Stratford News.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 138, 6 December 1911, Page 3

Stratford News.

I ' j STRATFORD HOSPITAL BOARD. | MONTHLY MEETING. Tho monthly meeting of the Stratford Hospital Hoard was held in the Council Chambers to-day, when there were present: Messrs E. Marfell (chairman), A. Meredith, J. Christoffel, E. Hine and J. Smith. PERSONAL. Mr. G. A. Marohant wrote resigning his seat, on the Hoard, and the Stratford County Council notified the appointment of Mr. John Smith in his place. ! The chairman, in welcoming Messrs Smith and E. Hine, regretted that circumstances had caused the retirement of Mr. Marchant and the loss of his services to the community. A NUISANCE ABATED. Mr. W. D. Anderson, solicitor, asked, on behalf of Mr.-Fred Calgher, for the complaint made by the inspector in reference to the hotel premises at Whangamomona. The secretary said that the report had been made by the inspector to the health officer, and this was now probably in the hands of the authorities in Wellington. It was not the property of tho Board. Mr. McAllister moved that a copy of the Health Department's report be "supplied to Mr. Anderson. Mr. Meredith said that Mr. Calgher knew well enough the nature of the complaint, for the W'angamonoa County Council had had ttv matter under consideration for some time. A later report by the health officer to the Department stated that he had visited the place. Tho old offensive pig-stye still existed, but it had been cleaned and limed, and much improved. He had ascertained that this improved condition had obtained since the previous visit. Mr. Calgher had explained to him that the delay in erecting a new pig-stye had been caused by the almost, impassable state of the road making the transit of timber almost impossible. The new pig-stye was about completed, with the exception of the concrete flooring, and when this was done the old premises would be burned. It was decided to refer Mr. Anderson to the Health Department. FINANCES. The secretary reported for the eight j months, April to November, that the receipts had been £1731) Os 9d, of which £'M4 came from ordinary maintenance fees and £1!) Os extra medical fees, £SV.) from local bodies' contributions, £73 Os Sd from voluntary contributions and £879 his from subsidy. Expenditure was £I4OB 13s Id for'hospital and £l»<s 6s 9d in charitable aid.

A DISPUTED ACCOUNT. The Hawera Board, in again submitting its account for portion of the salary and expenses of the inspector (four months, £4O 13s 10d, half the actual amount payable to the inspector), forwarded the following resolution:—•'•'That 1 , this Board is decidedly of opinion that the question of the inspectors' salary} was to be equally divided between the 1 Hawera and Stratford boards, as no mention was made at the meeting held at Kltham of the salary being in ratio to the respective values'." He therefore forwarded the account back for consideration. The chairman said lie understood that Messrs. Afarehant, Cameron and Penn, who, with Mr. Maxwell, represented this Council at the conference, were quite clear that the arrangement was that the salary should be divided on a valuation basis. It would be better to refer the matter to the Inspector-General for settlement, for Dr. Valintine had been present at that conference. It was not at all fair to ask the Stratford Board for half the salary, for the Stratford ,dis, trict was much smaller, and Hawera was the dominant authority also. On a valuation basis the Stratford Board would pay about one-third, which was what the board's delegates at tho conference expected. It was mentioned that the Hawera Board had already communicated with the Inspector-General. The chairman: Getting a word in early, eh? Well, we ought to see him arid put our side of the case. But the matter, if referred to arbitration, should have been jointly referred to him. Some members were of opinion that I the arrangement had better be can- | celled, but it was pointed out that the ! district could hardly afford an inspector .of its own, and they were committed to the present arrangement for a year. .Mr. McAlister moved that the secrei tary state a case for the Inspcetor-Gen- . oral, and that the Hawera Board he notilied. and that payment of the account be held over. Seconded by Mr. Meredith and carried. NURSE FOR THE BACKBLOCKS. Correspondence was read from members of the Strathmorc and District Nurse Association with reference to the canvass for financial support of the scheme. In each case the report was of an encouraging nature. Mr. Meredith said that one proposal made to the settlers was to charge so much per day for the nurse's services, making the charge to members about half of that to non-members. Anotker suggestion was that the settlers' subscription should be CI per annum, to entitle the subscriber to the nurses' servicer In-,, for th» year. Did the boa id ihinl. siich a sy- ; lrm workable? It would hav th; 1 ellVi-t of bringing in more revi nue. but there might arise trouble owing to paid-up members wanting to keep the muse longer than they would do if they were paying by the day. It had to be remembered ihat any scheme which v.-i.u'd imnaise the revenue by vo'ncary MilKcriplions would have th'■ <:i';r: of eaniiii!: a greater subside from 'h" C.ver. :■;.,,;!. i; nphasised thai, Ihe CKI nrem-.ed could bardlv be col-b.-t. :! i'i:ih> aw.av. Would the board anT.obM a uar.e if !!;,• -elMers w< re to gui'-anire payment of .ClO a month for four months? Members thou'-rht this should be irood enough. The -secretary read the previous resolution of the Board that upon the settlers guaranteeing ,£l!0 a year the Board I would find any further funds required. ' and that a nurse be sent. Mr. Meredith said that by fixing membership of the Association at CI a year and giving (he members the services of the nurse free, there would be no difficulty hi obtaining a guarantee of even up to C7D. Immediately upon a guarantee of £C>O being forthcoming the Inspector-General will be asked to recommend a district nurse for appointment. THE HOSPITAL. The visiting committee reported faror-

