THE MAYORALTY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 272, 18 April 1914, Page 4

THE MAYORALTY.

MR. -WIJUSOMS AUiiKiSffl.

AT WEST END UkMA'ASIUM.

Mr. JK. V\'ils on addressed a ffathering of dectors in the West find gym„at lum last night His .peed, wa/oHhv lines of that delivered at East End on. Thursday night.

THE STHLEIS. in dealing with the streets, he remarked that it was generally reiugnised, he thought, that they had arrived at a period when they had to reconsider Leir methods of street making to meet ti* altered conditions of traffic The old water-bound macadam road could »ot stand the new traffic unless protected bv some material which would hold it together. Present indication? wero tj,. t this material would be some preparation of tar, and experiments were now beine made, both in New' Plymouth and e \J. where, in this direction, .it was a question now for the chemist and the engineer to discover the most economical and effective surface dressing. He expected in the near tuture to see tilth*' main streets at least treated m this way It would no doubt be expensive at the onset, but ho tnought that the life of the streets would he very greatly lengthened, and that when they reviewed the' question after a few years they would find that the cost would be actually less than it was under the present system. There would be the advantage "ot a greatly improved surface, and also a considerable abatement of the du»t nuisance. Devon street and South road would necessarily have to wait for this permanent work un ;il the tramlines wer« laid down. While cji the question of streets he would like to mention a practice which he believed was now being adopted in Auckland in soma of the less used streets. This was to make the lootpaths some feet wider than they were now, consequently reducing the width of tho street, but not so a > to i restrict traffic. Footpaths were Ipm cnstlv >o !;eep in repair than atreete, and «• thought they migl i effect a saving by following the lead of Auckland.'' ELECTRIC LIGHT DEPARTMENT.

The Electric Light Department wag another asset which was revenue producing, and the balance-sheets from year to year showed increasing profits. Profits .were being devoted, after provision for interest and sinking funds and depreciation, to,further extension work which would in turn bring in revenue. To,provide the extra power required, and' so as sot to put an undue strain on the water supply of the town, the council was now making a fresh intake at the head-works pf the water system on the Waiw*kaiho River. It was expected that this Intake, with a dam on the Mangamahoe stream, would materially increase the flow of water through the tunnel to the forebay at Mangorei, and provide an ample supply of water for all purposes, Th« total rated capacity of the machinery now installed was 080 kilowatts. The electrical engineer, in his annual report to the council, reported that with fchc expected increase of water the present machinery should be capable of supplying the requirements of lighting, power, heating, and l tramways, and still leave a fair margin for reserve. THAT LAND PI.RCHASE.

In discussing the dcla-li of the purchase of land for waterworks extension, which 'he referred to in nis previous speech during his criticism of Mr. Browno's mayoral policy, Mr. Wilson said that £4O an acre was a stiff price to pay for fi l /™ acres of land placed >is this was, with the other things throws. in. The council did not like that proposition, so Mr. Browne got another offer from the owner. This was to sell the whole of his land between tf\e Waiwakaiho ltivor and tho Mangamapoe stream to the council at £l4 10s an acre, and lease it from the council for five, years at Ins an acre. This was the offer i recommended by Mr. Browne, and carried by the coujicil, despite the protests of the speaker and some otner councillors. They wanted the council to twko tho land required uiwl«r the Public Works Act and pay the owner its fair value and fair compensation for severance. He wanted to make the position of this land quite clear to them. In form it was a -rough triangle, the apex being at the confluence of the Waiwakaiho River and the Mangamaliot stream, They were tapping tho Waiwakaiho at the southern corner of the base, and running the water across to fl dam ' on the Manganiahoe stream and into the tunnel. The kind below the tunnel was of no use to the council, for it) was below the tunnel level, and they could not draw water from it. M'hoy had pai.t £ilß for that piece of land, about 23 acres of which was not only useless t« thorn< but was going to be ii trouble <■ the future because of noxious weeds. On •'(• side of the land l it was cut off by * high lilufi', and on the other by a river and another bluff. I■nforfcuniitely they could not sell the land the did not want, as it was of no use to the adjoining ' owners, and they had no access to it by a public road. Thii instance of Mr., llrowne's linnncial ability had cost th« borough about £'M. tie noticed thai the engineer had s-.ud that the land would be valuable for the stone it contained. Undoubtedly there was ston* there in quantity, but how was it to Iks got out? First, thev would have t« inako a good metalled road tor the traction engine and trailers for about threequarters of a mile. That wonld he a fine thing for the owner of the farm they have to cross. But why go six miles out of town for stone when thoy had the Abattoir Reserve at Fitzroy, of over 70 acres, with a very long frontn<.W to the Waiwahaiho River and stont galore, or the old Waterworks Rcserv* at Puketotarn, two miles away on a S'jod raid? As a matter of fact, the o!t'~-.tinii of stone value was not hinted 1 at when the land l was bought.