leader of a private exploring party, and the exhibition by him of some specimens declared to have been found at Western Port, created a mild furore, and a public meeting was forthwith held "to determine the practicability of working the mines recently discovered." It came off at the Royal Hotel in Collins Street, and the Chair was taken by Mr. Arthur Kemmis, then a leading (but long since deceased) merchant. Cameron was in attendance, and submitted a very glowing viva voce report. If a tithe of it were reliable, there could not be the shadow of a doubt of the exhaustless black diamond treasures awaiting only the co-operative power of men and money to be exhumed. His statement afforded unmixed satisfaction—so much so, indeed, that though only £500 was the sum required "to bore for coal, and make such other examination as may be necessary," more than that amount was subscribed in the room. If the result proved as anticipated, a company was to be formed. A practical miner, named Watson, and four men were equipped with all needful means and appliances, and despatched to Wilson's Promontory, and the places adjacent, where by drifting, sinking and boring the problem was to be solved. It was afterwards said that this Watson had given out that he had previously discovered a splendid coal field close to the water's edge, and by such deception had humbugged everyone connected with the movement. The expedition eventuated in a decided failure; though there could be no question of the presence of coal, and of good quality, omitting the question of quantity; but no vessel could approach within eighteen miles of where a shaft had been sunk, and it would require an eighteen-mile railway to bring the coal to a place of shipment.
In the course of the year rumours became rife about coal findings at the Barrabool Hills, 50 feet below the surface, and the Geelong Advertiser went into fits of ecstasy about the future of the district, but nothing ever came of it. In 1842, some men were employed sinking a well on land at Pascoe Vale, belonging to Mr. H. G. Ashurst, and at a depth of 80 feet they struck a vein of coal 3 feet thick, but it never led to further disclosures. Frequent intermittent reports were made of coal and other mineral discoveries in divers places until 1848, when it was alleged that a large and valuable coal-bed had been found at Loutit Bay, and at the beginning of 1849 the Superintendent (Latrobe) despatched Mr. Foote, a surveyor, to make an examination, from which it appeared that there existed at Loutit Bay indications only of lignite; the working of this would not pay the cost of transit. This announcement was received with incredulity by the Geelongites, who sent off a local examiner to test the accuracy of Foote's statements. The result of this led to Foote being instructed to return and resume the investigation. He did so, and in the course of his second inspection found some coal appearances. The Geelong people now said there was not only coal, but copper and other minerals abounding at the Cape Otway ranges and along the coast; so in June, 1849, steps were taken to organize a Geelong Coal Company, and provide funds for a thorough mineral survey of the neighbourhood of Loutit Bay; but beyond the preliminary "blowing" matters went no further. Still the atmosphere was not thoroughly purged of the mineral rumours, and the Superintendent (Mr. Latrobe) manifested much interest in any possible coal discoveries that might be made, and promised all the co-operation in his power for any project initiated with a reasonable prospect of success; but he consulted the Law Adviser, who appeared to think that Crown lands could not be leased for other than pastoral purposes; but this view was not upheld by the Sydney Law Officers, and, in consequence, the reservation of coal on the part of the Crown was abandoned by proclamation.
