BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 10521, 18 December 1901, Page 2

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

The' usual fortnightly meeting of the Wanganui Borough Council was held last (Tuesday) evening, there being present his Worship the Mayor (Mr A. Hatrick), Crs Limton, Richardson, Caiman, Bridge, Horsley, Manson, May, Bell, Bignell, Perrett, and Griffiths. After the minutes of the last meeting had been read and confirmed, the bank books, etc., asOaid on the table showad a dr. balance of .£2427 19s 4d, as against £1762 8s 9d at last meeting. SIR HECTOR MACDONALD.— The Governor of South Australia wrote, acknowledging on behalf of Sir Hector the receipt of an address presented to -him by the Council, and that it had been' duly forwarded. TUCKER BROS. — It was stated by the Mayor that during the visit of Mr Gilruth to Wanganui he had. been consulted re the refusal of Tucker Bros, to pay about £70 killing fees at the abattoirs because th«re was no blackboard there setting forth such fees. Mr Gilrutli pointed out thak the Council, was in error so far as the blackboard was concerned, but that the Council could still claim on the firm, and after consultation with the Borough solicitor it was decided to take action. Another b'utcher — O'Neill — had taken advantage of the non-suit, and altogether there was about £100 that the ratepayers were standing out of. HALF-HOLIDAY. — It was decided to take the statutory proceedings for the weekly half-holiday. JENSEN'S LEASE.— The special resolution in this was read and confirmed.

POLICE DEPARTMENT*— A communication was received from the Inspector of' Police re the" Buffet in the Avenue, its want of fire escapes, 'and its suggested unsuitableness generally for the purposes it was used for. It was decided that the Mayor and Foreman be empowered to act. WANGANUI HOSPITAL BOARD.— The secretary acknowledged from the Mayor the receipt of a cheque for £1041 6s 2d raised as a subscription for the erection of the new Victoria Ward.

PLUMBERS. — The consideration of by-laws re plumbers .was held over until after the New Year, to be discussed at a special meeting. CROSHER AND SON wrote re lamps, etc., they were prepared to supply for illuminations and decorations in connection with the King's coronation, and the matter was left in the hands of the Mayor and Cr Bignell to deal with at a cost- not exceeding £20. T. H. JAMES. — A communication from Mr James re construction of tramway overhead for Messrs Collier and Co.'s new premises was. hold over until next meeting, the Foreman to report. PUBLIC MUSEUM. — The secretary applied for the subsidy, and it was decided that the account be -paid at the earliest opportunity whon due. A GRIEVANCE.— Mr J.,C. Marter wrote re a signboard on a fruit shop on the quay, the wording of which was misleading and detrimental to his business as a fruiterer. It was decided, after discussion, that the board in question be removed, as there had been -no consent from the Council to erect it.

NEXT COUNCIL MEETING.—Owing to the holidays, it was -decided that the next meeting take place on 3rd January.

GASWORKS ENGINEER.— In. a special report re gas-fitting, the gasworks engineer, Mr Smithies, stated that he had. the hohnour to report for the information of the Council that at the t present" time the Gas Company carries 'on the business of supply and erection of gas-fittings, cookers, heaters, fires, . etc. It is desirable that at an early date the Council consider the -question of supply of fittings. If it> is intended to continue this branch of the business it is necessary to take steps to procure supplies. The stock held by the company is 'depleted, and there will probably be little left at the date of transfer of the plant to the Council. The principle of the question seems to have been settled in favour of the , supply by the gas authority by the great bulk 'of the gasworks in England and the colonies; and it is a Well-known fact that the rapid development of the business of gas suppliers dates from the time this particular branch of the work was taken in hand. 1 din, of courses aware" that the', practical monopoly of f the work-_.6f necessity does a certain amount of damage to the business of persons or firms engaged in the trade. I, however, feel jt my duty to recommend that the work of supply now being- performed by the Company bo continued by the Council. To do this will require a capital of about w6700. This might be advancedby the Sinking Fund Commissioners- at ordinary rates of interest. Separate accounts, of course, being kept, the work should be made to finance itself entirely apart from the ordinary business of the works. It was moved by Cr Griffiths that the matter be relegated to the Gasworks Committee, suggesting as a recommendation that" they take into serious consideration the advisability of competing with local tradesmen, as it was an important matter affecting them as burgesses. This contention was supported by Crs Manson and Horsley, but Cr Bridge did not think the Committee -should be hampered by any such recommendation. Cr May was very emphatic in protesting against the Council entering into business competition of the nature referred, to, as it was most certainly calculated to injure thoso of the burgesses who were engaged in business, connected with the trade underAfos.-rs-] sion. ' Eventually, it was decided that! the matter be referred to the Gasworks Committee to report upon. i COBPOBATION BATHS.— With reference to this , matter the Mayor brought under . notice that the establishment of these baths some years ago was largely due to the agitation of a number of gentlemen connected with the town schools — and amongst them was Mr Empson. The baths had. cost something like -.£IOOO, and tho loss per year to the Council was about .£IOO. Whoa the baths had been some trr.e established, Mr Empson withdraw his t-u-pils,*and not only that, but allowed the School old boys the j.rivilago of free bathing in tho school oaths. It had i.m been proposed, to establish 'baths at tlie Boys' and ' Girls' Schools. This proposal was no doubt a good one, but it was regrettable that those now agitating in that direction had riot done so previous to the Co'rporatip^ being committed to so 'large au expenditure as that mentioned. Should the schools' withdraw from attending the Corporation Baths', tho Council would hayo to consider whether they could retain tho services of the caretaker and his -wife. In. tho course of his remarks on 'the matter, Cr Bridge said that the public educational authorities had in no way approached, the Council as to establishing the Corporation Baths. The Mayor remarked that it would be a lesson in tho future for the -Council to very carefully weigh anything in the shape of a proposal having for Us object the inauguration of any municipal undertakings. ACCOUNTS. — The accounts passed for payment amounted to JSIS3 4s sd. TENDEES. — Tho tenders for annual supplies were referred to the Finance Committee, with power to accept. Two tenders were received for tho Gasworks extension plant, but as they -were above the engineer's estimate, it was decided to call tar separate tenders tor the work

BALANCE-SHEET TRUST ACCOUNT LATE G. K. WATTS— This was presented by the Mayor, who mentioned that the fund was now vested in two-trustees. • \

. BIVER FOOTPATH.— Cr Manson mentioned that a portion was in vory bad repair, and the attention of the Foreman was called thereto. This concluded the business.

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