CITY COUNCIL.

Press, Volume XXIV, Issue 3219, 24 December 1875, Page 5 (Supplement)

CITY COUNCIL.

i « * Monday, Decembeb 20. 8 The usual weekly meeting was held in the I Council Chamber. Present —His Worship b the Mayor and Crs Ick, Schmidt, Thomson, v Turner, Wood, Jones, Gapes, and Hawkes. " The minutes of the previous general and special meetings were read and confirmed. ' Before .going into the ordinary business the CounciLiesolved itself into a Local Board I of Health. y After the minutes of the previous meeting had been read and coi firmed, The Mayor said that in consequence of the remarks made at the last meeting of the Council, one or two medical gentlemen had sent in letters saying they were attending cases of scarlet fever, and as he (the Mayor) believed the public would be anxious, after j! seeing the remarks of Councillors, he had iT instructed the town clerk to write a letter to the various medical gentlemen in Christ!j church. To these letters very satisfactory t replies had been received, in so far t that no cases of scarlatina of a I malignant type prevailed in Christchurch I district sufficient to call for action oq the part of the City Council as a Local Board of "' Health. He would now ask the clerk to c read the letters received, and would mention * that hie Honor the Superintendent had written him of his intention to call a meet--0 ing of the Central Board of Health for the x following day. Letters were then read in reply from the 8 following medical gentlemen— From Dγ Townend, saying he is now attending a case of scarlet fever in Montreal street north. From the same gentleman, saying that he is attending a case of typhus fever ia an accommodation road at Addington. From Dγ Coward, saying he is attending a case of scarlet fever of a mild character in ■ r a detached house beyond the belt. k From Dr Nedwill, informing the Council c that he has not seen a case of scarlet fever a since the epidemic nine years ago. From Drs Powell, Deamer, Doyle, and c Hay, saying they are not at present attending any cases of scarlet fever. From Dγ Patrick, giving his opinion that c during the last nine years there has not j occurred a case of scarlet fever in Christ- ■ church. From Dγ Mark, saying he is attending ,' two cases of scarlet fever in one family at 1 Wooleton. After reading the letters, the Council c resumed. r The town clerk reported as follows :—Received from rate collector, account general I city rates, 1875, £119 3s; Waimakariri do, £ 19 . 17s 2d ; rent of Post office, £5 8s ; rent from '. Market place, 7s ; fines from Resident Magis- ! trate's Court, £7 ; total receipts, £151 15s i 2d. Overdraft at Bank on general account, £1076 0s 7d. Drainage account—Dr, £5600 r 5s 6d. Drainage rate account—Cr, £1949 15s 5d ; wages, &c, to be paid on general account, £485 15s 7d ; on drainage account, P £77 2s 3d. The Mayor said he had that day signed an ' advertisement, offering a reward of £200 for \ the conviction of the person or persons who [ set fire to Wright's shop. Before doing so he had received a very satisfactory letter from the secretary to the Insurance Association. Under the resolution of the Council, he had appointed Messrs Garrick and Cowliehaw to confer with Dr Foster as to the land the Council were desirous of acquiring, and he thought it might perhaps be desirable to . appoint a committee to issue instructions to i counsel. Cγ Turner would rather desire that a * public meeting of ratepayers should be called as soon as the elections are over, and legal opinions had been obtained, so that the whole matter might be fairly considered. ; The finance committee, in their negotiations j with Mr Morten, had been anxious to deal with the 10ft of land, if he would allow i severance, but this he would not hear of. i The subject then dropped. ! Some remarks were made by councillors as i to the necessity of action being taken ! to raise a further sum of money to carry out the work of drainage of the city. l The Mayor said the first meeting of the > Drainage Board would most likely be held on ' l next Tuesday week, and but for the holidays the Board would have met earlier, when the ; whole question of drainage would be con- [ sidered. k The city surveyor reported :— i " 1. A reply has been sent from the secrer ! tary to the Diocesan Board of Trustees that r i they will offer no objection to the compler tion of the channels, &c, in Cathedral square, 1 as shown on the plan furnished by mc. I

