TARANAKI COUNTY COUNCIL.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 February 1920, Page 7

TARANAKI COUNTY COUNCIL.

MONTHLY MEETING. ( The monthly meeting of the Taranalcl County Council was held yesterday, there being present Crs. 3. S. Connctt (chairman), A. E. Lawrence, J. B. Simpson, J. NVooldridge, C. Andrews, A. Morton, S. Capper, and .T. Andrews. ENGINEER'S REPORT. The engineer (Mr. ft. D. Cllmie) reported as follows: Moa Riding.—The heavy rains experienced this last month have done a considerate amount of damage to the roads, and this Tiding has probably fared worse than any otheir. The foreman are engaged repairing any damage done, filling pot holes, etc. The blinding has mostly been washed away and this work will have to bo done again. A small bridge on tho Bedford road, between Lepper road and the Walongona stream, is in a very bad state. The lugging holding up one approach has rotted away, and, during the flood, a greater part of the approach went down stream. Foreman Taylor has repaired this, us well as can be done, but a new concreto culvert wiU have to be erected here very soon, as the bridge is in a general state of collapse. The timbers, are rough hewn timu and are very rotten. Another matter needing very urgent attention is the Waiwakalho river where it crosses the LepperCarrington road near Kaimiro. When the contractors were getting stone from tho river n year or more ago, a road was cut down tho bank not far from the Kaimiro end of tne bridge. During tho flood the water made a passage up this road and came across the putjllc road, and unless a groyne Is erected in tno river, probably another heavy flood will leave the bridge on an island. If it is possible to obtain the necessary heavy wire mesh, the work of making a groyne ahould not be delayed. Mangorei Riding.—With the chairman I inspected the site of proposed work on the HUI road, and arrangements were unade to proceed with this work about the end of February, | when local labor would be available. The | amount available (£150) should be sufficient I to make a very fair job. It- will be necessary to do a small amount of work at the bridge on this same road. Tho river Is scouring at one of the piers and Foreman Keast can attend to this when doing the road work. A start has been made to Te-metal the June- , tlon road from tho three-mile peg back' towards town. The metal is being crushed at the Waiwakaiho depot and carted out by tho lorries. Foreman Spencer has taken charge of this work. Mr. J. Dryden has been appointed foreman to take charge of Batton's length, and will shift out as soon as the house has been completed. A small gang of men is still employed Improving the bad bends on Junction road. At present they are working on the road near Mr. Weston's gato. This road suffered (more than others during the rainy spell and there are a lot of pot holes to be filled in. The side roads are all in very good order.

