DOMINION ARCHITECTURE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 539, 21 June 1909, Page 4

DOMINION ARCHITECTURE.

Sir,—The time will come-when'our magnificent timbers for the construction of dwell-ing-houses in our cities wilt be exhausted, and then; will begin- in earnest tho use of brick, romforped concrete, and stone, for all public and private buildings. 1 give as reasons, among others,--that tho;-Dominion contains .enormous deposits of- sandstone, "easily obtainable,: eMily.'wrought, and highly I also point out thai, from ar. economic point of view, .the : use of brick,, reinforced concrete, or granite,; would, in the end, recoup the .householder,for the greater initial oost. Solid ston; concrete, and brick structures must replace the less 'lasting,- just as timber pushed off the earlier houses of. wattle and dub; Our clays make excellent bricks, and we have granites, syenites, gneiss, slates, • limestones, and sandstones in ; abundance, all of them suitable for building; work. T venture to think that the development. of those groat natural resources should .I. ecorae one of :tho planks in the policy of progressive government. The question .will'have to be faced at a very early date. -Many experts in the- building trade known to-day what-is the position of our timber.supplies; how long they will endure, and what steps aro being takon to' replace them. ' Our magnificent timbers, the black and white mairo totara (champion timber), rimu, and.kauri, which every true New Zcalandor is proud of, are being-exported, at a fearful rate, and, perhaps, in 15 years," will see us: hunting for. specimens, j Many of our.--'noblest trees have been' ruthlessly destroyed by'early settlers, or consumed by ; bush: fires. The Government is constantly importing timber for ithe: use-of the .Telegraph Department. Most, if not all, of the heavy poles in our city streets \ are imported;at great expense,- and it will-'como as ,a' surprise- to:, readers when they learn that, in 1905, the imports of timber roached.tho value of over £200,000*. • If there is any fear of our forests giving put, it is a fair thing to suggest that, our sandstonequarries, our mountains of basalt, and our' great deposits of-valuable' clay-and cement stone, at Limestone and Tonga Bay,' B hould be at once brought into industrial use.- The n"i? n tno . Dom ' n ion have, -across at Crtlden Bay, Nelson, an immense abundance of spendid building stone; fire claysj and limestono. cement of every first-class description, obtainable at a cost which wo"uld compare' favourably to any second-class imported timber; A dwellinghouso, to-cost £1000 in wood, witn iron roof, would, in masonry, and slated roof, cost about £1400. - The Government ought to open up , the districts whore these natural riches are to be found and givo work for tho unemployed of the Pominioii.r-I; am, etc., - ■:,;'. '•-•'■:',''■ W. : CORBETT, Architect. 'June .11, 1909. : .'■:,: : -