BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 260, 27 October 1908, Page 3

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Tile ordinary fortnightly meeting c ffo Council was held iast night. i?re ■eat: His Worsaip tue Mayor (Mr. (j Tiscfl), Ore. Boon, Bellringer, Coleman West, Mills, Morey, Uittley and Browne An apology was received for tire ab sence of Cr. Collis. THE OLD KAILWAY. ■Mr. T. Konayne, Ueneral Manager ol Railways, wrote that he could aot see his way to recommend mat tue additional piece of land between Leach ami Hobson streets should be included in tile valuation previously supplied, if the addition were required a fur.hcr £75 would lie needed. If the Council were willing to pay the iu 1 sura of £75 the Department would restore tue bridge to its original condition and accept payment as loliows:—£37s on tue Ist April, 1901), and £3OO on the Ist April, 1910. The Mayor said that so far as tue ariWgements for payment were concerned they were very satisfactory, and he considered £75 for the additional strip of ground was reasonable enough. Or. Bellringer moved that the offer be accepted. With his Worship he considered the Department was treating tiie borough very liberally in spreading th« payments over a couple of years. He explained to the Council that the purchase of this piece would obviate the necessity for filling in a deep gully ;o mate the street available for traffic. He suggested that the Department should be thanked for the manner in which thi Council had been met in the matter. (Jr. Browne secondtu. He considered the Council was making a good investment for the town. A CKMJSI'EKy; SQUABBLE. Mr. E. Hunt, sexton, reported that Messrs. Bussell and Son had tnte.-eu the cemetery with a cartload of material and carted over the road despite his instructions to the contrary, nc objecting on the ground that the track was too wet, and according to the chairman's instructions. In the course of the argument which unsuca, Mr. Bus«ell had made use of •'language." Whilst, said Mr. Hunt, others needed a permit to cart over the surveyed ground and paths, Mr. Bussell had a key of the main gate and seemea to Co as he liked. Messrs. Bussell and Son wrote a loag explanatory letter, admitting the use of the 'language," complained of ia the coarse of a dispute, and regretting it. Mr. Bussell believed then tnat tie sexton was acting without authority. He had been provided by the late sexton with a key to facilitate his work, and had thus been allowed to enter the cemetery without question, but on perusing the by-laws he found 'that provision was made for obtaining a permit. Messrs. Bussell and Son pointed out that it would be very awkward to have to obtain a permit on every occasion When they had to cart to the grounds—often several loads a uay—«nd aswd that annual permits be issued. They also asked that in the case of very heavy monuments, permission might be given to enable these to be taken as near to the graves as possible, damage ;to be made good by the person erecting the monument. Cr. Browne said the by-laws appeared to be arbitrary. Some latitude should be given to monumental masons, I who had to make their livings practically at the cemeteries. It was not the Council's duty to irritate tradesmen. The annual permit should be. a satisfactory plan. Cr. Coleman said he knew that contractors were very careless, leaving gates open, and leaving material about. The sexton must be supported by the Council. Ih this case the contractor .was quietly spoken to, and he "boiled over" pretty quickly. -Cr. Mills said that complaints were rife, particuarly with regard to the regulation of the cart traffic, in which the sexton appeared to be very strict. It had been reported to him, too, that there was a lot of pilfering of flowers, and he thought the sexton or the committee should endeavor to appreheriii the offenders. His idea was tnat th* Council should give every facility toj contractors. He thought the permits should be issued, not annually, but during the pleasure of the Council. To have the masons running round after the keys was "all bosb." Cr. Bellringer urged that the Council should assist the contractors. It was also ridiculous that all work should be done, as the permits stated, to the satisfaction of the sexton, for what did in know of monumental masonry! Cr. Browne said the sexton's powers were only in connection with tue enforcement of the by-laws, such as leaving the ground in decent order, thealignment, and so cm. Crs. Coleman, West, and Boon said that that provision was quite understood by the contractors and sexton alike. Cr. Boon said he could see no hardship in the contractors applying for a permit for each work taken in* hand. The matter was eventually referred to the Beservea Committee. THE ABATTOIKS. Mr. D, K. Morrison wrote:—"! have pleasure in reporting favorably on the chilling plant installed by J. B. Mac- . Ewan and Co. for the Council. There was, approximately, s>/ 2 tons ol meat , in store when the door was opened." - last Thursday to admit visitors. 1 ; particularly noted the small rise ia temperature prior to starting the machinery, which shows that tne design and construction .of the chamber was in ' the line of maximum efficiency. It 'S safe to assert that the machinery is capable of taking care of 25 per cent, more meat than the present chamber is capable of holding without unduly harassing it. The machinery is up to your (requirements in every way, and .'s erected in a proper manner/' His Worship reported upon the satisfactory test of the chilling plant at the and that the committee had deemed it prudent to engage Mr. Hodgson to mind tn e machinery. He load taken up his duties accordingly. An account was received from Messrs S. Luke and Co., of Wellington, for £5 for drawings of a hoist submitted by tbem.