Early in 1850 reports were rife that some bona fide coal discoveries had been made in Western Port. Money was getting plentiful, and a spirit of enterprise was active in Melbourne; so, notwithstanding the first fiasco there, it was seriously determined that Cape Patterson should have a further, and, if possible, a fairer trial. A public meeting, presided over by the Mayor (Dr. Greeves), was accordingly held at the Royal on the 4th June. The speakers were Messrs. Henry Moor, Robert Langlands, Wm. Nicholson, A. H. Knight, B. Heape, C. H. Ebden, Wm. Highett, etc., and it was resolved that prior to the formation of a company, a "Preliminary Expense Fund" be raised by subscription. A Mr. Anderson, introduced as a practical scientific man, handed in a written statement, from which this extract is taken:— "I have no hesitation in saying that in Western Port coal is equal to the best samples of Newcastle. It is a bituminous coal, possessing in a moderate degree the caking property, containing scarcely a trace of sulphurous pyrites, making an excellent coke, leaving a very small portion of ashes, so that it is well adapted for every purpose. In one respect it scems superior to the Newcastle coal I see landed here in Melbourne. Though some of it readily breaks into small cubical fragments like coarse gravel, very little of it crumbles into the almost palpable dust of which whole cargoes of the other seem chiefly to exist." He estimated the expense at 3s. per ton at the pit's mouth; carriage by railway to the shipping, rather under than over 1s. per ton; freight to Melbourne in a suitable class of vessels, 8s.; wharfage, 1s.; and payment to Government for the privilege of working the ground, 6d. per ton. The capital required, according to his calculations, would be from £16,000 to £20,000, and the annual sale of coal would be, say, 25,000 tons; 10 per cent. on the capital would add another 1s. or 1s. 6d. per ton, and about 1s. would defray the cost of Melbourne management. The company, he believed, could have the coal free of charges of every kind for 16s. per ton. Anderson's report was generally concurred in by Mr. G. H. Wathen, an engineer, according to whose statement the coal measures at Western Port, beginning at or near Cape Patterson, the Eastern entrance to that harbour and opposite to Phillip Island, extended almost uninterruptedly along the coast as far as the River Tarwin, a distance of thirty miles. The coal deposits, of which there were three distinct layers, were associated with strata having the appearances usually indicative of this mineral. The thickness of the first seam was given as 1 foot 8 inches, of the second as 3 feet 4 inches, and the third as 1 foot 8 inches. The middle and most important of these strata was represented as consisting of excellent coal. He also estimated that if coal could then be supplied reasonably in Melbourne, a consumption of 20,000 tons annually might be reckoned upon for steam engines, foundries, etc., which quantity might be increased to 30,000 by consumption in private dwellings. It was supposed that a company could supply the town at the rate of 16s. per ton, which was 14s. less than the price of coal brought from the River Hunter. The amount of preliminary cash required was put down at £700, of which £500 was subscribed in the room. Mr. Frederick Cooper, a Collins Street chemist, was nominated Treasurer, pro tem. It was agreed to appoint, from subscribers of £10 and more, a Committee of twelve to direct and supervise an efficient search party. Eighteen candidates offered themselves for election, and from them the following were chosen:—Messrs. Henry Moor, J. R. Murphy, F. Cooper, G. W. Cole, A. H. Knight, C. H. Ebden, William Highett, Henry Langlands, W. U. Tripp, Captain Stanley Carr, with the Mayors of Melbourne and Geelong. This dozen of individuals represented every important interest—mercantile, monetary, manufacturing, squatting, and a dash of the legal element thrown in. It possessed shrewdness, practical sagacity, and good sense, yet notwithstanding, the affair proved a complete take in. The exploring party went, and so did the Preliminary Fund, and, though the former returned, the latter was non est. It all ended in fizzle. No progress report ever turned up, and so far from anything in the shape of a coal deposit being forthcoming, not even a cinder remained as a memento of the expedition.
Light.
Oil and tallow for several years contributed the nightly radiance, in whose flickering, sputtering glare the colonists were content to live, and breathe, and have their being. They could not have had very enlightened times of it; but as they could obtain no better substitute they had to make the most of things as they came, and comfortably and contentedly they did so. The original lamp was composed of wick and tallow, seething in something like a shallow tin dipper; until oil stepped in to help and improve; and these blinking burners were mostly affected by the butchers and the hotel bars and kitchens. The only out-of-door street lighting was the compulsory lamp which every licensed victualler was by law obliged to keep burning over or near the tavern's principal doorway, and such quasi-luminaries were oftener stone blind than otherwise. Tallow candles performed all the household and most of the shop duty until wax-lights appeared. At concerts, public entertainments, and other evening gatherings, candles were stuck in tin sconces nailed to wall or partition, and occasionally something would be attempted by swinging a chandelier from the ceiling and manning it with waxes. Slowly gradual improvements crept in; more taste was displayed in the "get-up" of chandeliers, lamps, and sconces; the tallow lights began to wane, and oil and candles of superior quality were introduced. The old Queen Street Theatre had a good deal to do in making matters better, for its proprietor (Mr. J. T. Smith) was endowed with an energy which he was never loth to employ for his own and (incidentally) for the public convenience. He was the forerunner of street lamp lighting, as he applied the proceeds of a Theatrical Benefit to the erection of half-a-dozen lamps in Queen Street, which so shamed the Melbourne Corporation that, through its agency, general street lighting was not long in following.
