CITY COUNCIL.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11937, 10 January 1901, Page 2

CITY COUNCIL.

The ordinary meeting of the City Council was held last evening, and attended by his Worship the Mayor (Mr R. Chisholm),. and Crs Dawson, Gore, Crust, Hayiies, Howliscn, Carroll, Muir, and Christopher. Apologies were received for the absence of Crs Christie, Park, Scott, and Denniston, the latter being in Christchurch attending as a clclogato the Conference of Chambers of Commerce. . TIIE LATE JIB A. 11. BOSS. His Worship the Mayor stated that Mr A. H. Ross, a former mayor of the city; had died since last meeting. It was customary on the death of a gentleman who had tilled the lriuyoral chair with the'energy and satisfaction which Mr Boss exhibited to send a letter of condolence to the widow and family. They were all aware that Mr Ross had infused a gtcat deal of energy into his work, and ho (the speaker) was quite sure that the council would agree to a motion that a- letter of condolence be sent to the family of the late Mr Ross sympathising with them in their bereavement. Cr Carroll endorsed what the Mayor had said with reference to the energy with which Mr Ross had performed his mayoral duties. As one who worked with Mr Ross whilst councillor and mayor, he seconded the motion. The motion was put to the meeting and carried unanimously. CORRESPONDENCE, The Acting-Town Clerk, Oamaru, wrote drawing attention to' section 242 of " The Municipal Corporations Act, 1900," under which a council is required to make a map of the streets of a borough within two years and to prepare a house list under tho provisions against overcrowding. The Oamaru Council had decided to make an effort to have these provisions made optional, and wished to know if the Dunedin Council was willing to support such representation.—Referred to the General Committee to report. Messrs Mondy, Sim, and Stephens wrote, on behalf of Mr .1. Ltggins, stating that the council having allowed tho old channel on tjie Town Belt to close up and substituted an ir<i ifficient drain pipa for it, damage had been done to Mr Liggins's property by tho rccent flooding. Mr Liggins desired that the damage should be made good by' the council, and proper provision made to prevent a recurrence of tho flooding.—Referred to the Reserves Committee to act. Mr J. R. Kemp wrote suggesting an improvement of the drinking cups at the fountain in Princes street, and the addition of some seats to the Triangle. He offered £1 towards tho cost' of t|ie latter work.—Referred to the Mayor to confer with the writer. Mr A. M. Sims and 187 others petitioned tho council asking that fresh water might be laid on to the Logan's Point baths from the main, so that bathers might enjoy a "bower bath after a dip in the salt water.— Tho Mayor said the engineer had reported that the work would cost £100. He wished to say the authorities of the Dunedin Swimming Club, who were the prime movers in the matter, had shown great diplomacy in making their request, for only the other day ha was asked to become the president of the club, and following upon that came this petition for a shower bntK—(Laughter.)—'The letter was referred to the Water Committee to report. ELECTRIC TOWER FOR THE CITV. Mr T. T. P.itcHiie, secretary for the Waipori Electric Power Svndicate. wrote, under •Into 9th January, 1901, as follows:— Tho Mayor and Councillors, Dunedin, Gentlemen,—Your attention was recently drawn to the AVaipori River as a source from which to obtain electric power for the city. Having had no reply to the communication sent to you some weeks ago it will probably be safe to assume that the recent publicity given to Mr Goodman's report is deemed a sufficient and satisfactory answer. It is Tather unfortunate that on such a simplo and easily provable point as tho fall in the river the figures given in the report referred to should be so seriously erroneous. Take one item alone. Mr Goodman this understated the actual fall in tho river to the extent of 25 per cent. This error and the numerous vaguo assertions all go to prove the perfunctory character of the report in so far at least as it refers to the Waipori River. A survey of the river has been made by Mr Hittcheson, and he reports that within a distance of one mile and the fall is GOOft, and that by extending the race a few mile 3 in the direction of Berwick, thereby shortening the distance to Dunedin, at least other 200 ft can easily be got. That being the case, what value can he placed on Mr Goodman's estimates of cost and power? - The syndicato holding the rights to 80 heads of water from tho Waipori River are now constructing a race, and with a view to determining the surplus water over 80 heads it has been arranged to place a gauge box in the river in tho first spell of dry weather. A valuable report having been made to the syndicate by Mr Hutchoson, C.E., a copy will be sent to you if desired. Cr Carroll said it was only right that the public should know that the council was not committed to any of the schomcs spoken of— the Taieri, the Silverstream, or the Waipori. Tho Mayor said the council, of course, could not commit itself to any scheme until it got tho sanction of the ratepayers to tho lean, and consequently Mr Ritchie's letter was on a par with other letters that were before the Special Tramways Committee, who were awaiting the decision of the public before taking any action.

Or Gore said it was quite premature to even suggest any scheme. Cr Haynes thought the council should request to bo furnished with a copy of Mr Flulcheson'e report. Tho Mayor agreed with the suggestion. The letter was referred to the Special Tramways Committee. RETORTS. The Works and Reserves Committees reports were adopted. In moving the adoption; of the latter, Cr Mttir said that he thought the money expended in keeping down the broom and gorso nn the Town Belt was being wasted. The broom was only being cut down near the ground, and would giw up again very quickly. He thought the small birds were responsible for the spread of the pest, and that it should be compulsory upon all municipal bodies to keop down the small birds. Cr Carroll thought that the spreading of the gorse and. broom was not due to small birds. .The Mayor said that the spreading of the nest was being kept down in the best way. It was not best to try and get out the roots, a? when tho ground was disturbed, numerous nlants reappeared. The plants were now beina; cut to prevent thorn seeding, ' Tho reports of the Gas, General, and Pinance Committees were adopted. CITY SUT.VEYOB. His Worship said that 74- applications had !>em received for the position of city surveyor. Tho first question was: How should they proceed .to dctermiup the most suitable? AVhethor tho council should adopt it or not, the Harbour Board employed a good systoip—namely, of submitting the names to an expert for an opinion. Cr Carroll said tint'tho Harbour Board had sifted tho names first, and then referred tho final' selection to experts. The Mayor said that 46 applications worn from Britain, and 28 frnm the colonies, including 7 from Js T ew Zealand. The implications were referred to the Finance Committee to select not more than 20.