MASTERTON BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 824, 20 July 1881, Page 2

MASTERTON BOROUGH COUNCIL.

The ordinary meeting of the ''above was held at the Council Chambers last ; even- , ing. Present.;, His. Worship the Mayor,- •■ Ore Gray^Bish, ; -Bentleyj Russell Vile; \ Dixon, Perry, and Gapper, ~": ;.:;':;.'■' . While tlie minutes -were being-read the Jrebell-close,tp. the building rang put an - alarm, and-several of the\Qouncillorsleft • "the chamber for" a few minutes, The fire having been-fortunately "extinguished the Council resumed, andiithe 'minutes ' were opiifirmed, , • '"" ' .. ,:, .■ cbRKESPONDENOE, ...., ; V ... l '' jMcCardlev asking ;: leave of absence.—From the Rev J, Dukes ' on.behalf of the' Trustees of the Wesleyan ; ' Church, asking the.CouncN.loerectakerb: .■■ along Chapel-street' to Albert-street, also ■ along Hall-slreet l (iti front of the Church) : as'far'asMr Galloway's.; and -ofFeritigj if l 1 necossary, to pay LI per chain of the cost." 'I —Prom Mr Galloway,- asking -if the '• Council wotdd put'kerbing along the front ' of his property it? Halli.sfr.eet if Would ; pay half the 'Bros;, contractors for. Church-street, asking for compensation, .for the.extra work-caused-','to'th'em.by the alteration of the kerb in that street,-which''overthrew tliei'r'"speci-' fications, and Btating thaLthey. had. been misled by Or Russell as to the quantity of earth .that would be available forfilling-in. —From Mr A, Johnston, suggesting that as tho residonts in Holdsworth, Gray; and a portion of Nursery streetsj.>were about to rail the bush'on their properties, it, 1 would beas well to liave the-bush that is' still growing on ■ those streets felled at the same timo, as it would save' expense.—From'. Mr; H...H,', Wolters, Clerk to. the Wairarapa West County Council, •'• stating' • tliat ;: the' Council. would-meeton'Sfttlirdiiy next'at Master- ': ton, and ! would'-receive the Boroilgh ' Council if th'ey desired, at 3 'o'clock ion' that tlay.'— From Wellington City Council, 1 re price of drain pipes and cost of laying. ;•■ '5-From Mr W. M. Easfhope, re swamp ;. in Bentley-s't, enclosing a'certificate from 1 Dr Hosking, which stated that he had no hesitation iii saying from., the decayiog. s vegetation and stagnant surface water, all ' the elements we're ; '(there for an'out- ! break ot fever or- d jptheria. Mr - Kasthope also quoted from the Public Works Act to prove it was.a nuisance, notwithstaud--1 the Mayor's opinion-, and asking iliat' the matter bo referred a to committee other than the Works Committee, as, the B chairman of the latter had a direct per- '' soiial interest in the question, asil'wason his land the cause»f the nuisance existed, " He also requested that His Worship be 0 not again aljowd in {jjj 5 p,„,i j„ the dls- ' cussloh of the question, 'as ho had,-by so v doing, rendered, himself liable, to a penalty under section 75 of the Muiiici's pal ■Corporations- Act,'' 1876.-From the '■ Churchwarden-of St;' Matthew's Church, . applying for a license for, the Sunday-, schoolroom, and remission of the fee, as the building was only used for the benefit of the Church.—From the Borough Surveyor, certifying that' the Town Hall, • and. St. .Matthew's Schoolroom were suitable to be licensed buildings for meetings, &c.; but that.-the'upper room of the Institute was unfit, there'.nit'being

