Masterton Borough Council.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume X, Issue 3099, 9 January 1889, Page 2

Masterton Borough Council.

The ordinary fortnightly meeting was held last evening. Present— His Worship the Mayor, and Crs Gapper, Carman, Chamberlain, Parsons, fitton, Perry and Hessey. The minutes of the previous meeting having been read and confirmed, an apology for non-attendance from Cr Heron was read and accepted. TDK MAYORAL AFOLOGY, The Mayor, before proceeding to the order paper, apologieed to Cr Gapper for the. abrupt manner in which he had interrupted him at the previous meeting when lie (the Mayor) was referring to the falsehoods published by'the Wairabapa Daily. Indicating Mr Payton, who was present at the reporter's table, he acoused him ofpubh'shing another falsehood with respect to the Park Trußtbalancesheet.He(theMayor)had never said that abalance sheet had not been published, only that the statutory meeting had not been held. No doubt he was irritated when he addressed Cr Gapper as he had done, but this did not justify the unbecoming manner in which he had taken him up, and he hoped Cr Gapper would accept his' apology in the spirit in which it was offered.

Cr Gapper: " With the greatest pleasure,"

- s CORRESPONDENCE, A letter was read from the District Land Eegistrar stating that Albert Street had not been dedicated to the public. The letter was referred' to a sub-Committee, and on the motion of Or: Gapper, the _ Committee' was authorised to obtain legal assistance in carrying out the work of opening .up. the street. From the Masterton Road Board asking for assistance for a protective work at the Bu'amahanga ford estimated to .cost £lO. Prom Albert Edward Joiies.for a license to drive. Granted, • after some discussion as to the youth of the 1 applicant. From G. Coker for the renewal ofTheatre Royal license,-Granted, From; Kre,.lnsurance Committee offering to' provide" a water Wpply that would satisfy the Insurance agents, ..." ' . REPORTS, v Gas Committee, recommending removal of lamp corner of Dixon-sL owing to frequent accidents* Agreed to. .

Works Committee regommendiug replanking Waipoua bridge, tarring further lengths of guttering in Queen street.and making enquiries at Christchuroh re a low level water cart. The report- after a short discussion'was adopted.. - V- : ; • . Inspector of - Nuisances recommending cleaning of creek between Chapel and Bannister" street, .'and of : night soil deposited on river bed, and offensive at Collier's wool works. ' •;

re the creek be referred to the Sanitary Committee.- Cv Fit'ton .reiorn' mended that all the floodgates in the creek be raised simultaneously to dean it.; The Mayor' thought there was a standing order to periodically flush the stream, which had not been carried out. The report Was roferred to the Sanitary Committee., r. ' TUB HOBSE DEIVINQ BY-LAW, '- 1

_ Mr W. Neil waited on the Co'unoil to. explain; that it was impossible for - him to - carry: out. the Borough'

by-law witb rospeot to.-leading horses- . through' the streets,' He had occasionally to'send as many as fifty * I horses to his paddocks and many of 'Jj them would not lead.He had been -''--I brought up. in Court Ihrco times for ' breeches of a by-law which he could not possibly , comply with,—Or Fitton' said residoift-s at. his end of the town- - were endangered by the' mobs of horses sent from Mr Neill's stablest aud urged that Mr Neill's servants were not,sufficiently oareful in taking ■ them steadily. through- the' streets., n ■ People were in danger, of being" knocked down,-Mr Neill, (" No one 1 has • been knocked down ■' * Fitton, " I knowxone woman 5 who : 1 •■■■■■ fainted when a mob passed her. He ' thought if the horses were taken along quietly there would be no risk * Mr Neill said when ho was fined a pound the other day it was foran Occasion when the horses were nioving at a: walking paco.-l'he question was referred to the By-law Committee. • ,'

THE HUAMAHUNGA FOBD. ■ Mr McKenzio waited on tho Council on ..behalf of the Mast-ertoa Boad-Board, to explain tho nature of the work, proposed to. bo con. ' structed at the Euaciahunga Fo'rd, After a short discussion the question ' was relegated to the Works Com- • mittee. 1; ;v -... CHEAP liIOENSES, - - . The Clerk complained that mem- j bers of the Local. Licensing Com- - < mittee issued special licenses &0,, at a shilling each, a rate never contemplated by the.: Legislature, and ■ received permission from the Council to call the attention of the Govern-V" ment to the generosity of the local ; Committee with- a view to its being stopped by an alteration in'thoAoti^ ' ASPHALT, Or Oullen inquired if any*, thing had been done in the asphalt J business. He 'thought'the asphalt v could be spread without importing a water roller. Something should be ' done before the wiuter set in, . 'Or. flapper said that the present appliances were not sufficient for lay.' ing the asphalt, and they must obtain a roller before they could do. the work • satisfactorily and economically,-It was resolved, after some discussion, - that the asphalting in front of Mr Caselberg'a store should be at onco proceeded with, it being understood. that a roller could be borrowed locally for the work, : ■ MONTHLY MEETINGS,

