COUNTRY NEWS

Southland Times, Issue 19346, 11 September 1924, Page 10

COUNTRY NEWS

NOTES FROM THE VARIOUS CENTRES.

✓ OTAUTAU. TOWN BOARD. t (From om Correspondent.) The last meeting of the Board prior tc the election was held in the Board room or Monday evening, when the following wer< present: Messrs W. A. E. H. Fraser (Chairman), R. Scatter, R. Bird, W. J. Wesuey. J. T. Brooker, and W. Allison. The Works Committee reported having arranged for gravel to be placed on the footpath in Eton street, the levelling of Rye street, and that the surfaceman had been instructed regarding the crossing at Sheedy’s corner. Quotations for the tables for the stage of the Town Hall were submited by th. Chairman, and it was resolved to purchase same. It was reported that 37 street lamps and 34 lights for the Town Hall would be required, and the Clerk was instructed to advise the Southland Electric Power Board. The Athletic Society requested that more sawdust be placed on the embankment at the Recreation Ground, and that same be covered with earth.—lt was resolved that the Board would provide a man to take delivery and spread sawdust, provided the Otautau Timber Company would deliver it to the Recreation Ground, after which the Board would afterwards cover it with earth. It was also resolved to notify the Timber Company that the sawdust on their property was a nuisance, and asking them to abate it. In connection with Mr T. J. Walker’s complaint regarding the nuisance sawdust was causing on his property, affecting drains and tanks, the Clerk was instructed to write to Mr J. Parmenter, the owner of the adjoining section, asking that sawdust be covered with earth. The wandering cattle nuisance, and the damage done by them to gardens was discussed, and it was decided to request the ranger to take proceedings against some owners with a view to putting a stop to same. It was decided to write to the Health Department regarding the enforcement of sanitary regulations, the Board being of opinion that these regulations were not so strictly enforced as in Otautau district, and tlie Department to be informed that unless prevented it was the intention of the Board to revert back to a monthly sanitary service next year. In connection with Mrs H. Stewart’s request for a new traffic crossing over a drain in King street, it w’as resolved to inform the writer that the Board was prepared to put in the crossing, provided the owner of the property paid half the cost of material.

F. J. Best wrote regarding the erection of an electric lamp at the corner of Rochdale and Queen streets, and it was decided that the writer be informed that the Board was considering the erection of an extra lamp at the corner of Main and Rochdale streets.