Mr. H. Black, electrical engineer, to whom the account had been submitted for bis explanation, said he had asked the firm for the loan of a plan when he was asking theui for a price, and they Bent a rough sketch, with a few dimensions instead. He, of course, could nave obtained a detailed drawing by the expenditure of 2s in train fare and about three hours' travelling. .Messrs Luke and Co.'s hoist was not smiatile, and he bad to make a fresh design for Which their price was too high, £B'J 10s against £SB. He could not reconi mend that their account be paid. This explanation bad been forwarded to the firm, and their reply ran us lollows: —"We are simply amazed at the statements made by your electrical engineer. To prove the strength of our position we would like to say that not to our knowledge has there been a bullock hoist, or approximated to it, made in Nw Zealand. It was a special-1 ty we went into some years ago, and -we have supplied (until your case) ever}' bullock-hoist in the Dominion. So much -has our reputation for these travelled that we have supplied several to the Commonwealth of Australia. When your electrical engineer cails what we sent you a "rough sketch win some few details'' it is au insult to our intelligence What we sent was data and detail showing the principle of the design of the hoist, from which he sent a drawing wJiich did not give sizes, a:i« probably the person who tendered ;t did not know what was in it, and hence the difference in price. We question whether your engineer had seen anything of the kind before in his life. 1 he altered it in any way in detail 1 tt show some slight alteration this does not affect the principle of the hoist, which is the same still, and we guarantee that if submitted to experts it will be found that more than E5 pencent, is our plan, and the whole of the principle or design which is adopted. Our account is a very reasonable one and we must insist upon payment of sanie/'-Keferred to the Abattoirs CommHtee' WORKS COMMITTER The Works Committee recommended: That permission be given to Mr. A. Reeston to erect a signboard at the th« hoard to be .removed wln-nn ei ienureOvtt Council; that the depu+TJi™, from the Fitziov Town Board IfSo dZt the Council is unable to ccede to the rc.uest or assistance „f- n iii..« Devon road: that ->ir. Tohn lio ft, >e Snuited the lease of of action 13.«0re ; house Reserve, not o«nipiM by th septic lank, for the sum of 10* pe week; that Mr. ilookor be granted tnv necessarv material required for tno porch, washhouse and fencing at the waterworks cottage; that the arc lamps be erected, one between Currie strcoi and Liardvt street, and one between Liardet and Oover streets; that Mr. List be informed that the Council is nnaWe to accede to hi» rc<iu"-t W» better access to a back section in ,Fillis street; that, ns recommended "in his report, the horough engineer he authorised to effer-t repairs in Woolcombe Terrace near section 1275 (climated cost '£ls); that the borough engineer be instructed to proceed with the installation of the by-pass at the reservoir (cost as provided for in the. estimates, '£4 so) j the Council resolve

; that the provisions of section 117 of) ■the Public Works Aci, 1008, sUall not apply to the Buller street and Molesworth street, and that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Gov-ernor-in-Council for approval. The Council deleted the clause in reference to the by-pass at the reservoir. Otherwise the report was adopted. UkStM Ah. Mr. C. A. Budge wrote in reference to the lease of one of the Council's reserves near Toko. Mr. Cuest, the leaI see, had complained mat tnu dwellinghouse was practically uninhabitable, a low miserable structure of white pine, and he asked whether, in the event of. a suitable dwelling being erected at a cost of, say, £250 to 11300, and weli' maintained, the Council would allow compensation at the end of lu o lease, for the then value of the building, such value to be ascertained by arbitration. Or such other means as might be agreed upon.—Referred to the Reserves Committee. Mr. T. B. Blanehett asked the Council to extend the 3in water main from Shortland street to his property in Ueorge street, Yogeltown, where a iww house was to be erected. The present lin service would not suffice for the three houses.—Referred to the borough engineer for a report. ' Eleven ladies asked that the ladijs' half-hour at the baths in the mornng ' be from 7.30 to S o'clock, instead of ! from 5.30 to 0, as at present stated on * the tinie-taiblc.—Referred to tile liaths 1 Committee. i Mr. I. H. Hurle submitted an alter- ] native selieme for water supply to .Nor- ' uianby and Vogel streets, Fitzroy, and ; asked the Council to 'grant ex- ' penditure.—The work wlil be gone on ' with, providing the applicants are sat- * islied with the alternative scheme, and that the residents sign the necessary ' application forma. J Mr. F. A. Dobell wrote asking for » further consideration of the rejected "i petition of the Belt road residents for H improved water supply, and asked that 1 2in wrought iron pipes should be aub- 6 stituted for the 4in main- previously mentioned.—Referred to the Works « Committee. B