Gas.
What an amusing incident that Collingwood, which was destined to become the grand entrepôt for the production of political gas, should be the place whence emanated the first notion of supplying Melbourne with gas-light. Yet such was once indubitably the case. Towards the close of 1844, a sturdy blacksmith named George South established his forge in a small house in what was then known as the Western Road boundary of Newtown, at its junction with William Street-places now designated respectively, Nicholson and Moor Streets in the City of Fitzroy. South's Place was the now Dr. Hewlett's corner. He was a man of some education, had a smattering of chemistry, and, being of an active turn of mind, his smithy was more of a laboratory than anything else. He practised experiments in carburetted hydrogen, and the idea flashed upon his mind that he should be the "gas-lighter" of Melbourne. His studies were pursued with renewed zeal, his experiments multiplied, and at length he publicly intimated his ability to supply portable gas at a low price. He guaranteed that for a few pounds the requisite apparatus for gas burning could be fitted up. He flew to the newspapers with some of his samples, which, on being tested, were pronounced to have produced satisfactory results, and great illumination was predicted as the consequence. South's plan was to manufacture the gas at his forge, and supply it by the foot the same as kerosene is now sold by the gallon. After some consideration, however, people began to think that the project was too "gassy" for any practical results. It was declared that it could not be safely utilized, and at times might not be only inconvenient, but dangerous; for if persons became accustomed to portable gas, they might go about with a flask or "pocket-pistol" primed with an explosive substance. And so poor South and his portable gas were chaffed out of the public mind and soon forgotten.
There is now (1888) living near Melbourne Mr. William Overton, an old colonist, as firm and wiry in appearance as if he meant to live for another quarter of a century. Coming to Hobart Town as a sailor in 1832, he came over to Melbourne a few years after, settled down, and remained here. He is a Lincolnshire Englishman, and in 1838 opened the first confectioner's shop in a wattle-and-daub hut in Collins Street, pitched next the new Bank of Victoria. He manipulated the first buns and lollipops for the sweet-mouthed adults and juveniles of the period, and prospered accordingly.
Overton had with him a Mr. David Hill, a Scotch partner, who did not come off quite so well, for once, in going through his round of customers, tumbling out of a vehicle he broke his neck, thus acquiring the distinction of being the first Victorian martyr to the vagaries of a baker's cart.
In course of time Overton moved into larger premises in Swanston Street; next, southerly, to the now extensive auction mart of the Brothers Ham, and here it was that gas was first lit in Melbourne on the evening of the 23rd July, 1849. Whether South's long-exploded portable gas notion lingered in Overton's mind I cannot say, but the confectioner got so "gas-bitten" that he determined upon demonstrating that oil lamps and tallow candles were not in accordance with the brightening spirit of the age. Overton got South to construct a retort and gasometer for him, and the expectations of both were amply realized. Overton had two shops, viz., a baker's and confectioner's, and the whole premises were lit up in a style that gave general satisfaction to an immense crowd of persons thronging the street in front to witness the novel exhibition. The gas burned well, but Overton did better; for no run on a bank could exceed the rush for cakes and candies on the memorable occasion. The Overton success kindled a rage for the new element, and applications were made to him to illuminate other places of business, with which it was not in is power to comply. Nothing was talked of but the establishment of a Gas Company, and Overton lost no time in adopting practical means for effecting so desirable a consummation. Going at once to Mr. F. D. Wickham, a Solicitor, he instructed him to prepare a Prospectus, and with this in his pocket Overton soon gathered around him a few smart business men, who entered heartily into the project. The most prominent amongst them was Mr. John Hood, a once well-known chemist, who, having a fair share of common-place volubility, was an effective ally in demonstrating the benefits of the new undertaking.
Gas Lectures.
