STRATFORD NEWS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 248, 10 March 1913, Page 3

STRATFORD NEWS.

j Fit' Sir.'ii' Resident Reporter, r Olili -1 ': -u I .on 11 & Mercantile Agency Co. TciepllOilC Il'J. STABLES AT A HOTEL ARK TiiKY SANITARY? The ]bah:i Department reckons Unit 111,, slalili's al the t Ilib Hotel should bo destroyed. kcau-e they are. in ttit' opiuji )ti of tin' i!i partmental ollicers, insanitary. Tlii' !)oi'o;!:/li ! 'oiincil. whose member- iiirln<!i■ two builders anil an archi-li'i-t. coii-iiler- thai tin; present stables nerd only to lie repaired. Tile Health Department lias appealed to the Licensing Coiimiitlce, and the matter was discussed at the meeting on Friday. Sergeant McXeely reported that since fhe malt., 1 hail last been discussed by the Licensing Committee no attempt had been made to carry out the recommendations of the Health Department. 'Mr. Kenriek stated that the Health Department hail reported that the stables were totally unlit for use, being insanitary, ruinous and dilapidated, and should be pulled down immediately. The police hud reported similarly. Formal evidence with regard to the condition of the stables had not been taken, but he warned the solicitor for the licensee (Mr. .1. 1!. L. Stanford) that if nothing was done before the annual meeting oi the Committee, and evidence had to be taken, with the result that the Department's case was proved, it would be a matter of refusing to grant the license, lie knew well that ill such a case the solicitor would ask for an adjournment for a -jiionth to allow of the stables being pulled down, but they had been dealing with this ease long enough, and the Committee would refuse any adjournment and would take immediate action. Mr. Stanford did not see why the Health Department should go to the Licensing Committee in this matter, and suggested that the Health Department was not so sure of its ease, as to take it before a court of law. The question of whether the stables were or were not sanitary should tie threshed out between the Public Health Department the licensee, and not bv the Committee. The Wellington Licensing Committee had come to. the conclusion that this matter was bevond their powers: Mr. Kenrick said that was a different matter, and regarded cleansing the rooms of the hotel.

Sergeant McXeely said that apart from the insanitary condition, the building was old and dilapidated, and the Committee liad power to refuse the license oil those "rounds alone. 'Mr. Stanford asked why the adjournment should not be granted, should the ovidence go against them? It might happen that a man would pull down a building that was after all held to be sanitary. Mr. Kenrick: The Committee lmve made up their mind* Mr. Stanford: Hut the Committee have surely not made up their minds thjit the building is insanitary? ■Mr. Kenrick: Xo. But they reeognise that this thing should"'be dealt with finally. Mr". T. C. Fookes. who represented the owner of tip- freehold (Mrs. Kirkwood) said that the owner was quite willing that the licensee should pull down the stable-, and would pull the building down heiNcli', but the licensee wanted compensation. Mr. Stanford said that the present licensee'-- lease expired very shortly, and it was dcciiledlv unfair to make him pull down, the stables and lose that source of revenue. Mr. Kenrick said that matter did not concern the ■C'onimiLtee. . If nothing Avas done before the annual meeting the Committee would then decide the question whether the stables were to remain in iheir present condition., PERSONAL Mr. -Tames Read, a very old resident, died at bis residence on the Pembroke road on Saturday. Air. W. D. Anderson, who has joined Mr. F. W. Wake in legal practice at Auckland, was entertained by the members of the Stratford Club on Friday evening, and presented with a mark oi his fellow-members' regard. ADVANCING PRICE OF OIL.

A local reader of the New York Herald handed me the following extract from a .Linnnry issue: To the Editor of the Herald. 1 have been a reader of the Herald for a jrrent many years, and T take it that you are desirous of having your readeis know the facts on a <|uestif)n that, is apitat in.Li' the public :i1 present resppct.inpr the :ul\ai!ce in prices of petroleum and •rasoleue. T have been in the business •is an independent producer of crude oil for nearlv fifty years, and it is evident the people are jumpin"' at conclusions wit bout tost facts, rmrnina oil and gasolene prices may be considered hi'.:li now. bni it is not a "marker'' to what it will be if new lields arc not soon discovered. THEODORE E. TACK. Xew York. Jan. (i. 1013.