Immediately there is a reasonable grade on Queen street, the surfaceman is to be directed to cover rubbish with earth. Accounts amounting to £lB5 14/8 were passed for payment. Prior to adjourning, the Chairman took the opportunity of thanking the members for their co-operation and assistance during his term of office. While the Board had been criticised for some of its actions, he submitted that a good deal of useful work had been done, and the members at all times had had the interests of the ratepayers at heart, and had done everything in their power for the advancement of the town. He expressed the hope that the newly elected Board would carry’ out their duties in a similar manner. The Board then adjourned. I IVERTON. ATHENAEUM SUBSCRIBERS MEET. (From our Correspondent). At the annual meeting of subscribers to the Riverton Athenaeum, a discussion took place in regard to the amount of money the incoming Committee should expend on the purchase of books. After going fully into the matter, it was left to the Committee to decide. At a meeting held on Monday evening, the sum of £4O was voted, which is £l5 more than what was expended last year. The local institution, which has a membership of a little over 100, is, according to many visitors who make use of it during the holiday season, one of the best for its size in the Dominion. The Committee certainly make every effort to cater for the tastes of their supporters, and it is surprising that the membership does not show an upward tendency. Many visitors have expressed surprise at the number of up-to-date books on the shelves, while the number of daily papers and periodicals on the tables is sufficient to please the most fastidious. I DEBATING SOCIETY. The Debating Society are preparing for a big night at their next meeting. The debate will be: “Which led the happier life! present day man, or his barbaric ancestors?” Mrs W. S. Hunter, and Messrs T. Borland and J. Price take the affirmative side, while the negative will be championed by Mr W. S. Hunter, Mrs T. Borland and Miss Hunt. Since its inception the Society has had several debates of an - interesting and instructive character, and there is every indication that the attendance at the next meeting will eclipse all previous ones. NOXIOUS WEEDS. The Borough Council have served notices under “The Noxious Weeds Act” on all persons whose property is infested with broom, gorse, etc. This is a move in the right direction, and will be much appreciated by the property owner, who takes a delight in his holding by keeping it free from weeds. North and South Riverton,, at the present time, have many badly-infected? holdings, and it is poor encouragement to the thrifty and tidy seller, who keeps his land clear, to see his neighbour quite indifferent in the matter. Several of the best building sites on the hill slopes of South Riverton, would, if cleared of the growth, command ready sale, but, in their present condition, they are merely passed by, the would-be purchaser not caring to buy them in their present state. THE ROWING CLUB. The members of the Riverton Rowing Club are getting ready for the season’s operations. Since last year several young and promising oarsmen have signified their intention of becoming members, and as the Club will have the material to work upon, should an efficient coach be available, there is no telling what the result will be. From what can be gleaned rowing matters are likely to be interesting. GORE. MAGISTRATE’S COURT. (From our Correspondent.) At a sitting of the Gore Magistrate’s Court on Monday afternoon Mr H. J. Dixon, S.M., gave judgment by default for plaintiffs in the following cases:—Southland Farmers’ Co-operative Association, Ltd., v J. Patterson £ll 12s 7d and costs £4 18s 6d; same v R. G. Buchanan £3 3s lOd and costs £1 9s 6d; D. C. McKenzie v R. W. Thomson £3l 5s 8d and costs £4 3s 6d; United Trading Co., Ltd., v H. J. Mulqueen £lO3 14s 4d, costs £6 13s 6d. A. Mackie (Mr Bannerman) proceeded against J. Walders on a judgment- summons for £l4 Bs. An order for the payment of the amount, plus solicitor’s fee £1 Is forthwith, was made, in default 16 days’ imprisonment in the Invercargill Prison. Frank Lee was ordered to pay 10s per month off the

amount of Thomson and Beattie’s account against him. The creditor firm was represented by Mr A. L. Dolamore. BUILDING OPERATIONS. The building operations at Gore from April 1 to date are represented by 11 permits of a total capital cost of £7325, consisting of the following individual amounts: —£6so, £750, £9OO, £250, £750, £BBO, £BOO, £2O, £l2OO, £25, and £llOO. Plans and specifications for buildings with a valuation of £6500 have been approved, but permits have not yet been taken out. Permits issued for 1923 totalled 25, with a capital cost of £17,077. RADIUM APPEAL. The treasurer of the Radium Appeal Committee reports that the total collecions at Gore to date amounted to £340. k first remittance of £330 has been forwarded to headquarters at Invercargill, and the contributions from parts of the town and from some of the outlying districts have still to come in. FIRE. At about 12.30 on Wednesday morning the Gore Fire Brigade received a call to the residence of Dr A. J. Mcllroy in Ashton street. It is understood that a defective chimney was the cause of the outbreak, but fortunately it was discovered before the flames had got a good hold. The Brigade turned out smartly and the fire was extinguished with a chemical extinguisher before any serious damage had been done. ADMITTED TO PROBATION.

A local youth appeared before Mr H. J. Dixon, S.M., on Tuesday afternoon charged with breaking and entering Mr J. Greenfield’s premises in Main street and taking therefrom a cheque book and Is 6d in cash. Detective Carroll prosecuted, and stated that the offence was committed in company with another lad, who had since been dealt with by the Supreme Court. The present defendant, however, was under 16 at that time, and under the circumstance it had been agreed to reduce the charge to one of theft. Mr E. C. Smith appeared for the defence, and while agreeing that the accused had been as much implicated as the other person, urged that he had been led by the latter. He denied any knowledge of the cheque-book, and stated that he had received only 3d of the 9d taken from the drawer. Defendant, who had been before the Court on a previous occasion, was admitted to 12 months’ probation, the Magistrate warning him that any further lapse would result in his being sent to the Borstal Institute. MATAURA. BOROUGH COUNCIL. <From our Correspondent). The Mataura Borough Council’s monthly meeting was held on Tuesday, the Mayor (Mr C. D. McConnell), and Councillors J. W. Aitken, T. F. Quilter, J. Park, J. Ingram, J. H. Clark, P. Curtin and J. L. Mitchell attending. CORRESPONDENCE.

