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- BOARDS OF GUARDIANS.

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WELSHPOOL TOWN COUNCIL- (

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WELSHPOOL TOWN COUNCIL- ( —TUESDAY. Present—The Mayor (Councillor Ellis O. Jone»,) Alderman T. R. Morris, Councillors D. Richards, T. S, Pryce, David JTones, T. Parry, J. H. Anderson, J. Pryce Jones, E, Lanoford Jones with Messrs E. Jones, town clerk, G. Scook, surveyor, Dr Hawks- worth, medical tfficer, J. A. Basnett, collector, and W. Wyatt, engineer. SCHOOL AWOMMODATION. Tne Mayor said the first business was the consid- eration oIf larger school accommodation, adjourned from last meeting, on account of the closing of the British School on the lst January next. The Educa. tion Department had sect the Council two or three letters asking forateply to their first communication, but they were wasting for the result of the negocia- tions between the British School'Committee and the owners of some property there. If they made ar- rangements togettiar, of course further accotnmoda- tio i would notlbe required, and the school would be carried on as usual. He thought it was very likely in a snort time the Council would have a report sent in. In the meantime they bad sent te the Education Department explaining the state of the case, and the cause of delity being that e Council was waiting to give them a tangible report. Alderman Morris agked'a question, which was not I caught by -the reporters. The Miaor: If 1 he British School continues there will be ne need for further enquiry. Suppose it does not, we shall have to deal with the whole question, and it will be open for further discussion and further'! enquiry. If I said there was plenty of accommoda- tiou wif'iout any further provision, that would raised a quesMuu of debate, and there must be a difference of opicion. f Alderman Morris: (If I understand aright there isf1 ample accommodation for the children in the town,, and tfcare can be fig-ures presented to prove it. ? Th4e Mayor: I have heard 30, but figures are open to dispute. 1 here are always two aides to a ques- tion. We had better not meet trouble. Councillor Pryoe Better not meet it halfway. Tie subject then dropped. I SANITARYXVILS AT THE TOWN HALL- Councillor Pryce Jones said the sub-committesep- pouitoa to make an examination of the basement of the town hail lrum whence a stench arose, went through the room accompanied by the Medical Oifictr. They discovered a lot of refuse whioh had been left there binee the holdiqg of a dinner, -and a .quantity of old cabbage, and other decomposed veget- able matter. The stench arising therefrom was abominable Councillor Anderson: Under the stalls we ioand a lot of old cheese. Alderman Morris: The place ought to be-swept en. legularly. Toe Town Clerk reported the receipt of a farther lettsr complaining of the abominable naissuce. which still continued to exist. Cou joillo,- Jones remarked that the inhabitants of j Hall Street were complaining about the >3inells j emanating t'rom the Town Hall, and the Medical Offioer oomplained very much of the ventilation of the entire building. Alderman Morris moved that the Surveyor report on the best means of ventilating the cellars, wnich should be thoroughly cleansed and disinfected every month, and that notice be given to the tenants to leave. Councillor Jones seconded, and the resolution was carried. ALARM ALLAYED. The Tuwn Clerk said there had been a letter re- ceived from the Privy Council with respect to the holding of the Assize alternately at New-town and Welshpool. The Mayer: I am very glad the thing is dlettled. The proposal to remove the Assize altogether from Welshpool-caua'*d a great deal of alarm,, boh BOW that it has been explained that the matter was a mistake the alarm thas disappeared, and things are to be left as they were. Alderman Morris said he thought a great deal of praise was due to their respected Town'Clerk for taking active measures, and writing to the Lord Chancellor at once, aa he did. He moved that a vote of thanka be accorded him for his prompt-action, and that it be entered on the minutes. The Mayor seconded and the motion was carried unsuimoml-v. INFECTIOUS HOSPLT". A letter was read from the Town Clerk of Mont- gomery calling attention to the number -of. gentle- men the Town Council had appointed to sit on the committee tor the selection of a site for an infections bospital. The agreement was that only ene repre- sentative from each body should be appointed. The Mayor of Montgomery would represent his town, Col. Harrison, Forden Board of Guardians, and he asked to be made acquainted with the aame of the Weishpoul representative. Councillor Anderson proposed, and toonnoillor D. Jones secended, and it was oaxried that the Mayor represent Welshpool. A STINKING BBOOX. TheBer Joseph Wright, on bohatfoffthe.traateea of the Primitive Methodist Chapel, Brook-street, wrote complaining of the sanitary state of the brook in that street, and asking the Council to-take imme. diate steps-to remedy the nuisanoe. Councillor J. P. Jones