From Our Resident Reporter.

ably upon the state of the hospital gardens and grounds, and that the screen erected at the back door had proved efficacious in the recent western gale. The committee recommended that a bed-car-rier be procured, owing to the inconvenience arising from the presence of the step from the floor to the varandah. Having fully gone into the matter of fire prevention, the committee recommended the purchase of two ten-pint Minimax machines at a cost of £3 10s each. Mr. McAlister spoke in favor of these machines, which had several advantages over the installation of a fire hose. First, ! the hose would be unsightly in the corridor. Hose would not be very conveni- ■ ent for use by a nurse, who would probably be the first on the scene of the fire. Again, hose had a tendency to deteriorate, and often it had been found that hose provided in public buildings was unserviceable when fire broke out. The'! Minimax machine could be periodically tested at small cost. He explained 'that' owing to the number of passages and turns in the hospital, it was very difficult for nurses to wheel patients' beds about, especially when, as had been the case lately, there were 14-stone men in the hospital. The board referred the fire extinction' proposal back to the committee, ,and adopted the remainder of the report.

MISCELLANEOUS. The inspector reported favorably on restaurants, butchers and fruit shops in the Stratford borough. He recommended that the District Health Officer be asked to report on a Chinese laundry and certain stable premises. The matron applied for her annual leave to be extended to six weeks. Granted. THE ISOLATION WARD. : The Hoard went into committee regarding the proposed erection of an isolation block, Mr. J. D. Healy, the Board's architect, being in attendance. The chairman explained to new members that at last meeting the board had received tenders for the erection of the building, but the Board had not accepted any. As the cost was heavier than had been anticipated, the different members had brought the matter before the different local bodies, who had agreed to the expenditure on the original basis. The Stratford Borough Council ;ind, Whangamomona County Council had decided that the work was necessary and should go on, and the Stratford County Council was "not inclined to jib." The opinion existed in some quarters that the Board was autocratic in these matters, it having the power to spend money without being faced with the problem of providing it, and without being compelled to consult the contributing authorities. But whilst the Government could spend money to whatever extent it pleased, he believed that this Board should consult the contributing local bodies, and he was glad that this course had been adopted. The tender of Mr. J. W. Boon, at £1460, was accepted.

THE HALF-HOLIDAY. RETAILERS STAND FOR THURSDAY. At the .Retailers' Association meeting on Monday night the president introduced the question of the half-holiday and the •■ possibility of arriving at a uniform half-holiday for the province. He remarked that the Chamber of Commerce had 'been very active in regard to the matter, and had had a petition circulated [in tihetown, with the result that a majority signed in favor of Saturday. Personally,' he thought that' some, of the people whose signatures appeared on the petition should not have been approached on tho' matter, for auctioneers and commission, agents had no right to dictate to the 'retailers, any more 1 than the retailers should dictate to the others, as to what holiday they should observe. Mr. .Majsterfe said he desired to give the Chamber of Commerce 'credit for their endeavor tp arrive at i something definite, 1 biit He considered they had gone the wrong way about it. The Chamber had now convened a conference of local bodies, but had overlooked the matter of extending,an invitation :to the county councils' so that, oven .if the boroughs decided td observe Saturday the country storekeepers would not he bound by the decision,, and the half-holiday would not be universal. He pointed out that all the towns in Taranaki, With the exception of Hawera,' observed the halfholiday on Tlnirsday. Instead of trying to shift all the other towns from Thursday, why didn't all concentrate on Hawera itnd get the business people there to fall into line with the other centres? He referred to the failure of the' Saturday half-holiday in Nelson and Napier, and moved that the Retailers' Association, oppose the Saturday half-holiday. Mr. R. If. Robinson seconded, and urged that 1 Thursday was the better day for a rest, and that Saturday was our business day, He thought the Chamber of Commerce had gone a bit out of its way in circulating a petition The secretary: They saved me a job. Mr. Robinson said that had the Retailers' Association's secretary taken the petition round' it would have been signed by retailers alone, and that would 'have been of some use. Mi - . Watson bore out Mr. Robinson's argument, and said the Association had boon formed principally to regulate holidays, a work in which it.had boon most successful. Trior to its formation holidays we're a constant source of worry.Now {he executive decided, and the shopkeepers fell in with the executive's views ill every case. When a movement to change to the Saturday half-holiday came from the farmers it would be timj for the retailers to take notice of it. .Mr. Lewers was sure that to change frnni Tlnirsday to Saturday would lie detrimental to business in a (own like Si rat ford, where farmers had for years made a practice of doing their buvin" on Sat (Inlays. ' .' ' Mr. Walsh said the butchers were all for Thursday. Mr. Drake favored Saturday, but said older business men than himself might have the right of the matter in urging Tlnirsday. Rut Saturday would suit the employees best. The auctioneers held the, position. If they closed the marts on Saturday it would fix the holiday for the rest. Mr. R. IT. White urged the to "let well alone." Mr. Spence favored the retention of Tlnirsday. for Saturday wa= undoubtedly the best day of the week for business. At the same time, he didn't want this association to take up an attitude of hostility to the Chamber of Commerce, which had done and would doubtless continue to do good work for the ' town.

