GREYMOUTH BOROUGH COUNCIL

Greymouth Evening Star, 24 April 1914, Page 3

GREYMOUTH BOROUGH COUNCIL

ORDINARY MEETING An ordinary meeting of the Greymouth Borough Council was held last night, the following members'being present: The Mavor (.Mr G. E. Perkins), Crs] A. Doig, G. T. Grace. E. M. Sheedy, H. F. Doogan, J. Goodall, J. McGinley, J. W. Greemlade, hihl J. W. Stubbs. VICTORIA PARK. The Mayor proposed the making of a special order '.-losing roads as requested by the Trotting Club for the purpose of enabling them to improve their course. He explained that his motion was merely formal, as the proposal would still have to come before a public meeting and bo subsequently submitted to the .Magistrate for approval. The motion was seconded by Cr Doogan. and carried. On the motion of Cr Greoiislade. (seconded by Cr McGinley, it was decided lo notify the Trotting Club that they would be required to pay all the costs ot closing the roads. CORRESPONDENCE. The Plumbers' Board of New Zealand directed attention t 0 the fact that the provisions of section 9 of the Plumbers Registration Act had come into full operation on March 25th. The section provided that all sanitary 'plumbing should be done by a person registered under the Act. The Board also notified that members of their body hoped to be aide to personally visit Greymouth towards the end of the present month f inquire into the outstanding applieation,for registration in the borough.—Receiv od. Joseph Fletcher, Inspector of Publh Health, offered his services as an inspector under the Plumbers Registration Act 1912.—Received.

Cr Doogan said that as Mr Fletche was prepared to perform the duties ol i 1: ipector free of charge to the Council, anc is this would probably relieve the Bo rough Engineer to some extent, lie woulo move that the offer be accepted. The motion was seconded by Cr Doig. who said lie understood inspection was insisted upon by the law for the purpose of ensuring that good material was used. The Engineer said the whole tenor of the Act, with the compilation of which he had had more to do than any other man in New Zealand, was to ensure :;ocd workmanship, which included material, for on good sanitary plumbing the public health depended. He did not covet the office, but if Mr--Fletcher were appointed a conflict might arise with hi; (Mr O'DoniioH's) office. Although the \ct said that a. certificated sanit»n inspector must be appointed, another •liuse povided that an engineer who hud been in charge of sanitary work could do the necessary supervision. Cr Grace mov-d as an amendment, se conded by Cr McGinley, that Mr Flotcher be thanked for his offer, but inform ed that his appointment might conflict with the duties of officers of the Council. Cr Doogan withdrew his motion in favour of the amendment, which was then adopted. On the motion of Cr Grace, Mr O'Donnell was appointed to the position. The Buller County Council intimated Miat .they were desirous of cooperating in endeavouring to obtain a. daily railway service between Greymouth and Christchurch. —Received. D. Tennent tendered his resignation as a member of the Council.—Accepted with regret. The Public Works Department wrote •igreeing to exempt Paroa Road from the provisions of Section 117 of the Tub 1 ' Works Act. relative to the width of roads.—Received. J. D. Fenn applied to have the trackrecently laid down in Moss Street extend•d to his residence. —Referred to the Works Committee. The Post an Telegraph Department intimated that they proposed to erect, for *he convenience of the public, a slot telephone at a site occupied by a telephone pole on Mawhora Quay, immediately opposite the Commercial Hotel.—Agreed to. on the motion of Cr .McGinley, seconded by Cy Greenslade. 'Mrs Jessie Ellery wrote that owing t. gravel being removed for road purposes the fence of her section nt BlaVotown had been undermined. — Referred to the Wo-ks Committee. The Makura Croquet Club asked the Council to connect a, portion of their rround with the High Street sewer.— Received. Cr Grace moved that the work be done, nmvided the cost does not exceed £lO. The motion was seconded by Cr Doig. and carried. The Department of Agriculture sup 'rested thai the Borough Council, and •ither bodies .similarly situated, should pay the salary due to the Inspector of Abattoirs for his managemei b duties into the Public Account, the Government then ,naying to him the full amount of the combined salaries. This would entitle the officer to the full benefit of the public service .superannuation .scheme. —Received. The Mayor proposed that the request •if the Department be complied with, ■dating that Mr Wilkin, had no objection. The motion was seconded by Cr Grace and carried.

