SEEKING INFORMATION.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 208, 2 September 1926, Page 9

SEEKING INFORMATION.

i . ON PUBLIC UTILITIES. MR. FURKERT'S TOUR ABROAD. MISCELLANY OF ACTIVITIES. (From Onr Own Correspondent.) LONDON, July 30. Mr. F. W. Furkert, C.M.G., recently arrived in London after a visit to America, where he spent several weeks in America and Canada, en route from New Zealand. He landed in San Francisco, and Mr. Thomas Shaunessy, the I chief of the San Francisco Corporation! , engineering staff, very cordially placed himself and his officers at his disposal, and did everything possible to enable him to acquire information. Mr. Furkert also met the officers of the Federal Rivers and Harbours Department, and was given every facility for seeing the work carried out on the waterfront, and also the tunnels between Alameda and Oakland. He was further given an opportunity of discussing with the ligbt- ' house branch various problems in connection with fog signals and automatic lighthouses. The Federal Rivers Department officers gave him a great deal of information regarding the control of rivers and advised him which of the ' Californian rivers to visit in order to ! see conditions approximating those in i New Zealand. Yosemite Has Nothing On New Zealand. After leaving San Francisco, Mr. Furkert went to the Yosemite Valley. His personal opinion is that, though this ■ is a very fine place from a scenic point : of view and well repays a visit, New Zealand with its varied scenery, can offer . attractions still finer. However, he was particularly struck with the immense amount of work that had been under- ' taken and carried out there in the inter- , ests of tourist traffic. He then went on to Sacramento, and had ; a long talk with the officers who were responsible for the concrete roads in the State, the men who were largely responsible for the world propaganda in reference to this subject. He found this section of hie visit very profitable. Next, he visited the Yuba, the Bear and Sacramento Rivers. The Yuba, particularly! in regard to its swiftness and gravel- j carrying conditions, most nearly i approached the rivers of New Zealand,j I but he found that the problem which these rivers presented was not in any way comparable with the difficulties met with in regard to many of the.New Zealand watercourses, chiefly because they are very much "older" geologically and are not carrying gravel with them to the enormous extent which obtains in some New Zealand rivers. Bates Traffic Tests. From California Mr. Furkert went through Oregon and Washington, calling at Seattle, and then up to Vancouver. At Vancouver he' gave particular atteni tion to highway construction. He then went to Prince Rupert by steamer, and there joining the Canadian National Railways, went on to Jasper Park, one of the great national parks of Canada. Here again Mr. Furkert was very much struck with the money that was spent in attracting, and for the comfort of, tourists. This was particularly notice- . able in regard to the splendid golf course, which had been cut out of standing bush and prepared with soil brought from the prairies. He then proceeded to Winnipeg and Chicago, studying at the latter place the control of street traffic. He went to St. Louis by automobile across the State of Illinois, seeing en route the Mississippi bridges, then back to Springfield, where he saw the State experts regarding highway construction and maintenance, the question of traffic and bus control, and generally the methods adopted for the controlling of public utilities. Here also he saw the j famous Bates traffic tests, and the actual road-making materials that had been used in these tests. The county oi Wayne, surrounding Detroit, is the area where concrete road construction has developed to the greatest extent. The authorities there stated that the goal they have ahead is to have every I street and road paved with concrete, beautified, and well lighted. One fact noted in the U.S.A. was that the county councils have rating powers I extending over the cities, and the effect 'of this is that a large proportion of their revenue actually comes from the cities, and yet very little of the money raised is spent in the city areas, it being recognised that good roads leading to a | city are a definite asset to that city. Common Road Problems. At Detroit Mr Furkert went over Mr Ford's works, and then proceeded to St. Catherine's, where he saw the progress made on the great canal between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario—the Welland Canal. This is one of the biggest pub- . lie works now under construction on the I American Continent, and is the fourth connection to be constructed between the Great Lakes. The first was started in the 17th century, and in its length there are 40 locks. The one now in use has 25 locks of limited size, but in the new scheme the whole lift will be accomplished by seven locks ranging up to 47ft "lifts" and large enough to accommodate ocean liners. Some of the locks exceed in length those of the Panama Canal. When it is completed, the St. I Lawrence river to Montreal will also be canalised, and all the great cities around the great lakes, including Chicago, will be virtually ocean ports. After this Mr. Furkert went to Niagara and saw the great electrical stations at the falls, and then on to Schenectady and Pittsfield to inspect the factories of the General Electrical Co. and their research department. He went to New York, where his investigations covered much the same ground as elsewhere, then on to Washington, where he saw the Federal authorities on such subjects as irrigation, power supply, river control and highways construction. The final days of his American visit were spent around Boston and Montpelier To the latter place he had been I advised to go by the U.S. Federal authorities, for there he would see road problems very much as they existed in 1 New Zealand' He found this to be so, ' j and actually saw the workmen con- ' structing gravel roads. This visit was I particularly useful to him on that i account. One of the problems of grav(elled roads is the dust that arises in dry weather, but this difficulty, Mr. Furkert statee, seems to have been overcome by 1 the use of calcium chloride. Mr. Furkert then left for England, ' and is at present attending to matters connected with the supply of materials \ ! for the various hydro-electric and other '. activities of the New Zealand Govern- '! ment. j I