The Welsh Coast Pioneer and Review for North Cambria

?- SnrWst Urban District Council. Fair Dates Remain Unchanged. deport on Town Lighting. Aid TheGenertrkt Rate. ^Wsda LY mee^n^ Council was held on e^eri^nS' There were present: Mr ^Ce'Chai fe^S ^c^a^rman); -lr W. E. Williams tvaris r an), Captain Allard, Messrs Evan E- jffin W' Watling, T. Marriott, J. Jenkins, -'iJlUS rp o> ^ydwen T Ji0nes' Hughes, J. Pierced J°nes> with the clerk (Mr Hugh and °^r officials. rp^8' ^tatistics for the Year. Frazer, M.D., the medical ealth, Was submitted for the year » from th °r Yea ^^>u^a^'eti form it was shown that nf^11 district COrrected death-rate in the tk Pom i Llanrwst was 20.3 per thousand 0llsanj jn T^10n' as compared with 11.8 per t Stricts ilr dudno—the lowest in the urban >fry district 6 ^arnarvonshire combined sani- a ^esda urh an.^ 24.6 per thousand in the !?• Sda an dIstrict-the highest in the same The birth. fl,aS 27-8 asIat;e Elanrwst urban district ls^ricts~L,j c°mpared with the highest in the in the at the lowest of ^riccieth urban district. The FiJ"0* Qeneral District Rate. CarefuyjKCe Committee reported that thejr j eral dist^ COnsVlered the estimate of the ^men^dcLSt5>,for the af fa estiffiat sum £ 100 inclu(i€d m t,otWays Awards the improvement of the a/' the est- ^aiid-street, be struck off, and U^Pted so reduced be approved and led for Sr that a rate of 3s 4d in the £ be This for the year. lS 0niIHeodation was adopted.. The tenJ Street Watering. anS acceoted ^van Hughes for this work ^Pointed t W- J- Williams being again ason_ 0 SuPerintend the work during the {A rep^ ^a'rs to Remain as Before. sjl P^lic rTas submitted of the proceedings of {7e* the 0 !nS held on the 6th inst. to con* .jjlrs) at Bering the dates of the d! °n tho^L-^ was decided that the fairs be tQCl<?ed at +}, Thursday in every month as tK e Previous public meeting held to Mr ^the matter. r^oiiee^0^ Poirited out that the firm of hnl^ .^ieh he was a partner had cle- at Llan lar§e horse sales during the tl>t rwst, and that they had decided to it ajSa?es 0n present fair days. He cin' Matter Vl?a^^e to acquaint the Council of ^au11 c0ncpvf-1l mi§ht possibly affect their de- • £ s- ln§ the suggestion to alter the fair fl tliiVjd thawV1 n sa^ thought it had been re- a Tuesrlo dates be changed to the i^C^ery month. 8«c<, Harriotf 1S not Passed- hr the added that he had already J>°$es Se of stables for 70 horses for sale at ^h lr°Ur Uler^-f11: Then you mean that we are I a ^^rio •^l0' don't mean to suggest that. hht C'haf "g out the fact- yo^1+n ^aifs wi^ beneficial to 0 the fairs if held on the same t!i(lr ^atlin011: -1 hoPe so. Uit j Pass-el Sa^ ^at as n°thing had been defi- si he Concerning' the alteration of the ■j^^ere. ^oved that the fairs remained as WatVnJanS Seconded- i^Quir' Sa^ ^aci been pursuing very 'e^' ^d^lf amon8st farmers and others in- come to the conclusion ^ir« them ^rna8e the Llanrwst fairs if they flowed +i!0 date suggested. Chester Th Pine f Abergele fairs so they would ^arrj^Qtion.roiri frying-pan into the fire." llnanini^as.jt^en to meetin§' and Th Al (ri4tr e ^,WntenanCe of Highways. ^yna?t betw^ ^0Inrnittee reported that the 'u for 6n' ^'l16 Council and the County 6 distric^ ? 'the main roads Itle6ti^^eiSent b&en considered, as was also cQrir1,e ?.showin s^mitted to the last Council rt ction 6 receipts and expenditure in to recQ stich roads up to date. Jate c°un.t^fe*ded that application be made hat tvr ^ile fr U °rity for an increase in the **e q. e ^ei^v.0111 £ ^° to ^83 per annum, and ^PhV^ty r^,erS .rePr^senting this district on Thi« n°^ ^'e asked to support such ^as agreed to. ErPire ^ne Troubles. r-as0 ad bee^ade Committee reported that a Co ^°nsi^ered from Messrs Shand, itr 1? to the 'filn re^erence to the repairs done IIu £ re engine boiler. 1 eUev the cr.Tv,eS'. caPtain of the brigade, had i^less! l meeting that hs did not aitied hand ,\T use was damP as alle§edl r ^in j e otjin,v Co., and that he had u tiiK°n' Practical men, who had at by fros. es> that the damage was not 1 rther as suggested by the firm, but N defects in the tubes. He ax that^v,3- rePresentative of the firm M?eseHt!?