ASHBURTON BOROUGH COUNCIL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1877, 26 June 1888, Page 2

ASHBURTON BOROUGH COUNCIL

The ordinary meeting of the Aehbur-' ton Borough Council was held laab eveniDg. Present —The Mayor, and Cra Williatoson, Fiiedlander, Bird, Roberta, Seaty, Thomas, Reid, S^ott, and Tucker. A few bnrges36B wera present, and Mr U. K. Fooks, the new!y -appointed Olerk and Engineer, took up his duties, mayor's statement. The Mayor a-iid that; tho debit bßlanco at the Bank wsa £1062 16a Id. The amounts which bad beeu received einorj last meeting were :— Dog licenses, £4 lOa; exolae licenses, £310 ; earth, £2 14s ; f bridges, £3 ; water pipea. £16 5a ; rente, Reserves, £24 IO3 ; rales, 1888. £37 13 ) : total, £398 12*. CORRE3PON DENG B , Tetters were read (1) From Me R. M. Outhbertßon, applying to be placed on the bargeaa Hat, as ho was occupying premises Jn respect of whioh he paid rates to the owner. — After discussion aa to whethur the addition ooul<% under the circumstances, be made, Cr Friedlender proposed that the application bo granted, provided the owner did notohjjot. — Or Williamson moved db an amendment that the request be granted, provided the Mayor cac fiid it can be legally done. Or Thomas 'seconded —After discussion Or Frledlander withdrew his motion, though he was satisfied it was m order, and that moved by Or Williamson waß oarrled.~(2) From Mr 0. Dixon, on behalf of the trustees and congregation of th c Wesleyan Ohnrob, drawing attention to the bad state of the footpath on the north side of Cameron street. — Referred to the Worka Ojmmittee, with power to act,— (2) From Mr 0. M. Brooke, applying to bs put on the burgoas|roll — Application left In the lunda of the Mayor. — (4)FromMra Mackay, matron of Hospital, acknowledging with thanks the receipt of papers and periodicals. Received,— (s) From Messrs A and T. Butt, Dunedin, j applying for seventeen iron pipei. Or! Friedlander said a matter waa coming up* later m the evening whicb, if agreed to, might necessitate the reteution of all the pipes the Council had. The leiter , was accordingly held over.-—(6) From Aahburton Publishing Company m regard to unpaid account for advertising Sir Julius Vogel'a meeting, and also m regard to discount deducted from account submitted to theOouncil. — Or Roberts moved, that m place of deducting dieoount, the Council take three months' credit. — Or Tucker seconded. — Or Scaly said that he had heard there had been an arraogement as to advertising rates, and if so, it would be unfair to "dock" the accounts, — Ihe Mayor was net m a position to say if Or Scaly was correctly informed. — Or Friedlander moved that the matter be referred to the Finance Committee, and this waß agreed to —(7) From Mr 0. E Fooks, on behalf of Messrs Fooks and Son, accepting appointment as Town Cork and Engineer. — After a iittle discussion, Mr Fooks undertook that the other member of the firm, Mr 0. O Fooks, should write signifying his acceptance of the terms and conditions of the office, this matter having been overlooked. TREBB. The Mayor said that at the BUggeßtion j of Or Williamson he had written to the Railway Department, pointing out that it would be preferable that deolduuuß trees Instead of pines should be planted on the railway reserve, because m winter pines would shut out sunlight from East street, and keep tho roadvay «ret. Ha had received a letter from Mr Burnett, Btatlng that he would act on the Mayor's suggestion. A later communication had, however, been received from Mr Burnett, stating that the evergreens had already been planted. Ho was considering what could be done, and he asked the Coanoll for suggestions. After a brief discussion, m whioh the Council ospreaeed a desire that alternate everarejena should ...ftLreplaoed by deciduous trees, a motion proposed i>y a cnsaly to this effect was carried. WORKS. For the information of the Council, the Engineer, Mr Fookß, made a verbal report as to the work dona daring the past fortnight. FIRE BBIOADE COMMITTEE. The Fire Brigade Committee recommended that a hoso winder be porohaaed, as suggested by the Brigade. The Committee had considered the suggestion of the Hampatead Town Board re denoting the locality of fires by signals, bat ooald not flea its way at present to make any recommendation. The Committee had desided Jto meet deputations from the two Brigades, m order to diacusa the queßtion of the amalgamation of tho two Brigades under one head. The report was adopted, THE DISALLOWED PAYMENTS. - In reply to Or Taokor, the Mayor said that no aotlon had been taken m regard to the payments disallowed by °the Auditor. LICENSES. Or Scoft asked if tho contractor for shingle for the Council p*id a Hoenßß. ' The Mayor did not think a license m such a cast) was neaeeaary. Or Scott maintained that Bcoording to bylaw 75 It was necessary. It was oniair to the licensed carriers if unllceneed men were allowed to ply their trade. Cr Taoker eatd tint a oaee of the sort had been decided m Ohriatchurnh, and he thought that before the o mncil took any ateps it wonld be hb well to ascertain how that CBsa would affcoi;. the Ooijucil After dlacusßlon Or Thomas wished to know (vhon th.c Council Intended to .mforca tta bylsw with regard to hawkers taking oat a license. Later m the evening, Or Thomas again brought up the question of enforofna; the bylaw regarding the licensing of pedlars and hawkers. He referred to the injury done by traders of thla sort to the ratepayers of the borough who had businesses. He suggested that notiScation should be given of the Oonncl'la intention to enforce tho Hoenae, Other Councillors demurred to any ex penses being incurred m tho matter, and Ora Thomaa and Bird referrei to the unfairness of mulcting m a penalty a man who had no means of knowing the 1 aw made by the Council. It was ultimately decided to draw the attention of the police to the matter,— Cr Thomas dissenting. THE LATE CLBBR. n.