TOWN IMPROVEMENTS.

Southland Times, Issue 1821, 21 November 1873, Page 3

TOWN IMPROVEMENTS.

Tf Hie formal ion of public gardens, ilie making «md repairing of streets and thoroughfares, and the erection of large and substantial places of business are signs of progress, Invercnrgill is progressing rapidly and well. Long may it continue to do so ! Fussing over for tbe present the numerous smaller edifices in course of erection iv various parts of the town, we will begin with Mr Tapper's large business establishment now building at the corner of Spey and Dee streets. It is two storeys hiyh, sixty feet iv length, and fifty in width. There are three Inrge compartments on the ground floor, two of which ore intended for sale-rooms, and one for a receiving and arranging room. The upper floor will comprisa one large compartment, which will be used as a place for general purposes in connection with the business to be carried on in the lower portion of the building The roof is gable- shaped, and is to be covered with shingles, and when fiuished the building will doubtless have a very imposing appearance. It is constructed of red pine, and the only regret is that so large an erection should be built of wood instead of brick. Mr Macdonald's new brick premises in Esk-street, and Mr Mayo's enlargement of the Albion hotel in Dee-street, also deserve notice and honorable mention. The Primitive Methodist Church, which has just been erected in Don- street for the Rev. Mr "Westbrooke's congregation, is likewise deserving of attention. It is a somewhat elegant structure, built of red pine, and adorned with fifteen amber-glass windows. The walls are nineteen feet high ; its inside measurement is 40 x 28, and it is expected to seat comfortably 190 people. The pews and other inside iuruishingß are made of white pine, with the exception of the pastor's desk, which is composed of totara. "We are next attracted by Mr M'Robie's recently finished brick premises in Tay-street, and by two other large establishments now being built in the same thoroughfare — Mr Hunter's and Mr Ranwell'e. Mr Eanwell'B beins: nearest completion, we will refer to it first, It is constructed of brick, and its inside measurement is 42 x 26. It will have six roomß on the first floor, and ten on the second, the building being intended for the hotel business. The front windows of tlie upper storey command a view of the whole length of Tay street, of the Public Gardens, Appleby, Seaward Bush, the estuary, and the Bluff hills. Mr Hunter's establishment, which is confessedly still iv an embryotic state, but which when finished will be a credit to the town, next demands attention. Its measurement is 33 x 40. The basement storeyis built of stone, and will be used a» a store, and the buperstructure — comprising two other storeys — is to be built of brick. The second storey, beginning on the street level, will contain the shop and business offices, and the third^storey, eubdividtcl into six apartments, will be used as a dwelling-house. It is to be adorned with a vewindah and an ornamental front, and judging by the plans and specifications, the whole edifice when finished will be an extremely handsome and thoroughly t-übstantinl one. There is a bakehouse being erected behind the main building, and the whole premises are apparently to be of the most complete character. The back entrance from Wood etreet affords easy means of communication with the store in the basement utorey, and otherwise enhances the tornfortß and conveniences of the whole establishment. One great drawback to the building tmde at present is the scarcity of carpenters, the supply being "altogether unequal to the demand. Not only are they not to be had in Invercargill, but the offer of high wageß is insufficient to induce them to crmo hither from other towns in the Colouy. "We know an enterprising citizen who has in tructed his agents, first in one town and then in another, to send him carpenters, giving them a written guarantee of four months' work at 12s per day, besides paying their passage to Invercargill, and the result in each case has been a reply to the effect that carpenters are not to be had for either love or money.