-r by Mr t eu en'gine was not ProPerl3r tP a a,nd\}°hTn Griffith' that they <the C]..cl&an n namerl T J°hn Griffith) had to em- Out n *'0seP^1 Bowen to help them to* e for i r?perly' and that the latter iSn b mi^tte Work- Sa?; tKa? lb* recommended that Joseph n, ary j {he ani SUm of 14s at the next meet- fiV• to ^r°uTnt be deducted from the ^'toVv^^t thp 1 ^riffith in- respect of the- letter r,/v/k and Mr Wm- Hughes tl con/i-^essrs Shand, Mason &Co. Pai^d a_e naturp ltf0n the engine house, S' ny clai^V the defects in the tubes IQ QI, 6 111 ade in respect of the re- sU0tl ^een^?.r the j^P^oying a second engineer I to th irection of the first engineer ^otv!e ^t mP tand referred for considera- te M stion etlng. -,Zl edrlcerriing the deduction of 14s With tlttee. s salary was referred back doient the report was adopted. II. Unsatisfactory Lighting. The Lighting Committee recommended that tenders be invited for the lighting of the street lamps for the next season, and this was ap- proved. Mr T. R. Jones submitted a report on the lighting of the district for the season 1901-2. He stated that the lighting for the season had not been at all satisfactory, taking it altogether. They had on August 17th, 32 small and 9 arc lamps, and about half of them were lighted on August igth-two days after the contract date. All through September it was useless trying to keep a correct account of each unlighted lamp, as they were lighted off and on. October com- menced just as badly, and on the nth of that month Messrs W. G. Jones, Evan Evans, and himself went round the whole town and found that half the lamps were not then lighted. A Lighting Committee meeting was held, and he was requested to approach the Electric Supply Company respecting the unsatisfactory state of things. The secretary was not in, and he sent a letter to that gentleman, but received no reply. However, several lamps were attended to after that time. During the present month the lights went out twice in Station-road, and several times from George-street round the top of the town to the Board Schools. In the month of November the lamps were lighted much better, but several single ones went out, and that was the case during December and January. On January 15th Mr Marriott met Mr W. J. Williams and himself (the speaker) to discuss the whole ques- tion. Mr Marriott informed them that all the mains in the town were to be relaid, and that they could expect better lighting within a short period. From February until May 19th the lighting was very satisfactory. He should have stated that about the end of April the last of the lamps ordered was fixed, there being one more to fix. In the face of the fact that the contract had no't tbeencaried out, and also that the company had been under a disadvantage, not through any fault of the Council, but through bad mains, he proposed that the Council offer the company without prejudice a lump sum for the lighting as it was.- If the company refused to accept that offer then he could produce an account, as near as possible, how every lamp had been lighted during the season. Mr Jones added that the company's bill amounted to Cgi 7s 3d, but they had been charged for 49 lamps, while there were only 47 lamps throughout the whole town, and he cited other items which in his opinion were not due to the company. On the motion of the chairman, fhe report was referred to the Lighting Committee. Revising the Market Toll Scale. In reply to the chairman, The Clerk reported that he had' made inquiries concerning the revising of the market toll scales, and he was of opinion that the Council were empowered to raise the scale if necessary. Mr Jones (the collector) said the charges were imposed according; to space at present. It was decided that a sub-committee consist- ing of the chairman, vice-chairman, Mr T. R. Jones, and Mr Watling meet and arrive ait a defi- nite conclusion. A Second Engineer. Mr Wm. Hughes (captain of the fire brigade) said Mr T. R. Jones, Mr Watling, and himself had considered the advisability of appointing a second engineer for the fire brigade, but they decided that the matter remain in abeyance for the present. This action was approved. Damages. The Surveyor reported that the damage effec- ted to the roads, etc., by the Electric Supply Company during the year amounted to £6 18s. It was resolved that an account for this amount be'submitted to the company, Mr Mar- riott remarking that the company were pre- pared to meet all just claims in that direction. A Steeplechasing Meter. Mr Wm. Hughes said the Finance Committee had received the accounts for water rents, etc., and he noticed that whereas the railway com- pany had hitherto been paying water rents of from £2 to £7 per quarter, there had been a drop .to 17s 6d during the last quarter. He asked whether some explanation could be given for the difference. The Collector said the money was paid ac- cording to the register of the water meter. The Chairman We would be well advised to overhaul the meter, I think. (Laughter.) The Collector: This is according to the new meter. Mr T. R. Jones said