sufficient egress.—From the Clerk of the . jir.CMUiUpj the same would be considered by 'the Council. OUTWARDS. To the Secretary Masterton Club, re kerbingpath in front of the buildirm - ToMrG. Beetham,'M.H.R., asking for copies of certain Acts.'" The correspondence included several letters to ratepayers in arrear, requesting payment of the same. LEAVE OF ABSENOE. Leave of absence was granted to Or McCardle. MR EASTHOPE's lETTER, The Mayor stated he had examined the Place in company with the Inspector of i> usances. Mr Enathope was under an error. He (the Mayor) owned no property there; the property Mr Easthope thought was his belonged to Mr Pickett. • It was a natural mistake, as he had tiot denied the ownership. He described the ■ rise and course of the spring that formed the creek, and stated that the latter was a b,ed of springs, ,He had not chained off the land to make sure of the boundary, but if anyone thought.it was his land let them chain it off—he should 'not take the;trouble.' As'regarded the place being a nuisance, there was not a place in it that was not clear enough to see a sixpence at the bottom of the water, and if Dr Hosting thought, the water was a. ntiisarice lie had a better nose, thaji h'is;.'(the. Mayor's). There was not more' water on the land than each owner'could clear for himself, and if it was on his property, he wouldbe ashamed to ask the Council to do it, when hecoald so easily'do it himself. The Council was not a scavenger to go and clear out every little oreek in the place. There were a few weeds and a little watercress there, but not nearly so much as there was on his own property near his" residence. To clear the' whole creek would not take niore" than about four hours'. The question. was, Should the Council do it. Mr Ingram would give them his opinion as to the nuisance, 'Mr Ingram,;' Inspector, of .'Nuisances, Mated lie had accompanied His Worship and inspected the place. could not exactly find the boundary, peg of Pickett's property, but as far as he could judge the fence did not come out far enough by about 13 panels. The outlet had been dug out a little, and a clear .Btream was running on what'hn had assumed.wasjfr RenalPs land, but the channel was not deep enough to carry off all the water, Mr McKillqp could riot- keep a tenant in his house.tlirough it/as the water in the well became tainted. He had received cow plaints on more than one occasion about it. A little labor only web required' to open the mouth ot the creek a little more Ito remove the water, ' '':■■</ I The Mayor :How many panels of feiiIcing do you think Pickett's fence-is short? '••;.■ ;"• ; Mr Ingram; I think about 13 panels. • ;or two chains, i ; The Mayor explained that- it must be 30, as Pickett, said .his fence stood'out ;over the water. .■-■':''

; Cr Bentley said that the better way to get rid of the so. called nuiaane would be to call upon the persona 'interested to'do the work. A day's work would put an end to all-the litigation. \. ' ', j Or Gapper had looked upon the water an a nuisance from the'first, and considered that the complainant waa justified I in the action.which he had'taken.;. It wa ; s* in consequence. of.Mr' Wage's'-refusal'tij ;pe'rfoit, the- parties iritereated;, to '.'drain; througH his land that they werei compelled to come to the Council for assistance. The medical certificate produced .stated ,that a nuisance existed, and they" had.no, right to constitute :a,'sanitary' icommissipn,. andjoyerrule the opinion of an expert. They we're bound to defer'to the certificate sent in, and in his opinion

it,was the, duty of. the ..Council ,to 'tulle'' immediate action dprbplaint. ; Or Dixon would li|el to,see the' matter settled. He of|j|h^irre2ular| mariner in which cussed at each mee|ng, ,ap treating the oomplaint' as accordance, with the original decision ofthe Council, —there "could"'be•- nF'nuisa'nVe."They" could not be called upon to remove a swamp because a. man had bought one* 'Ho : '' , d{d"'n6t~bßre'f6i''wharDr''Ho«lcing said/ -There was a lagoon at Kurupuni which lay between five streets—were they tb'remove it? i,. U ThV;Mayor,.;co'n.siofer'edlthat as the water, was neither storm water nor surface water, they could not legally cut, a : drain. they,trea.led.it ) .o.n,.the other hand, as a: nuisance, lie could stop it by filliiig'ih "his "owri psrt'of'tlitfdr'eet with Mi., cart-load of:dirt. r; The Council' could not legally enter on his property and cut k drain through it. > ■ Or perry : The natural water-course .must bo kept-open, ~-; ;;;„. : ■,„..,(-, ■.,.; ; j;; ; ., The'Maypr: .There;isnq natural watercourse, arid if there'was it would be a matter of "drainage, not of nuisance. .... Gharry :''lt is you; your Worship, ..jkliq ,ai;e ( stopping the j '"'C'r'Yile'sjiid 'the' Amendment Act gave ithem -power '-toddear;l r; with 1 ' it. : ' -It "was a 'gfefit'-pity the matter could not be settled acni.Ciibly. While- the Council had been discussing it they couluMiave taken spades and pM'offthe nuisance'with their, oiyn hahdVy [\jj- i '..-:: " ' i-'

The Mayor said that an important pub- 1 lie principle was .involved ,in the matter which mkde it one of corisequeiice. ;. '] - Cr Biah pointed out"tH'at'if"the"'\vater' in ,t)ie_ well. was. fouled by the creek it was evident that a nuisance existed. He thought that every■ Councillor should visit the spot'arid form His- own opinion, . Or Vile' moved that Ora Biah, Gray. Perry; and the .mover be appointed :a' committco to report upon .the complaint. Cr'Bish' seconded thei resolution / Ji . . Gr Russell: We have been' uiessin» over this for the last three meetings, The Mayor:, You ,will make the mess worse if you don't mind., .... _ ' Cr Russell continued'by'stating that if he 'had" the "property he would' shepherd that particular- bit of water for ducks,' ]All the complainants wanted was for .them to make a nice bit of garden ground for them. "''■'■' ..