°i S"?? la ] lde n moved that th « late Clerk, Mr Braddell, be paid a bonus of £50 m recognition of past services. Cr Williamson seconded the motion and bore testimony to the efficient manner m Mr Braddell, sinno tho formation pt the Counpil, had performed his duties as Clerk. Cr Scaly endorsed Cr Williamson's remarks. Or Roberta suggested tint a letter should bo drawn up expressing the Council's appreciation of Mr Braddell's servicos. v Tho Mayor spok-3 m high terms of Mr Jiraddell a services Cr Friedlander's motion was unanimously carried, also another proposed by Cr Roberts that a testimonial should be drawn up and given to Mr Braddell. OFFICE FITTINGS. It was docidod to procure some small fittings needed m the office. CA.BBIBR3' LICENSES. Cr Scott moved that the attention of the 1 police be called to Clause 75 of the Borough by-laws; Cr Tucker seconded the motion. Cr Scaly said that if the motion was aimed at the contractors for the Council, he would oppose it Or Kcptt Baid that the reason he moyed was beoaqse private people, were carting J Bhiugle |f Ol Jother people, and charging ' font. «*«» r

Or Williamson said the effect of the motion would be, that people building would have to pay more than thoy did now. After an irregular di cusaion the motion was lost. < HIGH PSESSUJRE WATER SUPPLY. ] Mr D. H. Brown attended to give details ] of hia schemo for providing the Borough with a high pressure water supply, and also with electric lighting M> Brown road his schema R8 follows : Mr Mayor ana Gentlemen,— I beg to thank you for this opportunity of plaoiag before you a scheme whereby Ashburton can have the advantage of the eleotrio light ana a water supply for , fire prevention purposes at the same time. You were about to spend a considerable sum of money m the purohase of a steam fire engine, ana a further Bum m providing underground tanks for holding water, and I took the liberty of asking Mr Friedlander to request the Council to postpone this matter for a week or two, whioh was kindly done. The scheme I have to place before you is a very simple one, and is as follows :— On a Borough reserve as near the municipal buildings as possible, to erect a water tower thirty, five to forty feet high, on the top of which build a tank to hold from 10 to 20 thousand gallons of water, the tower to be built m three or four stories, as may be found most suitable ; the first or ground floor to have a steam boiler and small high speed engine by a good maker, the boiler to be double the oapaoity of the engine, whioh oan be added to afterwards as required, m the style of what is oalled twin engines. On this floor would also be plaoed a couple of first class dynamos for street and shop lighting, distinct from each other. A small pump to keep the tanks full at the same time as the light would be on, and a larger steam fire pump for direct pumping when a fire oooura. On the floor above I would recommend sleeping aooommodation for say seven young men belonging to the Fire Brigade, one of whom would always be required to sleep m full uniform, so as to be ready at a moment's notice. In a line with the present railway I would propose ' that you Bhould lay down a row of water pipeß, from say Mr Donald Williamson's to the railway station ; those pipes you have m stook. At the intersection of every street I would have a junction for future extension down the various Btreets at right angles with East and West streets. At the corner of every street *I would place a stand pipe with hydrant, and a reeled hose of fair length, whioh would require to be properly boxed up. This water pipe to be oonneoted with the water tank on top of the tower, and with the Bteam pump. From eaoh of those boxes containing the hose a wire could give an alarm and tell m what street a fire had broken out. This alarm would be given as m Ohristchuroh and other places, by the simplo breaking of a pane of glass m this box. A steam horn could be plaoed on the top of the water tower, which would be sounded within two seconds of the alarm, and a lamp on the tower would show with the esoaping steam from the horn a blaze of light for miles around. One dynamo would be used for the street lighting alone, and could be switched off and on at will. . The moment it is time to light the town it would be put on, instead of, as m gas, beginning an hour or two before the time, and m many parts of the town an hour after. The same thing applies to the putting out. The other dynamo would do for the shop lighting, and can be extended to private houses at pleasure when the people want to have it. Let us suppose for a moment that this has been done and the thing m working order ; a fire breaks out m say Montgomery's Buildings or m that blook. The person who sees the fire runs aorosa the street, breaks the pane of glass m the hydrant box, whioh gives the alarm to the engineer m oharge, who rings up the young men Bleeping above, one of whom is ready to run. Meantime the person who has given the alarm runs out the hose, and before any person oan reach him has a stream of water flowing on the fire. The alarm having been