The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, MARCH 28, 1903. ROAD METAL.

Gisborne Times, Volume IX, Issue 852, 28 March 1903, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, MARCH 28, 1903. ROAD METAL.

The suggestion thrown out by our

correspondent on the subject of road metal is one worthy of the special consideration of Councillors.! There can be no question whatever ...that something must be done by the Council 'in- order that our numerous roads may be kept in good order. The town —and for that matter the suburbs

(which we consider as an integra

part of the town)—is extending at a rapid rate, and the running of coaches to and fro is proof sufficient that traffic is on the increase and

the roads arc under the influence of greater wear and tear. This being

the case, it becomes of considerable importance as to where the town can obtain suitable supplies of road metal. The Kaiti beach has been

depleted of its boulders and shingle—such as were there—a few years ago, but our roads are far from being what they ought to he. The proposal to bring some thousands of yards of metal from Patulahi is, no

doubt, of importance as supplying a means whereby our roads will have a good capping of metal, but it is not sufficient. The borough itself needs to own a quarry of metal, and that quarry is available within reasonable distance of the town. The rail-

way line is not more than two miles away ; and, just as the Waihirere creek is suggested as the. source of our water-supply, so also do the Waihirere hills contain material of good quality and of unlimited quantity, such as this town requires. We have it on (he authority of one who iias lately been there that the stone is good ; but in addition to this, our correspondent points out that the outcrop beds are well suitable to be used as blinding material—such as will consolidate the roads and make them similar to those in Napier. This is an important consideration,

and (if such is (he case) then certainly the Ormond quarry is to lie preferred as a source .of supply for road material. Wc ourselves do not profess to know which is (he more suit-

able material, but, in any case, an experiment is possible, and Ibis might easily lie tried now I hat something lues to he done fo the roads in anticipation of the coming winter. If half-a-dozen chains of the main street were taken to experiment upon i( would provide a practical test as to the quality of the material available al Patulahi and Waihirprc. Let ■lhere he Ihree chains of road covered with pa/.utalii stone and three cha'ins covered with Ormond slime, and (lie latter afterwards blinded,

id observe the effects of wear

tear. The tost will ,suffice for all practical purposes, and ii will show whether Ihe slime at Waihircre is equal in wearing pmypy ,to dial at Patiifahi. Our correspondent points to the fact that the rocks arc geologically the same, and now that some of the hills have been cleared of hush, the harder limestones arc to he seen.

If they were worked and tested amt found satisfactory, then for a century to come the question of road metal would he settled for the borough. The matter is one of ,-much practical importance to this district as a community, and we fee! sure

that, our Borough Councillors will be doing a good thing by inquiring further into the subject, and, if tier cessary, bring the question to a practical issue, as suggested by us_,