said his remedy would be to arch the brook over all the way down. The Mayor suggested the use of disinfectants. The Surveyor: We cannot do that as it would poison all the fish in the river. Councillor T. S. Pryce said the best .means of flushing the brook would be to dam it with boards at the top end, and if that were done in 24 hours there would be five or six feet of water. When that was loosed it would be sufficient to flush the brook. Councillor Jones thought the Surveyor migbtmake a plan and give the Council the estimate-of the cost of arching the brook over. Alderman Morris: You would make it a greater nuisance than it is at present. The Chairman We cannot afford to waste a drop of the town's water supply. What is wanted is to take immediate stsps to abate the nuisance, and Councillor Pryce has suggested a plaa. I peeler the brook open. Councillor Jones: The people who live in the cottages prefer it shut. The subject then dropped. THE WATER DISPUTE. WHAT -THE ENGINEER SATS. Mr Wyatt (engineer) then addressed the Board. He said the committee appointed to go up to the reservoir had visited the place and measured the -height of the water. The first he heard of the matter was that he was putting the new water level S feet 9 inches above the old one next in this room that he was putting it 4 feet, and then 4 feet 1 inch; and last it was saii on the ground it was 4 feet 3 inches; but it turned out to be 4 feet 4 inches. That was the actual measurement. It was evident that the lowering of stone, which was done at the end of the weir, would have been better not done, and it should be raised again. The question of the height of tke stonework did not effect the height of the earthwork, The earthwork and stone wer-o raised to the intended height, and when the earthwork was finished the dam and Mad and everything would be alright. Tnen came the question of the mode of! raising the overflow. He was told the other day that the Council's men had had to rush up there and! knock cut the planks which were used for backing up: the water to raise the levei. The same thing might oseur again, and for that reason he suggested that' the raising of the overflow should be done by a move- able plank, which could be knocked out at any time when it was necessary to do so. The laying of the pipes had gone on as far as it could go at present, and could be taken no farther without wasting the water, and that, it was plain could not be allowed When they got sufficient water to keep them going then wouldibe the time to complete the pipes, but the completion of the road might go on at any time, except the lower end. Councillor Anderson asked the Surveyor what was the difference between the height of tha old and the present overflow. The Surveyor ^jaid the question of a plank made it either 4 feet 3 inches or 4 feet 4 inches. Virtually it was 4 feet 3 inches. The Mayor said the Council had to deal with the condition of the present overflow, whether it should bA raised to the proper limits of the specification or adopt the plank system. There was a question that if they raised the overflow to 4 feet 11 inches or 5 feet, if there was a rush of water whether it could pass through .the little culvert or bridge. Should that be the case it appeared to him that planks would be the most useful to regulate the floods as the case might req uire. Councillor Alderson said that seemed to be an aftar-tnoaght. If the dam was to ba 5ft. it was a most serious thing. They were all liable to mis- ta.ke9, and it was a very easy matter to raisa it to 5ft., at an expense of about X2. The Mayor: Mr Wyatt at a previous meeting said he would raise it at his own expense. Councillor Alderson; It is not a matter of hib own cost, but of being right in his measurements. Mr Wyatt said that as far as expense went it mattered but little either way. He did not think it would make five shillings difference in raising the stone or putting in the planks, but under the circum- stances He thought it would be far better and wiser to put in planks, which they could remove in case of floods. If it were found necessary to remove the old planks it would be equally neoessary to do so in the present case. The Mayor: It is entirely a question which of these systems you will adopt. It is a small thing and insignificant altogether, but when we hare plaal and specifications presented to us and adopted, we expect them to be carried out (hear, hear). No doubt there has been a mistake made. Alderman Morris 1'he engineer was out of his calculation at the last meeting. Mr Wyatt: I must admit I was. Aldermen Morris: Does the engineer doubt the stability of the dam if it is put up to the requirod height ? Mr Wyatt: The way I look at it is this. If the original dam was in danger, the present one would be in danger. If planks were necessary in the case j • would be equally neoessary 01 advisable to have them for the new dam. The former was 16 feet, but the new one was 18 feet, but it does not now come up to the requirements of the Local Government Board. For these reasons I think it 1 advisable to do the raising by means of