TIMARU BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13836, 23 February 1909, Page 7

TIMARU BOROUGH COUNCIL.

The fortnightly meeting of the Timaru Borough Council was held last night. Present:—The Mayor and Councillors Bowker, Raymond, Harney, Parks, Leathwick, Rothwell, Oboru, Sealev, Hawkey, and Schmidt. Councillor" Satterthwaite sent an apology for his unavoidable absence, he being m Christchurch. _ THE PENGUIN DISASTER.

The Mavor made feeling reference to -the great* calamity which had overtaken the s.s. Penguin and remarked that one thing had stood out prominently in the disaster, namely, the traditional courage with which Britishers faced the awful danger. Particularly courageous had been the conduct of the stewardess. He was sure that the Council would join with the people of New Zealand in sympathising- with those who had been bereaved, and also with the Union Company, in the heavy loss it had sustained —a company which had done a. lot for New Zealand. On the motion of Councillors Hawkey and Sealey the following motion was passed:—" That this Council deplores the sad calamity to the s.s. Penguin and extends its deepest sympathy to the relatives of" those who were lost as well as to the Union Steam Ship Company." MAYOR'S STATEMENT.

The Mayor said that the overdraft stood at £5639. The accounts to be passed for payment totalled £634 6s, made up as "follows: —General, £435 15s: waterworks, £69 19s. 4d; Caroline Bay, £l3 6s 9d; park and reserves, £4O 9s 8d; abattoir, £l3 ss: street loan, £8; drainage loan, £53 10s. The Advisory Committee of the Council set up to consider applications for the position of librarian, had met and from 110 applications, had selected Mr Mellows, of Dunedin. Mr Mellows had visited Timaru that day when lie was met bv the committee, the members of which were very favourably impressed with him, and" believed that in him the town had secured a good librarian. He had a look over the library here, and had suggested one or two minor alterations. Private drainage connections were now going in pretty freely, and the Council's staff being very busy the District Health Officer had been asked to allow Mr Tvershaw, a member of his staff, to supervise the putting in of such connections. It was recommended that he should be employed in the meantime at £1 per week. Plans for Preston street were on the table, and tenders should he called, to be m by next meeting. With. Councillor Hawkey, he had visited the abattoirs that dav and found everything scrupulouslv neat and clean and a credit to all concerned. The manager (Mr Patterson) recommended that a man should be employed for a day or two casing the louvred walls on the southern side of the building so that thev could he closed up in wet weather. The iron had rusted, so that the louvres would not nove There were some rollers on the overhead railway that carried the meat, which belonged to the Christchurch Meat Co. The Council had had the loan of them for. a year or two and the abattoir manager recommended that the Council .should buy them. There were some battens leading lip to the killing race which required to be renewed. With regard to the application of a resident of Nelson for the right to take the offal from the abattoirs, the manager said that the present arrangement for dealing with offal was very satisfactory, and he recommended that no change be made. . The Mayor's statement was approved and adopted. CORRESPONDENCE.

Mr J. P. Kalaugher, as secretary to the League of Wheelmen, wrote asking the Council to assist in any way possible, a road race which the South Cant'erburv Centre purposed holding on March 25th, between Timaru and Geraldine. —It was decided that the Council should do what it could in the way of keeping the public back and clearing the right-of-way for the start. The Young Men's Christian Association applied for permission to play hockev on. the reserve in the park, which" was not at present in use. —Referred to the curator for report. Several Councillors said that the grass was not fit for hockey yet. The Oamaru Borough Council wrote thanking the Timaru Borough Council for a present of a pair of mallard

duck. Mr A. Hardy, photographer, wrote forwarding an enlarged and nicely framed photo of the Mayor as a present to the Council. —Received with thanks and applause. The Distri't Health Officer (Dr Finch) wrote in reply to a request from the Council for the services of Inspector Kershaw to supervise the putting in of private drainage connections, that he thought the Council should pay £'l ner week for such services, the same" as was done at Lyttelton.

Agreed to. Captain Campbell, of the local Fire Brigade, wrote inquiring what pressure would be available when the new waterworks scheme was completed. It was said that Mr Dobson's reportdid not state what the increased pressure would be. but that the additional supplv would effect a material improvement in the service. The secretary of the Butchers Union wrote complaining that the Council had renewed the contract with the abattoir slaughterers without consulting the Union, and they felt aggrieved that this had been done without consulting them. -'lt however so happens." the letter concluded, ; " that the Association is perfectly satisfied with the present contractors, but as a matter of courtesy we think that yonr Council should have ascertained" if the butchers were satisfied with the present contract." Councillors unanimously agreed that jio slight had been intended.

The South Canterbury Board of Education applied for md were granted the use of the swimming baths ou February 2<ith for the annual schools swimming competitions. ilr Ritchings Grant, director of technical education in T.niaru, wrote that in response to the request of the Council, the managers 0.l the technical school had decided tc hold a special examination for plumpers and drainlayers at an early date, the candidates to guarantee the cost of the examination. The cost of conducting an examination in plumbing and drainage would be about £7. The Council decided to advertise that an examination would be fceld. . Mr J. W. White wrote respecting the "very high amount" lie was charged as water rate for his house supply, £ls per annum, in addition to which he liad to pay £2 2s for a small cottage on his property. The water was used for domestic purposes only, and never for garden watering, etc. The rate, he considered, was excessive, and in view of the fact that he was rated. for water at his office in the borough, although he used none, the most he should be rated for his house and cottage was* £lO.

Councillor Bowker remarked that some of the charges for water were certainly too lugh, and Councillor Raymond endorsed this. After a short dis-Mission it was decided to refer Mr "White's application to the Town Clerk to deal with, the two Councillors named, expressing the opinion that a reduction should be allowed.

Mr W. B. North, of Beautiful Valley, wrote thanking the Council for its expressions of sympathy with the proposal to establish a' branch railway to serve the country at the back of Geraldine. A public meeting would probably be held at Hazelburn. after harvest.

The Minister of Internal Affairs forwarded copy of draft regulations proposed to be made under clauses 3 and 15 of the Motor Regulation Act, 1908.

Mr Walter Panton as architect for the public library, forwarded a tender for switchboards, metre panel and subswitches for the library. ■ He advised that this lie accepted.—Agreed to. . TAILING OVER. Mr C. Crimmins waited on the Council, to complain of the way his section in Regent street had been damaged through the Council having "tailed over" into it. It used to be worth £2O a year to him, through fruit and grass, but now it was useless, and the fence having been broken down by the Council when tipping clay. The Mayor said the Council had improved the road which this section fronted, and to do so they had to fill in hollows here and there. Perhaps this would cause some inconvenience to a few, but on the whole it was beneficial. Mr Crimmins said it did not benefit him,' and he thought he was entitled to compensation to the extent of £4O. The Mayor said that so far as he could see Mr Crimmins was in no worse position than others, whoso sections had been tailed over. Mr Crimmins said that if the Council would not pay, he would have to sue them, and with this, he abruptly terminated the interview.

The town clerk produced a minute, which" showed that last year the Mayor and Councillors Hawkey, Mullin and Sattertbwaite had inspected this section, and they had no recommendation to - make.

A committee, consisting of Councillors Leathwick, Rothwell and Sealey, was appointed to visit the section and again report. GENERAL.

The plan of Preston street was approved, and it was decided that tenders should be called for next meeting of the Council. The Council spent some time discussing with the overseer the best means of overtaking urgent street work —whether by contract or clay labour. ■ It was eventually decided that in order to get the streets clear of weeds, four extra men should be taken on for one month. Officers reports were adopted, accounts were passed for payment, and the Council rose.