But there was another who acted as a powerful auxiliary in educating the public upon the advantages of gas-light, and the feasibility of successfully founding a company for the purpose. This was the Rev. John Allen, a Dissenting minister, who was as much interested in the solidification of carbonic acid gas as in Scriptural Expositions, though he was well familiarized with both, and he delivered two exceedingly interesting lectures on the subject in the Mechanics' Institute. In his second discourse, on the 19th August, 1850, he advocated the speedy introduction of gas into the city. For £3 12s. 6d. cost of candle or oil light, a gas-light of an infinitely superior quality could be obtained at £2 15s. He had carefully estimated the expense of lighting the city with gas, and the whole expenditure would not exceed £8000, viz., £2000 for a building, and £6000 for the necessary machinery, service and branch pipes to the houses. All the materials requisite were on the spot, and procurable in a short time. He had calculated the yearly profits realizable:—320 tons of coal would be required, which, at 18s. per ton, was £288; an extra 100 tons to carbonize, at 18s., £90; manager, clerk, overseer, stoker, and two lamp-lighters (say), £430; wear and tear of machinery, £200; dividend on outlay of £8000 at 15 per cent., £1200; surplus fund, £57, making a total of £2265. This sum would be raised by £1920 worth of gas at 12s. per 1000 feet; 200 tons coke, at 30s., per ton (below its value), would bring in £300; coal tar, which would readily sell at £8 per ton (say), £30, and ammoniacal fuel, £15; total, £2265. Such an abstract of the lecturer's figures, no doubt, will elicit a smile of amused incredulity to-day. But Mr. Allen was quite serious when he spoke, and all who listened to him seriously considered what he said.
The First Gas Company.
A public meeting was held on the 28th of August, 1850, in the same building, to consider the means necessary "to form a company to supply gas to the City of Melbourne." It was convened by the Mayor (Dr. Greeves), and was well attended. Resolutions were agreed to (1) Affirming the necessity existing for the establishment of a Gas Company; and (2) Appointing a Provisional Committee to make necessary initiatory arrangements. This body consisted of Messrs. W. M. Bell, William Overton, J. B. Webster, Frederick Cooper, Nathaniel Dismore, William Williamson, William Clarke, Edmund Westby, Andrew Russell, C. H. Dight, G. Nicholson, John Hood, Robert Kerr, William Westgarth, Francis M'Donnell, A. H. Hart, Thomas M'Combie, Joseph Clowes, William Anderson, John Knight, J. T. Smith, John Hodgson, W. J. Sugden, and Rev. John Allen.
The basis upon which the company was to be conducted provoked much difference of opinion. The City Council offered the use of some land for the works upon conditions of which Overton disapproved; and he also opposed the payment of fees to the Directory until the company should supply gas to the public. Upon both of these points he could not obtain even a seconder, and finally, after procuring the entry of his written protest on the minutes, he left the room. This accounts for the absence of Mr. Overton's name as a candidate at the election of officers that eventually took place, and thus it happened that the man who first effectually struck light in the gas movement, found no place in the organization of which he was the founder.
At length the Prospectus was officially promulgated on the 18th September. The City of Melbourne Gas and Coke Company was to be erected on a capital of £20,000 in 4000 shares of £5, with liberty to increase the amount conditional upon three-fourths of the proprietary acquiescing. The management was to be vested in twelve Directors, to be chosen by the shareholders. The holding of 20 shares was the Directory qualification. No individual could hold more than 100, and dividends were not to exceed 20 per cent. The company was to be considered formed when 2,000 shares should be allotted. Within four days after the issue of the Prospectus 1558 shares were applied for.
The first meeting of shareholders was held on the 25th September, to which the Provisional Committee presented a most encouraging Report. The deed of settlement was also submitted, and adopted. The first election came off at the Mechanics' Institute on the 9th December. Mr. John Hodgson officiated as Returning Officer, with Messrs. Michael O'Shea and Samuel Goode as Scrutineers, and the Rev. J. Allen, pro tem. Secretary, as Poll Clerk. It resulted thus:—
Committee (12).—Elected: Messrs. John Hood, A. Russell, W. M. Bell, A. F. A. Greeves, H. Moor, M.L.C., J. M. Smith, W. Williamson, D. S. Campbell, N. Guthridge, M. Lynch, Robert Smith, Abel Thorpe. Rejected: Messrs. James Barwick, F. M'Donnell, J. R. Pascoe, R. Robinson, E. Barker, Geo. Milne, J. Pittman, Luke Chambers.
