CITY IMPROVEMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11783, 12 October 1901, Page 3

CITY IMPROVEMENTS.

A VIoIT OF INSPECTION. The Mayor (Mr. Affred Kidd), accompanied by the city engineer, visited a, number of tho city works now in progress yesterday morning. A Herald reporter accompanied the party with the view of seeing how the larger works are progressing. The most important city work visited was tho stone-crushing machine, now in course of erection on the side of Mount Eden. The work is well under way, and a look over the ground is sufficient to convince anyone that the City of Auckland will soon have a most complete stone-crushing plant in full working order. To the mind of the average citizen the breaking of road metal no doubt appears a very simple matter, but without modern appliance; the cost a: it mounts up with marvellous rapidity, and the City Council have in consequence gone in for the most up-to-date machinery, and have erected it in conjunction with a system of tramways raid other labour-saving devices. The new stone-crusher is what is known as "Baxter's." It has been erected inside a largo building on the side of the mountain, approached from Mary-street, the motive power being under the same roof, while room has also been left for the old stonecrusher, which will be removed to the new site when everything is in working order. The new machine has a crushing capacity of 80 yards per eight hours, and the old machine will crush 50 yards, making a total of 130 yards per day when both stonecrushers are running. The machines are to be driven by a % horse-power Babcock and J Wilcox water tube boiler, the driving en- ! gine being a Tangye fitted with the Tangye.lohnston automatic cut-off gear. Mr. .7. C. Fronde, representing Messrs. John Chambers and Son (Limited), who supplied the machinery, had a trial run of the boiler and engine yesterday. Tramlines have been laid from tho stone quarries on the moun-tain-side, and the stone is brought in trucks from two directions into the shed to bo put through the crushers. The Baxter stonecrusher is fed by hand, but after this labour is unnecessary except to carry the broken metal away. The dust is separated from the broken metal and the larger sizes are rejected to go through the machine again, the properly-broken metal passing through a screen oi the regulation size ready to be placed on tho roads. The wasto passes down to a lower level and is loaded by hand labour, but tho bulk of the material, in the shape of road metal, passes out of the stone-crusher into trucks, which are run along high-level tramways and emptied into shoots. These shoots can be unlocked ou the lower level when required, so that carts loading metal have only to be backed against the shoot and can be immediately loaded up without labour. Tramlines have also been provided on the lower level, so that the dusf can be easily carried away from the mouth of the crusher, to be stored or loaded in the adjoining yard. The arrangements are most complete in every way, and when both stone-crushers are running there should be an ample supply of the proper size of metal to keep the city streets in order and a good deal to spare for supplying surrounding districts. A visit was made to the Domain, where great improvements have been carried out to render the place more attractive for the coming summer. Tho painter's brush has been freely at work, and some much-needed fencing and pruning has been done, the Domain not having been thoroughly overhauled for the last _17 years. At the cricket ground great improvements havo been effected. A fence, of corrugated iron where it faces the street, and of wood where it faces the Outer Domain, has been run up all round the ground, only a small blank being left near the hospital, which might, to give the work a thoroughly finished appearance, bo erected by tho Hospital Board. Tho gates to the cricket ground, and in fact all the gates leading into tho Domain, have been renewed, and the caretaker's house, as well as the gates end much of the fencing, lias been nicely painted, giving a bright and attractive appearance to the whole place. The old Chinamen's gardens, which have recently borne a dilapidated appearance, have been thoroughly transformed, the land having been ploughed and put down in grass and the whole neatly fenced in. Tho intention is to utilise this place in future for volunteer encampments. The Mayor also paid a visit to Ponsonby, where a great deal of drainage work is being carried on. The drainage of Angle-sea-street and gully is just approaching completion. In the Western Park the drain from the gully to Ponsonby Road at tho Hepburn-street side is finished, and connections are new being made. The park generally has been trimmed up ready for the summer season, gates being painted and bridge hand-rails repaired. A. number of unsightly trees have also been removed. The drainage scheme for the drainage of a large area of Ponsonby between St. Mary's Road and Shelly Bench is now being surveyed. The scheme will embrace three gulli between the two roads named, and will drain St. Mary's Road, Haslett-strect, Percival Parade, Cameron-street and Ring Terrace, carrying the whole of the sewage out to low water.