CHRISTCHURCH CITY COUNCIL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 497, 21 December 1869, Page 2

CHRISTCHURCH CITY COUNCIL.

♦ Monday, Dec 20. The weekly meeting was held at the usual hour. Present— his Worship the Mayor and Councillors Anderson, Pratt, Bishop, Jameson, Calvert, and Sawtell. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. At the request of his Worship the rules for guidance of councillors during the Bitting of the Council were formally read. His Worship adverted to the telegrams from Wellington respecting poisoned sugar in that city and at Oamaru, stating that he

*-' " ' . deemed it his duty to bring the matter before the Council, with a view to ascertaining whether it was desirable for them to take any measures for preventing any danger accruing to the inhabitants of Christchurch. He had personally spoken to Mr Bowen, the Kesident Magistrate, and that gentleman, after showing him the telegram received by his Honor the Superintendent, from Wellington, said that he had instructed the police to make enquiries in the city as to whether any of the sugar had been brought here, and if so, to take such precaution as might be deemed necessary in connection with it. The Town Clerk said it had been ascertained that there was no sugar of the same brand as that in which the arsenic had been found in Wellington, in Christchurch. After some unimportant remarks the matter was then permitted to drop. The Town Clerk reported that during the week he had received from City Rates, 1868, £5 ; do 1869, £40 13s ; scavengering, £13 6s; Market-place rents, ?s ; total, £59 6s ; and that the credit balance at the bank was £40 14s 2d. Accounts amounting to £97 lis were passed and ordered to be paid. The Surveyor reported that tenders for supplying 500 lineal yards for stone channelling would be laid before the Council, but that those for the formation of the South town belt from Colombo street to -the Lincoln road, would not be submitted before next week. Tba labour gang had been employed during the week in watering the streets ; carting side drains' rubbish and weeds from Cranmer square, carting timber &c. to Latimer square, mowing weeds in Worcester, Gloucester, Barbadoes, and St. Asaph streets, erecting fencing in Lstimer square for the Rural Sports Committee, and removing the same, raking grass on the South Town belt, and other minor works. The report was considered. Councillor Jameson, in reference to the stone for channelling, said that only one tender had been received, and that was slightly informal. It appeared that all the quarries were in the hands of one person — Mr Wilson — who was accordingly in a position to fix his own price. The tender received was at 4s 6d per yard, against 4s previously paid. The Works' Committee did not however think the price exorbitant, and the Council had no opportunity of doing better. After some conversation about the informality of the tender, it was decided on the suggestion of Councillor Jameson, that the Works' Committee should be empowered to order 200 yards of stone at a price not exceeding the 4s 6d per yard, provided the tenderer was willing to formally bind himself to accept a contract for that quantity on the terms stated in his tender for th<_ 500 yards. Councillor Bishop called the attention of the Works' Committee to the perceptible wearing out of the bearers under the wire suspension bridge, and the somewhat dangerous state of one or two of them. The friction of the wire was the cause of this, and in order to obviate a recurrence of it when new bearers were placed, he would suggest that iron rollers should be fixed to them for the wire to rest upon. Councillor Jameson said it was the first the Works' Committee had heard of the matter, and it should be, attended to at once. CouncillorCalvert, by request of Councillor Hart, apologised for that gentleman's absence, in consequence of being engaged with the children of the Orphan Asylum, to whom he had during the day given a treat in the jn:ounds attached to his residence. j(A. letter was read from Mr Julius Hamel, of the firm of Hamel and Ferguson, Melbourne, soliciting the order for engrossing and illuminating the vote of thanks passed to the late Mayor on his retirement from offlce, and guaranteeing that as their house was the best of its kind in the southern hemisphere the work should be executed in the highest style of the caligraphic art. His Worship thought it would be more in consonance with -the feelings of Councillor Anderson, if the work were executed in the city where he had officiated as Mayor, especially as his Worship was_ confident it cojrid be done in a perfectly satisfactory mannjjl Councillor Anderson expressed himselfto this effect. After some further remarks, Councillors Bishop, Pratt, and Sawtell were appointed to act as a committee to superintend the matter. A printed copy of the Lyttelton Town Council accounts was laid upon the table, his Worship explaining that it had been transmitted in return for a copy of the City Council accounts forwarded by the Town Clerk. Councillor Anderson, on behalf of the By-law Committee, of which by . virtue of his position as Mayor, he had been chairman, made a verbal report of their proceedings in respect to the new fire prevention regulations. He said there was a considerable difference of opinion at their last meeting as to the best course to be adopted in the erection of new buildings. Councillor Bishop had suggested strong brick or stone partition walls, and he certainly agreed with it. They had an instance of how effective such a barrier was in arresting the progress of a fire, at the one wbich recently took place in Lichfield street. There, one half of a large building was unquestionably saved by such a wall, and he thought the Council would do well if they made the erection of one between all new buildings compulsory. Another suggestion made at the meeting by their present Mayor, but then Councillor Duncan, was, that after fourteen or fifteen years, no wooden buildings should be allowed within a certain block of the city, but he (Councillor Anderson) did not agree with it. He considered it very inadvisable for the Council to legislate so far forward, as circumstances might arise which would quite alter the whole matter. He was decidedly of opinion that they should confine their operations in this matter purely to their own day. Beyond these two suggestions and a lengthy discussion which fol-

3owed upon them, the By-law Committee had done nothing, thinking it better to refer the subject to the whole CouncU. Councillor Jameson expressed his strong support of the party wall proposal, but instanced one or two cases where it might become oppressive if a saving clause to meet special occasions were not provided. Councillor Calvert also believed the party wall to be a very good plan, but thought it would be better for such an important matter to be discussed in a full Council, and accordingly moved that the consiieration of the whole matter be deferred until the next meeting. . >* /Thar motion was seconded and agreed to. 'v\ AA jNry animated discussion ensued relative the collection of the balance of the present year's rates, it appearing tbat upwards of £1299 15s remained uncollected. There was also stated to be £169 12s 6d still outstanding from 1868, and some complaints were made that the collector had not acted with greater energy, whilst his Worship defended that officer, alleging that the collecting had been much better done this year without assistance than it was last year with. Several •Councillors, however, urged that the rates should be got in earlier in the financial year, pointing out that it would be a great saving to the Council in many ways, and that it was an injustice to those who paid early to permit others to shirk it for upwards of nine months! After the matter had been thoroughly ventilated, it was resolved that the collector should issue advertisements to the effect that all rates not paid on or before the 31st inst., willbe sued for. ■ Councillor Anderson was appointed a member and chairman of the Finance and By-law - Committees, vice Councillor Duncan, elected Mayor. The Town Clerk was instructed to close the offices of the Council from Friday night \ next until the following Tuesday morning. The Council then adjourned.