given the engineer turns on his large steam pump, whioh is always ready, and gives a more powerful volume of water than the tower can give, but the tower has answered its purpose m giving the start of several seconds, whioh I need hardly Bay is more than half the battle. With all this the present brigade has turned out and from the existing water supply does all it oan to render effective service. Thus the hydrants at the QornfitJjtt go*"*?"' " ftHa mooie tnreetßwould 56 m ioll play within thirty seoonds of the outbreak if any one were on the spot or m the street at the time. Now comes the important part of this scheme. "What is it to co3t ? Well, gentlemen, that is for you to find out, as I do not undertake to do the job, but only bring it before the Council as a project whioh I think will be found worth making inquiry about before throwing it aside. Some of you may say that it is m advance of the time, and you have no money to spend. This may be all true, but you are going to Bplnd money on a fire engine, whioh would be part of this scheme at least. You also pay about £200 a year for the town lighting by gas, part qf whioh would be saved, and you must remember that it would coat at least £25 a year to keep the fire engine m gas, to keep up steam, besidea the engineer's wages. In my scheme one engineer will do the whole lot, with a young man for day work and cleaning up, etc In flat towns like Ashburton, where a high pressure water supply cannot be had, I consider the combined scheme will yet play an important part m New Zealand. With plenty ef water power up m our gorges, m unacoessible plaoes, this power will yet be transmitted down to our towns and villages, and influence many industries. I oonsider that the Ohristohuroh Oounoil have thrown away at least £1000 a year m giving up that fine water power at Qashel Street bridge, which could have been made to give the eleotrio light to half Ohriatohurch with very little outlay. In conclusion I would ask you to instruct your engineer to prepare > estimates for this water tower and the laying of the pipes down the streets, and we will arrive at a conclusion whether the oost would bo greater than the value to be received, and if so I will be one of the first to condemn the project; Cr Williamson had no doubt Mr Brown's scheme was practicable, the only question being that of coat, and Mr Brown was entitled to the thanks. of ihe Council for the trouble he had taken m the matter For years he (Or Williamson) had looked forward to the time when the town would be lighted by electricity. When it had been proposed that the Council should take over the gasworks, he had fought against the proposal, because of his conviction that the time would come when they would have electricity. They had noticed that this system was every day gainiDg ground, ond many municipalities were beginning to think seriously of adopting it. He had no doubt whatever, that, with the water power available wilhin a short distance of Ashburton, that the lown could be lighted at a very small cost— less, probably, than that of many of the towns which had adopted electricity. He did not know what Mr Brown's scheme would cost, but it waa due to that gentleman that they should make enquiry. He had much pleasure m moving that the thanks of the Council be tendered to Mr Brown for the care and attention he had bestowod on the scheme he had presented to the Council, and that the Engineer be instructed to prepare a rough estimate to assist the Council m considering tho matter, Cr Friedlander seconded tho mo ion, He thought that Mr Brown, who had no interest m the matter whatever, beyond hia wish as a ratepayer to further the nteresta pf tho town, was entitled to the warmest thunks of the Council. Mr Brown had previously spoken to him about the scheme, and as far as his judgment went he thought it wna feasible. They wore favorably situated as regarded the water supply, and he thought them itter resolved itself into the queotion3 of the cost of establishment and of annual charge. If It could bo shown that the coat would not be heavy he would support the eohemo, but if on the other haad the expenditure Involved was more than they could under the circaniataacea entertain, he would, of oourao, mnve for us being delayed. Or Reid eugges'od the appointment of a Committee to consider the matter with the Engineer. Or t.Villlaanosj'd m ition waa carried, and the Mayor conveyed the thauka of the Council to Mr Browu, who, m replyIng, oald that be would, be very glad If

the members of the Oounoll wonld at any tima pay a visit to the mill, and inspect the electric light apparatus which bad been fitted up, this being of the newest and moat improved pattern. PAYMENTS Accountß were pnßssd for payment* PIPES It was dpclded that the Council ihould not at present disposa of any more of Its pipes. AN JXPLANATION Or Ffledlander aaid that ha had an explanation to mike. He would have made ifc oarller, bat he did not wish to disturb the good feeling that prevailed. It would be remembered that at the last meeting of the Ooancil he made certain remarks, and had said that If he found that a certain thing had happened 'he would raeign hla seat. He had then, to a certain extent, spoken hastily, and he was not ashamed to cay so. He had not decided what to do yet, bat before the next meeting he would make up bin mind. He thought he was jaotified m making this explanation owing to something being mentioned m print m regard to the mattef he referred to There was no other business.