Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/167

 The Producers ADELAIDE AND VICINITY 141 capital. Under the Act of 1861 the Council had power to borrow ^"20,000, and to assign the rates as security. A new Act was, however, necessary to enable them to raise the money, and this was accordingly passed by Parliament. Competitive designs for a building were called for, but, before anything was done, the municipal elections of 1862 were held, when Mr. T. English was returned as Mayor. Within a few days it was decided to begin building, and the design of Mr. E. W. Wright was accepted. Some opposition was shown to the work, but it was persisted in. The foundation-stone was laid on May 4, 1863, by Governor Daly ; the cost was set down at ^16,000. On June 20, 1866, the building was formally opened by the Governor, in the presence of 800 persons ; and at the time it was the largest municipal building south of the Equator. It formed a welcome adornment to King William Street. The Town Hall had a frontage of j t, feet, and th(i tower stood 145 feet above the pavement. The enrichments were in the Corinthian order. Immediately above the cornice of the main building were sculptured the city arms, and above apertures originally intended for clock faces was the belfry, provided with a peal of bells. The Town Hall proper was a magnificent chamber 108 feet long, 68 feet wide, and 44 feet high. The inaugural banquet held in the evening was attended by the most influential men of the Province, including the Governor, the President of the Legislative Council (Mr. J. Morphett), the Speaker of the House of Assembly (Mr. G. S. Kingston), and the Ministry. The building was erected at a cost of ^20,000, and in 1877 it was provided with an organ. The question of water supply obtained a good deal of attention. Under the Waterworks Act of 1856 the management of the scheme for supplying Adelaide with water was entrusted to a Commission, of which the Mayor was a member. An amending Act was passed in 1859, abolishing the Commissioners and placing the undertaking under the control of the Commissioner of Public Works. The city was thus deprived of all representation. Disagreements between the Council and the (iovernment were frequent, but the city was early supplied with sufficient water. Public baths and public drinking-places were opened in 1861. In later years, Councilmen and ])ublic meetings agitated to have the Waterworks transferred to the Corporation. It was a question of money. The Government showed no disposition to meet the views of citizens, and the claim of the Council was finally decided against in 1870. North Adelaide and the suburbs were connected with the mains. When the efficiency of the supply satisfied the authorities, the Corporation sought to obtain money to be expended in draining the city. A Bill was drawn up in 1867, and introduced into Parliament, seeking to authori.se the Corporation to borrow ^80,000 ; but the financial scheme it set forth was not sound, and the Bill was not carried. Important discussions took place on the scheme of drainage to be followed. In 1865, essays were submitted to the Council dealing with the subject, and that of Mr. R. G. Thomas obtained the first prize. The Bill adopted the plan of Mr. Thomas, which was that the sewage matter should be conveyed by a deep-drainage system to vacant land a few miles distant and utilised to fertilise the soil. In 1867 the lighting of Adelaide streets with gas was established by the South