Rushden Urban District Council

The Municipal Housing Scheme
Motor Buses and The Roads
Local Roll of Honour
Shop Hours
The Price of Food and Coal

Wednesday, present Councillors J. S. Clipson, J.P. (chairman), T. Swindall (vice-chairman), W. Bazeley, J.P., John Spencer, C. Bates, L. Perkins, B.Sc., John Claridge, J.P., C.C., T. Wilmot, J. Hyde, Ven. A. Kitchin, M.A., and G. H. Skinner, with the clerk (Mr. G. S. Mason), the Surveyor (Mr. W. B. Madin) and the Sanitary Inspector (Mr. F. J. Allen).

Sympathy

A letter was read from Councillor and Mrs. J. Spencer, thanking the Council for the vote of sympathy with them on the death of their daughter.

Plans, Etc., Committee

were presented by :-

Mr. F. Hawkes for office and garage in Portland-road, and passed.

Duck-Street

The Committee, having visited the site in Duck-street where it is proposed by the executors of the late Mr. John Jaques to pull down the two old cottages and erect three new ones in lieu thereof, took into consideration the building line to be adopted for such new cottages, and resolved that the line of Mrs. Jaques’ house adjoining be taken as the building line.

It was considered that this would be sufficient to meet present requirements and that the question of a general street improvement at that point be considered at a later date.

Sewage Works

The Surveyor reported that the old chemical shed at the sewage works was now of no service and suggested that it be converted into two tool-houses, one to be placed on the present works and one at the stone yard in Station-road.

The Committee approved.

Rectory-Road

It was resolved to recommend the Council to instruct the Clerk to post notices in that part of this street, that lies between the Salvation Army Barracks and Beaconsfield-place, declaring it a highway repairable by the inhabitants at large.

Road Materials

Tenders for the supply of granite for the current year were considered, and the Surveyor was instructed to place orders as follows :-

		Chippings
	Tons	Tons
Groby Granite Co.	200	180
B. J. Forder and Co.	200	-----
Croft Granite Co.	200	-----
Enderby & S.S. Granite Co.	400	100
Cliffe Hill Granite Co.	200	50
Jees Hartshill Co.	150	-----

Slag

Tenders for the supply of slag were also received, and the Surveyor was instructed to place orders as required from the following firms at the respective prices quoted by them :-

Kettering Iron Co.

Wellingborough Iron Co.

J. Smart and Son (tar macadam)

T. Butlin and Co., and

Constable, Hart, and Co. (tar macadam)

Wellingborough-Road

The Surveyor again called attention to the damage done to this road by the motor ’bus traffic, and Mr. Claridge kindly consented to mention the matter to the Roads and Bridges Committee of the County Council, with a view, if possible, of obtaining a grant from that Authority.

The Chairman said the Wellingborough-road was in a deplorable state.

Mr. Claridge said that unfortunately it was not a main road and the County Council could do nothing. The Urban Council might apply to the Road Board.

Mr. Spencer: I think we ought to make an application direct to the Road Board.

Mr. Skinner: Put down three-inch slag, not rolled, and let the motor ’buses push it in. That would do it.

The Chairman: But then everybody would suffer.

Mr. Bates: Some of us have to cycle, Mr. Skinner.

The report was accepted.

Finance and Estates Committee

A meeting of the Finance and Estates Committee was held at the Council Buildings on Tuesday, the 2nd March, 1915, at 10a.m., when there were present :-

Messrs. J. S. Clipson (chairman), T. Swindall, and J. Claridge.

