OAMARU NEWS NOTES. (From Our Own Correspondent.)

Otago Witness, Issue 2578, 12 August 1903, Page 44

OAMARU NEWS NOTES. (From Our Own Correspondent.)

OAMARU, August s

The* hea~} ?ia.z of the past few days hare dono ir.v.eh cxmsgs to the fere-shore, and rr.£.^o '.lie protection of the gasworks a matter of extiemc urgency. The work done so f&r luc protected the frontage affected, but the s--a has &et in a bad ecour in on© place, and the edge of the cliff is now barely 30ft from the works. A meeting cf the council was held this afternoon to deal with the position, and a long discussion ensued. Several coi.:acillor.s appe-H. • nc-v to he of opinion that protective works will cost from £1000 to £1500, and are. even dfc.ioeed to wondor whether the works are worth protection where they stand. The ga3 manager attended the mr-ating-, and stated that the requirements of the town were getting beyond the present plant, which would also require to bo brought up to date in a- few years at a co^t of about £2!>00. Councillor Waddeil thiuks they should consider the erection oE new works, but meanwhile protection miuo bo proceeded with, and i special meeting is to be called on Tuesday eve-ning next to consider the whole jiosition. Aft, however, new works cannot bs erected in a few weeks, the council will have to go on with protection, teul foT that purpepe will probably procure a quantity of Port Chalmers stone immediately. The baths have suffered severely by tho ftorm, no attempt having been made to protect them. Th» enginehouse and outer fence are now all gone over the cliff, and fissures nrc appearing in the concrete floor and walls.

At a meeting- of the committee' of tho North Otago Agricultural amd Pad total Association a motion was adopted expressing tha opinion of tho committee that it is not advisable to change the sit© of the show grounds, so that the Auctioneers' Association have failed with both the Caledonian Society and the A. and P. Association as to the purchase of land on North road for proposed uuited purposes. A deputation from tho Caledonian Society asking for enlarged track and offering to bear expanse of came was heard, and the subject referred to a sub-committee for rerort to an early meeting. The preposition would necessitate the rearrangement of the show grounds. A motion cf sympathy with Mrs Menlove was recorded.

OAMARU, August 9. Another special meeting of the> Borough Council was held on Saturday. Councillors admitted that they allowed a red hemnp to be drawn across the scent on Wednesday last when a suggestion was made, and even entertained, that the old gasworks should be left alone and new ones erected elsewhere. At that meeting tho gas manager stated that the present works would require considerable improvement in a few yeara at a cost of £2500, and councillors were so taken aback at the situation that they shrank from the expenditure of a large sum in protection. Since that meeting better counsels have prevailed, and at the meeting on Saturday it was unanimously recognised that the present works must be protected, for new ones oould not be erected in less than many months, and the town might be in darkness in consequence of the inroads of the sea meantime*. The gas manager seemed, al'o, to have considerably modified his attitude, fcr lie now stated that the meberu uoiks would, with the

mditure t>f a small sum, stand for six

ten years without requiring radical improvement. Tho engineer recommended procuring come 300 truck? of stone from I?ort Chalmers, which could be used to protect tho whole of tho council's frontage on the foreshore, of 12 chains, double the quantity to be used in front of the gasworks. The cost of this he estimated at £525. In addition to this, he advised proceeding with a certain amount of protection from tho local quarry at a cost of £594. This makes the cost of work £1119, and to it has to bo added the cost of the work already done. When th© work started the council' was prepared to spend some £700, but the total will now probably reach £1300. In consequence of the sandy bottom at the foot of the cliff, falls of earth near the gasworks still continue.