there had been some com- plaints from the railway company, and they had been obliged to fix in a new meter. In reply to the chairman, The Collector said the present meter worked quite regularly while the old one used to stop occasionally, and move 2,000 feet at a jump. (Loud laughter.) The Chairman A steeplechasing meter that! (Renewed laughter.) Evergreen! Captain Allard approached the question of the Town Hall billposting station with evident un- easiness, and apologised at the outset for broach- ing the old, old theme. His object in doing so was to move a resolution to the effect that all the unsightly poster-boards smothering the walls of the "grand old pile" be limited to a defined area, the remainder to be borne to the limbo of oblivion. The revenue from the whole tning only amounted to £4 13s gd, said Captain Allard, and no one would begrudge the loss of so small an amount at the cost of an improve- ment to a building which promised, like the poor, to be always with the Llanrwst folk. Mr Marriott seconded. Mr T. R. Jones bewailed the loss of that amount inasmuch as the old hall was already a pecuniary loss to the town. Mr Mills was of the'same opinion as Captain Allard—no one would regret fhe loss in fact, the ratepayers would be only too glad to see the whole collection of poster-boards destroyed. The Chairman (derisively) I should like to see them all down for the Coronation festivities, and have a clean sweep of it. Perhaps the fire brigade would help by turning their fire hose on the whole place and clean it. It wants it! (Laughter.) Mr T. R. Jones suggested deferring the matter until they had received the report of the com- mittee. Mr J. Jenkins seconded. The motion was, however, eventually carried, it being further agreed that the chairman's sug- gestion concerning a wash-down with the aid of the fire hose be adopted. Election of Future Chairmen. In accordance with notice of motion, Mr Marriott then moved—"That the vice-chairman shall in future be offered the chair, and in case of his not accepting the chair it shall be offered to the members of the Council next in order of seniority of service on the Council, and that in every case after the chair has been filled the Council shall by mutual understanding elect to the vice-chair the member of the Council next in order of seniority of service to the vice chair." He said he did not move in that direction from any selfish motives, as he or Mr J. Rhydwen Jones would be the last to benefit by it. Mr Evan Evans seconded. Captain Allard, opposed it, and said he did not believe the Council should bind future Coun- cil members down to any set rule, though he was in agreement with its principle. Mr T. R. Jones agreed. Mr Marriott said that where he had seen that sort of thing adopted before it had worked very well, indeed. The Chairman Personally, I also don't think it's right to bind any future Councils. The principle is proper. However, it will not affect me. Now that I am going to leave you it will be all right. (Laughter). After some further discussion, Mr Marriott withdrew Ihis resolution, it being mutually under- stood that the Council approved the principle. Printing the Minutes. Mr Marriott then moved that the Council should discontinue priNting the minutes of Coun- cil and committee meetings. Mr Evan Evans seconded, and said it was "nothing but luxury" to have such things printed. He could see no use in them, but to bind them, and so be able to preserve them for the delectation of their grandchildren. (Laugh- ter). Mr T. R. Jones warmly denounced such childish sentiments as those expressed by Mr Evans. He contended that the printing of the minutes might at any time save the Council hundreds of pounds, inasmuch as when they all got copies of what went on before them, and had time to study every item, they could follow the trend of the business in a way which would be altogether impossible if the chairman or the clerk were called upon to read them out. He agreed that the printing bill could be lessened, as they need not be provided with such expensive work. The Chairman agreed, and said that during his experience he found that a considerable amount of the Council's time was saved since the adoption of printed minutes. Captain Allard suggested that the matter be deferred until the production of the estimates for the year. Mr Marriott refused to withdraw his motion. Mr Watling agreed that the printing minutes could be reduced in point of expense but he was not in favour of doing away with them alto- gether. It was eventually decided that the matter be deferred, pending the production of new estimates.