THE ABATTOIR DRAIN. AN EDITOR ATTACKED.

Grey River Argus, 26 June 1908, Page 3

THE ABATTOIR DRAIN. AN EDITOR ATTACKED.

Mr Anderson, manager of the abattoirs, in response to a request by the Mayor, reported on the drain at tJio abattoir. He stated that it was in every way satisfactory and did all that was required. Only once when there was a long spell of dry weather did it give trouble. Cr. Jackson complimented the Maj- i or on get-ting this information. Mr Lord had been blamed for making a mistake with the drain, and his other work criticised. The remarks w«r<: exaggerated so much as to be absolute falsehoods. Mr Lord had been made through the columns of the Argus a medium of torture. They should protect their servant from such impeachments. He said the Editor of the Argus was impeaching — The Mayor — You are out of ord^r. .You cannot discuss the Editor of the Argus. Cr. Russell said the Editor of the 'Argus was doing a good work. Cr. Coates. — You are out of order. Cr. Russell.— Well I will leave the Editor alone. He is only doing his duty. He did not agree with the manager's report on the drain. Water had to be stored .to flush it. The floor drains had no fall and the butcher* were compelled to stand up ' to their boot-tops in slush, the butchers having to broom it away. As regards C*". Jackson's remarks — The Mayor. — Keep to the subject. Cr. Russell. — You let Cr. Jackson i?o on. Cr. Sheedy said the drain was not a success, it was more like a camJ. The remarks in >the Press were thoroughly sound and truthful. The manager knew there was not sufficient fall. Even a school boy could tell that. The whole work will have to be re-construc-ted. • Cr. Shannahan stated that the man' ager was appointed by the Government and wa3 not afraid of his opinion. Hr would not say the drain was satifsao tory if it was not so. Cr. Sheedy,jlij not know what he was talking abou 1 :. Cr Russell stated that the architect's fees on the abattoirs were £280. The Mayor — I can't allow you .. tr speak you have already spoken. Cr. Sheedy, in reply to Cr. Shaa nahan, said he knew a good deal wba he was talking about. Cr. Shannah.'u was only backing people .up for hv own personal interest. Cr. Bignell.— You must withdraw that. The Mayor. — Cr. Sheedy, withdraw ,that remarK. Cr. Sheedy. — I withdraw, but I kriov ' more than Cr. Shannahan about 'hi matter. . ■ Cr. Kerr stated that Cr. Jadcsoi had tried to exhibit his eloquence U attacking the Editor of the At/jus He was not going to defend the e-li tor, because he was quite able to * so himself. Th e only thing he re gretted was that Cr Jackson did no have the courage to express his opin ion the same as the Editor of th Argus. He was quite pleased t .learn from the manager's report tha df/ihe drain was satisfactory. J In 'reply to Cr. Jackson Mr Lop * stated that he received .£l6O arclutec fees on abattoirs, and the reservoi was the design of the late Mr N.apie Bell, and was fitted with means to cleaning out. The ™««^VCOKE. - Cr Russell stated that a rateo;'.ye could not get a bag of coke at th, gas works as all the coke was re?erve< for two large, companies. Cr. Bigneli'.— That ds wrong. . Cr. Lynch stated that he had. inter viewed the manager on the matter an was told a. person, had been only re fused for the time being. Cr Shannahan held that the com panics should have preference, as the had installed new machinery for burr insr coke. „ , The mayor said he would see the coke was supplied to all. At this stage one of the audience 11 terjeeted that he had been refused b Mr Kennedy. . The Mayor. — You must not speaK. The ratepayer.— Well I am only le linjr the truth. I was refused. The Mayor.— lf you do net sftn speaking you will have to leave tL The ratepayer. — Will I? THE ARCHITECT'S FEES The Finance Committee reported 0 the claim of Mr Lord for £473 for a chitect's fees on the Town Hall, an recommended that the matter be r f erred to the Borough solicitor for h opinion as to the legality of the cJai Cr Tennent in moving the adoptu of th"c report stated the committi thought it wise to get a legal opinio