The Social Democratic Party intimated ihnt. with the Council's povmission, they intended boltliiio- ; . p-.d>lir mooting on (In-fi:,r-.i Rolutuht. ;tit«l Milunittcd iho names ■if the soi'nl-i'iN—Anproved.. on the motion of Cr McGinley. BOROUGH WORKMEN 1 . YV. l<\'i'giison and \\\ Ellison wrote that they liad applied lo i tie Borough iveiseei' on several occasions for work, hut without sit.:cess, although other men (not ratepayer.-) had been put on.—Received. Tile Mayor .-aid the Council had passed i reolution s line time ago witli regard to the emp'ovment of men. and if the terms of that resolution had not heen rigidly adhered to someone was to Name. Personailv. when anv men applied to him for work, he simply sent (hem to the Engineer <ir the Foreman.

Tin' Engineer said that when men applied to him "or work he scut tlicm to the Fort'irian, ,iot to say that they were to !>•' nut on. but to ask liim ii' lie bad work for them to do. The only uxcep tioii-s weTe men nut on to do expert work, whom lie. (the Engineer) himself appointed. Cr Stubhs suit! he had been informed that a recent arrival from iluistcliiircli had 1 een put nn jo work, while married men and ratepayers had been refused. It was nil his mind that some Councillor or Councillor? hid es"d influence with the Engineer or the Foreman against certain men or in favor of othew.

The Engineer asked Cr Stubhs to withdraw his statement so far as it referred to him. Ct Stubhs said all he had stated was that it. was in his mind —(Mr O'Donnell: Then keen it in your mind !)--that such a thing had occurred; he said nothing against the Engineer. He would move that in the matter of work preference be given t n married men and ratenavers. The Mayor said that a resolution to that effect was already on the records,of the Council. Cr fioodnll said the impression wa.s abroad that some Councillors had used influence in Mie direction indicated by Cr Stubhs. Tf it was so. in face of the resolution on the books of the Council. the Councillor or .Councillors responsible should say so right there. The Mnvor end Crs Grace, Phojjnn. Sliced v. T)oi<*, Orcenslade and MeCinley repudiated hav'ng at any time tried to influence tie- Engineer or Foreman with regard to the employment of men. Cr .MeCinley .said the man referred to by Cr Stubhs as having been put on was a verv old resident of Greynioufcli, although he -certainly had been absent in Chxislchurch for some little time lately.

Cr Stubbs said if the Mayor thought he had said anything out of place he would withdraw'it, but the impression on the minds of a number, and on his mind, was that some influence had been used He repeated that a man from Christchurch had been put on in preference to other men who were ratepayers. He would move that the Foreman be informed of the resolution of the Council that ratepayers and married men should nave preference of employment, and requested to carry it out. The motion was seconded by Cr McGinley and carried, the Engineer remark ing that if what Cr Stubbs had said was correct he would deal with the Foreman in the morning. FINANCE COMMITTEE'S REPORT. The Finance Committee reported as 1 Accounts amounting- to £1413 7s 10d were examined and passed for payment, JJ1332 7s 4cl being payable from the District Fund Account and -CBI 0s 6d from I'own Improvements Account, and these ,re now recommended to you for payuent. 2. Accounts amounting to £5051 15s. which were paid since last meeting, were ilso examined, £4277 10s 4d being paid from the District Fund Account and £T,A 4, Od from Town Improvements Loan Account. 3. A report was received from the Borough Engineov re the state of the pumping' machinery at the Borough waterworks, the report being attached hereto. 4. It is recommended that the Engineer report as to the best Titans of rec■ifying the matter of the engine-room foundation and the cost, of same. 5. It is recommended that the Engineer con for with the Harbor Board Engineer with a view to the fence enclosing the Borough property in Preston Road being put in a proper state of repair. The report from the Encrineer, referred to in Clause 3, was as follows:

"In accordance wUh your instructions to make an exhaustive report upon the machinery at the pumping station. T have •xaminod the engines and pumps and :ied them in good going order as a -.hole. The pumps are delivering within •( fraction of the amount the makers rlaiined for them ten years ago, and are <!ill capable -if doing plenty of work. i'he engines had new cylinder casings. vnd pistons, fitted to each, thus making liiein as good as new. and. with the spares now on hand, should, if treated properly, last some considerable time. This concludes my report upon the ms>chinerv.

