CITY COUNCIL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume X, Issue 82, 6 April 1875, Page 2

CITY COUNCIL.

i : The.adjourned meeting was held last even- : iing. U'-Present,' all the members but Cr Everett. '• • . r Although the hour of meeting was halfpast six, it was half past seven beforo the actual business commenced, the Mayor stating that although he had been at work every dsy from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m., he found it impossible to get the affairs in proper ordtr, .everything being in inextricable con'fugion.. „ ;:■ . ' ' Mr Younger's letter resigning the offices of eas and waterworks manager being taken into cons-ideration, it was unanimously resolved on the motion of Cr Thompson, seconded by Cr Harper, " That Mr Younger be requested tovwithdratT his letter of April 2, and to fdr'th*«_ih tender his resignation unconditionally." Cr Gray moved, and Cr Wilkin-, seconded, /'That the gasworks be placed pro tern un^er Alexander Lowrie as working manager i wh.' 1 shall receive £ per week, and enter into an agreement to be arranged with the Gis and Waterworks Committee, in conjunction with the Mayor." The Mayor was glad to find that in Mr Lowrie they had found a Daniel come to judgment who could throw some light upon the siibj ect, hu'the trusted that the appointmen t would be only temporary, as they wanted -otntthing more than a ; working man for the plnce, one who could keep accounts, and furnish a report. They must he prepared to P'-y a thoroughly efficient officer to undertake the work. Cr. Wilkins thought Mr Lowrie would make ah excellent wo -king manager for the time, a_ he had Succeeded in giving a supply of good g-is under circumstances in which the late manager had failed to do so. Cr Carter thought Mr Lowrie could do all the work irtnide the yard, and that the outside work should be left to the City Surveyor. Cr Burn be ieved that it would be advantageous to the town .to retain the services of Mr Lowrie as working foreman, at all events for a time. The resolution was carried unanimously. '.' Gr. Wilkins moved, "That' the salary which shall at present be attached to the oflice of Town Cerk be £200 per annum." He proposed this sum as they were gradually drifting into a large expenditure, and it would always be easier to increase than to decrease the salary. A handsome salary was not necessary, 1 as all the qualifications they - required iri the Town Clerk were a knowledge of ordinary business and of men and ways, aptness at book-keeping, uprightness of character, and steady perseverance at office work. He should be the thinking part of the town, cut out the work of the Council and ke.p everything working smoothly, and such a man should be obtained for the amount he propn. ed. It ha ' been said that a lawyewould ba r.ec'ssary, but he could not agree to this, and thought it would be too expensive.. .:,_... Cr Gray seconded the resolution. Cr Webb thought the salary should be less than heretofore/ as the Clerk was not lo act as Collector, hut he thought that in addition to the salary . he should be provided with a house free of rent an l rates. 'I he Mayor had a very different idea of what was required of the Town Clerk, wh should be a man of education. They were willing to give £200 a year ta a working foreman at the gasworks, and actually propost d to offer the same sum to a Town Clerk whose duties Avould be of a far more impor tans and responsible nature. It was ridiculous to suppose that they could get a goo man for such a wretched pittance. He should pre.'er to have a lawyer or barrister, who, from his special training, would be more likely to prove an efficient officer. He would conclude by moving, as an amendment, •' That the salary of Town Clerk be not less tlmn £300 ft year.". Cr Harper seconded the amendment. Cr Wilkins did not consider that there was any prcof that high pay always secured , efficient services. He ag eed that head wo k should, as a rule, be paid better than hand work, but in the colonies the latter was quite as valuable as the former, and he thought that the Council should take advantage of ■the circumstances by which they were sur-roun-ed... They, simply had to judge of the marketable value of the article they required and to act accordingly. Upon a division upon the amendment, the Ayes were 4 : the Mayor, Crs Burn, Harper, and Thompson. Noes, 4 : Crs Carter, Webb, Gray, and Wilkins. The Mayor gave Irs casting vote witli the ayes, and the amendment was carried.

■• ___ ', ..'.' -'_j rsr^rrj ,■ . , —■y ■■■■_ At a recent meeting of the Asiatic \ Society of. Bengal a, crow's nest was exhibited, constructed of pieces of thin j telegraph wire, very ingeniously interwoven, and it was stated that similar nests, and others made of soda-water bottle wire, were not uncommon in the vicinity of the telegraph storeyard. A member of the society remarked that by thus takiDg advantage of Western civilisation the crows were setting a good example to the majority of natives who had not advanced much in tbe construction and arrangement bf their houses siDce the introduction of British rule; - The .Marquis of Bristol has intro- , duced a new scheme of hiring laborers upon his Suffolk estate. He has increased wages two shillings per week .^namely, to .fifteen shillings for ordidiuary laborers, and seventeen shillings for housekeepers, all the year round, with cottage rent free. He has abolished tbe plan of giving harvest money, nnd will pay thr eepence,.per. hour overtime inßtead, and from 8 a.m. to 430 p.tn. in winter; a month's notice to be given on either side. The scheme is- recei ved with much favor by the men, and tbey have readily signed the contracts. The streets of Londou have the reputation among ignorant. classes in far off places of being "paved witli gojd,' . Londoners, however, know well ('hough to their cost that the street.*? through which it is thoir misfortune to pick their way have, as a rule, no othtr qoaiing than one of mud. The city of Virginia, Nevada, in the United Stntrs is, however, literally paved with Bilvn and gold. "There is not," says the Virginia . Enterprise, "the slightei.* -stre.tch.. of j imagination in saying tbn' we never take a step in the town but we are walking on silver." In proof oi this it is stated that the other day a young man bet his friend the price oi assaying, and the " cigars," that h e •would .take a lump of mud off tlie wheels of a 'bus then standing befon them, and would get out of it precious metals to tbe value of o dols per ton. An ounce or two of mud wus forthwith taken from the wheel of the vehicle, and placed in the hands of an aßsayur I ',w,ho was- not told where the sample 1

. _■__■! was obtained. The assay was made, and the assay er's showed that the sample contained at the rate of — Silver, 7dol 54 cents; gold, 2 dols 32 cents; total, 9 dols 86 cents. Whitebait and Tapeworms. — The Ballarat Star says that whitebait and tapeworms must have been the diah indulged in lately by a number of the lovers of the former delicacy, judging by a discovery made on Wednesday by a local medical gentleman. Happening to scrutinise a basket of whitebait at one of tbe principal local fishmongers on that morning, to his surprise he discovered that the bottom of the basket was literally covered with tapeworms, which had come from the bowels of the fish, some of them two inches long. He immediately drew the attention of the dealer in fish to the circumstance, who thereupon opened several of the whitebait, and in five ea.ee oC* of seven, the fish were found to contain .h vigorous tapeworm. It is needless to "Hate that the whitebait wero withdrawn from the market and destroyed. The (_?. ,l i nese in the neighborhood of Creswick <-"<"> » large business I in salting down whitebait, and if this is so, an inspection should certainly be insisted upon by the local He_\Hu Officer.