He had no sympathy with th c claim whatever. Cr Sheedy seconded pro forma. He failed to see why Mr Lord should put in such a claim. H e was going to protect the ratepayers and oppose the payment, Mr JLordr was getting and then it^was raised to'"^4oo on account to extra work. Mr Young had done most of the architect's work Mr Lord had no refect io it, 1 and he had no right to receive abbatoir fees. H e,, would strongly oppose paying one shilling. Cr Kerr moved as an amendment that_no action be taken. He did so because he dj^not think the ratepayers should pay tHe amount. If Mr Lord thought he was entitled io receive the money then he could take Jeg-al proceedings ag-ainst th c Council. If the court stated they should pay then they would, but not until them. The part that surprised him most was that Mr Lord had never charged architect tees on the morgue, sexton's cotta/ye pumping engineer's cottage and the band rotunda. If Mf Lord Was entitled to architect fees on the Town Ha!l he was on these works. Yet he never thought of charging on them. This matter of the Town Hall was a sudden and. unpleasant surprise. Cr Russel asked that all correspondSSL q ? » att «- lb e read, and no doubt it would surprise Cr Kerr. <-r 1 ennent, chairman of the Finance Committee then read as follows ; J?, the Finance Committee. Memorandum re architect's fees Town Hall Ihe first loan for Town Hall AIOOO was taken as to whether the s -t e should ce r J, n boundary Street or Mackav XI -? * 3? cie i ma J° rit - v of votes were cast for Mackay Street. "On December 12th 1901, E. I. Lord architect, submitted to .the Council a plan for a Town Hall at r//- Vm ° Utl V £ esolv ed that the Mayor (Matheson) call the Council together after the holidays to inspect the plan and come to some decision in the matter. "About 4th January 1002 Messrs Matheson (Mayor) J.Petrie and W H Young (architect) came to the Council offices, and asked if I had any objection to take Mr Young in with m* as Town Hall architect under the <>M style of "Young and Lord." I agreed to this course, and handed over the plan designed by me to Mr Young. After consultation, he said it was a bad practice to supply plan- and elevaiion together. It was best to get the Council to agree to plan first and elevate afterwards. "A tracing was then made off my plan with a few amendments (tracingproduced, also letters January 13th ,190? and February sth 1902, December 15th 1902, and extracts from letter book January- 1903) on which date Mr Younc sent in his account for prelimin <mc=, the Council having decided lo wait for a further loan before proceeding with the work. On February 27th 1902 the Works Committee recommend ed that the building of the Town Hall should remain in abeyance for the | present. On July 16th 1902 the poll for the second loan of £4000 for Municipal Buildings was carried, making a total of £8000 for Town Hall and , Municipal Buildings, but no provision for the Library wing. On November 13-th 1902, alternative tenders were orderel to be called for the work and plans and specifications prepared. .December nth 1902 Re architect's fees, Town Hall — On the motion of Cr Thomas seconded by Cr Bignell, it was resolved that the question of architects' fees be referred to the Works Committee, who never fixed them as there was an Architects' Association with a scale of charges. Tenders were considered on January 22nd 1903.. There were six tenders Russell and Bignell of Wanganui being lowest at ,£9977, the estimate being ;£gooo. No tender was accepted the sum available for the work after purchase of site being only "In April 1904 Mr Carnegie promised ,£2240 towards the Library wing, making the 'project feasible, and tenders were .again called on the former plans which are produced and were prepared by E. I. Lord. This time the tender of T. Bell for .£9740 was accepted, and has since been completed, a tliit'l loan ot £2700 having been obtained for finishing and furnishing. The building as erected is different from that at first proposed by Young and Lord, as will be seen on comparison of plans. The work of preparing for contract took 114 evenings, and was all done at home out of office hours. The specification contains 45 pages of typei matter and 14 copies of plans and specifications were got out, setts have been forwarded to Messrs Carnegie, Canadian Ceilings Company, Carcara Company, and Wunderlich Company. In architecture it is usual to supply two copies, of plans and specificaibns for the fees, to the owner, an! charge the extra copies at £5 a sett, the builder paying 1 per cent for detail drawings and specifications. My charge of 5 per cent on £11,000 is a very reasonable one, for I have deducted the preliminary fees paid to 1 Mr Young, and have charged the builder nothing for plans and specifications, neither have I charged for the 12 extra copies of the plans and specifications, which are worth £5 each. The usual architect's fees on th's work would be' — Commission on £11,000 550 One per cent from Builder ... jio 12 extra copies plans and. specifications ••• ••• ••• 60 £7 2 0 I have charged £473 "Apart from having been appointed architect for the Town Hall I have a right under my agreement to private practice, and can charge the Corporation for all work not specified in my agreement. . EDWARD IVEAGH LORD, :. Architect."' 