The Fire Underwriters’ Association, Dunedin, advised that the electric light installation at the Borough Council Chambers is in such a condition that if it is to remain connected to the supply, the insurance on the building must be increased by 5/- per cent.—The matter was referred to the Righting Committee for attention. Jas. Reid, secretary, Mataura Athletic Society, applied for a quantity of earth for iop-ciressing the running track at the Recreation grounds.—Granted.

Miss A. G. Adam (secretary) applied on behalf of the Tennis Club for permission to erect a wire netting fence on the north end of the courts. —The request was granted. John F. Walsh, secretary, Mataura Bowling Club, applied for a remission of rates on the Club's property—lt was resolved that the rates be reduced from £6 1/8 to £2 8/2. J. H. Clark, Kana street, was granted a permit to erect a car shed on his properly. S. J. Sieeman forwarded plans and specifications of a dwelling he proposed to erect on Section 13, Block 11, at an approximate cost of £27O.—A perniit was granted. W. F. de Roo, Health Im ipector, forwarded a report of sanitary inspections macle within the Borough lor the period August 1 to 31.—Received. G. P. Newton, Assistant under-Secretary, Department Internal Affairs, forwarded a copy of an Order-in-Council under the Municipal Corporations’ Act, giving councils power to incur the cost of conveyance of councillors to their homes in certain cases when the ordinary public means are not available.—Received. Briscoe and Co., Ltd., Invercargill, ad\ised that the cast iron pipes and fittings for the water supply left Home on September 3. —Received.

Joseph Buchols, River street, wrote, complaining about the sanitary service.—Referred to the Sanitary Committee. A lengthy circular was received from the South Island Motor Union anent resolutions at the Auckland conference dealing with the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Bill, the Main Highways Act, and the taxation of motorists by way of graduated horse-power tax. —Resolved that the communication lie on the table. REPORTS. The Finance Committee recommended that accounts amounting to £975 8/3 be passed for payment. That the matter of accounts regarding the Prime Minister’s visit be left to the Mayor and Town Clerk to deal with. That as Mr Sieeman desires to instal several meters on a switchboard at his garage for comparative testing he be empowered to install a switchboard, the cost of which is not to exceed £2’. The Committee reported that the District Fund account shows a credit balance of £33 12/2; that the Loan account shows a balance of £663 17/8, £2OOO having been placed on deposit for three months by the treasurer.— The report was adopted. H. Sieeman submitted the following report on the electric lighting system: In company with Mr Nichol, Underwriters’ Association Inspector, an inspection of installations was made and found faulty, viz., I. Maslins, J. Anderson, Downes Smithy, Hot-* ticultural Hall, J. and J. Park, Hayle’s shop, W. King’s shop, Council Chambers, Breen and Henry’s power and Weatherburn’s building. An inspection was also made of the Paper Mills house, W. Stewart’s, S. J. Sleeman’s and J. Walsh’s. On August 27 three street lights became detached by the wind and globes had to be replaced. There was also a short circuit in Kana street, the leads into J. Anderson’s house (which are both bare No. 10 gauge wire) getting twisted together. These wires require to be replaced with insulated wire as the stretch is too long for bare wire. Practically all the insulated wires in the mains require to be retied in, as the wires are coming adrift from the insulators and are laying on the cross arms. He had fitted up and completed one street lamp at the corner of Back and Albion streets, and also run the wire for two street lamps on Crawford’s Road. The wires leading to McCartney’s and Taylor’s houses had been tightened. On the street lighting transformer at present the two circuits are all out of balance, there being about three times as many lights on one circuit as the other, and it is not safe to fit any more street lamps until they are better balanced. By changing the lights in Bridge and Denbigh streets over on to the Kana circuit it would be possible to fit the remainder of the street lamps without getting a new transformer. The following meters had been replaced with new ones:—Messrs Watson, Murphy, Robinson and R. Martin. In most cases these meters had been wrongly coupled up and he also inspected Mr Daly’s meters and found them wrongly coupled. —Received.

