MANIOTOTO COUNTY COUNCIL.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume XL, Issue XL, 12 May 1911, Page 4

MANIOTOTO COUNTY COUNCIL.

I The following is the report of the ■ engineer presented to the last meeting ' of jvthe council: — ; BB&raders.—The Champion grader i commenced work in the Idaburh Rid- \ ing oh the 6th April, and completed I the formation of ninety-four chains of : road, connecting the formed road at Lockhart's with the road to Mr C. Brown's from Wedderburn, Part of the Rough Ridge Reefs road near its junction with the.main Ida Valley road was then formed, this work having been authorised some time before I came to the district. I The grader was then put on to the road to Mr C. Brown's from the St. Bathans Rough Ridge road, and it should be completed to-day. This portion of theroad is not on a surveyed line, but is the only outlet from Pad ■ get's road to the Rough Ridge railway station. This grader will now be employed for a time in reforming roads in the Idaburn Riding. , formed about 103 chains of road from the finger-post towards Lower Kyeburn, and ten chains from the same point towards Upper Kyeburn. It is now on the Upper Kyeburn to Lower Kyeburn road, and will to-morrow finish the work laid out for it. Contracts.—Good progress is being made with a contract at Home Hills by Mr J. Dillon. A second contract on the Home Hills runs could now be-advertised, with tenders returnable say on 17th May. Bradley has not yet commened his contract at'Maniototo Station", and he has been writtenjto, to commence at once. A start has been made on the contract through Mr Passmore's run. Dow claims to have completed his contract on the Rough Ridge road, but I have hot had an opportunity of inspecting it for final passing. His cheque should be held overin the meantime until Monday, when I shall look over it. _ Wiipi-a'a to Howell's.—The length >c .. requiring to be widened or , u. -.. <i fiuc in order, is about one . tb ■ j J a:.cl of which one half require very little to be done to it. Tiie :j-a. iat che present time is about four-

' .'.& A feet wide, and widening done reqa.res that the volcanic material excavated on the high side should be put clear to tbe outside, as it is unsuitable for makiDg up the travelling portion of the road. Gimmerhurn. main road from the Maniototo Station to the Gimmerburn school was carefully examined during the month. On the whole the road right through from Naseby is good, but three stretches have never been gravelled, and these in wet weather detract from the otherwise good road. If these were gravelled, it would be a great improvement to'-*a road on which there is a considerable

traffic. The Eden bridge is in a bad stateof repair and will very soon have to be put in order. The main fault is in the foundations, which have subsided at fc'ie centres, or some of the stonework has crushed. In my opinion it would be unwise to spend money on the repairs to the bridge itself, with foundations such as this bridge has, for it will probably be found that a new bridge is necessary. Road at Hastie's, Taierj Lake,—Part of this road requires to be gravelled, and the surfaceman has been instructed to round up parts of it, - and to locate the most suitable gravel. Hyde.—Planks have been ordered for some of the creeks on the Hyde to Rock and Pillar road, and will be put in position on arrival. Annett's bridge requires repairs to the planking and. I would recommend that longitudinal' traffic planks be added to the bridge, as the best method of .putting it in order. The Pound. In reference to the charge of 35s for feed for an aged horae impounded last month, I have looked into the matter and made inquiries which sbow: : —

The amount to be charged for daily sustenance is fixed by the third sche - dule of the Impounding Act at 2g 6d per day. The poundkeeper states that owing to the uncertainty as to the number of animals to be -provided with fodder, and the time they will be in the pound' he can only buy feed insmall quantities • from the stores and elsewhere, as otherwise the loss through rats and mice becomes an annoyance. He assures me that animals are never left without feed, and that "he always pro- "* V.'des them with pressed hay and chaff. In the particular case referred to, water had to be brought from the mill or near that place, as owing to the dry weather and the fact that the Government race was not carrying water at the time, there was ho water at the pound. ' As the Act provides that the daily charge shall be 2s 6d, it is only in the case of ownerless cattle that the matter becomes important from the money point of view, and it only remains to Bee that the animals are reasonably well fed as they can be with the amount provided by the Impounding