The motion was carried, and copies will be sent to the Chamber of Commerce and to the Borough Council. MAGISTRATE'S COURT. SOME WHAXGA' CASES. A sitting of the Magistrate's Court was held to-day (Tuesdav) before Mr. W. G. Kenrick, S.M. Several Whangamomona drunk cases, had been set down for hearing, the whole of the defendants excepting one i electing to .be dealt with in their abI sence. George Fraser was fined ss, with 7s costs, in default 48 hours; R. Anderson, two charges, 5s and 7s costs in one (or 48 hours), and 5s and 7s costs in the other (or seven days); John King, 5s and 7s costs (or 48 hours); J. Bonner, 5s and Ms costs (or 48 hours). John Smith was also charged with drunkenness, but put in >an appearance. He pleaded not guilty. Defendant's face appeared to be very familiar to the Magistrate and constables in Court, but he strongly denied that he had been sentenced at Hawera by Mr. Keur'ek to a week's imprisonment at Xew Plymouth some time ago. Ho also denied that he was the man the police took him to be. On being asked his proper name by the Bench he proceeded,to spell it as "John Smethurst," and on being asked what he wished to be known as he said it did not matter—call him John Smith, John Brown, or anything else. After putting the Court .to a considerable amount of trouble in trying to identify accused, it transpired that he had been sent to Xew Plymouth from Stratford for a month as a vagrant some time ago, and as a punishment for attempting to mislead the Court, as well as for appearing in anything but a sober condition. Smith (with the addition to his name) was sentenced to a fortnight at the seaside resort. J. Yandle, who did not appear, was fined 40s and costs for being on licensed premises during prohibited hours. Sergeant McXeely had found the man in a hotel yard at about 11 o'clock at night. In Court the accused said that he was there for the purpose of collecting jars, in which he supplied milk to the hotel, but the Sergeant said that he had made no mention of this when apprehended. 1 A prohibition order was issued against a local resident. CATTLE CASE CONCLUDED. In the Magistrate's Court to-day argument was heard in the case of Buchanan v. Kane, heard on Friday last, a claim for £43 0s lOd, loss sustained by the plaintiff owing to defendant's refusal to receive and pay for certain yearlings sold by plaintiff to defendant, a farmer at Tokirima, and for paddocking, droving, fees, etc., .incidental to the sale. Mr. Spenco appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr. W. G. Malone for defendant, Numerous authorities were quoted. • His Worship, in giving judgment, said he had not had much doubt in the case on the evidence itself. There was no doubt a complete contract, and no doubt in his.mind that the words, "a good line of real good sorts," were not a warranty, but merely a commendation, plaintiff's opinion of the quality of the animals, and a very strong feature of the case was that they had afterwords been sold by public auction and bought by the defendant himself at a shilling a head more than they had been sold for by the plaintiff to Kane. He had no hesitation in saying that no warranty or description had been given. In reference to Mr. Malone's argument as to gross negligence of the plaintiff, His Worship said there wasn't the slightest evidence 6f negligence. He gave judgment for th" amount claimed and costs amounting to £5 16s.

