The Times. Published on Tuesday and Friday Afternoons. Motto: Public service. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1920. FRANKLIN MACHINERY LOAN.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 9, Issue 579, 29 October 1920, Page 2

The Times. Published on Tuesday and Friday Afternoons. Motto: Public service. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1920. FRANKLIN MACHINERY LOAN.

1 The Franklin County Council hatgiven notice of a p >ll of the ratepayers of the who!• county to be taken on the same cay as the "triennial elections of cou icillors, Wednesday, November 10, IS 20, on a proposal to'borrow the sum c ': £IB,OOO for the purchase of plant anil machinery. The loan is for a term o' 36 J /2 years, and the rate of interest to be : >aid is 5V4 per cent., with a 1 per cent, sinking fund. The who e amount of the loan has already b en arranged for on these terms, wh ch is highly satisfactory, as many fcther local bodies, are now paying s'j{per cent, interest for their loans. We feel constrained to criticise the council adversely for being so late in [the field with a machinery loan proposal, for it is behind the neighbouring counties in this respect. However, seeing -that Franklin has been/able to secure the money at what is/ a low rate of interest in these dafrs, it is likely that the materials will/be secured long before some other bounties which havt already carried loan proposals. Fo; this piece of good management the Franklin Council may be excused i'ot its delay otherwise. The council proposes to purchase the new machinery and plant re-; quired to ileal with road construction and mnintenance works throughout the wlole of the county. Some time ago fir. J. F. McArthur, tin county SRgfieer, reporting on the proposal, snaed the following items were yquiwL—Purcljifee of machinery for, aril \flwctfi'pment of, the Mercer stone quarries throughout the county; scow or othe) suitable vessel far ' freighting and landing metal or shalls on to wharves or landings on ManuXau Harbour, fitted with proper winches, etc., for economical handling/ of materials: compound stete*u»f oil road roller fitted with scarifying attachment; portable stone-c»HshiHa' plant complete with motor trucks for carting n\etal, shells, and othei materials: - travelling elevators for loading mqetel ot shells into motor trucks or dumps at railway stations oVTahrlings on Manukar Harbour; workshops and sheds for housing machineX; portable metal hoppers for grading stone; oil tractors for grader won* large-size road graders, scopps, road plows. and other/ smfSttWrticles required: travelling /quarters for men in connexion wynrNams, crushing plants. etc. \ The council ha\ been hampered very considerably V> its road works during the last twoYseasons owing to the "fiT*"C" ?fcH"T" ant ' materials. The metallinescheme and* Paerata\oan works bavin particular been/Very much delayed owflfrgAto lacjpof stone. At the present to ordinal';, maintenance amounting tabout Cl6,tK)O the council has loan Aph«y~ Government grants and subsidies, expend Amounting to approkimatWjfeiTS.OLM 1 . The bulk of this fyan ancrnnrant is for new metalling, and it is i/- these works, so ncccs sary to\thefprot'resa and develop ment of rfce qountK a/e to be pushed on to "eonrolerioji quickly, some bet ,ter imlStye made for th<of 'crushed in<|Lil. \The items, placed Jirst on the above list, of Machinery foV of, the Merer" anaV other quarries in the County* would make stone available by rait to_»'considerable portion of the couS^y,-iind at a much reduced rate to what is being paid at present time. It is proposed to open uj, a suitable quarry or (worries on the Manukau Harbour fortne supply of stone to all that portion of the county served by landings on thai harbour. In connexion with this portion of the county the proposal to secure- a suitable vessel to freight stone and shells to various landings will meet with approval, as great difficulty has been experienced in tin. past in getting such work done at reasonable rates and when required: this vessel could be kept going the whole year round delivering metal or shells, to various landing places. X A compound steam or oil driven road roller, fitfcejd with a scarifying attachment, urgently required for IheVpurpose iNf roiling newly-laid ahd ist/scarifying existing itetaT*>toAcls in connexion with the and repair of the same, j Anotfter"\ portable stone crusher) and tmctioij engine is required in connexion Jlrith the metalling of new loads. ~"

