HON. C. H. MILLS AT WAIMATE.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 12908, 23 February 1906, Page 6

HON. C. H. MILLS AT WAIMATE.

A BUSY BAY. '!'..■/.■ The Hon. C. H. Mills, Minister of Trade and Customs and Minister in charge of the Land: Valuation Department, visited Waimate yesterday, and under the guidance of Sir W. J. Steward, member for the -district, he put in a busy day. Leaving Timara by the-first train, with Sir William, Mr Mills was but a short time in Waimate , when he was taken to . the County : office and was there introduced; to the /county, chairman, ".Mr P.;. Studholme, and the engineer, Mr Bremaer. The latter, on behalf of the Council, explained a little mistake made in Wellington the interpret-ation of! .» vote. A' vote of £275, ~No. 121 of class 26, for Waikakahi roads, had been expended • by the County Council, except a balance of £3l 18s' 2d. Application was made last year for authority to expend this balance upon further improveraents to roads in the same locality, and the authority . was given. {Department's letter shown.} Last year application was made for a vote fcr Morven township - roads, and a- vote of was made. When, -however, the: -Council -■ caM&Ho : ' expend : the money, tie Department deducted the £3l 18s 2d which' 3iad been paid previously; the balance of another .vote altogether. In other words vote of £275 had been granted, and expended on two authorisations, and on. a *econd vote being; made'.the. Department sought to amotmt of the second authorisation- of the first vote. ' - The Hon. Mr Mills said Mr Bremner's statement indicated .-that ■■ a mistake had been made; he "would-bring the matter before his colleague on bis 3 return to Wellington, and if it- fcrned out to be qi snistake it would, of course, be" rectified; A deputation of WilioT-bridge freeholders then met the .Minister .'n the CouncU -Chamber, to exprew ib»irdissatisfaction;. ;with certain aspects'- : r 'be Government tend valuations for purposes. Our report of this meeti:- tmU be found in another column.

«Tv 6 **imVer ih: " h I»B to the -Eubhc School, -R-her* V c -hainiMm of com-

niittee, Mr Hamilton, the headmaster, Mr, 'Pitcaithfy, and-the Rev. George Barclay. ;i local member of the Education Board, assisted Sir, William in directing attention 1 to some, small financial requirements of the ksckool. On reaching the school, cadete were j, toiicd. drawn up in .line uniformed, and armed, under Captain Goldstone, to receive their distinguished! visitor, and they saluted in good style. The-boys looked - .very well and the slinister, complimented them on [their shooting, record as- stated by Sir Wil- | s liam Steward. The Technical School was j visited and its equipment admired, and the I necessity: for an additional vote of £SO to provide.a--*oalshed: and material store was pointed; out- The newly erected school gymnasium was next' seen, where _the .ab--eriee of flooring and apparatus was manifest to the naked eye, pttd a. vote''of ; £lGO' :'v-*us suggested ta provk'.c these'neces'su'ries. It was impressed upon the Minister! 'thai the building had cost /the "Department nothing as yet, part of its cost beinjg- 'derived from the sale of landj part'from local con-, tributions. Mr Barclay "added arguments to those of the member for the district." The party then went through the school, and listened to the children in one" .room singing verses of several part pongs'. They sang very well, so well indeed, ." that Sir Willism Steward talked of challenging other schools to sing against them. Mr Mills addressed a few ' words to each roomful, and"" concluded; by asking the chairman of the committer to give the\sehool a half holiday as a mark of the pleasure the visit had given hint. The request was acceded to, and "heartily applauded by the children. - '■"''.'■

Catholic School was alsi) visited, and; tlie Minister ■ was' well received, by -Rev..- .Father : O'Connor . (in the - absenes of ' Father" ' Regnault) and the Rev. Mothers and Sisters. The "arrangement and fittings of the school, and the neatness and good behaviour, of the pupils were made-ths subject of compliments by the visitors, "and"' -this, school also ivEis given a half holiday in honour of the Minister's call. : *

The visits to the schools were very pleasant features of the morning's work. The Post Office was the next pomt to which the Minister's attention was called. There it was pointed out that a vote for an addition had not all be expended bv noma £3O or'£4o, and: that this, Addition jmade: was insufficient to provide the' accommodation required. The result was that the public, telephone instrument is housed in the office lavatory, an arrangement the objecticnabieness of which must be seen to be fully appreciated. It is intolerable. A site was pointed out where another email addition could be made, placing the public room in a meet convenient situation in relation to the telephons: bureau and the street; and £SO was named as. the. outside cost of the work.

