The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-10-11 00:00:00

BRIERLEY B.ILL LOCAL BOARD

A meeting of this body was held,on Monday, If?.
1. lt,ilinson presided, and there were also present
‘1 sirs. W. Waldron, S. FereJay, E. G-eve, D.
i dii on, B. Freeol, M. Pearson, S. Instill, It-
Guest, and J. E RuseiL
Attention was ea !ei to the uusatisfaetoty con-
aitino of V-ve ttp water i.i the di-triet. a ,t 1 it was.
decitLA that the :,outh St.iffordshire Water Wo.k's
Company be ‘critten to on the subject. -
A to ter wa,, read from Messrs. Stepheits and
WWl:tuts 'cep cting the insufficient lighting of t•=e
‘.i'hintsay-rayi It pointed out fort the steepest
:mit of that road was bounded ronAh cinder w,& t,
and, chit. in the wi.tter nights it was unsAfe for
,v;:r.inen and their wives and elii,drett to
a-ou4 that ro tn.
'Mr. Gri at ad! the Gss Committee hii b
inakin,„;at insp4c.ion of gae district, and he th:n...tht
tne re-arratsgem--nt of some of the exi,tia.;
and CIL; e..e:.tion of -11 t.xtra one it Whinise;, -r al
would meet the ditiLul!ly, tad he propoied a r .so•
luttoa embodying tnat view,
Mr. Pearson se•tonded., and it wa4

Mr. Fereday drew attention to the recreation
ro J.ids at Church Hill. It was, he said, thought
ny twiny peoplo too muco money had been spent
upon it. Inst,.)xd of flowers, he advocated the use
of evergreens in laying out the grounds. The ex-
pense th,d far exceeded their expectltio3, and it
,vould require every year the inter,st on ittoo or
.000 to keep it in order.
Mr. Waliron expressed an opinion that it wJull
e Nfse t.t let the mater go on for twelve months
and see what the expense would be at the end of
th It time.
Th-1 Chairman thought there w.suld he many
working men who would be willing t give a part
of their spare tune to keep the pllcs in c.r.l-'r with-
out incurring match addi ional•expense.
nfatter then dropped.
Dr. Ashmead reported that the death•rtte for the
past month had been 17.6 per 1,030, against 13 20
p r 1,000 for the corresponding period last year.
He recommended that the houses in New-street be
supplied with tap water, as during tbe recent h. t
weath,f several cases of typhoid fever had oocurred
in that district, and well water had been eomplained
of.

The Auditor, in his report for the past year, ex-
pressed satisfaction with the manner in woich the
accounts had been-kept, but surcharged the Board
with the slams of .23, .217 13s id, and £l2 17e, paid
to tho Ea.:l of Dudley and the Stourbridge Canal
Company re,pectively for sewerage purposes. The
matter was referred to the Finance Committee.
Tiris committee in toeir report r .commended an
alva.nce of salary of £95 for one year only t) Mr.
ite.,kley, the surveyor.
-Mr. Freath, chairman of the committee, explainel
that it was not really an advance of s dary, but was
intt-nded to recoup the surveyor for two items
amounting to that sum with which he had been
surcharged by the auditor.
Mr. E.-reday explained that the Board had been
indebted ro the bank for a considerable time, and
there had teen a charge for interest amounting to
£93 which the law did not allow them.aa a public
body to pay. Mr. Beckley some time ago paid this
sum to the bank out of moneys ha had in hand
arising from the public hall, &e. The auditor upon
going through the accounts refused to pass the items
and Mr. Beckley then paid the amouilt out of his
own pocket. As the Local Government Board
exe;cised no coati ol over the salaries Locil Boards
paid to their offic,re, they had deAded to recorn.
mend that course to recoup Mr. Beckley, who at the
end ot: the year would i4suma his old sal ay..
The rnommendaain was agreed urons
The recoounendation by the same conain't se that
a rate for 2s in the pound be prep tred was odpLit el
by Mr. Fereday, who advooatEd delay as long as
possible, so that all the old rate might be e)llecte 1
before a new one was issued.

Mr. Thompson said that so long zs they wer3
paying interest.for money they owed tn the bank
ne could not see thit anything would be gained by
delaying the i,sue of the-rate.
After some further conversition the repot was
adopted.
Mr. Guest gave notice that at th 3 nclrt tufting
he would move th t the • reeolidion
.liking Mr.
Bechley's salary at the time ot hi; appointment as
surveyor to the 13:p:r1 be rescindod. He did th,s in
consequence of the vaguiniess of the resoktio
which seemed to imply that the Board could den an 1
that all the work perfortned by Mr. Beckle) on
behalf of the Board should be covered b.% hi ,
oidinary salary, this be regarded as unfair.
The amount outstanding on account :of t e
district rate was stated to be .2549 78 9d; tn t •
balance in the treasurer's hands £1,305 118 Bd.
There wa6 no other business. *