In conjunction with the supply of stone to be obtained from Mercer' ami other stone quarries, it is proposed to provide motor trucks for delivering metal from railway stations and dumps on to the roads. Motor driven elevators are to be provided for the quick and economical loading of trucks. This method of delivering stone where required would he less costly than the system oi' small contracts fbr supply of spawU on various roadp and sending the stone crusher reiind to break the same. Under Oie proposed system the stone would jbe conveyed to thi loads direct from dumps and quar J'ies at less expejise than obtains a, present. Also, ojiving to the shortage of contractors prepared to under take road construction works at re a tollable prices it[ is necessary 1" acquire machinery and plant for tlvpurpose of carrying out such wo>'k,-. A special rate oi 1 'l2th o|" a peinn is proposed to li> 'struck over ! he whole count\ as -iiVuritv for I he loan, but | Ms rale willlnol I-"' levied sep aralely. The i|.it<l''Ps( and, .-inkin'.: fund will be paid but of the account Accounta :i.re kept of ali work do!!'' by county leainr-, rush in;; rr.llin-- and ha<il|r ■ ! .ul supplied by (|uaniK. ; ; w et.c,. and i)>tidin:- debited, anc\! general jixuuh' credited, with the ;«i.iV«u!> By tin meant; ridings huviny the use of pluni are charged for same, including a •:' > fjcient '.-Hi!! I" cover interest a ><! sinking fund. Franklin County comprise;.- ■■•< area of (Vjo square miles, with a population, at (he 1910' census, o, iKi'JV. 'Hie rateable capital value .' the cotitily is i:.'l.fj 11,(552. and sua ■ ri(lin»,> 11; i• i not b'Tii valued .~iit". • l!il"'.iii«l lid I, olhers U>l7. I'heri aie aj'pi'i'itniftlv "'no miles 'if in<-i alh'd nods and L'-JU nolo; of lonm-ii . nd iiumel ailed i'o;ah in the county: |he financial hurden v.'dl. Iherefo'' l ' lion. Uatepavei , an- uracil in .uppoi : I lie oioposal heartily, .md reeonl theii votes on Wednesday, lOlh prov. A |isl of Ihi. polli.i- places was pid, lished ia the last i-.siic of ihis papei. Franklin County is not' alone with this proposal, quite a numb: r ol dher councils in the Auckland IV>vince having already raised loans for ;he same purposes. /

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS To ensure insertion casual advertisement copy must be at the "Times" Office by 10 a.m. on the day of publication; replace matter must be handed in by noon' on the day prior to publication. Neither news items nor advertisement copy can be accepted after the above-stated hours, unless for a subsequent issue. Canvassing for the Pukekoohe war memorial fund will be carried out on Monday.

Dates of inoculation of calves in this district against blackleg are notified in our advertising columns. The open events for the Mauku Athletic Club's sports on New Year's Day are advertised. Further reference will appear later. "Tickets for the Pukekohe Convent scjiool concert, to be held on Tuesday, November ft, mav be obtainable at The Bookery.

It is stated that there are very good reasons for anticipating that in the near future one of the banks will open a branch at Manure\v.i.

In an advertisement in this issue the New Zealand Bacon and Meat Packing Company intimate that they will receive pigs for November at various places.

In an advertisement in this issue Cr. H. Wilcox announces his candidature for the Pukekohe East Riding of the Franklin County Council at the forthcoming elections. The Franklin Racing Club is now prepared to receive all stock donated, and donors are requested to bring the beasts to any of the stock sales held at Pukekohe, when they will be taken charge of by Mr. R. H. McGough.

A half-caste Maori youth met with a cruel accident at Aka Aka yesterday. The lad was riding on a disc plow at Mr. T. Robinson's farm, and fell off. one of the large discs practically cutting his ankle-cup out. He was brought into Pukekohe and sent by the Thames express to the Auckland Hospital.

A special meeting of the Manukau County Council was held on Tuesday, when special orders were confirmed in connexion with proposed loans The amounts involved are: £1250 for metalling Redoubt Road, Wiri, anc l £2OOO for forming and metalling- the Moumoukai Hill, Ness Valley, Clevedon.

At the meeting of the Mann.rewa Town Board on Tuesday evening, Mr. T. J. Corin stated that he and Mr. King had recently paid a visit tc Taranaki. where keen observation was made of the roads. These roads, Mr. Corin stated, were second tc none in the Dominion. The roads had been down a considerable number of years, and he was convinced that it was time the board took steps in the direction of modelling their roads in the same manner.

The necessity of having the machinery loan of £IB,OOO over the whole of the Franklin county carried on No vember 10 was urged at to-day's council 'meeting by the chairman, Cr. W. Claud Motion, who stated that if the loan was not carried the council would have to strike a heavier rate for the purpose of obtaining machinery for road-making. The ratepayers throughout the county v.fflted good roads, and the only way- they had a chance of having the work done was to get machinery. The loan, he was satisfied, would become self-supporting. Modern road-mak-ing machinery was essential, and if the loan was not carried, he ;eiterated the statement that machinery would, have to be obtained, and they would have to strike a rate sufficient to acquire machinery as well as other works.