Trustees(3).—Elected: William Westgarth, M.L.C., William Stawell, John Hodgson. Rejected: D. Benjamin.
Auditors(2).—Archibald M'Lachlan and George Annand.
Secretary.—Elected: John Allen. Rejected: C. O. Le Souef, W. S. Gibbons, H. Patterson.
Solicitor.—Elected: W. U. Tripp.Rejected: E. Sandwell.
Bankers.—Elected: Bank of Australasia. Rejected: Union Bank. There was was some difficulty in obtaining a suitable site to commence operations. At length a portion of land was purchased between Collins and Little Flinders Streets West, in a marshy flat, where the first gas works were erected, and whence the first gas was supplied to a portion of the town. Finally there was a movement to the Yarra Bank, where the present establishment flourishes. In the course of the next year premiums were advertised for plans for gas buildings, Mr. Charles Laing obtaining the first (£25), and Mr. Charles Mayes the second (£10). A gratuity was voted to Mr. F. A. Allen for a gaswork model, a gift from him to the company. An Act of Incorporation was sought from the first Legislative Council of Victoria, but in the first instance unsuccessfully, for, though "The Melbourne Gas and Coke Bill" passed through all its other stages, its third reading was negatived on 5th January, 1852. It had better luck the next Session, when it became law.
The Rev. John Allen remained Secretary for some time, until the increasing business of the concern led to his retirement. In their Fourth Annual Report to the shareholders for July, 1854, the then Directors stated:—"Before concluding their Report your Directors cannot refrain from alluding to the services rendered to the company by their present Secretary, Mr. John Allen. They remember that from the first commencement of the company up to the present time, save for a short period at the time of the gold discovery, he has been connected with it, and devoted the whole of his valuable time to the promotion of its interests at a salary barely sufficient to pay house rent. Recently an addition has been made, but they hope that when the company's works are available and producing, his labour will not be forgotten."
Water.
The Melbourne water question exhumes some very queer remembrances. Originally the city was solely dependent upon the Yarra water, which was frequently unfit for man or beast. In hot weather it was likened to a compounded dose of lukewarm water and Glauber salts; and though it was physic one would hardly throw to the dogs, the people of Melbourne had to swallow it, though often rectified with large dashes of execrable rum or brandy. Perhaps this rendered it more palatable; but, diluted or undiluted, the Yarra draught was a bitter one to imbibe. No doubt the river was, in one sense, pure enough, for it was free of the hundred abominations it now receives from those emporia of native industries, Richmond and Collingwood. Originally the beverage was only procurable at such hours of the morning and evening when the tide had receded periods anxiously watched by a new order of tide-waiters. Yarra water was first obtained only by bucketting, but the impossibility of supplying the increasing requirements in this way led to the establishment of pumps by private enterprise, and the institution of a water-carrying trade. The "Falls" opposite Queen Street were soon utilized, and one of the first works executed pro bono publico was the raising of the natural rocky obstruction to such a height that whilst it did not impede the downflow of the river, it prevented to a great extent much of the saline admixture forced up by the tide, for even salt water does not run up-hill. But the damming was never properly done. It was patched and peddled in such an imperfect manner that, though it improved the water supply to a considerable extent, it never cleansed it of that brackishness which rendered it so distasteful and injurious to health. At intervals along the north side of the river's bank, from the "Falls" to below the site of Prince's Bridge, ran a line of rudely-constructed pumps, from which the water was discharged into barrels mounted on carts, and delivered to householders at so much a barrel, ranging (according to the times) at from 2s. to 10s.; 3s. a load was the average rate. In the case of a building contractor requiring any considerable quantity, he would be supplied at 1s. or 1s. 6d. per barrel. In each dwelling-yard there was placed, close to the gate, a receiving barrel, into which, by means of a hose and a square opening cut in the fence, the waterman used to empty the liquid element. One load of water per week sufficed for the majority of families, and, presuming a load to be delivered on Monday, its residue was the reverse of pleasant drinking on the Friday or Saturday following, by which time many of the household barrels contained an unsavoury sediment of mosquitos, centipedes, spiders and cockroaches, dead, alive, and dying.