Surveyor's Cash Account

The Committee examined the Surveyor’s cash account with the wages books, the expenditure shown therein being as follows :-

	£	s	d
Week ending 4th Feb. 1915	34	9	11
Week ending 11th Feb. 1915	35	4	5
Week ending 18th Feb. 1915	32	7	7
Week ending 25th Feb. 1915	30	7	2

Collector’s Accounts

The Committee examined the Collector’s accounts, from which it appeared that the following sums had been collected since the last meeting :-

	£	s	d
General district rate	972	2	8
Fittings	23	4	1
Green Tolls		11	0
Burial fees, etc,	21	16	6

Treasurer’s Accounts

The Treasurer’s accounts were also examined from which it appeared that he had received the following sums since the last meeting :-

	£	s	d
Collector, District rate	972	2	8
Collector, Fittings	23	4	1
Collector, Burial fees	21	16	6
Collector, Green tolls		11	0
Slaughterhouse licences		3	0
R. Jarvis, carbide licence		2	0
County Council, main roads	255	0	0
County Council, Shirley-road	38	11	0
Free Library, fees, fines, etc.	1	17	0
R. Evans, chimney on fire		2	6
W. J. Warner, chimney on fire		2	6
T. Tester, chimney on fire		2	6
F. Berrill, chimney on fire		2	6
Collector, rent of houses	1	8	9
Total	£1315	6	0

	£	s	d
Public Works Board, Loan No. 27	£3950	0	0

And that the balances were as follows :-

	£	s	d
General Account	1657	1	0
Loan Account No. 16	152	1	0
Loan Account No. 19	387	17	6
Loan Account No. 24	470	8	10
Loan Account No. 26	12	17	0
Loan Account No. 27	4222	12	8

Tradesmen’s And Other Accounts

A number of accounts amounting to £2,169. 8.9 were examined and passed for payment.

The report was adopted.

Housing, &c., Committee

A meeting of the Housing Committee was held at the Council Buildings on Tuesday, the 2nd March, 1915, when there were present :-

Messrs. J.S. Clipson (Chairman), T. Swindall, and J. Claridge.

The Committee again considered the application for houses of the Class A type, and selected a number of tenants for the houses as they became finished.

Mr. Bazeley thought it was time the Council protested against the dilatory way in which the builders were going on with the municipal houses. If the work had been done for a private individual or a boot manufacturer, the work would have been done much more quickly. The Council’s money was just as good as a private individual’s and they ought to be treated in the same manner. It was to the detriment of the town that the work should be delayed. The occupants of the houses had no privacy at the back at present, the fencing not having been put up, and the houses were in an unfinished state.

The report was adopted, and it was decided to withhold the cheque from one of the contractors until certain work had been done.

Health and Sanitary Committee

A meeting of the Health and Sanitary Committee was held at the Council Buildings on Wednesday, the 3rd March, 1915, when there were present :- Messrs. T. Swindall (Chairman), J. S. Clipson, C. Bates, W. Bazeley, L. Perkins, and G. H. Skinner.

Health and Sanitary Reports

The Medical Officer reported that eight cases of infectious disease had been notified since the last meeting, viz., three of erysipelas and five of tuberculosis and one re-notification.

The Sanitary Inspector reported that during the month of February 45 written and verbal notices had been issued calling attention to nuisances, etc., which were receiving attention.

As instructed at the last meeting, the Inspector had written to the owners of Nos. 18 and 20, and 47 and 47a, Duck-street, with regard to the condition of these properties. A letter was now received from the owner of Nos. 18 and 20, stating that the necessary work of repair should be carried out forthwith. With regard to Nos. 47 and 47a, the Committee understood that the owners had decided to pull down these cottages and erect three new ones in the place thereof.

The Inspector gave a detailed statement of his work during the past month.

Woburn-Place

The Sanitary Inspector presented a special report with regard to the property in Woburn-place, setting out the various defects found to exist, and it was resolved that a copy of the report be forwarded to the owner, stating that the defects must be remedied forthwith.

Medical Officer’s and Sanitary Inspector’s Annual Reports

The Medical Officer and Sanitary Inspector submitted their annual reports for the year 1914, and it was resolved that they be printed and circulated amongst the members of the Council.

Inspector of Nuisances

An application was received from Mr. Allen for an increase of salary, and it was resolved to recommend the Council to increase his salary from £100 to £115 per annum, dating from the 1st April next.

Several eulogistic remarks were made by the members on the work of Mr. Allen.

The report was adopted.

