MR ROAD METAL SUPPLY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CV, Issue 12427, 16 February 1901, Page 2

MR ROAD METAL SUPPLY.

*>- A CORPORATION QUARRY. At- the City Council meeting last Monday, a discussion took place on/the city’s road metal supply, and a representative' of this journal ha« obtained a few opinions 'on the subject from Councillor Appleby. ’ Councillor Appleby said* that, in bis opinion, the city should now acquire an extensive stone quarry for its present and future use, and act as supplier to the other boroughs and to the Road Boards near the city. The supply would always be in demand, and the metal could be broken to suit the- purpose for which it was required, Tlie city, he thought, would have the support of the other boroughs in this step, and would not be liable to suffer from a rising of the prices by the quarry proprietors. As it was, the' Council was entirely at the mercy of the quarry owners, and the price had already commenced to rise. It was absurd to state, as Councillors Scott, Prudhoe and Samuels had done, that the price, hitherto paid was not remunerative. There had been no opposition, and it was not a sensible argument to say that a supplier, with no’serious opposition, would continue to supply for years at a loss. This vear the only two quarries the Council deals with had tendered at ah increased rate, both at- the same price, and for like quantities. The Council might easily be squeezed a little more for next year’s supply. There was an excellent tram system on the Ferry Road, and the Council should now, and if not now, when the tram system was the city property, bring the metal to town by rail, and by rail also the Lin wood, Sydenham and St Albans Boroughs, and Christchurch, as far as Papanui could be supplied. The saving in road repairs would go a long way towards economising in municipal work.