In December, 1839, a Mr. A. Langhorne struck a spring well at Williamstown--an event which it was declared would ensure the rapid rise and prosperity of that township. Others turned up at Brighton and Richmond, and were hailed with as much rejoicing as would greet a new goldfield in after years. But the early spring heads about Melbourne appear not to have been thoroughly established, for the wells were easily set out of order, and three of them (at Flemington, the Merri Creek, and Brighton) took a fancy to disappear altogether. Even in 1848 a Melbourne newspaper thus bemoans a fresh-water mishap which occurred at Richmond on the 29th February, Leap Year day:—
"Scarcity of water. The inhabitants of Richmond are put to their trumps in consequence of the most extraordinary scarcity of water, for it is anticipated that shortly there will not be a single drop in the township, nor within such reasonable distance that the inhabitants can obtain a supply. The last unfortunate circumstance which happened was that of a bullock dray getting too near the brick work of the only well in which drinkable water was to be found, and sending the whole of the superstructure to the bottom of it, by which the spring became choked up, and, what is astonishing, although the rubbish has been cleared, and every effort used to obtain water from the same spot, yet from this accident the spring has been diverted in another channel, and thus the people are deprived of their last resource of obtaining water in the neighbourhood."
A Water Company
Was started at a public meeting held at the Lamb Inn, Melbourne, 25th May, 1840, for taking into consideration the means of affording to the town a better supply of water. The Rev. James Clow presided, and the following resolutions were agreed to:—
- Moved by Mr. A. M'Crae, seconded by Mr. W. Meek: "That for the purposes of affording a better and cheaper supply of water to this town, a Joint Stock Company be formed, intituled 'The Melbourne Water Works Company,' the capital whereof shall consist of £20,000, to be raised in 2000 shares of 10 each."
- Moved by Mr. J. B. Were, seconded by Mr. Robert Russell: "That the affairs of the Company be managed by a Board consisting of a Chairman and twelve Directors, chosen annually by the shareholders from among such persons as may hold ten shares; and that at all meetings of shareholders persons shall possess one vote for every share held, and that no person be allowed at any time to hold more than 100 shares."
- Moved by Mr. J. Hagen, seconded by Mr. J. Hodgson: "That, in order to carry the proposed plan into operation, it is necessary to appoint a Provisional Committee of Management for the purposes of taking the opinion of professional men as to the site for the works and the best manner of executing the same; of advertising for plans, and appointing such engineer as shall in their opinion offer the best; of opening a share-list, and receiving the deposit that may be agreed upon; and further to apply for an Act of Council giving the Company all necessary powers."
A Provisional Committee was nominated to give effect to the wishes of the meeting, but, like other butterfly notions of the time, after the initiatory flutter no more was heard of it.
The First Water Supply Scheme
The relations subsisting between the water-carters and the consumers were never of the most amicable character, because the one side had a certain kind of monopoly, and were not very numerous in consequence of the capital required to start a horse, cart, barrel, and hose, and could, therefore, be often safely impudent and extortionate. The squabbling in the rights-of-way between the housewives and the carriers was incessant, and the public discontent, as the population increased, became universal. As to the large water consumers, though they employed their own carts, they had to buy from the pump-owners. It was, therefore, expected that, on the incorporation of Melbourne, the Town Council would take up the
water question; but that embodiment of paltry factionism had too much to do in small intrigues about jobs and elections. At length, in June, 1847, the water question was referred for the special consideration of the Town Surveyor, who prepared a scheme which was approved by the Public Works Committee, and presented to the Council. This scheme suggested the construction of an aqueduct at the terminus of 
In 1849 there arrived in Melbourne a man whose name was, in after time, to be inseparably connected with the water supply of the City. He was Mr. James Blackburn, a civil engineer, possessed of considerable knowledge of hydraulics. Perceiving how Melbourne was fixed about its water, he associated with himself Mr. Frederick Cooper, a well-known druggist, and they resolved themselves into a private water partnership. The nature of their project will be best understood by the perusal of an extract from a Melbourne newspaper of the 28th July:—
"Water.—A gentleman named Blackburn, an engineer, lately arrived from Van Diemen's Land, is forming an establishment which will be of considerable advantage to the City, so far as a supply of pure water is concerned. Mr. Blackburn, having procured certain premises at the junction of Elizabeth Street with Flinders Street, and obtained the sanction of the Town Council to bring the water from the Yarra to the locality alluded to, has sunk a well in which the water is received; a two horse-power steam engine pumps the water into extensive reservoirs overhead, from which hoses are connected, and by which the water carts (seven at a time) will be supplied at the low figure of one penny per load. Independent of the wear and tear of the drays and horses in crossing Flinders Street, the drivers will be saved the labour of pumping, and in case of fire there will be no delay in procuring a supply of water. The best feature in the new arrangement is that all the water delivered at Mr. Blackburn's establishment passes through a large tank filled with charcoal and sand, and through which it is filtered from all impurities."