The speaker made a humorots- speech on children, with an ingenious speculation : as-to*what he should do if he had fourteen of,them. • I

The Mayor: If the water was on mj land I should fill in and drive it off, i

• Or Bish: Then wecould pass on to the next, until it was removed altogether. Or Gapper, was glad to see that a com-, mittee other than the Works Committee had been appointed. He had inspected the. phce,.and in his opinion.the water was a nuisance. He would like to point out to the committee that the river hay-, ing silted up to a considerable extent, it would be hecßsjayy-.tu, dig ii channel iii the bed'"of the river in order, to be able to dig the natural outlet of the creek to a sufficient depth. He hoped (ho Committee would carefully examine the place as regarded this point. The water was dammed up 18 inches or a foot higher than it uaed to be by the silting up of the river-bed; Tf it was attempted to dig a spade-deep on Mr Easthope's ground the water flowed in. The subsoil was rotting. Wlierea garden used to be cultivated things would no longer grow, The Mayor said Cr. Gapper was not aware that the place silted up was not the old bed of the river. The Mayor and Cr Bentley had a^short a misapprehension, and apologised, ' \ Cr Gapper held that the river liad silted

up. The Mayor: Nothing of the sort. Orßish: Would your Worship-please put the resolution, we have'• wasted enough time on this already. The Mayor; I hope the Committee will come to a decision quicker, Cr Bish: There won't be so much humbug at all events. Tee Mayor: We must discuss these things. Or Bish: You should not talk so much yourself. The Mayor was proceeding to put the resilytion, and had read it, when , ; Cr Eussell: No fear | I'm up. j Several Councillors; Cr Russell has; already spoken on the question. ; The Mayor; He may move an amend-! ment. Cr Russell: Of course I can. I move that the matter be considered this day 1 Bix months. (Gleefully); he did not care: if it were supported or not, it would 1 enable him to talk. People bought the: land with the water, built a house, and then asked the Council to give them dry. land. (Groundly); it would be unjust!: (Theatrically): it would be iniquitous toi spend.the rates in this, manner. The water' there was cold, pure, arid sweet, and a drink of such in the morning he! had often found very good. . '■ There being no seconder, the amendment lapsed, and the resolution was car- ■■ tied. BE CONFERENCE WITH OOTJNTI WEST. . The Mayor said it appeared to him that: .the Council had been dragged into this ■position by the blunders of the press, . Nothing officially on the subject had passed between the Borough Council or the County with reference to a conference, He then road an extract from a; paper, purporting to be a telegraphic account of a meeting of County West Council bearing oh the matter, Cr Gapper asked what paper the extract was from 1 His Worship had forgotten which paper ; ithad been out out of. r :

Or Russell thought it was the Standard. The reporter of this journal, in answer •to the Mayor, stated' it was not from the Daily,

. The Mayor .then referred to a gratuitous insult contained in a certain report of the Masterton Highway Board's Engineer,.and' then read, anlextract from thi) Daily's report of. a late County Council meeting, at which a discussion on the Waipoiia bridge took place. : Or'Gapper did not think it was worth while to read the correspondence, ''The Mayor said it was necessary for Councillors to understand the subject, fle explained that he met Or Boys in the 'street and told him the County Council had-been taking an extraordinary course but all he authorised him to say was with reference to a portion of the Municipal Act, which he thought they had overlooked, A conversation on the road ought not to have been lugged up into' the Council, meeting. He did not see him-, self that the Borough Council had anything to do with tbb bridge,'

Or Bish ; What they want to proye is that the stream running under the bank is the boundary of the borough, whiclufr perfectly absurd; ■■-^..^jr"

Or Dixon considered 'the county wanted them to contribute towards ; the erection of a bridge with which they. had nothing to.do. ... .