planks. Might you not accept it that it was my intention to do this at first. I Councillor Richards: What does the plan show? That will tell. Alderman Morris moved, and Councillor Alderson seconded, that the original contract be carried out. Councillor D. Jones thought it was most unfortu- natothat the engineer did not come before them and tell them what he intended to do. He was sorry he cdsld not congratulate the engineer nor the surveyor upon the way in which the job had been carried out. If-they had employed inexperienced men to do the work they might have been some excuse, but un- fortunately they had employed the best talent, and then it came out a month ago that the dam was not correct. He could assure the Council that he was prepared to accept Mr Wyatt's figures as being cor- rect when he said it was 4ft. lOin. There had been "remarks about the town that the depth was 3ft. 9m., 4ft., and 4ft. 3in. If-a novice had made the error he could have understood it, but he could not under- stand a gentlemaliltdf Mr Wyatt's experience making an error in such a simple measurement. He was u ha £ l admitted making an error, but he thought for a man of his experience to make an error of seven inches looked very bad. He was sorry he had made the error, as it had caused a great deal of talk and laughter about the town, when he thought the work war. being carried out according to the ori- ginal proposition of the Board. Alderman Morris pointed out it was only fair to say that Mr Wyatt had not taken the measurements himself. but they were taken by his clerks. The Mayorz There is no question but that a mistake has been made in this case. Alderman Morris: And you have been misled by them ? Mr Wyatt: In this case-yes. Councillor D. Jones: Well, he should have ex- plained that. Councillor Pryce shared the same opinion that the contracts should be carried out to u. u er' but lookin» at the faots before them, he telt that it was somewhat better it was not so. If ttie stone sill was raised to 4ft. llin. there would be no possibility of letting off any water after flood tme. It would be better to deviate from the plan and carry, out the engineer's saggestion. He moved, as an amendment, that they adopt the planking. Councillor Pryce Jones: Who is to bear the cost if the woi k is carried out on the lines of the original plan? h ° The Mayor Mr Wyatt has stated that it will only cost X2, and that he will bear the expense. Councillor Pryce Jones was very much annoyed at the development of the matter. They had (been telling the public that they were raising the embank- ment to a certain height to give them an increase of water, and now they found it six or seven or nine inches below what they expected. Mr Wyatt had told them the men would be there for another fortnight, but it seemed to him as if they would be there until next Christmas. The Mayor: It is perfectly well known that the scheme would have been completed long ago but tor this exceptional weather. They oould not afford to risk the loss of a single ounce of water. Councillor J. P. Jones: I beg to differ from you. The Chairman You may differ as you like, but you cannot do impossibilities nor risk the people's supply of water, it is impossible for us to touch the water under any circumstances, and it is remaEkable that the town has been supplied as it is. The resolution was then put and carried. SURVEYOR'S REPORT. The Surveyor reported that the stone-breaking and cartage upon the district roads was nearly completed. T*rD?»or'a* been received from the inhabitants of Wallop and the neighbourhood asking the Board to repair a road over Henby's hill and lying between Hope-road and the Welsh Harp. The farmers iu the district would do the haulage, and the outlay for labour would not amount to a very large sum. An alleged encroachment by William Davies, black- smith, of Trewern, had been reported, by building a workshop for shoeing horses, and whieh appeared to project at one end of the building abont-3 feet. He was willing to alter this, but beyond this there was some doubt as to any further encroachment. One block of pig pens had been painted in a mixtura of gas tar, etc., and he believed it would answer the requirements very well. Any further work of this kind should be done forthwith during fine weather. fke piping connections would be completed by Wednesday. With regard to the other portion of the work, they could not proceed very much further until they had a sufficient supply of water that would enable them to run the middle reservoir low enough to construct the forebay and finish laying the pipes. 1 he cost of laying the surface drain at the Angel-line! and one leading to Norfolk-row he estimated at 65s. Councillor D. Jones moved, and Councillor D. Richards seconded, that the instructions be given to the survpyor to carry out the necessary work on the road between Hope-road and the Welsh Harp at once. With reference to the alleged encroachment at Trewern it was resolved that the Highway Committee inspect the place and report. This concluded the business.

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