24/6/08. Re Abattoir — Minute Book, page 284 1 1/6/03.— Letter f rom Mr J- Gikuth, Chief Veterinarian, Wellington, re model plans of Abattoirs, stating that the Department had no model plans, specifications etc., and suggested that the Council employ some local architect to prepare same, and that before doing so the person appointed should visit Wellington to consult the Department on the matter." Councillor Sheedy moved, seconded by Cr Big- ' nell — "That Mr Lord be instructed to prepare plans of abattoirs — cost not to exceed £3000, and that he proceed to Wellington to consult with the Department on the matter and collect information." ..Carried. Abatta.'rs cost in accordance with Government requirements £5000 and they granted the loan for that amount. The architect's fees on the above work amounted to £169, and have been paid to the architect. [Here follows a letter giving a description of the building signed by Messrs Lord and Young, joint architects.l , , "We have the honor to ackncnyledgre receipt of copy of. your resolution of 27ult requesting us to prepare" a rtan for buildings which would not cost rrcre than £5500. You concede, we understand, that the plan submitted to you, provides for no more than the accommodation actu ally required for use at present or m the near future, and we can see no way of materially reducing the proposed general dimensions without omitting many of the apartments, and decreasing the dimensions of ill to such an^extent as would seriously and permanently affect the usefulness of the whole buildings. Should you, however, determine to reduce the pro23osed dimensions, kindly instruct us to that effect and inform us of the specific reductions desired so that we may do our best to meet your wishes. ' For your information we may pant out that 'the reduction of an eslimaie by <n >per cent involves, say; 40 per ceni 'reduction of area, as with other things equal, smaller apartments cost more per cubic foot than larprer or>es. Assuming- that the general dimensions and plan arrangements rr-matn substantially as proposed, then with a view to effect a material reduction of present cost, we have to consider the various modes of construction which are open for adoption. These resolve themselves into three main alternatives capable of certain modifications or combinations which need net, at present, be considered. (1) The first alternative is that already dealt with, providing for a brick building of which portions only, mght be executed at present and the remainder completed at .some future period, as finance permits. . (2). The second possible alternative is to construct the proposed buildings in timber on concrete foundations. _ (3) The third, alternative is similar'to the second We substituting titnbar for concrete foundations. The cheaper methods may be roughly estimated to bring the cost down ■to somewhere about £6000, and possibly ' sibly less. , It' is quite possible to prepare de signs and" specifications proviaing foi the alternatives referred to # and foi corresponding tenders, that is tor tn< whole or portions of buildings con structed either in brick, in timber or concrete foundations or in timber .witt timbei foundations. We have checked our previous es'a ma'e by carefully, taking- out trial, quai tities, so far as this can be done in th< absence of the compleed plans, anc find that th.i estimate of £8000 for th Hall and both wings in brick, is no -too high and may be exceeded. Koug] lv speaking ;tne Hall, considered as separate building-, accounts for abou one third of 'the total amount and th wings for the Other two-thirds-. Altei

native estimates for timber construction give a total of £6000 "which may be less. Reducing the plan area by omitting the east wing," the cost of the hall and wing would therefore range from about £4000 for timber construction to about £5500 for brick. In any case we propose to make the construction as cheap as true economy will- .permit, and with this end in view, to carefully consider every item of design, "construction and finish. — We have the honor to be, 'gentlemen, Your obedient servants,— H. W. YOUNG & E. I. LORD, Joint Architects.

"Edward I. Lord, Esq, Town Clerk, Borough of Greymouth, "Sir, — I have the honor to refer to your letter of March ,1 st, 1902, inform- • ing me that your Council had resolved that the matter of building a Town Hall should then be held in abeyance, and to remind you that I have since received no further replies. I now beg to enclose note of account due. I have the honor to be, sir, Your obedient servant,— H. W. YOUNG, Architect." "January 23rd 1903.

"H. W. Young, Esq C.E., "Greymouth. Architect Fees. "Dear Sir,— At a Council meeting held last evening your account for architect's fees '.re preliminary plans for Town Hall was passed for payment. — Yours Faithfully, EDWARD IVEAGH LORD, Town Clerk." (Extract from Minute Book re the above). "It was resolved that the following account be passed for payment. — H. W Young, architect fees Town Hall, £50."