CITY COUNCIL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 132, 4 June 1881, Page 3

CITY COUNCIL.

. The Council met at 7 o'clock last night. Present : The Mayor, Crs Track, Greig, (Graham, Harley, and Johns. A letter from Mr Bond, asking that the open ditch in Collingwood-street might be filled in was referred to the Works Committee. In reply to a letter from Mr R. Aitken, complaining that he was overcharged for gas, the Town Clerk was instructed to Btale that hia gas fittings must be defective, and consequently that the Council could not be jcespousiblo for it. A letter from Mr J. Me ire relative to clearing furze in the neighborhood of Washington Valley was refered to the City Surveyor. A hackney carriage license was granted to W. Devaney. A letter from Messrs Newport aud Eatwell referring to the narrowness of the road up the Maitfti near the quarry was referred to the Works Commitiee. ,tt y,Hs resolved to. accept Mr Eatwell's offer to allow night soil to be deposited on bis property in the Maitai Valley, subject to the Surveyor's approval of the place selected. Attention was drawn by Cr Grabam to the destruction of the wattling which formed the breakwater in the Brook-street stream near Mrs Edwards' property. The Surveyor said it was the work of boys, who had also done much injury to the coping of the culvert in Washington Valley by chipping it with the axes which they took to ou the hills to cut manuka with. It was resolved to publish a caution, and to call the attentiou of the police to the matter. Cr Harley referred to the recent accident on the Port Road, and suggested the formation of a new road between the tram and railway. Referred to the Works Commitiee. Cr Trask having called attention to the ■waste of wator through defective taps in the neighborhood of the Port Public Hall, the Inspector was instructed to see to the matter. ||Cr Greig drew attention to the state of the culvert near the Post Boy and the stench that arose therefrom. The Surveyor was instructed to see to the matter. Cr Johns called attention to the dangerous Btale of the grating near Krouse's boarding house, but it was stated that the evil could not be remedied without forming the footpath. The Mayor wished to state how gratified he was by the economical course the Council were pursuing, and said that if they persevered in it they would soon have sufficient funds for building the Collingwood bridge. The opinion was expressed that the City should not have been put to the expense of an election of auditors, particularly when it was so clearly shown that the unsuccessful candidate had so little chance of election. It was stated that the cost of the election would very nearly equal that of auditing the accounts. The Council then adjourned. The Grey River Argus states that Mrs McGahey, the woman whose husband was murdered at Reeftori, and who recently gave herself up to the police stating that Bhe bad set fire to her house, h&i beon pronounced to b. jinsane. The New Zealand Herald gives the follow - iug details of the submarine eruption recently mentioned in telegrams : — " When a little beyond the Slipper Island a huge lump rose in the water a short distance from the steamer, like a great bubble or a vast gasometer; it was roughly estimated to be about 60 feet in diameter. The bubble soon burst, but the sea did not resume its normal condition, but kept seething and bubbling as long as the vessel was in sight of the spot. There was evidently an upheaval of a volcanic nature proceeding, for the water was quite muddy, and stones and pipi shells were plainly discerned. The bubble was first noticed within 10 minutes to 10 o'clock. The time was noticed particularly, because it was conjectured at the time that an oceanic commotion was probably the continuation of an earthquake which would be felt on shore Some time ago great quantities of dead fish were cast up on the beach on the coast, and speculation was rife as to the cause of mortality. It has been suggested that submarine disturbances, such as that seen from the Glenelg, would be a likely explanation of the matter. According to the Lyttelton Tim<s the croakers' occupation is gone in New Zealand. Our contemporary says:—" We really pity our friends the croakers very sincerely !First they told us that the colony would have to repudiate its obligations, but the colony very perversely became prosperous Then they told us that our progress was gone, but the census returns have, with the most reckless disregard of theories, placed New Zealand the first on the list of progresBive colonies, the rate of increase of population being the beat test of national progress. Lastly, they wailed about urbau and suburban land values. The auctioneers were cramming sense down their throats every Saturday, and the other colonies supply them with the knock down argument of comparative grain statistics. The croakers' occupation is gone. We are sorry for them, because they are an intensely respectable body of gentlemen. But we must, nevertheless, congratulate the colony on the downfall of their precious theories." The folllowing is stated to be the way iv ■which Charters, the absconding manager of the Sydenyham Building Society, worked his swindle :— While the auditors were looking over the accounts they could find no receipt for £300 from a man named Baxter. Charters being a3ked for it, immediately Baid, " Oh, it is all right ; I will get it by the time you want it again." The auditors proceeded, Charters stepped out to the firm mentioned, and said to one of the clerks, 11 Oh, on the 14th of last month, we paid you a cbeque for £300. Just give me a receipt for it, there's a good fellow. I have it ready drawn up. I'm in a hurry. Just sign it." The unsuspecting clerk complied, and Charters, who had taken the precaution to leave the name blank, filled in Baxter's and presented an apparently genuine receipt to the auditors. It is said that he actually got three receipts from the clerks in this office for the same cheque. Another method was to get directors to sign cheques on various pretences at odd moments, at the bar of an hotel, for instance, and of course he was able to do pretty well what he pleased, for it •was impossible for them to remember what cheques they had signed. In fact, the whole method of conducting the business of the society is of the most extraordinarily loose kind. A correspondent sends the Colonies the following remarks on the recent depression in New Zealand : — The climate here/he says is magnificent, aud food is cheap and easily got. Wages are immensely high for yeai'3, but for some time past they have been getting lower, and the people call it " bad times ;" but if I wished to get a man at 2s 6d. a day just now, not a man could I get. They grumble at "bad times," but they ask 6s. a day wages when a sheep can be got for ss. As to positive poverty, only drunkards, spendthrifts, and their families are in want. Many a workman has saved £500, aud for £500 a man will get a good piece of cleared land, all ready for the plough, enough to keep cows and some:sheep, and return him about £100 a year in food of various kinds (not cash, of course). No winter food for cows and horses is required; they live on the grass quite well, and work well all winter. But careless men get more careless here, and waste enough to keep a poor family at home. One country girl told me that she and her mother were feeding the pigs with food which, before they left Devonshire, they would themselves gladly have eaten. Messrs,: c Thomas Meik and Son, civil engineers, York place, Edinburgh, have prepared plans for the reconstruction of the Tay bridge. The features of the scheme are the employment of the present foundations, the height of the railway above high, water to be 40ft, the river traffic being accommodated by swing spans over a deep water channel, and the piers to be built of brick. The estimated cost of a single line" of rails upon the present foundations, with swinging spans for a double line, is £330,000, and for completing the bridge for a double, line an additional £280,000 is required, making the total estimated cost £610,000. The single line would be ready for opening within two years, and it is stated that traffic might be run across it with safety while the foundations for the other line were being laid, flve jw& feeing -necessary for tute work,