Roll of Honour

Mr. Perkins said that the small committee had been fairly successful so far. The names of those on service in any capacity totalled about 450, but they felt there were more to come. They recommended that a temporary list be printed, and copies be placed in the places of worship, clubs, and Free Library, asking for corrections and additions.

This was adopted.

Shop Hours

A letter was received from Mr. C. H. Blunsom, hon. secretary of the local shopkeepers’ association, asking for closing orders for various trades.

The Clerk, in response to Mr. Spencer, said there was no chance of getting the orders through for the coming summer.

It was decided to refer the whole of the applications to a committee, comprising Messrs. Clipson, Swindall, and Claridge.

Overseers

Messrs. J.T. Colson, T.W.C. Linnitt, L. Baxter, and J. Claridge were re-elected overseers for the year.

Food Prices

A letter was received from the Rushden Trade and Labour Council asking the Urban Council to send a representative to the public meeting on Sunday evening next in favour of the £1 a week campaign and to protest against the high price of food, etc.

Mr. Bates moved that the Chairman be asked to represent the Urban Council.

Mr. Spencer, seconding, said that the rise in food prices was a serious matter for the working classes. In Rushden there had been four advances in the price of bread, if not five – from 5½d to 7½d. Flour had risen from 5½d to 8d., and other commodities had gone up. If anyone had been patriotic during the war it was the working classes, and it was most unpatriotic, unreasonable, and unjust that the workers should have taken from them what little they had.

Mr. Kitchin : That raises matters which are very controversial, and I am not in the least disposed to agree that the Chairman should go to the meeting to represent this Council. If he simply goes to hear what is said, well and good, but if he is going to give what the letter calls “the moral support of the Urban Council,” there is a great deal to be said on the other side. Mr. Spencer has made various charges, which require a considerable amount of proof. If there has been the holding up of flour, as he says, and if these various classes have been making a good thing out of the war, let light be thrown upon it and let the public know how matters stand; but no one can carry on a war without food rising in price, and, compared with other countries, we are not suffering very much. We ought to be thankful that things are not much dearer than they are. On the outbreak of the war, we were prepared for things to rise to famine prices, and they did go up at first but things have not risen anything like we feared. Through the income tax, etc., those who are called the moneyed classes will pay very heavily.

Mr. Spencer : It is a serious thing for the working classes.

Mr. Kitchin : It is most serious for those with small fixed incomes. The boot operatives here are benefiting largely through the war. They have more money to spend than they have had for years, and, if the price of food has gone up, they are in a better position to pay for it than if trade had not increased, owing to the necessities of the war.

Mr. Skinner : The farmers have sold considerably more wheat than last year. The farmers are not holding up the wheat.

Mr. Bazeley : It has been proved beyond doubt that there is a large amount of exploitation going on, and that these so-called patriots are making extra profits out of the working people. If the Government had not taken the action they did at the beginning of the war there is no doubt prices would have gone much higher. The prices of bread, flour, and coal are unnecessarily high. In London coal is being sold to the poor at 50s. a ton, and it is sad to see poor women standing outside the gas-works waiting their turn to get 3d. of coke because they cannot afford coal. We know some commodities have gone up for reasons beyond control, but it is not so with everything. “The Times” says that the spending power of 30s. is 5/8 less now than it was at the outbreak of the war.

Mr. Kitchin : Coal cannot be got, the main reason being that the railways cannot carry the coal. It is unfair to call that “holding up” coal.

Mr. Perkins suggested that the Chairman should go to the meeting, and then, if necessary, the Council might discuss the matter and petition Parliament.

Eventually it was decided that the Chairman should be asked to attend the meeting.

Fire Brigade

The Chairman said he happened to see an outbreak of fire at Miss Hewitt’s and at once called the fire brigade. Within six minutes several of the members were at the fire with the hose cart. Mr. Moody and Mr. Wheeler extinguished the fire before the arrival of the firemen, but the firemen’s prompt response was a tribute to the good system of calling the brigade.

Train Service

It was decided, on a suggestion from Mr. Patenall, to ask the M.R. Co. to detain the 8 p.m. Wellingborough to Rushden train a few minutes so as to connect with the express from London.

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