am therefore now in a position to proceed with the work at once. "2. In compliance with the desire of the works committee I have examined Peacock street, and find that it is the came width as Conference street, viz., 40ft. It is well shingled and tolerably well formed as far as drainage is concerned " 3. Tenders for Kilmore street drain, and for twtlve months' supply of nails, will be laid before the Council this evening." The works committee were authorized to proceed with the work referred to in paragraph 1 of the report. It was decided that the residents of Peacock street be advised to make a formal application to have that street taken over by the Council. Four tenders were opened for Kilmore street drain and referred to the works committee. Two tenders were opened for nails and referred to the same committee. A letter was read from the secretary to the Diocesan Board of Trustees," in reply, enclosing copy of resolution passed at a meeting of the Board, having reference to the channelling round Cathedral square, as follows :—"That permission be given by the trustees to the Municipal Council of the City of Christchurch to make and maintain at the cost of the Municipal Council the drain referred to in the before-written application in the direction shown upon the said plan, the said Municipal Council making good all damage which may accrue to the property of the trustees by reason of making and maintenance of the said drain." The letter was deemed to be satisfactory. A letter was read from the Commissioner of Police, in reply, forwarding for the information of the Council a list showing the number of convictions recorded against each cab license-holder since the Hackney Carriage Bye-laws came into force. Cr Turner considered that some of the convictions recorded in the list were very trivial, and he also felt that fining a man 10s for carrying three passengers, who might be anxious to catch a train, was simply persecution. In many instances that had come to his knowledge, had he employed the cab he wonld have paid the fine himself. Cγ Ick would desire to refer to a letter that had appeared that day in one of the papers, signed "Andrew McTaggert," in which he complained of the Council having taken notice of an anonymous letter. The Council had not done so, as though the letter was signed " A Lover of Justice," Mr Hawkine, the writer, had enclosed his card, and he (Cr Ick) could vouch for the respectability of that gentleman. Some councillors had since enquired further into the matter, and had found that Mr Hawkins had written very mildly under all the circumstances. The inspector had reported that the legal fare that should have been charged on the occasion was 8s 3d. A letter was read from the manager of the Bank of New Zealand, quoting paragraph from the Colonial Treasurer's office in reply, with reference to the scrip certificate of Government debentures mislaid in the offices of the City Council. Referred to the finance committee. A letter was read from Messrs Garrick and Cowliehaw, asking to be favored with a cheque for amount of their charges re Drainage Bill. Refeixed to the Drainage Board, to be submitted at their first meeting. On the motion of Cr Ick the works committee were authorised to erect additional shed room, to the amount of £100, in the Council's yard. The sanitary committee reported:— " That upon an examination of the side channels within the city, your committee observe that there are several of the same in a very bad state of drainage, and consequently containing stagnant matter which is injurious to the health of the inhabitants. Your committee therefore recommend that as the concrete channelling of the streets running from east to west will -shortly be completed, that the several parts of the remaining portions of the streets hereunder mentioned running in other directions should be concrete channelled forthwith. [Here follow the names of the streets and divisions.l Your committee beg further to report that, npon visiting the yjcinity of Conference, Aldrei, and Peacock streets, they found that there are several parts of private lands abutting on same containing stagnant water and other matter very dangerous to the health of the people, and as notices have been served by this Council to remedy the same, and not complied with, your committee recommend that steps be taken to cause the same to be properly filled up, so as to abate the nuisance forthwith. " J Gapes, '' Chairman of Sanitary Committee." The report was adopted, and it was resolved that action be taken by the works committee as soon as possible. Forty-three applications were opened foi the office of assistant town clerk. After the applications had been read and considered, Mr Murray (late in Mr J. D, McPherson's office) was appointed. It was resolved to refer the letters previously read from the medical gentlemen to the Central Board of Health. The Council then adjourned.