Cr Carman pursuant to a notice :of motion pointed out that tlieamount'' !of work done by the Counoil did not.warrant so frequent an attendance of members as. at present. The bulk of' their work was now done by Committee, and he thought thirteen meetings in the year would bo quite sufficient for all their wants. At election times" caudidates refused to come .forward on account of the great number of; meetings which they were expeoted'. to attend. Ho moved that in . future - the Council meet on the fourth Tues* ■ day,ill each month. . - Cr Perry thought tliatif they only met once a month they would bo sitting till twoo'olock iif the morning. The Mayor saw no objection to ; trying the experiment,- -especially as they could on an : emergency;holda special meeting, ;1 v QrKtton pointedout that it would be necessary to make fresh arrangements for payment of wages if the motion were carried. Cr Chamberlain saw no reason < why they should make the proposed ■ alteration, and believed it woula increase the Committee workr ■ Cr Hessey thought they ought not to begrudge turning out once a ( fortnight to do the Counoil work. There were other reasons .which prevented candidates coming forward at election < times.- ... . -. - .... . sa 'd he was personally indifferent on the question aiid wouldallow it to be decided by those mem- ' bers, who lived at a greater distance from the Council Chambers than he did.

The motion was tlien put and lost on the voices. A division being taken • resulted as follows i-Ayes-Cr Car-' man, Culloii, and tlio Mayor, Noes --Crs Fitton, Hessey, Parsons, Perry, Chamberlanv and Gapper. REDUCTION OF GAS. Cr Oulleu moved pursuant to his notice of motion tliat the price of gas • bo reduced. Ho thought that this was the only way 0 f solving the difliculty of obtaining more consumers. Cr Gapper would like the reoom- : mendationto come from the Gas Committee if the reduction was eiv pedient, Or Fitfon seconded the motion wn forma, Ho agreed that the gas Jlf to be reduced to ten shillings ' hI j had not the output to W n thn furnaces hot, and a lot of gas was wasted, whj' o]l might be just as well given to the public. As an amendment ho moved-that the ished an meter rent 3 aholCr Cullen seconded theamendmont pro forma, Or Parsons also agreed that it wa3 desirable to morease their output of gas by a reduction of rates,' ■lt was agreed after some further > discussion that Or (Men's motion in, favor of 10a for lightinp purposes and Jb for cooking and maohinery should embody the abolition of metorajmd U' Fitton should withdraw his atJendment in its favor;' On tho resolution being put it was declared carried on the voices.;

WATER SUPPLY, ■ ' ' Or Carman in bringing forward bia motion to consider the question of a water supply, expressed himself willing to give precedence to any Councillor who might have a definita proposal to bring before the meeting.' ' At the request of Cr Parsons the letter froni Mr Hooper, chairman of the local Fire Insurance Committee was read as follows !~r Genixeiieh,—l < am instructed by the : Fire Insuronoe Eeduotion Committee to apply to you for permiesion to perform all - works necessary to provide, the centre of tho town with an immediate water' supply for nre-eslingtuahing purposea'augh as ..willflatisfpr the-Insurance Undemriters and : thus insure & reduction of tho present tigh insurance rates,. If l our request is imme. diatoly assured and'gran ted we will under, take to make good any damage that may happen to the streets,'; $6 would point out that the present works are cot intended to interfere with any future supply of a: more permanent nature that may be undertaken by the Counoil, our object being simply to relieve ourselves and '6ur fellow burgesses from tho present oppressive rates of insurance now levied,-L, J, f Hoopm, Chairnwn/.. V : ' Jv Cr Parsons expressed an .'opinion ;stipply would satisfy the iDsuranoo 5 agents.' . . • Cr Gappor favored tho proposal of - the Coinmittco, as it relieved : tlje Council of the onus of doaliig r with 7: the question.;;: He did bofc see liow / the Counoil could object to i£ * • The Mayor thought considered that owing to the divisioii of opinion in the Counoil chance of anything being done ex» ceptjng iu the which they indi«

