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Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1913, 22 November 1913, Page 5

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" ASSISTANT CITY ENGINEER ' RETURNS. Mr. Walter Murdoch, Assistant City Engineer, has returned from a health trip to England and the ■ Continent. Mr. Murdoch states that his general health is much'improved, and ho is desirous of getting into harness onco more. "Whilst on tour, he visited Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, and spent'two months in London. He was naturally much interested in municipal matters, and has collected a deal of information which ought to be of service here. , 'j i; t ,\i! u.lii Mr. Murdoch interested himself, for, instance, in strect-cleaningi At present, our horse-drawn street sweepers ' commence in the' principal streets at about midnight. Anyone can tell what is coming by the cloud of dust which they raise, and people frequently dart down side-streets to avoid thdm. They manage these things better in London, and in order to see how they do it, Mr. Murdoch mounted a water-cart belonging to the Marylebone division of the London County Council at midnight one night. These were, motor vehicles, travelling along at a fair rate,'scattering water across the street. ' This, of course, softened, the accumulated dust collection of the day.' Half ,an hour later other water-carts followed, thoroughly soaking the street refuse, and, right behind them, came a line of men with rubber-shod squeeges, who pushed the mud before them, and piled it into small heaps here and there, for other carts to pick up: The result of the operatioii, both on wood-blocked and asphalted roads, was to leave them re-' markably clean. ' The motor-driven, street-sweeper had not proved a "success. It travelled too fast, and was very rough on the brooms, and, in most of the places visited by Mr: Murdoch, the old horse-drawn sweeper was still in vogue. Asphalted streets wero not to bo compaiod with those that are wood-blocked, and, in some parts of London, the asphalt- (a French manufacture) was being removed, and wood-blocks laid. They are not using hardwood, as we do in Wellington, but are going in for soft-wood blocks, which are creosotcd, in order to preserve thorn.- It is contended that the texture of the wood does not matter, so long as it will stand solid, as thero is no direct wear on the wood itself. That is taken by tho surface of tar and sand.