BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 9645, 21 January 1903, Page 4

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

| The ordinary meeting of the Borough Council was lwld laat evening. The Mayor (Mr J. Townley) and Cis Harding, Kiuiii.lv. Bright, Hepburn. Wliiiiray, Mason. "Junes. Lysnar and Miller were 'm attendance. FIXIXU TIIK HAUMIULIDAY. Tlie Mayor proposed the resolution nuiking tin 1 statutory hulf- holiday for the year. He knew (if no reason for making a change and Thursday had answered wi-y well. He did not favor a suggestion made that they should close at 1 p.m. on Saturday aiul. go t" work again at six. Or Harding seconded. He thought the majority were m favor of Thursday. (Jr Hepburn thought Saturday was the ' best day, although it did not suit the shopkeepers. He considered there was nothing m the argument tlial money would !be lost through closing tin it Saturday. I as it would be spent during the w-eek, and j the shopkeepers would get the. benefit all the same. If the question, were submitted to a referendum, as the rotundu site had i been, there would lie no doubt as to the result. It seemed as if there was Olio- law for the majority of the people • and another for the shopkeepers. Cr Jones held that they should keep tn the Thursday, as the people had decided on that day before, but he thouglii the Holiday Association might consider the employees more m dealing with the applications for holidays, as it was for shop assistants the half-holiday was made, and m some cases the hands did not get away till 2 p.m. Cr Bright said it rested with employers to give, a holiday at any time they wished. The Committee could not compel them to close, and was an irresponsible body. Cr Whmray contended there was too much play. The holidays were more than Hal f the year. Where he came from they had one holiday m the year. "They make me ill with their continual play," concluded Cr Whinray. The Mayor said it did not do to change a thing like this. It was not the shop people ' they had to consider, but the country people as well. They could not cliange^now, and to change now would upset tilings considerably. The. town had got m the groove, and it would be as well to keep m it. The Holiday Committee, had to use discretion, and they had the right to say that the shops were to be closed at this time or that, and the Committee luid a right to deal with any application on. its merits. It was open for any Councillor to offer himself for election on the Committee. The- motion was carried fixing Thursday as the half-holiday for the year. KAITI BRIDGE. The Cook County Council wrote stating that their Engineer's time being fully employed at present lie could not give the necessary time to ensure a close inspection of all details of the Turangan.ui bridge repairs. If the Borough Council considered tliat sufficient the Council gladly permitted the Engineer to supervise the work, but. suggested a resident clerk of works if the Borough Council considered a closer supervision necessary. Crs Lysna.r and Harding said the work, of repairs was m good hands, and did not think an overseer of works was necessary. The Cmiucil decided, to notfiy the County Council that their Engineer's supervision was considered sufficient. ABATTOIRS. The Treasury notified that the Colonial Treasurer had provisionally approved of the Borough Council's application for a 1 loan of £4000 for the establishment of public abattoirs. The Mayor stated the loan was for 41 years at 3£ per cent. They had only to gazette the loan now, and complete ar- : rangements. BAND ROTUNDA. The Clerk stated the ironwork had arI rived and the work would proceed. i The Mayor said some of the pillars were broken. "That means more delay, I suppose," • remarked Cr Hepburn. The Clerk stated that new pillars had - been sent for immediately so as to cause ' no delay. I ' SURVEY OF TOWN. > Mr Stepheuson Smith, Survey Office, . wrote : — "Dear Sir, — I have tlie honor to - acknowledge the receipt of your letter r agreeing to contribute towards the cost ] of the standard marks for the survey of , the town of Gisborne, and to thank you for it. I very much regret, however, j that while making the request I was instructed to make upon your Council I * was so unfortunate as to clothe this request m such a clumsy mode of expression its to give you any cause, for offence. ' r Believe me, nothing "was further from my intention ; but m such matters I hold that it is imperative that my meaning ' should be above all things clear, and