CITY COUNCIL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4580, 28 February 1893, Page 4

CITY COUNCIL.

. ORDINAEY MEETING, i ;A. fortnightly meeting of the City Council was held last night; present— The' Mayor (Mr Eden George), Councillors Bohniogton, Wood, £. Smith, Swann, Payling, Calder, Flesher, Widdowaon, J. T. Smith, Thomson, Gray, Appleby, Gapes i and Anderson. .. .'. ■..■_■.-.;: ■*■„• ..FINANCIAL. '■ /■. ' ; The Treasurer reported that the receipts since laßt meeting had been £839 9a lid. Payments amounting to £2092 9* had been authorised, leaving the overdraft at £5018 4s,ld. • The report was approved. , ■..:;' THK MAT OR'B STATEMENT. The <Mayor said that since laat meeting, when he had told the Council that he thought it expedients wait for further particulars relative, to the Queensland disaster, before calling a public meeting, those particulars had arrived. They appeared in the papers on the Wednesday after the Council meeting. Had he required any further prompting than that conveyed iu the published news, he .was asked by Mr Harley, President of the Chamber of Commerce, , and a petition signed by several of the Councillors, to take -action. Before he had received these he had taken Btjepß to call, a meeting of the citizens,, which meeting. had been held and a Committee formed for the purpose of collecting j subscriptions. . These already jamounted to about £600, exclusiveof over £300: worth j of goods that had been sent forward. -This was the result of a week's work. He then enumerated the various' entertainments which were about to take place in the oity, J and which he hoped would largely augment the fund. He made special reference to tihe proposed demonstration on' Thursday, March 9. There was another matter which, in his opinion, necessitated the attention of the City Council.. This was the state of the ship Hinemoa, now in' . Ly ttelton. Great consternation existed in Lyttelton about the matter, and some exaggerated and wild statements had been circulated about the ship. He 'had been appealed to to bring' the mat-' ter before the Council/ and did so because there were six or seven of the seamen in the hospital, and now two more men had been taken ill on board the ship. He had been informed that the lumpers working on board the ship had to submit: to ' a moat abominable stench. The illness of these men had been stated to have been brought « bout through the ! ship when in Wellington: lying alongside a' foul drain which fan into the harbour.' Now that these other two men- had been] taken ill, a feeling of uneasiness bad been' caused. He thought the public of Lyttelton had a fair claim to have the matter fully investigated, more especially as the vessel was now being loaded with ] carcases, of meat for England.. This outbreak might seriously affect the sale of the carcases. Several persons had spoken and written to him about the matter. BBPOBT OF CIXT SURVEYOR. The City Surveyor reported as follows :~ j (1) With regard to the removal of dust and ref nse-from the town, the Works Committee recommends that the scale intro- < duced by Councillor Widdowson Bhould be charged for any removal outside the regular Bervice,-a8 it has been found that an immense quantity of material is being removed at rates ridiculously low and -to the detriment of the . regular service. {2) The new tower for drying hose ia now ready for uso. (3) The Works Committee visited the Theatre Royal and determined what alterations were necessary to be made before further licensing the building, and notice has. been sent to the proprietor to have them carried ou& (4) The last north-west storm created an immense amount of work, not only by blocking up the river with trees, but every cajyert, sump and channel in Christchurch was choked, cleansed .and rechoked several times in sucoeaßion, and extra labour had to be employed to cleanse the town. (5) In accordance with instructions of the Council a meeting between the Drainage Board and the Works Committee of this Council was held. The members of the Drainage Board who were present resolved' to recommend the Board, to state a case for the Judge, and the Works Committee recommends the Council td take a similar course. , (6) A letter has been sent in. from Mr Bowron offering to sell sufficient land. in front of hiß block to widen out the Raver road, and the Works Committee decided to recommend the Council not" to entertain it on account of the conditions laid down and the price asked.

Clause 1 was postponed till next meeting. Clause. 2 was adopted. In connection with- Clause 3, a letter was read from Mrs Kent objecting to the proposed alterations to the theatre on the ground that BU.h alterations wojild not effeot the desired improvement.

• Councillor Wood, Chairman of -the Works Committee, explained that the alterations required by the Committee would' only necessitate the expenditure of from £6 to £7, but they deemed such alterations necessary for the safety of the public. The clause was adopted, the license to be granted subject to such alterations being made. / Clause _ was passed. ' On Clause 5 a discussion followed, but the clause passed as printed. Messrs G. and M. Bowron wrote a long letter with regard to the purchase of the land referred to, but the Council decided not to entertain the proposal to buy the land owing to the price demanded and the conditions laid down. QUESTION. In reply to Councillor Gray> the Mayor said that be had not interviewed the managers of the respective banks with regard to transmitting money to Queensland. He had seen the manager of the Bank of Australasia,; with whioh he dealt, and that gentleman had undertaken to see the managers of the other banks on the matter, and they had all«greed to do what they could to assist in sending the money. ' WATER SUPPLY. Councillor Widdowson move i d, pursuant ;to notice—" That a Committee be formed, consisting of the members of the Works and Finance Committees, and Chairmen of other Standing Committees, to consider the desirableness of providing the city with a high-pressure water supply, and report." Councillor Swann seconded the motion, which evoked considerable discussion. On the suggestion of Councillor Gray, Councillor Widdowson amended his motion, reducing the Committee to the members of the ' Works Committee and Councillors Gray and Appleby. The motion as amended was carried unanimously, RIVEB BOAD. Councillor Swann gave notice to move— "That all necessary steps be taken under the Municipal Corporations Act to acquire Bowron's land fronting on the Biver road a chain wide, and also the pieces of land jutting on the Stanmore road belo&ging to Messrs Godfrey, M'Grath and Nash." LICENSES. A number of licenses were granted, and the meeting terminated.