The Works Committee recommended that the Paper Mills Company be approached for a strip of land on their property with the right to occupy for a period of years for the construction of the Kana street footpath and that the matter be left to the Mayor and Town Clerk to arrange; that if the arraiigement is satisfactory a footpath and necessary bridge be gone on with at once, at an approximate cost of £5O. That all applications now in for gravelling footpaths be attended to immediately. That moulds be kept full and pipes manufactured until not required. The report was adopted with the exception of the part referring to the Kana street footpath at the Paper Mill, which the Council decided to inspect and go further into.

The Sanitary Committee recommended that the Health Officer’s letter of July 8 regarding plumbing by-laws be held over until the Council is dealing with the water supply by-laws.—Adopted. The Borough Ranger reported that he ■had impounded two horses and one cow on the streets during the month of August. He also provided the following particulars regarding a heifer impounded and sold: damages £l, fees 2/6, feed £1 1/1, advertising 12/6, total £2 15/6. The heifer was sold for 5/- and showed a debit of £2 10/6. The Ranger also supplied the names of persistent offenders with wandering cattle.— The report was received and the Ranger was given authority to prosecute owners of wandering stock if he has any further trouble. GENERAL. Five tenders were received for the sanitary contract and that of Mr G. Peek, of £260 per annum, was accepted. Leases to Messrs Townley and Leitch of part of the Sanitary Farm were approved for execution, as also were agreements with Falconer and Cameron in connection with the water supply. Plan of subdivision of Section 54 and 55 Block XVII, were approved subject to the Borough solicitor’s approval. The Town Clerk’s weekly half-holiday was altered from Saturday to Wednesday during the summer months. Councillor Aitken referred to damage done at the water reservoir, and it was decided to erect notices. An application from Mrs McLellan, End street, for five lights and an iron point was granted. Councillor Ingram referred to a drain in Doctor’s Road that required attention. — The surfaceman to inspect. It was resolved that the Council meet-

ings commence at 8 p.m. for the summer months. MAGISTRATE’S COURT. The monthly sitting of the Mataura Magistrate’s Court was held before Mr H. J. Dixon, S.M., on Tuesday afternoon. The New Zealand Paper Mills Company Ltd., was charged with employing five girls and two boys under the age of 16 years without a requisite permit of fitness. Mr Smith defended and pleaded ignorance of New Zealand law on the part of the manager, who had at the time just arrived in the Dominion from Canada. As soon as it was ascertaintNd that a permit was required, one was immediately pro- | cured. The representative of the Labour Department pointed out that ignorance of the law was no excuse. The Magistrate: If I impose a maximum • fine it will amount to something like ; £lO,OOO as the penalty in this case is £5 j per day per person illegally employed. The company was convicted and fined £5, with costs 21s. For exposing lice-infected sheep for sale, J. Biondell was fined £1 and costs 7s. Judgment for plaintiff by default was given in the following cases:—J. Drysdale | v J. Milne £2l 15s, costs £3 4s 6d, same v A. Swain £3O 3s 9d, costs £4 13s 6d, same v J. J. Ryan £ll Ils 7d, costs £3. Mr Poppelwell appeared in support of each claim. WYNDHAM. TOWN BOARD ELECTION. (From our Correspondent). For the bi ennial elections for the Wyndham Town Board, the following candidates have been duly nominated:— Allison W. A., jnr. Baird Dr. J. H. Crosbie Andrew | Hicks H. F. Hunter George. Johnstone William 11. Lister Ernest. Millar John. Richardson William. Smart G. J. C. ! Sheehan W. T. Traynor E. J. Winter Robert. Six of these were members of the last Board, the other seven being new candidates. The number of candidates exceeding the number of members required, a poll will be held next Wednesday, September 17, at the Town Hall, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.