DOMINION ITEMS

Hokitika Guardian, 1 August 1924, Page 3

DOMINION ITEMS

BY TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSN., COPYRIGHT.

BUILDING COSTS. AUCKLAND. July HO

Referring to the statement made in Parliament that buyers of houses wore being exploited, an Auckland builder gave some reasons why building is dear Incidentally, he declared that if there was any exploitation of buyers, that exploitation was not on the part of builders; in fact, the cost nf erecting a house was so high that speculative building was jvraetieally a thing ut the past.

One of the reasons why the cost ot wooden houses is so high.” he said ‘’is that wo are using only a small jiereentage of the logs, the remainder going to waste. Hi the Ninth Island there are millions of leet of sap timber accumulating. which (annul lie Used in the chief cities on account of the building by-laws. Also this timber i' not allowed to l>e exjiorted. so that the charges for all the ojierat ions ol telling and cutting have to he put on to the small poreontagi' nl log that is used.” “Builders.” said another mao. “are ill business for Jirolit. When the initial cos t nf building is ton high it is not IM'olitublc for them to build for sale. In some instances they would not he able to sell for what it rusts them to build. The next joint is that the cost of sections is altogether too high. Mien, again, for home building, with land at such a price, it i' very wasteful to erect fully detached houses." One builder, who recently paid a visit to Australia, made smite interesting eom|iarisiins in regard to the cost of building there and in Auckland. At ('essnoek (New South Wales) a town of :U).()!!() people, he found that it was jmssihle to build a live-rimmed house for about £IOO. As a matter of fact while he was there he fixed up a contract fur a relative for a lotir-reotiied cottage at just on ‘2 II!!). That. however. was a cut jiriee. and lie rdmittru that the quality of the home was not as high as that demanded in Auckland. Easier building by-laws made chea|>crbuilding possible, de-nile the tact- that wages were, if anything, higher than in Auckland. Various timbers were used, including a great deal ol e,v|il'csS pine. Other faetiii's in cheap building were cheap land and low rates.

A BAD ACT IDKN'T. TIM AIM'. August I

Alfred Boulton, aged 14 years, sun nf Alfred Ernest Boulton, of Otaio. fell from an engine drawing a chaffcutter. the wheel of the gallery passing over his right leg. rendering necessary. amputation above the knee.

NOT A CANDIDATE. AUCKLAND. August 1. The Mayor. Sir .1. 11. Gunsoii. says there is absolutely no authority so ,ar as he is concerned for the report in Wellington that lie. will mutest/ Auckland East at next elect am. YOUNG MAN \\Ot .MU'J). AUCKLAND, August 1. Robert Worn, 22, was admitted to the hnsjiital at Auckland for a wound in the hack. He stated that other youths walking behind Worn were toying with a title when the wcnj'ou uncx--I'eetedly exploded. An o|:cratinn was performed last night and the patient s condition is serious.

ACCIDENT TO aVRO

Cl IRIS I CHURCH. August I

This morning Lieut F. C. Ewin. of Hamilton, when living over Christchurch suburbs made a forced landing in an Avro. The wiie of tlie machine t.nuohed a wire feme and the machine crashed, the J ropellur being' broken the iind.ar carriage smashed, and a wing broken. The aviator unhurt. \ relief machine landed a mechanic and when starting nil its return to the aerodiiinie the maihine made another landing in an adjoining paddock. It struck a gorsc feme and had to land quickly, the strain inijioseil breaking the shirk absorber. Otherwise there is no damage. INQUEST VERDICT. DFNEDIN. Aug. I .\ t tile inquest i'll Lrllt'.-i Pledget . nged ll*. who died no the way to the hospital on July 2-tid a- the result ol his bicycle colliding with a motor cal', a verdict of accidental death was returned. no blame being at Istehtihlo In the lady driver nf the ear. record land sale. DUNEDIN. Aug. 1. The well-known Mount Royal Estate at Palmerston was sub-divided and sold in Inis fur a total of LliH.nm. excluding the homestead block. Ibis j s a record hind sale fur Otago. f\rm manager dies suddenia TEAWAMUTU. Aug. 1. v F McDonald, farm manager at the Tokaimi Mental Hosjdtal. died suddenly early this nuu'inng. He was a hunt as u-ual instructing the men l " 1 ' their day’s work. when, without warning. lie collapsed and expired ' efuie art cnTlld lie summoned. lie had 'ecu t .irill manager since 1010 and wa- let n.gnised as a wry capable uihrial. He was ji; <rhiv estemeil and aged lofty. leave:, a widow ami family ot live.