THAT DRESSED STONE

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 267, 9 April 1914, Page 7

THAT DRESSED STONE

ITS USE AS ROAD METAL. BOROUGH ENGINEER'S VIEWS. A day or two ago a paragraph appeared in the News questioning the wisdom of the proposed use for road metal of the dressed stone kerbing in some of the streets of New Plymouth, which arc now to be kerbed with concrete. Tin; opinion has been expressed in Several quarters that, to the lay mind at least, it seemed rather extravagant to use dressed stone on the roads.

A Duly News' representative yesterday interviewed the Borough Engineer (Mr. Skitrop) and received an explanation of the matter. The position, said Mr. Skitrop, was that there was no other use to which this dressed stone could he put. Concrete was now so cheap that no one ever thought of building stone, houses, and no more stone kerbings would ever be. put in the New Plymouth streets. It would be ridiculous to put in any more dressed stone, kerbings. The stone, of which there were several tons on hand, had been offered to a probable purchaser at 9d per block, and unless lie took it at that price it would be sent out to the Waiwakaiho to be crushed and used as rond for which purpose it was 100 per cent more valuable than river stone. One yard of it was equal to about three yards of the other, and it was weli worth 9d per mock for this purpose. There was no market for it, and it was no use keeping it statkcil for the next 20 years. If the utility and cheapness of concrete had been known years ago as they were to-daj, dressed stone kcrbing would never have been used. The name applied to the cobble stones in the water tnbles. They must all find their way to the crusher,'and would lOrm very superior road metal.