GREY BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 25 October 1901, Page 2

GREY BOROUGH COUNCIL.

The usual meeting of tlie aboveCouncil was held last night. Presents The Mayor, Crs Slieedy, Petrie, Joyce, ') M'Lean and Asliton.

Telegram from Mr Guinness stating! that £1,500 had been put on the Estimates for Post Office.

Mr Sheedy said it was ridiculous to talk of repairing the old office. It was simply throwing money aw»y. . . From A. B. Clark agreeing to divide half cost of extra cost on drain pipes from Auckland. ■'

Mr Joyce moved that the Captain ha sued for amount. No seconder. It was said the account had been, settled, and there would be little chance of recovering.

The Mayor said the cost would he more than it was worth. Mr Petrie moved that Mr Clark's offer 1 to pay half be accepted.

Mr Sheedy seconded stating that there was but little chance of recovering the amount from the captain of the ship. Frcm Mr Bae relative to charge for gas leakage. Referred to Gas Committee with power to deal.

From Mr Lutz relative to footpath in Customs Street. On motion of Mr Petrie, seconded by Mr M'Lean, matter waa referred to Works Committee to report upon at next meeting.

From Mr M'Queen for lamp on Marsden road. Resolved on motion of Mr Petrie, seconded by Mr M'Lean that the matter be referred to Lighting Committee to report upon same at next meeting. From Messrs Merrett arid Craig relative to sections taken up by them, and offering to sell same for £175. as desired by the public, intimating however that they had other offers.

Mr Petrie said that at present the Council could not agree to pay £175, bufc perhaps some arrangement could be come to. In view of desire of the Hospital staff to keep this ground clear, he moved that the matter bo referred to Hospital Trustees to get their opinion, and see i£ any arrangement could be come to to conserve the land to the institution. Mr Sheedy in seconding said the price was too high, and neither the Council nor the Trustees were in a position to pay anything like that amount, but some arrangement might be come to. Mr Joyce Avas against any such proposal. It was preposterous. Tho Mayor held a like opinion, bufc thought Mr Petrie's resolution was in the right direction, ltesolution carried.

Prom Mr O'Donnell applying to get share of Borough cartage. Eesolved on motion of Mr M'Lean, seconded by Mr Sheedy that the matter be left in the hands of the Town Clerk.

The Finance Committee reported as follows :

" Your Committee recommend that the Council call tenders for the town hall and gas -works' loan, and for the overdraft loan, in all £9,848 2s 2d, in debentures of £SO each, bearing interest at 5 per cent for a term of 10 years, with a sinking fund of 1 per cent. No tender bcloiv par to be accepted. " That your Committee be empowered to make arrangements wiih the National . Bank for a temporary loan of £3348 2s 2d pending the flotation of the abovementioned loan, and that an overdraft be applied for on the woiking account at the bank of > £3,000 in anticipation of the Borough's revenue, which will be collected from the present time to the end of the financial year on 31st March, 1902. Your Committee will bring up adetailed statement of the financial position of the Borough as soon as all the returns are available." Mr. Petrie moved that a draft of agreement, setting forth duties; be draw 1 up and signed by Messrs. Latimer and Orams on the one part and the Borough Council on the other. Mr. M'Leau, in seconding, held it was imperative chat those using the engine, should see to it being kept clean and in order. Mr. Sheedy was strongly of the same opinion, and said they did not want any more break-downs in future.—Carried. WEE EkIOADE EEPOET. " Your Committee met on Thursday, 17th inst, all members being present except Cr Sheedy, and the following resolutions were carried : (1) "That the Council be recommended not to depart from the former resolution ro the appointment of Fire Inspectors, (2). '• We Find that engineer Latimer is at work on the Cobden side in the daytime, but his residence is at the back of the lire brigade station and adjoining it, and he is therefore favourably recommended for night work. . We tnerefore recommend that a deputy engineer be appointed, Mr F, Orams 'being qualified for the position, and suggest that the salaries be adjusted as follows:—T. Latimer £3O per annum and F. Orams £25 per annum."

CAITAIX VINSEN's KEI'ORT.

The Captain of the Brigade sent in the following quarterly report:—

"The steam iiro engine and manual engine have been tested and found to be in good working order. " The stand pipes have been also tested and the greater part of them found. in good working order, but there are some that want cleaning out at once.

