MANAWATU COUNTY COUNCIL

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 2617, 9 August 1923, Page 3

MANAWATU COUNTY COUNCIL

. MONTHLY MEETING. At a moot in" 0 f the Manawatu County Council on Tuesday the following were present: Sir James Wijson (in the chair). Councillors J. McKelvie, W. S. Penny. HJ J. Pagan, H. H. -Hunt, J. Boyce and IV. E.'Barber. ' ' j

In connection with the recommendation of the Main Highways Board that the Manawatu County be grouped along with other counties into a Highway District for the purposes "of the Main Highways Act, it was decided to agree to the grouping provided ‘the Hutt and Makara Counties were excluded. , A letter ’was received from the Valuer-General " respecting 1 the matter of charging fees to those applying for valuation data. This information, in the case of those applying, other than owners, had been supplied gratis, and it was pointed out that this was not in accordance with authorised procedure. —Received.

The county inspector reported on the tramway as follows: —Since his last report, half a mile of the 281 b. rails had been-re-laid with the new 401 b. rails, leaving about three-quar-ters of a mile to do. The work had been dclavcd on account of irregular supply of new sleepers, which bv the way. were not up to the standard of earlier consignments. A large proportion of the sleepers recentlv received contained a large amount of sap, and appeared to have been cut out of the limbs of trees. The inspector recommended that the crossings at Maltawai, which were worn out, should be renewed. With reference to the inferior sleepers those which were not deemed suitable were not used. The forest ranger reported on the progress of the construction of the tramway at Pnkako, stating that about -SO chains of the line had been connected ami v.-.-i-' ready for traffic. Owing to advc'S;> weather conditions and an unexpected difficulty in obtaining suitable metal, the work had been delayed somewhat. The Council, in discussing the report, decided to agree to the contractor’s suggestion that the contract be stopped temporarily until the weather improved.

The matter of lighting the bridge ever the'Rtfngitikei ’River at Bull's was mentioned in a communication from the Bulls Town Board and the discussion which followed disclosed the faet that accidents had occurred on the bridge owing to nonexistence of lights. It was decided to ask the Town Board what the cost of the lighting would amount to. and also to ascertain whether the Rangitikei County Council. who controlled the bridge, had been communicated with.

The engineer to the MnnawatnOroua Power Board wrote stating that delay had taken place in connection with the conference of engineers called to report on remedial measures for the snfetv of the Shannon Bridge. The delay was due to the slow progress made with obtaining the necessary surveys.— Received.

A communication was received from tbe Foxton Chamber of Commerce stating that the Chamber was willing to co-operate with the Council in endeavouring to secure a visit of the Minister of Public Works to inspect the Wirokino and Shannon roads which were reported to be in a very bad state. It was suggested that this might be a matter for the Main Highways Board and it was also pointed out that unless something was done in tbe near future, these roads would be unsafe for traffic. The Council had already applied for a grant to improve, those roads and, after discussion, it was decided to refer the matter to the member for the district, asking him to endeavour to obtain tbe "rant. It was decided to defer consid - eration. of the question of alterations and improvements to the Council offices.

The tender of Mr I. D. S. Cooks, for forming and metalling the Tangimoana road at the rate of £3 18s per chain was accepted. The Council decided to purchase ... a. motor tractor for the purpose of drawing the road grader. The engineer’s report for the month of July was adopted. Awaliou Riding.—Mr K. Easton has completed his contract for constructing . 21 chains of stop bank and the formation and metalling of about 10 chains of new road approaching the Shannon bridge. Arrangements have also been.made with this contractqr to deliver metal on v the Shannon road, 'opposite Whitaunui mill, for the sum of 15s per yard ‘ and on the Foxton end of this road for pgr yard. Tbe_contractor E^tfor-vrsupplying metaj. oif Whirokino road is making good headway withmetiih from <Mr Rqbinson’s pit, arid some first-class material is being obtained. Tramway.—Three trucks of totara sleepers have come to handy but the engineer is waiting for a further supply before commencing plate-laving again, as there is only ~ 64 chains of the line to connect up at Oroua Downs siding. The 401b,trarik, which was laid down about 16 or 18 years ago on the Carnarvan incline is now undergoing repairs. A large number of decayed sleepers are being replaced along ? ■* this section, and it is being straightened up. The line in many places up the incline, taking the cross sec"'tiPfl,"i?f Wci inches out of level and a number of the rails will have to be straightened and the line ballasted and packed to its proper level for :• easy and efficient running. . , Stone-Crusher. —After fixing up the machinery and getting it into something like running order crusher. jug was eommencedandapproxima-

tely 400 yards of metal have been crushed to date. There are yet several improvements to make to obtain better results. TRAMWAY MANAGER’S REPORT The tramway manager, in reporting on (he working of the tramway for the month of July, mentioned that the chief items of traffic were: General merchandise 129£ tons; minerals and manure, 141 ions: timber 23,300 sup. feet. Fares amounted to 19/11. The accounts showed a debit of £197 12/7 for the month’s working. Included in the expenditure was the Railway Department’s account for new axles and repairs to tires, et<4// amounting to £l2O 6/5. Application has been made to the Railway Department for a new set of slide valves for the G engine, as the old ones are worn out.