■ , RETAILERS' ASSOCIATION ANNUAL MEETING. ■ At the adjourned annual meeting of the Stratford Retailers' Association on Monday evening there was a poor attendance of members at the hour fixed, but when a start was made at somewhat after 8 p.m. there were present: Messrs. R. Masters (president), C. B. Walsh, R. H. Robinson, H. Lees, W. Lees, E. Drake, A. Spence, J. P. Watson, R. D. Lowers, H. J. Hopkins, R. H. White, and R. B. Anderson (secretary). The'annual report stated'that during the year five committee meetings had been held, all in connection with holiday and railway matters. Nothing of vital; importance had occurred during the year, but the Association was filling a •very useful position in the business life of the town, and it was hoped that members would continue to be as loyal as in the past'to the decisions of the executive. The financial year closed with a credit ■ balance pf lis 7<l. The president moved the adoption of the report and balance-sheet, and said that though not large it was very satisfactory. He emphasised the loyalty of members to the executive.—Mr. .R. H. Robinson seconded, and the motion, was carried without discussion. ELECTION OP OFFICERS. Mr. Masters was re-nominated as president by Mr. J.-F. Watson, but declined, as he had held the office for two years, and he believed that the office should go round. He nominated Mr. R. H. Robinson, who also declined on similar grounds. • Those present were nearly all nominated, and all declined, and in the end Mr. Masters was prevailed upon to take up work again. Other officers were elected: —■ Vicepresidents, Messrs. Lewers and Hopkins; executive (representative of the various trades), Messrs. H. Lees (butchers), E. G. Foster (boots), J. Petrie (watchmaking, etc.)', R. H. Robinson (drapers), A. Aagard (saddlers), R. B. Anderson (irongonmcrs), and E. Drake (grocers); secretary, Mr. Anderson (re-elected). THE POST OFFICE. The president referred to the suggestion made in Monday's Daily News that the Post and Telegraph Office should be open continuously from !) a.m. to 8 p.m., instead of closing as now from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. On the -motion of .Messrs. Drake and Watson, (he president, secretary and Mr. Robinson were appointed to ap- , proach the postmaster on the matter. The deputation will also represent the inconvenience caused to business people by (he regulation which prevents registered packets which arrived by the evening mails being handed io the addressees that same evening. The matter'of fixing a decent light in fhe private box lobby-, the present one being hardly xulficieul, io cnMe one io read letters will also be mentioned. ' GENERAL HEY 73 The Stratford School concert will be held on the 14th inst. The Whangamomona bakery (Messrs. Court, and Cottier) gets a good character at the bands of the Health Department's officer. He reported to the Hospital Board to-day. amongst a number of other matters, that he had purchased a two-pound loaf of bread at their establishment, and it weighed 21b lV ; oz. Territorial parades called for the Sth. 14th. 15th and Kith, have bee" cancelled, owing to non-arrival of equipment. On iho-e dates a voluntary class will be held for non-coms, and men desirous of perfecting themselves in drill and theory. Bad weather on Monday night caused a postponement of the. fireworks display till Thursday evening. Won't there be enough "fireworks'" then without a real live pyrotechnical display.

The recent election of members of the Whangamoinoiia County Council for the Strathmore riding lias been upset. The matter was ventilated in the S.M. Court this morning, when a petition was heard, Mr. R. Spence appearing for the petitioners. The facts were that there were three vacancies on the Council for this riding, and four men were nominated; At the poll Messrs. A. Coyne, J. Diggin and A. Meredith were returned, and Mr. J. M; Jones defeated. Then something was heard about an elector having been refused a vote, and the clerk, Mr. A. Coleman, made enquiries. ' It was found that this "elector" was not an elector at all, as his name was not on the county electoral roll. And, 'by an unfortunate mischance, he happened $o be one of the nominators of~Mr. Diggin, whose nomination was therefor invalid. Formal evidence to this effect was given by the clerk, and the S.M. declared Mr. Biggins' nomination informal. An order was made appointing Mr. J. Morgan Jones, the defeated candidate, to a seat on the Council. Miss Butler, sister of Rev. Butler, has returned to Stratford front her holiday trip. The New Plymouth Convent School pupils are to be given their annual treat on Wednesday at the Ngaere Gardens, which I am told fire looking more beautiful than ever this year. One day last week an accident occurred at Te Wera, a man having had his hand badly cut. He came in to Stratford, and having been told in the train by Mr. Meredith, a member of the Hospital Board, that all he had to do was to present himself at the hospital, apply for admission, and be admitted. He .applied, but he was sent away for an. order before he could be admitted. The matter was brought before the Hospital Board to-day by Mr. Meredith. The secretary read the regulation, which provided that immediate admission be given in accident cases, and the matter was referred to the chairman to enquire into. The local hospital people will be glad when the home for incurables is made available at Xew Plymouth. At present \ this .Board 'has no accommodation 1 for such cases, but has agreed to share the cost of maintenance of a building at Xew Plymouth, when it is ready, which, 11 suppose, will be when the new hospital ■ is erected 1 there and the present hospital buildings are vacated.