This water firm displayed such promptitude in perfecting their arrangements as to be able to commence the business of filtered water sellers on the 5th September, when they disposed of 100 loads on the first day. In obtaining the privilege of sinking pipes from the river they stipulated not to charge more than one penny per load for their purified fluid, but they coolly clapped on fifty per cent. a three half-penny rate--which was denounced by the water-carters and others interested in the old system, and the intervention of the City Council was sought to prevent such an imposition. Blackburn, in his defence, admitted the increase, pleading in extenuation that he had been forced into it by his partner; but in less than a month the objectionable half-penny was knocked off, and only the penny per load charged. Blackburn, having accepted the post of City Surveyor, withdrew from the firm, which still held on, and so far increased its business that in December the average sales were 700 loads per diem; but the undertaking did not bring a fortune, a large proportion of the community persisting in patronising the worse, in preference to the better, article. In this very unsatisfactory. manner was the water supply muddled until after the separation of the Province from New South Wales, when the Government could no longer shirk so vital a question, and the first extensive improvement in the water line was the erection of proper pumping machinery on the river at the extreme end of Spring Street, and corresponding works in that huge-looking square reservoir opposite Apsley Place. Some process of filtration was introduced, and the water distributed by the carriers until our present permanent water power was brought into play.
It is a fact worth mentioning that the steam engine of this establishment was worked by a Scotchman named W. H. Stevenson. He had been for more than a quarter of a century an employé in the department of the Legislative Council, and died in harness in 1882.
The Yan Yean.
In 1850 the sanitary condition of Melbourne engaged the attention of the City Council. Several nostrums had been from time to time propounded, and the newest project was that of a Mr. Rosson, C.E., to supply Melbourne with water from the Yarra above the Studley Park Falls. The Council had in its employ an officer than whom there was then no person in the Province more capable of giving practical advice in such an important emergency. He was accordingly commissioned to report generally on the subject. Funds were voted, and a Special Committee was appointed to render him any co-operation necessary. This occurred on the 26th June, 1850, and Mr. Blackburn set to work and performed his difficult task in a masterly manner.
His Report was submitted on the 9th August, 1851, and from it first originated the idea of drawing the water supply of Melbourne from a beautiful valley embosomed in the Diamond Creek and other ranges some twenty miles from town. It was then known as Rider's Swamp, but afterwards called Yan Yean, the native name of the locality. I have long believed this designation to be a misnomer, slightly orthographical, but material in meaning. I first visited the Yan Yean in 1859, in company with Mr. William Thomas, a once well-known Assistant Protector of Aborigines, now several years dead. From him I learnt that aboriginally it meant "a young man," and that the place was once a favourite retreat for the tribes of that quarter, but he could not tell me further. I subsequently often endeavoured to trace what possible etymological reason there could be for naming such a spot "the young man," and I adopted as a hypothesis that in all probability the vale of Rider's swamp used to be selected by the Aborigines as a theatre for the frequent performance of the rite of Tib-but, an extraordinary sort of hair-cropping, clay-daubing, skin-dressing, and tooth-breaking operation, by which a native youth when he arrives at puberty is propelled from the boy into the "young man," or, in other words, Yan-Yeanised. My belief is that the native proper name of the place is Yan Yan, after the chief so called, one of the eight Aboriginal magnates who sold the country to Batman. Rider's swamp formed portion of Yan Yan's territory.
