MAYORAL INSTALLATIONS.

_ 4> Christchurch, [ The installation of Mr Thomas Gapes a mayor for the ensuing year took place a noon to-day. Mr Eden George, the retir ing mayor, occupied the chair. All thi ' councillors were present, with the exceD i tion of councillors Bonnington and E 5 Smith, and there was a good attendauc jof the public. Councillor Connal, th newly-elected member for the North-eas Ward, took his seat at tha table; and the ordinary business of the council hav : ing been disposed of, t The Mayor said that before leaving thi ! chair he would like to make a few remark: j upon the work of the year. The proceed ! inga of the council had been characterise< I by a great deal of unpleasantness, fo: ' which he felt in no way responsible. I '. ' had been customary for the retiring mayo] j to add a link to the mayoral chain, but ai ' i this was purely an honorary matter, am }as his year of office had been any , thing but a pleasant one, he hac , ! decided not to follow the usual custom. H< | regretted the unpleasantness that hac | occurred a3 much as they did, and h( hoped, ag he was leaving New Zealand foi Australia, that the councillors would forget what had passed, and forget him also, as he would forget them. Though the year had not been remarkable for anj large works undertaken, he -warned the councillors that there waß an element of danger abroad which they would have to meet. A number of meetings had been called upon the drainage question, and the result would be, if the intentions of those who called these meetings were carried out, that the city would be saddled with more rat9B. He maintained tbat it ; would be better to do away with the Drainage Board altogether. The work could be done quite well by the preßent officers of the council, who had ample time to attend to their own duties and those of the officers of the Drainago Board. He would ' like to see the council get an Act passed amalgamating all the suburban local i bodies. So far the city had only been able to incorporate Richmond, which, though a nice little euburb, required a lot of money spending on it. If the amalgai mation of all the suburban bodies took place, a large amount of expense would be saved j in fact, enough money could be saved to pay interest on a large loan, which could be spent on necessary improvements. St Albans was badly in need of drainage, and if his proposition were carried out this could be attended to. The present arrangement of the council's business took up a lot of time from the mayors. He himself had had to work from morning to night to attend to the council's business. He thought that another matter which required attention was the licensing of cabs. There were many vehicles which were a disgrace to the city, and that should not be licensed, while many of the drivers appeared in disreputable attire. On one occasion when he had to attend a funeral in his official capacity, he, with another councillor, had gone to three stands to get a respectable turn-out, and had not eucceeded. He would suggest that the cabmen should be compelled to wear a uniform, and that stepß should be taken to ascertain the moral characters of the drivers before licenses were issued. This would no doubt add considerably to the businesß of this class of people, and would shed lustre on the city. Another matter he had endeavoured to get through the council came to nothing for want of a seconder. This was the question of the newspaper boy p. He thought that some restriction should be placed on these boye, as at the present Mine many of the lads spent half their money on cigarettes. If he had not been a success as mayor, it was not his fault, but his misfortune. The citizens could not say that he had attempted to thrust a scheme ', upon them in which he did not believe. He had been perfectly satisfied then, and he still maintained thab the scheme was a \ good one, and ought to be carried out. He 1 concluded by moving the customary vote of thanks to the town clerk and staff, all of whom had been courtesy itself to him ! all through his year of office. When he had moved in the direction of retrenching 1 these officers it had been with.no antago- ! nistic idea fco them, but simply because he had considered the staff to be overmanned. He had nothing whatever to complain of a3 far as they were concerned, aud now the ratepayers had emphatically decided he | hoped that no councillors would attempt to interfere with them. Councillor Anderson, in seconding the vote of thanks, had much pleasure in testifying to the efficiency of the staff. He concurred with a good many of the ! remarks which had fallen from the mayor. ! He could not agree, however, with his ' remarks as to the cabmen, who were a class ! of men the city might be proud of. The vote having been carried, the Town Clerk returned thanks. The mayor-elect (Mr T. Gapes) then made the usual declaration, and was invested with the chain and received the keys of office. The Mayor, who was received with lond applause, thanked Mr George for the courtesy he had displayed at the installation. He also thanked the council and j citizens for the high honour they had done him. He could assure them that he would do his utmost to carry out the dutie3 o? his office for the benefit of the city. A great many matters required attention, and they would have to settle down to work in earnest. One of the most important of these was to at once put Richmond in a proper sanitary condition. The public squares were also capable of a good deal of improvement. The drainage question, which was at present agitating the public mind, would also have to be faced, and an endeavour made to settle it in a satisfactory manner. He supposed he should refer to the question of a high-pressure water supply for the city, which waa always brought up on these occasions. There was no doubt that this question would have to be faced in the ! near future. The city surveyor had informed him that morning that the well now being put down in Worcester street had reached the unprecedented dejth oi 275ft, and indications showed that it would have to go still deeper before water was reached. It was evident from thU that the water was faßt failing, and this showed that the question must be dealt with before very long. It was admitted that this was a large matter, and they had very little means, but something would have to be done. He trusted that the • council would work harmoniously witl him, and that hia year of office would noi be an unfruitful one. Councillor Gray congratulated his Worship on his attainment of the high position andhisacceesionto which pleased hisbrothe: councillors and himself. He could assure the mayor that they wouM all assist hia 1 in carrying out his duties. He took tb.ii opportunity of expressing regret for his share in the unpleasantness which hac marked the proc9edinga of the counci: ' during the last year, and he accepted tb< ' retiring mayor's assurance that he wouU 1 carry away no ill-will, and he could assur< ; him that the feeling was reciprocated He hoped that the council would setfcli ' down to work, and that severa 1 important works would be taken in han< during the year. 1 On the motionfor Councillor Cooper, i was resolved — " That the council agreei | to the factory bauds working on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 23, 1894, to make up fo; 1 the Anniversary holiday." [ The Mayor thanked the councillors an< ' citizens for their attendance, and the pro [ ceedingg terminated. ' On the invitation of the Mayor, thi ' councillors, with a number of friends, me \ in the library, and the health of the newly ! installed mayor was drunk and sevora other toasts honoured. [" Lyttelton. j At noon to-day, Mr J. Thompson, th , mayor-elect, was formally installed. 1 . vote of thanka was accorded to the lat . mayor, Mr J. T. Brice, and the staff, ani j the proceedings terminated until thi r evening, when the mayor will meet th . councillors and a few friends.