At the police quarters was found another ground for making a demand on the Treas ; ury: The cottage was T sht>wii to Tie old and dscayed, rotten in. parts and weevileaten in others; and it was stated that the Public Works inspector had- reported that the place was not worth> repairing, but should be sold for "removal arid/a new "cottage erected. At the present moment Constable Barrett is leaving, for "Christchurch, and a new man front the Dunedin district is to take his place. Mounted Constable Wade, who occupies another cottage, asked for a fuel shed. It hadMjeen suggested that a new lock-up was required, but on this being inspected, it was found to have been painted! recently,: and it .was considered to be-in good order for a few more years' service,, thought it is not to be compared with the stable in its architectural qualities.. The Courthouse was looked through, and Sir William said nothing was wanted there except a lawnmower, to keep the grass plots about it tidy. The Courthouse, erected in 1879 is a very, good building, substantial and well finished, and equal in size' and appearance to the requirements of a much larger town than Waimate.

-After lunching at the Royal Hotel. Sir William Steward arranged to drive Mr Mills, now joined by Mr C. F. C. Campbell Valuer-General, who had just arrived from Southland, a round turn through Wai-: kakahi, and a" waggonette partv of six had a very interesting" trip. First the waggonette was driven to the cemetery, for the purpose of showing the visitors ''■ the beautiful Hayes' (memorial sculpture, and then through Knottingley Park—one of the prettiest parks in \ the; colony Sir- William Steward declared, and he baa seen nearly all the colony's parks. The. purpose of this visit was to show, the Minister; where Jt is proposed to expend & Government grant, whea one can be got; m putting *£?*<"£?■ OT< * a deep creek, so as to giye the? people ofcWaimate.;and" : -theit---visitore a direct route to the Park instead of the very, round-about ones they must now follow. ---:.., .. .-.__..-. : j.;.,.... -

The Minister promised in this and preTious cases, to give due attention to the requests i&ade to jhim. . i .

:■ The party- next visited,'the OBospital. and were met there by Mr ; Sinclair, chairniaai of the Trustees, and Dr Barclay,- and w&ro shown over the institution. Sir William Steward gave the Minister a,brief sketch of the history, of the hospital,, and "inipressed upon him its. -Substantial- charactev, its up-to-dateness,in,equipment and management, and its usefulness to tLo district. The Hospital 1 was in. admirable order, inside and out..

The drive through Waika&afti ivas'thos begun, the route being through, the gorge, past Kapua settlement, -wbei-o the harvesting of pretty good "average crpj>!* has begun; across the .Waihao, picturesqco with rugged limestone bluffs; through the

alone' •**" <dowm, chiefly under grass j thic' ' m& ' ce > an( * x^e grass showing a hc a growth, past the .fine , old McLean now looking sbmewhut dismal A places through the ravages of the blight «n the gonvplantations; round by the Waitaki flaf and the. main road, to Studh'olme •Junction. To' Mr Mills and Mr Campbell, who had never seen, this country ibefore, the trip was full of interest: in the nature of the country, the plethora of feed : in the pastures, .the general excellence of the crops, and the very good class of dwelling erected by most of the_ settlers whose homesteads were seen. Nov was the trip devoid of excitement. At starting from, the Hospital, it- was understood that there was ample time to orive over the ioute sketched out, but several miks 'of newly shingled road put such a brake on the'vehicle that it became a. question whether the party could reach Studhoime Junction in time "to catch the express for Timaru. And in spite of hard driving of tired horsss over the good road when the loose shingle had been passed, the express passed when the party was s n me miles away. Then it became a question of catching the slow, train, and just by the half minute this was done. The last half-mile was done in tense ;u>.\ieiy. [.not lessened by having to stop to i<t the branch train over the crossing first. But " all's -well that ends well." Sir VFm. Steward returned to Waimate, Mr Miits and his secretary, Mr Crowe, and Mr Campbell came on to Timaru. * To-day the 'Minister and Mr Campbell will go to Geraldine, leaving Timaru by the first express, to meet some people who desire to -see. the Minister about land valuations. ' . . .