Blackburn's proposal found much favour with the Lieutenant-Governor (Latrobe), though, for the time, it was considered an expensive undertaking. The scheme consisted in turning the valley into a sheet of water. Surrounded on three-fourths of its area by an amphitheatre of hills, by means of an embankment it would be absolutely enclosed, and, fed by the rainfall, the drainage of an extensive watershed, and by the River Plenty, the valley could be transformed into a lake covering a surface of 1300 acres, 2½ miles in diameter at its greatest width, a maximum depth of 25½ feet, and a circumference of nine miles. The water was to be conveyed by pipes to Melbourne. With certain modifications the Blackburn scheme was adopted, and on the 18th February, 1853, the Act 16 Victoria No. 39 of the Victorian Legislature was assented to, establishing a Board of Commissioners. Mr. Blackburn was appointed Consulting Engineer, but he died soon after the commencement of the undertaking. He was succeeded by Mr. Matthew Bullock Jackson, by whom the reservoir was completed. I often felt surprised that the Yan Yean works turned out to be such a great success under Mr. Jackson, who left the colony many years ago. I believe that much of the success was justly due to Mr. C. J. Griffiths (long dead), who, though not a professional, possessed considerable ability as a civil engineer, and, unlike other amateurs, knew well how to apply it. He devoted himself heart and soul to the Yan Yean, and saw that the work was well and properly done. It would be fortunate if another Griffiths were able to give a wrinkle or two to our engineers, for, by all accounts, there is no country in the world where water-works have been so expensively spoiled as in Victoria. Of the Yan Yean the colony may well feel proud, for, though it cost an immense sum of money, it has proved to be a good speculation.
There are two laughable incidents in connection with the Yan Yean worth noting. During the progress of the work there were several ill-boding prophets in Melbourne who predicted that the whole thing would prove a thorough failure-that the reservoir was in the wrong place—that it would either dry up or burst through the embankment and drown Melbourne. Foremost amongst the croakers was an old and worthy citizen, Dr. Wilkie, successful as an obstetrician, but very so-and-so as a politician, though for several years a member of the Upper branch of the Legislature. The doctor exhausted goodness only knows how many quires of foolscap and bottles of ink in demonstrating to a mathematical certainty that the Yan Yean never could, would, or should answer the purpose for which it was designed. Mr. James Murphy, a partner in one of the principal brewery firms, who once for a short time represented Melbourne in the old Legislative Council, had also a great "down" on the Yan Yean, and the prime Parliamentary effort of his career was a notice of motion in fact, a vote of want of confidence in the project; but his motion was not carried, and the Yan Yean was not obliged to abdicate. These were the two chief Cassandras of the time, with this difference-that the Cassandra of old foretold truly the Fall of Troy, but was not believed; while our Melbourne Cassandras were false prophets amongst unbelievers also. The work, which was four years in progress, was commenced on the 20th December, 1853, when Lieutenant-Governor Latrobe turned the first sod. The official ceremony of turning on the water was effected by Acting-Governor Major-General Macarthur, 31st December, 1857, and from New Year's day, 1858, the formal opening may be dated. On its completion the total cost of the Yan Yean was £664,452, and £90,606 had been expended on works of temporary supply. The embankment was 3159 feet long, 31 feet high at its highest point, 170 feet in width at the bottom, 20 feet at top, with slopes of two to one towards the land, and three to one to the water. Its supposed containing capacity was 6,500,000,000 gallons, or something more than a three years' supply for 200,000 persons at the rate of 30 gallons each per diem. This quantity of water was to be supplied from the rainfall over an area of 4600 acres, exclusive of the reservoir, the drainage of 600 acres through a water-course connecting the Plenty River and the Lake, and some 40,000 acres, comprising what was known as the Valley of the Plenty. The Plenty River was linked to the reservoir by a 440 yard tunnel through a hill, and then by an open cut from the stream. The water in the Yan Yean, at the highest level, stood 600 feet above high tide in the Yarra, and was conveyed to Melbourne by 19 miles of piping, the pressure in which was reduced by several valves. With all its shortcomings and capriciousness in the quality and quantity of the fluid it supplied, it has been both the best abused and most generally useful public servant the City of Melbourne ever had, and, as the first great public work constructed in Victoria, is a remarkable example of judiciously-directed enterprise.