" There was two alarms rung out since my last report, one in a cottage in Hospital street which, was put out without

ihe aid of the gear with little loss. Also ■one which proved to bo outside of the * Town Boundary which the gear was not * taken to, but the firemen turned out in their usual prompt manner. TOWN SUBVEYOb's BEPOBT. The Town Surveyor's report was read .and adopted, as follows : i "1. The data required by Mr. Bell re filter bed and reservoir site has been put in hand., but is 'greatly hindered by continuous wet weather and the fresh in the river. " 2. Elans and specifications have been prepared and tenders called for Sawyer's Creek road, and they will be before you this evening. "3. The plans and drawings for Sawyer's Creek bridge are finished, and the work will be ready for contract by the ■next meeting of the Council. "4. The contractor for drainage works in freehold town south is getting on well. The road contract in Shakespeare and Marlbro' streets is also proceeding in a satisfactory manner. The Herbert Street cnlvert is still far from completed, although the contract time has expired. Floods and high tides have interfered with the work, but still it ought to have been out of hand long ago. The contractor has agreed to carry it to a speedy completion. '' 5. The Albert Street standpipe was given to the Foundry in June last, and it is not yet completed. The Manager promises to complete the order in a fortnight. • "6. Owing to pressure of work and unsuitable weather, the Abattoirs' Committee have not yet been called together. Under the Slaughtering Act, 1900, abattoirs have to be established in 12 months from the gazetting of the census on June, 1901, but the Governor may extend the ■ period for another year in special cases." SANITABY INSPECTOB'S EEPORT. " Since my last report I have issued several notices to offenders against the ' sanitary by-laws, and in nearly all instances they have met with prompt attention. In other cases, such as the Chinamen's portion of Sheedy's Lane, so soon as the wetither allows, the yards will be cleaned and gravelled. " I have also to report that the vehicle and dog taxes are now all collected. In five cases I had to issue summonses for their recovery,. but in each case the matter (including costs) were settled out of Court.

' " Some of the lodging house taxes are lis yet unpaid. If immediate attention is not given to the final notices sent, I will at once take legal proceedings for their recovery.

"The sanitary contractors are evidently doing their work to the satisfaction of the ratepayers. I have made numerous enquiries, but have received no complaints. " I am -glad to be able to state that since my last report no complaints of the cattle' straying nuisance have been received by me. The numerous convictions obtained against offenders in the earlier half of the year, seems to act as a wholesome deterrent, and satisfied owners thai it is cheaper and better for them to keep their cattle off the streets."

. The above report was read and referrod to the Sanitary Committee to deal with, several Councillors stating that the sanitary condition of the town was far from being good. STREETS. Cr Sheedy called attention to the bad state of our front street footpaths. The Town Clerk stated that the work would be pushed on with at once. ,Cr Sheedy said that there was a resolution on the books that no streets should be gravelled unless with broken metal. Yet the road to the cemetery was one mass of beach gravel. Cr M'Lean said that the streets in the town were in a bad state, and the Council should give them their earliest attention. Cr Joyce said he would like that piece of road from the railway station to Cobden bridge asphalted as soon as possible, as it was very necessary. y Cr M'Lean said that it had been reported that they could not make enought asphalt, as the weather was so bad. He thought they should erect a shed in the gas works' ground, so that work could be carried on wet or dry. sawyer's creek road. The following tenders for the above road were dealt with :

In regard to the Chinese, Me Potrie moved that instructions be given to the Sexton to see that all Chinese interments in the future be made in that poriion of the ground set apart for them at corner of Parna road and Chesapeake street. He did not object to the Chinese being buried in any part of the cemetery so long as they oontirmed to European customs, and did not desecrate God's acre and shock public sentiment by such horrifying proceedings as those of past months. It was repulsive to the feelings and distressing to those who had relatives buried in the enclosure to see such proceedings. Mr Sheedy, in seconding said the whole was disgraceful to public feeling, and should not be- tolerated. The other day a dead Chinaman with an old blanket round him as the only covering, was brought and put in one of the boxes and stored there. The Colonial Secretary should not in his opinion, have sanctioned | such an outrage upon public interment. I He had unfortunately of late had to visit the cemetery pretty frequently, and the soenes there were disgraceful. The Chinese should be provided with a burial ground for themselves. Mr Joyce was prepared to go to any extremo to prevent like occurrences. The Mayor said the resolution had his warmest support. » Eeßolution carried unanimously. Cr. Petrie moved that His Worship the Mayor bo ordered to prevent any Chinese remains from elsewhere being stored in Groymouth. There was no law so far as be was aware that authorised the bringing into the borough of a number of dead bodies to be stored for months, and he objectod to Greymouth being made a charnel-house for all the Coast. Mr Sheedy seconded and held that the Council in the best interests of the citizens would be justified in goingjto the extreme. Basolution put and carried.

T. Shannahan (accepted) £147 0 0 J, C. Hogan ... 168 15 0 John Kennedy ... ... 173 0 0 P. Power ... 182 6 0 P. Deere ... 189 16 6 T.P.O'Donnell... ... 210 4 0 M.O'Eielly ... ... 228 10 0 CHINESE INTEBMBNT.