ELTHAM.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 September 1919, Page V

ELTHAM.

(From Our Own Correspondent.) September 1. The Egmont Box Company's new offices, which, have been in course of construction since May, were completed about three weeks ago, and tlie manager and staff are now provided with the best of office accommodation. The public oifice i.» in the front of the building, and adjoining there is a large room which is used by the secretary for meetings of the board of directors. The strongroom opens off this room. The offices are of concrete and have been well finished and furnished with all that is necessary for the comfort and convenience of the staff as well as the proper conduct of the business.

The Elthani Dairy Factory will be in full swing in three or four days. Though the figures from the various branches have not yet come to hand, it is believed that the supplies so far are up to last year's standard, and; on present mfonnaiion regarding the number of cows to be milked thiß season, there snould be an increase in the output for the year. Spsaking of the By-Laws Conference to-day, Mr. Belcher, chairman of the Elthani County Council, said that the bylaws are practically completed. They now only await final examination by tlio three engineers for the counties concjrnud, who are not likely to suggest any material alteration. When they hud finished with the by-laws they would bo printed and distributed to the local bodies interested. Mr. Belcher mentioned that the work had been delayed for two months by the solicitors, who had been too busy in attending to land transfers, which have l.aeu very numerous on account of the large number of land sales in the district, to attend to anything else. Ono of the most persistent and enthusiastic advocates of tar-sealed roads is Mr. Belcher, of Eltham. There is no shadow of doubt in his mind as to the policy which must ultimately be adopted by all local bodies in connection with road construction. Speaking to a press representative yesterday he stated that he had observed the damaging effect of race traffic on ordinary roads and had compared it 'with the effect on tarsealed roads, lie had seen a road that had been in good order in the morning so damaged during the day with cars rushing to a race meeting that it would hardly be recognised as the same road, so rough had the surface become, but this same traffic ' passed over the tarBesiled road without making the slightest impression upon it. Tn the Eltham County Council, he said, there was not a councillor who would dare to go before the ratepayers and condemn tarsealed roads, which the people were now practically unanimous in upholding. In most large towns the *jfeople are familiar with both electric and gas systems of lighting and heating, and both are regarded as necessary. Eltham has a gas plant and Stratford is confined to electricity. It was suggested by an Eltham man yesterday that the be roughs should combine, and, by having an electricity and gas plant at Ngaere, which is midway between the two towns and only three miles distant from each, serve both places with gas and electricity. With the economy in working and the combined populations, the people could be gTven the advantages of much larger towns, and, while better services would be assured, the cost to the consumer would be much lower than is possible at present. The man agreed that the suggestion came a little late, and that it; would be very difficult to obtain serious consideration for it now that each borough had adopted its own special system and had its own plant. The adaptation of part of Mr. Wilkinson's large buildings near the post office to the requirements of the new business for which it is to be used is proceeding briskly, and it should soon be ready for occupation by the draper who is taking it over, and when the alterations arc. completed, the departments stocked and furnished, and fittings installed, the shop should be. one of the best in Tnranaki.

The manager for the Egmont Box Company has. so far. received no intimation beyond the Minister's statement to Mr. 'Wilkinson tliat timber will be carried shortly by rail. Though the Box Company has a very large quantity of timber stacked in its yards, the depletion of certain lines has seriously hampered business.