;' The Mayor 1 '.alluded to 1 the' occasion when the County Works Ooramittee failed' to. rnee.t the Borough aridex : plained'that this waß the matter he wanted Or Boys .to >. bring,' before the County.Council,' He,also contradicted generally; the' statement, reported to bo made by Cr Boys. : ~.....,: ...,, ' Or Gapper had never heard/any 'desire expressed by members of the Borough

Ooufaoilto meet iV County Council, JHHH lie wiiuldtiipve 11 if the County th|Bte«jh ,'Gpiiil to meet them, thSHH iatation aB a matter courJeK, ; '.b,ut; ti it be indicated thatHßH as'it. id expressed no desire w9 Cr Bish moveathat the letter be re- wj f erred'lactf or'6hspliinatibh';:"-"" : 0 Or; Pirry seobned the .proposal of Or . IH former meeting thy did agree, to meet JH the WorV Cornjittee! of tho County hH Council. He prelimed that after the flj Mayor's coiversatik the County under-JH9 stood that i\ was tS wish of the Council to meet then, .1 jH ''Cr'-Gapp^:, Tie: original-ireqiieA emanated frori the |ounty Council, hflP| M from the Boro\gh-Oinncili.!Y .■■•■:,' ki ■ Or Yile,admttedShat!;th"e .'suggestion '-' ~ came from the Ojiint}- Work* CommUlee.' ,:■ : Cr Russell:iWople'wa'nt to' converse with.us let therdcome.here like ;men, They callus imbet™i TheMa'yor; No Vthat Highway Board people.—\ '.., •' Or Vilo thought ft e y ; would only be called upon to pay onefifth of the' coat of ■ the bridge. If they^waited till the Borough Council built itthey would wait till doomsday. He apWed of the action taken by the Count) Council. Cr Russell stated thatheVust wire in again, ■ : ■V j \ I The Mayor: Don't speuk BoMoud.'^ Cr Russell: I want to make aVlmpression. 'Let me speak on this tion, I.rode lately over the. placet on a buggy; 'A'platform' is all that 1 is necks•sary. , ./.'"... . ;1 ,.. 1 .,,, T r'\r\ The Mayor: You waste the time'of tht Council, '■',-■ •;' ■■■■:'■ '■-■■'■--■ \ Cr Russell: You talk longer than Idol The Mayor: No one pays attention to\ what you say. . , \ Cr Russell: I shall be in the British \ ' House of Parliament soon; ' •: \ Or Gapper; '* It ia not .what,we say, \ but what the Act says." ■'■■; 7 \ -Cr Russell: " Now, you; sit; stilly Or \ Gapper.", .. ; ', ~ > . .., ,' v ; ' Cr Gapper's motion was then put to the vote and carried, Or Bish's amendment being withdrawn. ..-. 0 Th'e Mayor: "If they go in forjiuch structures as this they will soori cripple our rates." /. .■■ : ': c v; r"v [The Council sat to a. late hour, and it : is impossible for us to get the report of the whole of the proceedings into thiß issue. The following were the decisions arrived at':—That'.the' Cole-street application and Bentley Bros,' 'application were ' left to the Works' Committee; the licenses . applied for for the Sunday Schoolroom; and Town Hall were granted, the, fee in each case being remitted. The license for the Institute was refused., Tenders were authorised to be called for the kerb: inn applied for by the'Wesleyan Church, .for Perry-street, Hope-street, Kurupuui 'footbaths,;and. .Wrigley-street,. < All these works to be done under the ngual ioudiliana; l A detailed report will be given to< morrow, ■■,-■■

' i Fact Worth Knowinq '.-In these times of retrenchment and enforced economy, both public and private, it is consolatory to know that the " wind is generally tempered to the shorn lamb," and that are f few misfortunes without compensating advantages, ' With money in less abundance its purchasing power is greater—a pound now will go as far as thirty shillings in the era of prosperity. As a proof of this, tho readers of this paragraph need only pay a visit to the*, large sale of surplus stock at James (Smith's! Te An House, Wellington. ■ A very full and elaborate catalogue of the many large reduce tions made in the prices of general drapery and clothing is enclosed with Satuday's (July 2nd) issue, and merits a careful •pmi-iU.nn -«.. i, ar fc , n f -nil., statinnnolders, hotelkeepers,- heads of families, and country residents generally. Special opportunities, liko the one at present under consideration, occur but seldom; and it is therefore of importance that the fullest ad. vantage should'be taien-of it at the earliest period. Te.Aro House has always stood well with the .public as' to. tho undoubted veracity of its advertised, prices, and no doubt many country residents have a lively recollection of the satisfactory ba'rgaius.they secured in the past. Equal, if not superior advantages are now being offered. Owing to the unprecedently low rates atwhioh the goods are marked n:i discounts can be 'ajI lowed during the saie. As an additional at* traction, the sale will include ft special presentation to each purchaser of £3 worth and upwards of a beautiful chromolithographic picture, mounted on the best iwhite cardboard, size 24 inches by 18 inches. No time should therefore be lost in paying a very early visit to tho surplus stock sale at James Smith's Te Aro House, Wei. ington.—[Advt.]