LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 185, 15 November 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

At a special meeting of the Borough Council, held last night, the balancesheet for the year ended March 31, as audited, was finally settled, and it will be printed and published. An Order-in-Council will be gazetted on the 17th inst., declaring that on and after April 1, 1011, the Town District of St. Aubvn shall not form part of the County of Taranaki. Notice of motion to move that the resolution passed by the Fitzroy Town Board, stating their objection to being merged into Greater New Plymouth, be rescinded, was given by Mr. Jackson a;t last night's meeting of the Board.

The New Zealand 'Shipping Company's Kaikoura, the first ocean steamer to load in, Tokomaru Bay, lifted a thousand bales of wool there on Saturday. The freezing works there are expected to be opened towards the end of the year.

Martha Tainui was arrested at Opunake oil Saturday on a charge of theft. She was- brought before local Justices and remanded to New Plymouth. Constable Hickman arrested tlie woman, and brought her to New Plymouth afterwards.

The West End Bowling Club has extended an invitation to the Mayor and Borough Councillors and 1 their wives to attend the opening of their green on Thursday afternoon. The new green, of course, is on the Western Park, one of the municipal reserves. Borough Councillors were unusually inquisitive last night concerning the correspondence which was -sent out during the month by the town clerk and bor" ough and' electrical engineers. Over hair an hour was taken up in the reading of letters asked for, and in explanations thereof.

The borough engineer reported to the Council last night that to apply petroleum to Gill street extension between Brougham street and the railway line would cost £l7 10s. Tf tar were used, the cost would be about ,230, but wee weather would cause delay. Or. Dockrill reckoned the Council could do the ! tarring for a quarter of the money, and Cr. Bellringer promptly moved that liis ofler be accepted, or. that a piece ol the street be handed over to Cr. Dockrill for him to experiment upon. Councillors were averse to spending so much money oil this work whilst so many requests far improved footpaths in the side-streets had to be refused. Cr. Gilbert suggested a competition between the oil men and the gasworks (who supply the tar), for he understood that both companies complained that the engineer didn't know how to use either commodity. He moved that the Gas Company and the Petroleum Company be asked to quote for treating a chain of the new street, each with its own commodity. Cr. Bellringer seconded. Cr. Wilson said that bv carrying the resolution the Council would 'lay itself open to a. "slap in the face," for neither company was authorised by its articles of association to undertake road-making operations. The Council talked up and down and round about the subject for a long time. Then Cr. Wntkins jumped on the proposal with both feet, and moved that the metal on the street be blinded and the street opened. Cr. Clarke was tired of :il! this experimenting, and seconded the amendment, saying that the tar couM lie better applied to the footpaths in some of the sidestreets. Cr. Dockrill put up a second big fight for the tar, and eventually the Mayor received instructions to see what

Since April. 1008, there have been 202 connections effected with the municipal sewerage system. The borough inspector is to be asked to enforce the by-law which makes it an offence to allow horses to remain unattended in the streets. In deciding this, the Council is influenced by the tact that runaway horses are becoming frequent in the borough. Mr. Dockrill, president of the committee which has undertaken the work of erecting the South African Troopers' Memorial on Marsland Hill, mentioned at last night's meeting of the Borough Council that it was desired to have a, little more of the surface of the summit for the purpose of placing alongside tins monument a "pom-pom" gun which was used in the South African war. Or. Watkins was of opinion, in view of the recent events in South Africa, that all these guns should be put out of sight. Or. Bellringer objected to inscriptions on these monuments, for they might cause offence to other members of the British community. The matter will come before the Marsland Hill Domain Board, but it is understood there will be no objection to the gun being placea in position. What might have proved a serious fire was narrowly averted on Sunday evening. Mr. Gardiner saw signs of Are at the rear of his neighbor's (Mr. Broome's) business premises, and,promptly got out a small hose, which he played on the flames through a window. Mr. A. Lovegrove then put in an appearance, and the Are was extinguished by means 01 basins of water. It was found that a box under the window, full of paper, had caught alight, and the flames had travelled up the wall. Fortunately but little damage was done, but if the flames had remained undiscovered for even a little longer they would have got a firm hold. Neither Mr. Broome nor any of his employees had been in the building since Saturday evening, and cannot account for the outbreak, except by incendiarism. Paper could scarcely have smouldered for twenty-four hours, they point out, even supposing that it had been accidentally ignited on Saturday evening. At the Fitzroy Town Board meeting last night the following letter, in reference to a matter referred to in our correspondence columns under the heading of "Sanitary Eccentricities" last Wednesday, over the signature ot C.W.W., was received from Mr. F. B. Gardiner, district health inspector, Stratford:—"For the benefit of members of your Board who may not be aware of the full circumstances of the case, 1 should like to explain that this refers to the premises lately occupied by Mr. Wm. Murrison. The people went into the house with full knowledge that Mr. Murrison, the late tenant, had been suffering and, as far as I can understand, had died from tuberculosis, pythisis. The owner, prior to letting the house, carried out some disinfection, unfortunately not sufficient under the circumstances. My first intimation as to the matter was received on November 1. On November 3 steps were taken towards having the place disinfected. There was therefore no undue delay in protecting the interest of the complainants. I did not order any furniture to be thrown out of the windows, but the owner was requested to have the room occupied by the late Mr. Murrison re-papered—a. very necessary precaution. The tenants, were, thanks to the kindness of the owner of the premises, found accommodation in his own house whilst the necessary disinfection was carried out. More urgent work does not permit of my wasting the Departmental time in the capacity of a house agent, however desirable this might seem to this complainant." The explanation was considered satisfactory, members being of the opinion that no blame was attachable to the inspector.