PATEA

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 75, Issue 139, 15 June 1932, Page 12

PATEA

BOROUGH COUNCIL Regret at thu loss to tho town in! the death of two of its residents was ' expressed at the monthly meeting of I the Patca Borough Council, the Mayor' (Mr. F. Ramsbottom) presiding/ others present being Crs. A. T. Chris ten.sen. F. N a ism i th. G. Pettigrew, T. ■ Scott and C. 11. Carey. The Mayor spoke of the death that j morning of Mr. John Boyle, who had resided in the town, for over 50 years, being one of the most respected citi zens during that time. A resolution of sympathy was passed with his rela fives, members standing in silence for a few minutes. In the untimely death of Mr. W. H. Rook, members of the council stated that they, with the town itself, had lost a highly-esteemed friend and sportsman. Mr. Rook had been a Borough Councillor with the highest ideals. At the recent .Jubilee celebrations bo had been a tower of strength, doing his share and more in the activities. A resolution of sym pathy with his wife and. family was passed in islence. Borough Lease Reductions With the reading of the letter on tho 'question of tho recent legislation dealing with the reduced rents of borough properties, a lengthy discussion ensued. Tho town clerk stated that by tho 20 per cent, reduction, the revenue from, borough leases would be reduced by about £lOO a year. It was pointed out that tho reduction only camo into force on properties which paid more than five per cent, of the capital value of the property. On considering this side of the question, it was pointed out that, there had been no Government valuation of the borough carried out since 1916. After further discussion it was decided that the clerk draw up a report on the leases of the borough, and present it at the next meeting of tho council.

Mr. Sheild waited on the council as j a deputation from the Kakaramea i Dairy Company, on the matter of an account for the installing of a motor He was informed that tho council would discuss the matter at the nex f meeting, and report on it to the com pany’s meeting in July. The Health Department wrote advising as to the taking outs by shop keepers in tho borough of licenses for ' sweets, fish, moat, ice-cream and bar hers’ shops, and eating-houses and bakeries. The clerk stated that th*’ borough was not compelled to take 1 this advice, hut the department had the matter of conditions of the li- • censes in hand.

The Bank of New Zealand advised j that the council’s application for prO- , vision for an overdraft of £3OOO had . been received and granted. Street Light Requested The Patea Methodist Church asked) for a street light to be erected on the street in which tho church was placed, as at present the darkness was dangerous to churchgoers. The Mayor stated that he thought I the request was quite justified, but that tho light should be so erected that it could be controlled from the church, and thus used only when actually required. It was left in the engineer’s hands to erect a light to the council’s stipu lation and to the church members ’ satisfaction to the best of his ability There were several applications received for relief in the payment ot rents and rates. One was deferred until the next meeting, another was given a reduction on a percentage basis, and another was asked to make some papment, however small. AH eases were treated on their own merits, and discussed fully. Reports were received from the streets supervisor (Cr. Naismith), and the electrical engineer (Mr. J. C. Cunningham). Both were adopted, includ-

ing classes of recommendation. Dealing with tho purchase of a new electrical fire siren, the engineer reported that he had had one on approval, and had given it a trial sounding It was arranged for the Fire Brigade members to assemble and to bear it again with a fair test of its soundcarrying qualities. Outstanding accounts of rates and rents were reviewed and dealt withHospital Board The monthly meeting of the Patca Hospital Board was held yesterday, Mr. C. R. .Honeyfield presiding. Others present were Messrs. W. 11. Watkins. C. E. Johnston, W. Back, A. T. Christensen, J. Lupton, R. J. Watt, R. G. Scown and H. Middleton. Basing the argument on the short age of rentable bouses in Patea, the members discussed the mutter of paying rent for a needy family, the father of which was in hospital. It was submitted that in spite of this short . ago of houses, any owner would be pleased to get a sure rental every! week, and that with this offer from the board, the owner could not evict his tenants. One member* stated that the ten shillings a week offered was a very high rental for the house. He would not give ten shillings for the freehold with the house on it. Correspondence was received from the Unemployment Board on two im- j portant matters. One was the ques ; lion of insurance, which would be I taken by the Government, a general reduction of 25 shillings in £IOO oil wages being made from tho committee’s allocation. Correspondence was received staling that the Health Department’s notice had been drawn to a recent instance of a hospital board granting assist ance out of its funds to unemployed men who were refusing to accept work under tin* Unemployment Board's scheme, or who bad gone “on strike.’’ The letter pointed out. that such action only accent imted tho Government’s difficulty in dealing with the unemployment situation. It asked lh<’ board and alt those concerned that they grant no relief to aide-bodied

unemployed who had refused or were “on strike” from relief work. Cr. Christensen stated that so far lhe Patea Board and the district had not had anything like that yet. but one never know what it might lead to. “We can’t let the wife and fam ily suffer and starve if the father acts like that.” he concluded. With the ability to give only. 24 days’ work to married men entitled to 4 days, Mr. Watkins stated that the Waverlev Unemployment Committee were finding it very hard to give any single men work. This statement was made in regard to a request to the board from a single man of Waverley. who had two dependents. Mr. Watkins further stated that single men in Waverley practically refused to go to work out nf the town. It was agreed that the request should be referred to the Waverley Unemployment Committee to investigate and report on to the board at its July meeting. Nurses’ Training

Regarding tho controversy over the f necessity for Patea-trained nurses ■ going to the New Plymouth hospital - for a final six months’ training, the Taranaki Hospital Board advised the Patea board that it would pay the l maintenance of nurses going there if - the Patea board paid the nurses’ salary. 1 The secretary (Mr. W. F. Shield). • reported that as it required immediate action. He had written accepting the a rrangemont. I The secretary’s action was endorsed Matron Kelly reported that Nurse Soundy had gone to New Plymouth for six months. Nurses Soundy and Kettles had both sat. for thrir cooking examination on May 26; both did well, gaining 85 and 81 per cent, respectively. The report was adopted, the fact that there was only one nurse at New r Plymouth so far being noted. Superintendent ’s Report Dr. W. T. Simmons, as medical r I superintendent, of the hospital, reI I ported that there were at present 27 - nationts in the hospital. This showed an increase, of two patients over the 5 month, there being 13 male and 11 ‘ female in then. Of these. 10 male and - I I female had been discharged, while 15 male and 10 female had been ad i mitted. 'Two male patients had died ■j during the month, leaving 16 male and •[ II female in hospital. • I The report was adopted. II Messrs. Watkins and Scown were j elected tho visiting committee for the • next mouth. Hospitals' Conference flip chairman reported briefly on the Hospital Boards’ Association con ferenco which he had attended last week, but asked permission to submit a full report at the board’s next meet hi regard to the scheme proposed by Dr. Campbell Begg, the chairman - stated that Dr. Begg had addressed the conferencie for half an hour, but during that time had dealt fully with the history and growth of hospital administration in tho country. He had not given, owing to shortage of time, any real reasons why his scheme should lie adopted, or how it. could be | adopted. Tin' scheme, therefore, had ; not been discussed so fully, but the | suggestion for a re-grouping of hos- ; pilnl districts had been discussed. A , committee to approach tho Prime Min ! i.'ler had been appointed, but no ! a u roe in on t had been announced so tar. ! Mr. Il'inevfiold also reported briell} •m the matter of the taking over ot '■haritablp and distribution by the Government, which had been fully discussed at the conference. Permission to submit r full report »»« Ri'-.'ii b\ the hosnl to the chair '