TOWN CLOCK

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 79, Issue 7145, 14 December 1949, Page 6

TOWN CLOCK

QUESTION AGAIN DISCUSSED INFORMATION TO BE OBTAINED The question of the erection of the Town Clock on the site of the Traffic Filter was again discussed at last night’s meeting of the Chamber of Commerce. After a letter from the Borough Council setting forth the position (already published in the Courier recently) hat? been read. Mr A. G. Warburton said he could not understand the Council’s attitude in passing the matter back to the Chamber of Commerce. Permission had been given for the erection of a temporary tower at the Filter so as to see the re-action .of motorists. Mr Fama said the real reason lay in the fact that motorists might look at their watches while passing the clock and thus divert their attention from the traffic. Mr Warburton suggested writing at this stage to the firm of clockmakers in Wellington who had made the clock and asking them the cost of electrifying the clock and give the up-to-date data such as the cost involved. He would like to see that information obtained and he moved accordingly. Various opinions were expressed as to the type of tower that should be erected. Tn reply to a question by the chairman, Mr Warburton said that the clock could be erected early in the new year. Mr Warburton went on to give some of the early history of the clock, stating that it was the gift of the late Mr William Taylor. A clock at Timaru was available for £5OO and there was great demand for it, Dannevirke eventually securing it. The clock at present in Te Awamutu was then, made and purchased by the donor and a public subscription list limited to Is per person was opened and a marble slab commemorating the late Mr Taylor’s generosity was erected at the Post Office at the site of the clock. Mr Warburton said it always seemed to him to be a breach of faith to fail to commemorate for all time the generous gift of one of the early pioneers and it was Te Awamutu’s only benefaction of a substantial nature. “If we set our hearts to it the clock could be erected in six months,” said the speaker. Mr Warburton said it had been proposed that three or four clocks could be erected at various points in the town all to be worked from a master clock installed in the Town Clerk’s office. It was a question of ascertaining present-day costs. The chairman said that if the clock was not erected within a reasonable time then the question of the variation of price arose. Mr Kelly asked if the Main Highways Board would give permission for the clock to be erected at the Traffic Filter. Mr Warburton: Get the information from the clock makers and then deal with the Main Highways Board. On Mr Warburton’s motion relative to getting the data from the clock makers being seconded by Mr Ansell it was carried.