CITY TRAMWAYS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 288, 29 August 1908, Page 5

CITY TRAMWAYS.

THE PRESENT PQsVIQN. BTATBMBNT BY'THI M^YOR, poposp' pw : JifOSKS BRAINED, The report of tbq Tramway are Eloetrio Wgliting Opnmiittee of the OitVCounQil, whieii appeared in yesterday's DasiiW, is a comprehensive doeument, and with ftview of gaining further Pwtieulara in order V elucidata.BQme pf the'teras mentioned, a nperter caljod yesterday on the the Mayor (tlu lten, T, W, UlBlop), \. Tho Mayor remarked tjmt puhlioatim qf tho report was somewhat • prejnaturp. float of the items suggested by the engineers ho continiu d, had been before the council fe. viousl.v in'Qno form or.another, It woulduo nptjc' •, t hat spmp of them were rather necessary, nut others depended upon dotermiuatim )f the ratepayers. Amongst tho latter wort .ho Customhouse Quay extension, the Con-), stable Street extension, the extopsipn of WaU aco' Sfreot to Adelaide Road, and. the. pro,, jgseci i.\\ r adestown line.' This represented » sum of about £57,000 out of.tho £89,891 re= juired to bo raised by. loan. Some of tho other works need not bo dpno this year.' The accumulated profits and the depreciation fund woijfd' probably 'ffleofc all the items not ;ipne(J,Eleptrloa! Power, All: tho items, except those mentioned, vere necessary for tho carrying on of the jreseht tramway service. The loadg carried it present wm ?Q emi th'at although the .original power plant had already been added to to a. 650 kw r engine, there was no suf-. ipieii't. standby in tlie event of aw of the. angine? breaking down, and it was therefore JOhsidered' absolutely necessary to have inother,.engine pf 750 kilowatts, For the traffic, more pars must, bo built, and extra power meant extra boilers, eto, 'The Thorndon pay-in ofSee ia now under construction,- an d th? land at Thorndqn Quay for the accommodation of the ears has peen PWWlHiaa, and the building' be cgfa» mencsfl gliartly.' •

Anothar Oar' Shod. The Qeiingji ha? not yet completed the purohsse pfthp land ftt which is required fqp another earthed, when the ad-, djtional cars are built, TJ]g land feslflDgeti t<) ilm lata Mr, Hi 0, Orawfordt The smewt assigned for the purpose* was '£800, hut the -'sum will bp greater as the intention ngw is tp acquire & largPM« a ft tljftq }t was thought would -be necessary. Inoreagecl ac-> commodation was found necessary and, pn the ;wholej-the. conuujtiae thought that Kilbirnie.was the ohpapest and bpst place for the purpose, The junction of the Miramar, Evans Hay, and Lyelj J3ay lines will be'at the cofper of Onepii Road and Cputts Street, ■When the council goes in for fresh ques-, tiqns", tfcey will hqvp tp consider borrowing anew, • As to the Lyell Bay line, arrangements wprp made with the late Mr, Crawford, who gave the' cpunpil a? area of fpreshpyp) ggd theVprk will go on jmp^diatfiy.

Extensions. " ' :• Cpnperning the extension of (tie Wallace Street line to Adelaide' Road, the go.uscil, in view of the reports as to the probable result of the connection, does not feel justified. in going on with it at present. The'Wadestown proposition is regarded as a soparatp work altogether, and the committee is getting a pore detailed report from' the engineer, ' T|ip item in tha report referring to" the sum of iCIOQQ for land at the oornpr pf South* Road and Lnxford Street is for purposed pf" road widening,'- The" matter is un*. der consideration at present,. S ,'The extension frgm'-^Vllljis'- 1 (Street to the Pqst Office (should be proceeded with shortly, The junction is already provided with a'-yjetf tV this extensioni and" all that -re* guires to be done is simply to' Jay the rails srsni'' that' I 'special junction tq the Jprvois Quay jine, "fhfi work can be accomplished without interfering with the Lambtpn QuayWillis Street/artery, and W.hen the connect tidn is made a great bgon will have been conferred Dpp'n: |hpsp desirous 5 pf stopping neaj. tho whftryeSj Pert Office, or ferry jetty. Proposed Purchase. .There is an item in the report .proposing the purchase gf that portion of the Miramar trami|ne_ that_ is within the city boundary, and. dealing with the payment of £2105—two annua) inspalnieiits. : The position is that thp city to purchase that part of the line frppj Kilbirnie, South to the boundary, a distance of 77 chains, or almost a mile. The djty was t<) pay, the cost price in ten annual ■' instalments. This method of pur--sha?e effects a saving to the city of abput 25 per cent, on the cost, as the city pays np-interest. 'Jtyp instalments are provided for, one heing due, on June 15 last and thp other pn that d»tq nejft year.' The items, removal of earth and earthed site; ; £2200, refers tp the present Newtown shed, and the earth is to be removed to pro* vide morf space for the convenience of those working at the sheds, The Mayor thinks that the council will be able to save the expense pf carting it away, hut this depends upon circumstances. If thp council wants the work done at once it will cost the amount specified, but jf the brickmakers are allowed to remove the spoil gradually the expense will be saved.