BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1732, 21 February 1874, Page 2

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

usual weekly megting of theljorough, Council was held las.t evening. JBresent-^-The Mayor, Councillors Kerr, Hamilton^ Dupre, Reid] Ooates, and Moore. A letter frj>ra the lessees of the Brunner Coal Company, asking for extension of depot accommodation, was referred to the ■ Public Works Committee. : A letter from the Despatch Foundry Company, asking if the Council had a firebell for sale' to the Reef ton Fire Brigade, was ordered to be answered that there ' was none available. The following letter was read from the Qreymoutt Coal Company, Limited ;— " Herewith I have the honor to, enclose, a tracing Showing the position aod exferit of this company!s property, and! to inform you that II have sent down to the company's office a block of coa.l taken from the seam at its outcrop on this sidej the section of which shows 14ft of clean coal, arid we. have/every reason'to. be|ieY§ thar the' same seam underlies almost the. whole of/ the property, comprising an area flf about l'2o'Q acr.es.' '^er.efpre. ' calculating 20,0f)Q, tops, per acre upon }QOQ acres, and allowing a margin for waste, faults, Ac, we anticipate the property to contain ] 6,000,000 tons o! coal, which at an output of say 500 tons per day will last 106 years. .. ; > "And aasumiug upon this vend a cost of production of 63 per ton at the pit, and 2s per ton for traction to Greymouth we shall, as soon as the line of railway in

opened, be in a position to supply at least this quantity to Greymouth at a cost of 12a per ton. "In Dr Hector's report on the coalfields of the Colony for 1872, he estimates that 30 acres of the Brunnerton Beam at 16ft thick, will yield 4,000,000 tons. Therefore, it is not out of proportion to assume that .1000 acres of thia property, with a seam 14ft thick, will yield 16,000,000 tons of coal." The report and tracings were laid on the table, and on the motion of the Mayor it was resolved to acknowledge their receipt with thanks. Sergt. Moller, as Inspector of Nuisances, wrote pointing out that there was no place proclaimed for the deposit of offal, rubbish, &c. The Mayor stated that the Inspector was mistaken, as a place had been properly proclaimed for the purpose. It was resolved to give public notice of ths exact locality of the depot. The report of the Finance Committee recommended that in future payments on contracts be made by the Finance Committee, on the certificate of the Engineer, without having to wait for tte same being brought before the Council. Also that a subsidy of L 125 for the year 1874 be paid to the Fire Brigade, on condition that the engine-keeper light, extinguish, and clean the public lamps ; L 62 10s to be paid on demand, and the balance six months' after date. After a discussion, the first clause was negatived, and the second adopted. On the recommendation of the Public Works Committee it was resolved to order the construction of two approaches to the wharf on Mawhera Quay. The remaining business was of little public importance.