I ' greatly regret that m my anxiety to . avoid ambiguity I unintentionally gave offence — for although the request was not mine, I alone am responsible for the lan- ' guage m which it was put. I trust that m. any further transaction I may be moiv fortunate." ■ The Mayor stated Mr Stephenson Smith took the blame for the offensive tone of the letter although he was instructed from c Napier. The letter was satisfactory. I TRAMWAYS. j. The Auckland Electric Tramways Company wrote under date January 9th : — j "Owing to the great pressure of work . during the holiday season I was so far , { unable to acknowledge receipt of your s letter dated 12th ultimo. By same post j lam sending you a couple of photographs t showing the style of our horse tram cars, which, are now for sale. We have also old i rails for sale, but I would mention, that the/ same are not the so-called 'T rails, but rails which have to be set m castiron chairs. To give you m writing all ' the information, you would require to en-- " able you to arrive at a definite decisiou m ■ this matter is next to impossible, and I would therefore suggest that you should ', send a representative up to Auckland m order to thoroughly inspect what we have for sale, and we could t-heu discuss prices 1 and conditions with him." Cr Lysnar said the information would c . bo. useful, especially to the County Counc il considering the proposal for a. truniJ way to Patutahi. B Cr Bright did not tliiuk there was c sufficient traffic. The Mayor : It is before the day. The " question is the money. I Cr Lysiwr said the Council might get the trams for a. third of the cost. Cr Jones said tliere was no hurry, and I if t lie Company wanted to sell urgently b they had the. Council's application before them, f Cr Lysnar urged that information should be obtained as to the cost, f Cr Wliinray said he heard that the trucks were advertised for sale. After further discussion the subject f dropped, j NEW BOILER. The following letter was received from s Messrs Shand, Mason and Co., London, dated December slh : — "Referring to a l new boiler, the same has been shipped V per s.s. Whakatanc, for Wellington, and we trust that, it will arrive safely and t give every satisfaction. As instructed, - we have dvawn on. you as before, through . the Bank of New Zealand, at 30 days' L » sight,, for £243 16s lOd, we receiving 1 from them £238 2s, as per invoice,- their charges being £5 14s lOd." i The Clerk stated that the cost of the 1 boiler had been estimated at £250. and 3 £50 for putting it m. j The letter was received. \ TOWN CLOCK. ) Mr Arthur E. Williams, Leamington, wrote: — "On the 27th November I paid > a second visit to Messrs Joyces' works r and found the clock well advanced. The b main portion, of the clock, consisting of - the gong iind striking parts, was erected jr complete on the frame prior to being 2 polished, and all the other parts were 1 approii-ching completion. Unless lam unj avoidably prevented, I hope to go over r again one day next week to see the clock s going. I have agreed to Mr Joyce's sugB gestiou to pack the frajne part of the clock j complete m one case, all the rest — dials, dial work, hands, etc., being jiacked m a second case. Mr Joyce has not yet ins formed me which steamer the clock will P be sent by, but I expect it will be the one leaving about Christinas time;" — Received. r STEAM WAGGONS. Mr A. Britton, Christchurch, gave the ' following information m reply to the ■j Council's queries : — "Yorkshire patent steam waggons : Weight m working order of 6-ton waggon, about 6^ tons; width of tyres, hind wheels 12in, front wheels c 6in ; width of tyres on 4-ton waggon, hind wheels 6in", front wheels 4iu. We should advise you to have the loose sides made at destination, as the cost of freight on these would be nearly as much as the cost of making." — Received. OVERSEER'S REPORT. The Overseer (Mr M. Morgan) reported : — "I have the honor to report to your Council on the following works — ' Stone contract : This contract is progressing slowly, only about 67£ cubic yards '~ % have been delivered since- December 22nd, l " 1902, making v. total delivered to date y of about, 747£ yards. The work of the last fortnight lias been somewhat divided. ' The very dry weather has caused the roads fc to cut up and require patching. . The water channels required cleaning to prepare for the 'heavy rains, and the overgrowth giving the streets a dirty a-ppear-k ance have required attention. Tarring c and kerbing footpaths have all been, attended to."