■ CrParsona moved that the request of the Committee be complied with ■ jlho Council taking proper security . Jwinst damage to tlio streets,' Fittonseconcled the motion. He himself had a schemo, but the proposal before them was the easiest ■way out of the difficulty, Let thorn give tlio Committee a show I The motion was then put and carried, the Mayor and Crs Gapper ■ and Fitton being appointed a Committee to draw up' an agreement by which tho Council would be indemnified against damage to the streets, _ The Mayor then obtained permissioii from the 4founoil ■to use some white pine timber in stock for the construction of a flume to fill the water cart. He also inquired if-any Councillor desired to make a proposal for a high pressure ■ water supply, There was a sensible letter, in the Daily of that day on the question. He doubted himself whether the water in the Black Creek would be suitable as a Jkyerage. Fitton was in favor of a high water supply, but did not believe that at the present timoa loafl could be carried to provide one. He considered a water supply for fire purposes could be obtained at a cost of £SO by sinking six wells at intervals. The Council then adjourned. Revolution in Motive Power.

The Scientific American of a lafco date says:—Several newspapers hare referred to a now invention by one "William Timmins, which, if successful, will revolutionise motive power. The inventor is an unpretentious English mechanic residing at Pittsberg, Penn. who claims to have

invented a machine by which united motive power can be stored or used the expenditure of fuel, The mSj'goes that he has been .engaged for years in perfecting the, invention, and is now negotiating with the Governments of England, Ruraia, and the United States, for the sale of the right to use his discovery, which, if after examination, it proves to be

what it claims, will revolutionise the jAotive-power of tho world. He fv(airas to bo able to create a pressure of 20,0001b per square inch-more than sufficient to propel the largest ocean steamer afloat, or to uiove 80 laden freight cars in one train. The machine appears to be simply an air compressor of the simplest sort, It consists of one small cylinder (six horse-power), with a balance weight of 751bs, which runs tho entire apparatus; another small cylinder Gin. in diameter, with Tin. stroke, compresraea tho air into a tank from which the power is utilised. Under the piston plate the inventor has placed two layers of bars containing eleven different minerals, the magnetic

influence of which is the secret of the invention. The advantages he claims durability, economy, and simplicity. Experts have examined the machine, and pronounce it a success, in submitting his design to the Governments named, Mr Timmins claims that the pneumatic generator can not only he applied to war vessels as a

motor, but can be used as a defenco against hostile attacks by mean 3 of air chambers placed behind the armor pating."

Mining Disaster in Hungary. An instance of what patient persoverence will do in the case of a mining disaster has just been shown in Hungary. On tbo 7th November, a day which Professor Mb had prodieted as a critical one, the water sudenly burst into a shaft in the Salgo Tarjan Mines, near Pesth, where 340 miners were at work. An alarm signal was given, and most ot the men , able to get out, but when the 1 fflffies were called over 20 men were found to be missing. In the meantime the water had risen so high that it was impossible to reach them. The engineer, and tho chief manager, Herr Gerber, however, never for one moment gave the men up as lost, and from Wednesday to Friday night worked incessantly at their rescue. Her Gorber was carried out of tho shaft in a swoon six times in those two days, but always returned to the churge. He bored holes in tho well of tho shaft, where he supposed the men might be, allow the gases to escape, and this clever contrivance actualiy saved their lives. They had already given themselves up as" lost when a draught of fresh air reached them, and besides refreshing them nas a sign of the efiorts being made vto save them. The manager, on • returning to the shaft on Friday .njflt, ordered twenty coffins, and relations were lireparing mourning for the funeral The 15 men who helped Herr Gerber to reach the spot where the entombed miners stood surrounded in water had to stand in tho water up to their necks, and bad gases stupifying them every now and .then. At last a lamp on a long pole was seen by those who wero then "firmly believed to bo dead. They gave a shout of joy, and half an hour later the victims and their rescuers joined hands. The 20 men had been in the shaft 61 hoars without food or drink, standing in water up to their thighs, and sometimes up to their necks. The younger, onps had given way to despair, buWbrave Styrian managed to keep, their spirits up and directed their movements as the water rose foil. Though it was midnight, the whole town was up to receive them, and to cheer tho bravo men who had saved them, Hundreds of guns and pistols were fired off by tho oxcited spectators,