Thames Borough Council.

LAST NIGHT'S MEETING. Last night's meeting of the Thames Borough Council was attended by His: Worship the Mayor (Mr A. Burns) and Crs. J. W. Poulgrain, W. H. Lucas, H. Lowe, E. Deebie, Wm. Taylor, E. J. Mimes, W. Scott, a,nd G. Coiner. MIINUTES, ETC. . - The Towm Clerk (Mir Albert Bruce) read the outward correspondence, and the minutes which, were adopted as read. INFECTIOUS DISEASES. Dr. Bond reported- a ease of chicken pox (an infectious disease), which had occurred at Haven, street. The usual steps for the isolation of the case tod been taken. FURNISHING THE LIBRARY. Tonson Garlick Co., Ltd., wrote: "We have much pleasuie in acknowledging yours of tho 25thi ins*, in reply to ours of the 23rd, and thank you for the information contained therein, although it does not yet ■meet our requriements as regards the style of chairs as set forth to be ten- . dered for. Taking into account that we have mot this inforriiation, and . also that the blinds and linoleum are to be fixed bythe contractor for furniture, we have come to the conclusion that it would be uiadvisable for us to tender as we would require to get somebody at Thames to do the work for us, in addition to which there ia the risk of damage to goods in transit.' We have to express our thanks for the opportunity afforded us to tender, but in view of the above regret we cannot avail ourselves of thei same." WAIOTAHI TAILINGS. Geo. Warne, manager.of the Waiotahi G.M. Co., wrote as under : —"I beg 'to apply for permission to construct a .tail race under the road from the Golden Age battery to the bottom of the. Waiotaihi fluming. at the junction' of Upper Pollen street and Golden Crown street. The work will be carried out to the satisfaction of the Borough foreman. Trusting this will receive your favourable consid*eration." The application was granted. IMPROVEMEtNT TO TRAIN ; SEIRiVICE. The Minister for Railways wrote as follows1:—"H ami in receipt of your letter of the 7th, Last., by direction of your Council, urging that Thames may be connected with) the- express ■ service daily when the branch Line to Waihi is opened for regular traffic, and, in reply, have to say that your representations on the subject, are noted, and' the matter will receive con-sidetfationi." ; THE GOLD DUTY. i ' The Secretary to the Treasury wrote: "I have the honour by direction of the Colonial Treasurer to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the sth instant, stating that the present arrangement between the borough and Ccunty of Thames for the division of the gold duty has been terminated as from Ist April last, and that from, that date' the division will be based upon the •mount of gold exported, and in reply to inform1 you that the County and .Borough authorities should mutually agree as to the amount payable to each, and inform the Trear eury as heretofore whereupon, remittances will bo made in due eour-se." i RATING THE GAS COMPANY. ' The. Secretary of the Thames' Gas Company wrote: —"In your account for rates for year ending 30th June, 1906, I notice that you have made our total annual rating value £610 instead of £6Q|> as -greed upon in April, 1903. Thisi is accounted for by the item, of £10 for new office, which you have apparently regarded as an addition to our rateable property, but as a matter of fact we simply moved up the store from one position in the yard to another, a,nd fixed the 'office there instead of in the ih'ouse. But even if we had increased our buildings you would ' have no right to increase our annual rating value, which was fixed at £600 in 1903 without regard to property values and entirely on the basis of revenue. The principle by which this was arrived at was taken from! English: authorities and the annual rating value was agreed to in a conference between, your solicitor, your valuer1, and our chairman of directors. If you are satisfied on this point I shall be obliged if you authorise me to strike out the item of £1 6s 8d on your rate account." It was. decided to reply that the objectionl bad not been lodged at the proper time, and that the Council could -take no action in the matter, i PROPERTY AT TARARU. j Mrs. J. W. Walker wrote: —''In reply to your letter of the 4th inst., I aan quite agreeable to admit the ownership of a piece of land by the Borough Council within the fence on the northern boundary of my property , provided the Council will mark out same accurately, by placing pegs at -each end and at tho angles—if any. If this' is done I will accept, a tenancy at a peppercorn rental, say of Is per annum, and agree to give the Council possession1 of thie land at any time on the receipt of seven days' notice." It was decided to reply that 5s would be charged, and that no ex-^ pense could be incurred in making a survey. .. THE BATHS CONTRACT. The Engineer (Mr Adams) reported as under:—-"I beg to report that I have continued tho work of making 1 good the public baths during the past ' fortnight, a,nd that -as we have been > breaking clay and making it iioorl " the Utli inst., I have hud to ; devote all my time to the work. As - the pay-sheet shows, men are being - put on as room can be found for - them to work effectively. I iindtha.t the clay has not been, prcperly work . pd, and-■when rammed goes back into t nbout two-third the space it origint :»ily occupied. The clay has not been ', well' rhtoincd around tho posts, wal,ings/and planking—in fact this,