Waltara. Riding.—As instructed I made a survey of the Upland road, and beg to say that. In my opinion, this work is too large on undertaking to be gone on with at present. Prom the end of present metal to Mrs, Greenway's house, approximately 80 chains, the formation could be done for, say 30s per chain, and the metalling £lO a chain, making a total ror this portion of £O2O. From Mrs. Greenway's onwards the road runs straight across a valley and up the hill again. The down grade at present averages 1 In 8 from top to bottom, the up-grado about 1 in 6, and to make a road on any better grade entails a great expense, as it will be necessary to deviate from the existing road line for some distance, probably over a mile. The formation work would be heavy and would cost anything up to £lB a chain, and I consider the! whole work, including the 80 chains mentioned above, could not be done for £3000.. The rain has caused considerable damage in this riding, to tho main roads. Foremen have beeu given additional maintenance metal to put their roads in order. Twelve cubic yards have been dellVßred to various points from the Sentry Hill pit, and a few loads will be carted out by horse teams from this pit on to Foreman Harvey's length. A small culvert that has become blocked with willow roots will be taken up and relald on the Manutahl road. During the rain, and since, the water has been runing over the roadway. The grader will be used next week reforming the Manutahl road above the Corbett road. I have engaged an experienced man to travel round with the grader, and hope to get most of the clay roads rounded up before the winter. The flood has caused a fair amount of damage at the weir under the Waiwakaiho bridge, Fltzroy. To date, there has been too much water in the TiTer for ma to make a proper Inspection, but some very necessary work, will have to be' done as soon as possible. A gang of men Is employed widening tho existing asphalt along the Sat, and I hope to got this tarred the first week in February. Mr. Surrey has Informed me that he Is opening up a pit on his place, deeper, and that the stone he has now come to is mora suitable for road purposes. I will make a further Inspection after the meeting. Omata Riding.—Foreman Seamark has completed the metalling of the Main Road between asphalt and Allen's Hill, and it ap- ■ peara to be an excellent Job. Notices Have been prepared requesting motorists not to "track," and If they will do as they are asked, this Toad should be In good condition to tar. The formation work on Allen's Hill Is practically completed and metalling will be commenced this week. In company with Cr. Ylckers I Inspected the loop comprised byportion of the Barrett, Pheaney and Hurford roads. With the exception of a few short lengths the metal of these toads Is very thin and I estimate that 2400 cubicyards of metal will be required to put them in thoroughly good order. At the present there is about 300 cubic yards of stono out on Mr. Vickers' proiierty, and it may be possible 0 tget the rest out of the Tapuae stream, which runs near by. If these roads are to be kept in good order this work should be done, but it is more a matter of finance than anything else. Since completing the Main road Foreman Seamark has been engaged repairing culvert at entrance to Allen road, and Is now carrying out the work authorised on Parltutu road. As It will be some time before any crushing can be done at the Frankley road pit, I have dumped twelve loads of metal on Foreman Eva's length from the crusher depot. Okato Riding.—lt Is the Intention to shift the (rusher to the Tapuae site as soon as workis finished at the Waiwakaiho. At present there Is only 600 cubic yards of stone ready, and there Is going to. ba some difficulty to get a further supply. The stone, which was showing up In the Tapuae. disappeared during tho flood, and it'will take ii lot of work to get another 200 cubic yards off the beach. The Pitone road job was stopped during the wet spall, but another start has now been made. The roads In this riding did not suffer much from tho rain, and are mostly In very fair order. I regret to say that the first of the new Saunders rood bridges suffered considerable damage during the flood. The nearer pier Is almost completely undermined and at one sldo is between four and five feet off the bottom. This bridge is apparently very strongly built, otherwise it would have collapsed. It will be necessary to get this bridge repaired as soon as cement can be obtained. At present it is quite safe for the i light traffic along the road, but another flood would probably complete the damage. The wing wall at the bridge near tho Oxford road factory also requires attention, as the flood 3llghtly undermined the aplon wall. Plant and General.—All plant is In good order, and is freely employed. The tarspraying gear Is expected to arrive this woek, and as soon as this is assembled a start can bo made with tho new work. Four small drays have beeu purchased at an averaca cost of £lO. These will bo used for caring shingle whllo tar work Is In progress. BRIDGE CARPENTER'S REPORT. The bridge carpenter (Mr. W. J. Clare) reported as follows: Machinery building, Waiwakaiho.—The concrete and partition walls of this building are nearly half completed, and, on account of the shortage of ceiment, all work ceased on the 13th of this month. Surfaceman's house, Kent road.—The alterations and additions wero started on tho 14th instant, and the work is proceeding very satisfactorily. I hope to see most of the carpentering work completed in about a fortnight, and 1 propose to erect one of tho old iron chimneys temporarily until cement is available. ACTION IN REPORTS. Moa Riding.—lt was resolved to erect the groyne, as suggested, on the Waiwakaiho, Waitara Riding—lt was resolved ,to put ntcessary work in connection with the Waiwakaiho bridgo In hand as soon as possible. Okato Riding,—lt was resolved to make representation to the proper authorities to enable the urgent woTk of the bridge repairs in question to be proceeded with a3 soon as possible. It was decided to put an additional 150 yards of metal on the Pitone road. GENERAL. It was resolved to increase foremen's wages to 14s per day. It was pointed out that the Oakura, Maketaw a and Ngatoro bridges, especially, were not in a fit state to carry heavy loads, and that excessive speed was also dangerous lo tho welfare of the bridges. It was resolved to instruct Inspector Tippous to prosecute offenders, in tills respect. Cr. C. Andrews protested against the proposal to Introduce poppy seeds off soldiers' graves In France Into tho country. This noxious weed was a curse, as had Wen shown In Canada, where it had appeared among the wheat crops. i It was resolved to write to »b» Mlnl««r

of Agriculture, protesting against this 'proposed introduction, and also to the Farmers' Union, asking them to take similar action' CORRESPONDENCE. Mr. D. J. Hughes wrote to the effect that ho had arranged with some Ohura residents to have a few tons of their coal sent to different users in Tar&naki in order to test its steaming qualities, and asked if tho County Council would give it a trial, as a cheap coal would be of immense benefit to the district. Mr. Hughes pointed out that the coal in the Ohura district belongs to tho State. It was the intention of those chiefly concerned to endeavor to be present when the trials were made. This had been replied to by the County clerk, stating that the Council would give tie coal a trial.

Mr. W. H. Haddrell (chairman of the Rotokare Reserve Committee) wrote drawing the attention of the Council to the state of the Cowling Toad. As the Reserve Is now opened to the public It was asked that the road should be attended to at once.

The request will be attended to by the Council. Advice was received from the Public Workß Department that tho sum of £2OO had beM» lodged to the credit of the county for the Saunders road bridges. A circular was received from the New Zealand Association of British Manufacturers and Agents urging the County that, all things be.'ng equal, preference should be given to British goods in sny purchases made, either fir municipal trading ventures, or for other purposes. The support, of all public bodies in ;hb matter was sought.—The Council were all agreeable to this.

A request was received from tho Tarannkl Hospital Board, through Crs. .T. and C. Andrews. for the county to do about 14 chains of metalling for the Board at tho Ranglatea Home. Cecil Wright ■wrote further in regard to a previous request to the Council to open up (if necessary) tho culvert on Veale road, and to compel owners of land on the north side of the road to open up a get-away channel so as to make it possible for the owners on the south side of the road to drain the swamp. He asked that tho Council give tho matter Its attention, so that the land would not remain useless for a further 12 months, A letter was received from the Public Works Department stating that the total cont of the work In connection with tho Waiwakalho river weir was £337G, made up as follows: Original contract sum £2944, allowance £3OO, chains' and shackles supplied by Department £132. Each of the! three-.contributing bodies agreed to provide one-third of this sum (viz, £1125 6s 8d). A letter was received from the Mayor and ,Town Clerk of Westport comcarning the shortage of coal In Now Zealand.—Received.