ANIMATED MINUTES.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1021, 10 January 1911, Page 4

ANIMATED MINUTES.

-r- » —; AT PETONE COUNCIL'. : THE MERITS OF A COMPLAINT.There was a lively few minutes at th« . mesting of the Petone Borough Council last evening. The disturbance arose over a matter connected with the. administration of the borough gas supply. The engineer (Mr. W. H. Cook), in course of his report upon the working of the borough gas department, referred to a report, laid before a previous meeting of' tho| council,i^tliat.,a, ratepayer. (Mr. Merrick)' iaif complaihed of an insufficient gas supply to his premises. Upon in- ' .quiries being made, the engineer stated, it was found that Mr. Merrick cotiiplain; ed only that his account for gas was too high.- When the service was examined for leakage it was found that a branch service had, by arrangement, been carried from Mr. Merrick's premises to an adjoining office, and that the whole ser- . vice was being registered on Mr, . Merrick's meter. Tho, matter :had been, remedied. The statement that the fitter, had declined to do anything in the mat- . ter before nine , o'clock ill the morning > had not been borne out upon investigation., 1 Whei>, the Mayor (Mr. J. W. M'Ewan) moved the adoption of the report containing this clause, Councillor Piper arose, ostensibly to ask a question, and complained, with heat, that ho was - hing unfairly treated. This was not the first time. that a report had been brought in stating that what he had said at the council table was incorrect. "I have c full up of it," said Councillor Piper. _ He went on to remark that a similar report had been brought in about a complaint he had previously ventilated about the condition of Mr. W. J Kirk's bath-hcater. "I absolutely disproved and burst up the report that was; brought up about this bath-heater, said . Councillor Piper with a touch .of pride in his tone. . . " "Stick.to tho point," enjoined-a brother councillor. "Ii am sticking to the /point, _ said Councillor' Piper. "It lias-been said that what I reported at'the. council table, was not correct-. I say that is an abominable lie. That's plain enough! - Councillor Southgate rose to a point of order. There was no complaint -before ( the council. „ . The Mayor ruled that Councillor Piper must confine his remarks to ' tho ques"councillor Piper said he was asking a question. He had simply reported what had been stated to him by Mr Merrick himself. The gas in his (Mr. Merrick s) shop petered out .one evening before the expiration of business hours and he had to finish his business operations the light of candles. Next morning Mr. Merrick told the speaker about the matter and asked him what to do. He (Councillor Piper) discovered a _defect. in the service at some distance before it reached : the meter and remcdied .it.- He would say that the report laid before the council that night was absolutely. incorrect. It was more ingenious than ingenuous, concluded' Councillor Piper,- referring to the .statement about an overcharge to drag up an earlier complaint as an answer to a later one. • , , The Mayor said Councillor Piper hadnot yet asked his -question. _ Councillor Piper: Then I will ask. From whom did the engineer get the in* formation embodied in Ins report: The engineer: "From the head_ fitter; he was instructed to make inquiries.and reported that Mr. Merrick did not com-plain-that, he did not get gas enough, but onlv that his bill was too high. -Councillor Piper: "Oh, but that happened a fortnight or three weeks before, ■yjje engineer: "It was laid before your Brocklcbank said the only complaint that had lately come before the council from Mr. Merrick was a complaint that the gas had given out one Southgate said it was plain that Mr- Merrick was net greatly tronbled about shortage of gas, since he did not deem it necessary to complain to tne council's fitter. The Mayor said the fitter. 110 doubt, went down to we what the tyouole ij as. Councillor Piper: "The fit or n«j not go down that moriimg or that < ay. , Tho engineer replied that the fitter. (Mr. Hopkins) went to Mr. Men:|' l : instructions to ask six or seven Asked if he had. everbeen shoitof gas Mr. Merrick denied r!l2 speaker had (o take Ins .itter s wok. lor this. Ucnlving to further questions, Mr. Merrick said. "No. what I- am ing about is the cxcsjsho ? 1 as 1 . 41" ij'"" allv tlie engineer s.ated that Mi. Merrick's complaint was recyivcd on Uecfmlier 2-2, and the litter went down on i)eCe \'ft"r some further discussion the council passed on to the next business.