which should have beem most particularly attended to, is in the •worststate—stones of mullock and quartz and carpentersi' chips hare been; found there, and in one place, near the leak was a piece of 3 x 2timber, about 2-1 feet long, which, ihad been left under the waling1 when the clay was put in. From present appearances, and uur less ifche clay has been much better worked in other parts, I shall have to go completely around the timber work, breaking" down: a.nd making good the puddle for the whole distance. So far there is no stopping place in- sight, a.nd the clay is in just as bad a state where it rests on a bottom; on which movement would be impossible as it is on the made ground.' Enclosed please find paysheet to 27th inst., £21 15s ;_ accounts, £A 10s; my own chargesl of full time devoted to the work, £A 1; total for payment, .£34 55." It was decided to adopt, the reptorfc. It was stated that there would .be ample discussion Inter on when the matter came to bei finally settled. TENDERS FORi LIBRARY FURNITURE. Regarding the tenders for the supply of material for the furnishing of the Public Libraay, only one tender was received—that from the Drapery Supply Association, of Auckland, but some of the lines —'tables, chairs, etc. —were not tendered for. It was decided to accept the ten-" der of the D.S.C. (Auckland), and on the motion of Cr. Scott, seconded by Cr. Lowe, it was also decided to empower the Furnishing Committee to endeavour to secure the other articles locally. TENDER FOR TAR. The following tenders were received for the supply of 8000 gallons of tar:' —Thames Gas Company, 6d per gallon; J. J. Craig (Auckland), s£d per gallon:; P. Bryant (Auckland)' ojd per gallon. It was- decided to put the -names of Messrs Bryant and Craig together, and draw for lots. The result was that the tender of Mr J. J. Craig was accepted. GENERAL PURPOSES AND FINANCE COMMITTEE. The Committee having considered the various matters referred to them they recommend pas follows:—(1) Harbour Board's proposal to preventtailings, being deposited on present 'site, as same is full: That the Council inform the Beard that they do notfeel called upon at the present juncture to make any suggestions .^or to interfere in the matter,* a® the prevention of damage to the harbour is entirely within the jurisdiction, of the Board. (2.) Opening of the new Library building, etc.: That the Library Furnishing Committee report to the next ordinary meeting of the Council as to the mest convenient date om which the building should be opened; also on the subject of the future management of the institution ; the Committee also 4o ascertain, if possible, a,nd report to the Council the probable date, of the completion of the swimming baths, with the object, of permitting of a date to be fixed for their being opened to the public." FOREMAN! OF WORKS REPORT. t The Foreman of Works reported, for the information of the Council, on the works oairied cut and in progressl during the past fortnight: — "The large culvert in the right-of-way at the* side of Ellis' store, Tararu, caved in for a. length of 40ft. I found sufficient covering to protect the pipes, so renewed the culvert with 15 inch, tile pipes' instead of wood. A new urinal has been erected on the north side of Lower Richmond street. The water has been laid on for flushing purposes. The; whole has. been thoroughly painted. This should meet all requirements for some time. A quantity of soil has been, spread on the borough: allotments at- the junction of Pollen and Campbell streets and a number of trees planted. These allotment's require more filling to level them up whiclToani be done in fine weather with stuff from tbe streets; at the present time the ground Is too soft to oart over. Two men are now laying the tile pipe drain on the north side of lower Walter street. Wham the pipes are completed this portion of the street will be made up to its proper grade and a- foopat-li formed from Queen street to the Beach road. Some 10ft of the wooden block crossing in Pollen street, at Martin's corner, has been renewed. Several other crossings that were in a muddy state have received a coating of very coarse gravel The crossing in Owen street, from RensliaiV'S corner to the Royal Hotel will be repaired as time will permit, as I -have sufficient wood blocks on hand for that purpose. The poles for the telephone wire from the Firo Brigade station to the Superintendj ent's house are now to hand, and wjll Ibe erected at once, weather permit- ' ting. Two men; have been constantly employed in attending to the drains, water-t-n'bles, and outlets."