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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Otago & Southland Provincial Districts]

Civic Institutions

Civic Institutions.

Gas Works. These works are described under the heading of street lighting, in the general introduction to this section.

Mr. Henry Burall Courtis , Gas Engineer and Manager of the Dunedin City Gas Works, was born in Newport, Monmouthshire, England, in 1851. He was educated in Victoria, whither he accompanied his parents in 1856. Brought up by his father as a gas engineer, he was engaged in the building of many gas works in Australia. He accompanied his father to New Zealand in 1872, and erected the Hokitika gas works, but returned afterwards to Victoria and erected the works at Echuca. He subsequently came back to New Zealand with his father and constructed the gas works at Oamaru and Timaru. In April, 1874, Mr. Courtis settled permanently in New Zealand, and was engineer in charge of the Timaru works for nineteen years prior to taking up his duties in Dunedin in April, 1893. He first became a Freemason under the Scottish Constitution. An old and enthusiastic cyclist, he was a rider at amateur meetings in Victoria in 1870, and was for some time president of the Otago cycling club. Mr. Courtis married in 1878 a daughter of Mr. R. Clarke, of Timaru, and has three sons and one daughter.

The City Tramways . An article on these tramways appears in the section which deals with wheel traffic.

The Dunedin City Fire Brigade . This Brigade has two stations and two reelhouses. The central station is situated in the Octagon. It is built of brick and plaster, is two stories high, and has furnished private apartments for the captain, sleeping quarters for the firemen, accommodation for the apparatus, and a six stall stable for the horses. The other station is in Great King Street. It is a single storey wooden building, with room for a ladder carriage and a hose reel, and stabling for a horse. The two reel-houses, each with 500 feet of hose, are in Princes Street South and Arthur Street respectively. The plant of the Brigade is a thoroughly efficient one, and includes one Shand-Mason engine of thirty man-power having two seven-inch cylinders; two hook and ladder carriages, each with two 43-feet sets of ladders; one horse reel; a telescope ladder, minety feet in length, and said to be the largest in the Australian colonies. In addition to this a stretcher on wheels, with kit complete, the property of the St. John Ambulance Associaton, is kept at the central station for the use of the Brigade. The city being in possession of an efficient gravitation water service, giving a pressure varying from 150 to 180 pounds to the square inch in the lower levels, no chemical engines are employed. There are two firebells—one over the Town Hall and the other at the Great King Street station, and the locality of a fire is indicated by the number of tolls. Thus one toll represents South Ward; two tolls, High Ward; three tolls, Bell Ward; and four tolls, Leith Ward. The city is also supplied with the Morse system of fire alarms, there being upwards of thrity boxes, in various parts of the town. The system was inaugurated as early as 1877, Dunedin being the first city in the Australasian colonies to acquire it, and is personally superintended by the captain of the Brigade. The Dunedin City Fire Brigade consists of the captain, two foremen, one engine keeper, fifteen firemen, and three drivers, and has an honourable name for the fearless and expeditious manner in which it fulfils its hazardous and important duties.

Mr. Henry Gavie Mitchell Captain of the Dunedin City Fire Brigade, was born in 1848 at Salem, Massachusetts, United States of America, and is the second son of the late Mr. Henry Mitchell, for many years Governor of the United States prison, at Salem. He was educated at the public school in his native place, and at the age of fourteen joined the United States Navy as a second-class boy, and afterwards served in the war ships “Massachusetts,” “Siam,” and “John Adams,” In 1863 he sailed for South America, lived for a short time in the state of Paraguay, and afterwards removed to Bolivia, whence, after a residence of three years, he was compelled to make a hasty departure, owing to a revolution. He accordingly sailed for London, and a few months later embarked for Dunedin, where he landed in 1869. Mr. Mitchell was gold-seeking for several years, chiefly in the Mount Ida district, but without exceptional success. He returned to Dunedin in 1874, and was engaged for about twelve months as a clerk in the railway service. In 1875 he removed to Port Chalmers, and two years later entered the service page 101 of the Union Steam Ship Company, as a sail-maker and general hand on shore. There he remained till 1892, when he was appointed captain of the Dunedin City Fire Brigade. Mr. Mitchell's previous experience well fitted him for the position. After his term at sea as a man-of-warsman, he became a member of the No. 2 Ladder Company in the San Francisco Fire Brigade, and shortly after landing in New Zealand he joined the Naseby Brigade. Later on he became a member of the Port Chalmers Brigade, of which he was captain for several years. Mr. Mitchell has taken an active part in the work of the United Fire Brigade Association of New Zealand since its formation in 1878, and now holds its gold star for twenty-five years of service. He was president of the Association in 1888 and 1889. Mr. Mitchell was for many years a member of the Order of Oddfellows, and passed through the various chairs of his lodge. He has been twice married; firstly, to Miss Mary Wright, of Ayrshire, Scotland, who died in 1895, Leaving a family of one son and three daughters; and secondly, to Miss Lee, of Port Chalmers.

Wrigglesworth and Binns, photo.Mr. H. G. Mitchell.

Wrigglesworth and Binns, photo.
Mr. H. G. Mitchell.

The Dunedin City Abattoirs are situated in the Taieri district, about three miles from Dunedin city. They were established by the Dunedin City Council in May, 1898. The building is of brick and stands on a concrete foundation. It is divided into two departments; one for cattle and the other for sheep. The former possesses five pens, each capable of accommodating twenty-five head, and the latter affords room for about 800 car-casses. Adjoining the main building is a department for pigs, with interior dimensions of twenty-four feet by thirty-nine feet. This was specially designed for the purpose, and possesses every obtainable convenience and laboursaving appliance. The manager's office, the inspector's laboratory, the caretaker's room, and men's dining-room are situated in detached buildings. The block on which the abattoirs stand is ten acres in extent, and is divided into two paddocks.

Dunedin from Roslyn.

Dunedin from Roslyn.

Mr. William Dempster Snowball , M.R.C.V.S., who holds the joint positions of inspector and manager of the Dunedin City Abattoirs, was born in Scotland in 1863. He gained his diploma at the Royal Veterinary College, London, in 1884, and three years later sailed to Victoria, Australia, where he practised his profession at Ballarat till 1897, when he was appointed to his present position. Mr. Snowball has occupied the post of veterinary surgeon to the Otago Mounted Rifles since 1898.