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him to prepare without any further delay the plans and estimates for a Water Supply and for extinguishing fires, in accordance with the Governor's instructions in the Colonial Secretary's letter of the 20th of April.
The Appendices were handed in by M. Price on the 6th of August. In the first paragraph of that document, the Surveyor General says, referring to the correspondence between Mr Rawlinson and the Crown Agents, that with regard to the alterations proposed by the Consulting Engineer, he had received on the 20th of April:- "With regard to the construction of the floors and walls of the fire tanks, I would, with due deference, adhere to the design shown in the original tracings sent home!"
In a subsequent paragraph M. Price yielded point to M. Rawlinson, and agreed to enlarge the size of the tanks by twenty per cent: and he finally estimated the cost of the scheme at $59,000. But neither in the report of the 30th of June, the appendix to it of the 6th of August, nor the plans and estimates, did Mr. Price comply with the wish I had expressed in April that the fire tanks' scheme should be considered in connection with the general question of the Water Supply of the Colony.
Mr. Price was again reminded on the 19th of August of his omission to do this, whereupon he stated there was