"In'tlie preceding paragraph, in speak:pg of the engines, I have used the words, 'if properly treated.' I find upon making an examination of the foundations upon which the whole of the machinery is fixed that I am quite justified. In making an examination of the floor I find portions of it have subsided to a considerable extent, as shown upon the accompanying plan in section, which tells the whole tale. In looking into the exhaust pipe chamber I found the floor undermined and in a, dangerous condition, requiring immediate attention, as it appears to me the whole structure does. The usual method of fixing machinery is to ensure a solid foundation for it. This. I regret to state, appears to have been neglected, and the oscillation caused through this neglect has been telling its tale by periodically breaking shafts, and will continue doing so unless the foundations are promptly attended to. The old rule of loose foundations begetting loose and broken machinery holds good in this, as in other things, and the wonder is that, under the eenditions obtaining, tinwhole of the pumping plant has not found a resting place oil the scrap Ilea]) long ago." The report of the Committee was adopted. GAS MANAGER'S REPORT. The Gas Manager (.Mr James Kennedy) reported as follows : "The street lamps erected J.t Cobden are working satisfactorily. These aro lighted and extinguished at predetermined hoars by clock work, a small apparatus being attached to each lamp. Winding same each week is all the attention required, with, of course, the usual cleaning of the lamps. As t<> the street lamps, it seems strange that resioents who notice anything wrong with the lighting should so readily ri'sh into print. Surely it would be much easier to ring up the gasworks, where the complaints would.bc duly noted and promptly attended to. Perfection need not be looked for in any system of lighting, and the lamps are yet to be discovered that will prevent some of the pilot lights in an installation numbering over one hundred fi'oni being blown out on niedits when bowling gales are blowing, with torrential rains falling, such as we so frequently have here. There ; s in every town a percentage of street lamp troubles. This was plainly visible on my recent trip through the Dominion. T saw even in Uie large cities (some lamps alight throughout the whole day, while others ■it night time were not alight, although •he weather was fine. However, I shall be, thankful to any resident who will in a, proper' manner notify us of anything being wrong with the public or private 'igliting. "As instructed. I beg to report on the. letter received from Mr Armstrong. I have to state that the make of gas had fallen off considerably during the strike period—lßo turns of coal 'ess were used up to March 31st last. Tt was; necessary to curtail expenses. This was done in various directions, all outside work was stopped, the annual renewal of retorts was even staved off. and everv possi!>'" •I'fort was made to keep down expenditure. 1 was not aware that Mr Armstrong was authorised t 0 speak for ||n•von T thought thev possessed sufficient intelligence to state their own case. Not i,ne word was spoken to me by the men on (he matter, which seems strange, seeing that T am continuously with them on (he works. Mr Armstrong's letter contains some misstatements in so far as it states that only four men were engaged. Before the date of Mi' Armstrong's letter I'. Janiie-on and other? were rendering ■oiis'derable assistance to the four men in the retort house. When 1 was leaving for a holiday I also instructed him to put in full time there. Shortly after my departure Bailev left for Sydney. It will iio admitted that there is nothing extraordinary in a man leaving after three years' service ; neither is there anything strange in a, man being unwell and re quiring a. change. Byrne was then appointed. Jaiuiesou taking the afternoon shift. The following then composed the staff: Prenderjiast, "Furlong, McGrath. Byrne, and Jamieson—or five men. not four as Mr Armstrong states in his letter. On my return Ransley. who was put off in December, and who readily ■aine from -Lyttelton at his own expense, was reap]x>intod to what he assured mo is the best paid and best all round job of its kind in tin l Dominion. 1 know that statement to be correct. In numerous places Sunday work- is curtailed and wages saved. In no other place is addi'innal help provided when shifts are being changed from nieht to day work and vice versa. On Ransley commencing, famieson returned t 0 the yard work, thus leavjntj five men on: and. in view of the fact that a mnoil lesser quantity of coal is being used than formerly, owing to the improved quality of Ihe coal now being received. T consider that for the present month five men are sufficient. Perhaps a word on the wages may not be ■nit- of place. The year's pay per man works out at fc!2t ll 9s. 1 need not state that in no other place in the Dominion is this amount paid as a constant wage. However, the good men we have, and who have been with us for years past, are worth «t. From the foregoing, it will be seen that, the Department have been in no way harsh towards the men, and that the Council deserves commendation for placing their stokers in the first

[josition in the Dominion as regards conditions and wages." The reports were adopted MISCELLANEOUS. Cv Grace moved, seconded by Cr Doig,' that the turncock be instructed to attend 10 leaky water taps.—Carried. Eleven residents of Shakespeare Street, between Marsden Road and Marlborough Street, petitioned to have the footpath opposite their properties completed.—Rereived. The Mayor moved, .seconded by Cr Sheedy. that the Engineer be instructed to report on the probable cost of the work at the next meeting of the Council. -Carried. The Mayor, in answer to Cr Grace, said he would certainly be in favor, if reelected Mayor, of placing a sum on the animal estimates for tlia imnrovement of the Recreation Ground. He had purposely deferred framing the estimates 1111- ■'! alter the Mayoral election, so that in the event of )i:m not being returned, the new Mavor would have full opportunity ol considering the proposed expenditure for the ensuing year.