NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14336, 5 April 1910, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

CONCAVE STREETS.

A coBREsroNDENT writing in a London paper makes the bold statement that nearly every street in modern towns is constructed on the wrong principle—that is. it .is made convex instead of concave in shape. Were town roads slightly concave, he says, there would be no mud near the pavement at all. As things are now, the pavement is nearest the lowest part of the road, whereas it should be at the highest point of the road. A concave road would also enable slow triffic to keep quite spontaneously to the highest, and, therefore, the easiest part of the road for the horse to pull its load. Another disadvantage of convex roads is that , every heap of refuse is swept up close - to the edge of the pavement, income cases being actually deposited in part of the pavement, and it thus blocks up the gullies and drains, and even floods the pavement with water when the street is being washed, or a sudden storm of rain, descends. Smells, too, if any arise from "the gratings, are close to the houses and the doors leading into them. In a concave street they would be 'as far away as posi sible in the centre of the roadway. Cab'stands for horse vehicles, .it is true, are J gradually becoming things of : the past, but they may yet for some years be sources of nuisance and pollute, many of our roads with manure, which, were the gutters in the centre instead of at the sides, would soon pass away into, the proper drains, without running over the road at each side. In a few cases in, London, special drains have been made for this purpose, and a portion of the road to this extent has. been made concave. But these instances are few and far between. The result of the oldfashioned convex construction is that, all dirty water and mud thus collects. on the sides where the pedestrian passes, and at a point also where travellers alight when descending from vehicles or driving up to bouses or shops: for business- or pleasure. A gulf of liquid mud some two or three inches in depth often separates. the pavement from the roadway. These are some of the inherent disadvantages of the convex system of road-making in. towns, as ;regards wayfarers and frontagers. In addition, there is always the question of expense to be considered, and it is obvious that with a concave street one dram would serve instead of two, with one set of gratings and one system of . connecting sewers with the main sewers beneath. In fact, there is everything to be said in favour of concave streets in .towns,'' and very little in favour of the present convex form.

SCIENCE AND '•: COMMERCIAL SUPREMACY.

Germany has built up a chemical industry worth tens of millions of pounds annually^through the "agency of research chemists methodically trained in her numerous technical schools. This example Has been cited so often that it is apt to be treated with , the contempt born of familiarity, and even'when it receives the respect it merits comfort is frequently sought in two ,reflections. One is, says the {London Times, that we •< still ; retain our commanding position as makers of heavy chemicals; the other that we can point to a accord of distinguished chemists and. important chemical discoveries unsurpassed by any other country. -Both reflections are justified by. the.facts, but : neither, is germane to the; question at issue. - There was a time when we believed ourselves unassailable in shipbuilding, •' but gradually Germany has reached a position which, if it does not as yet touch our supremacy, at least entitles her competition to respectful consideration* > while within the last few days we,nave seen contracts for ships go to the United States—a country which we fondly supposed could not possibly enter into effective competition with us in that business. May not the same thing happen to our heavy chemical manufactures if we do not take steps to secure ourselves by adopting methods like those employed by our rivals? Sulphuric acid is being made in Germany by the contact process, and several. factories on the Continent are producing nitric acid from the air by means of large electric currents derived from water power. Electricity, indeed, is introducing a new factor into chemical manufacture, and it may be that all the efforts of our chemists will be required to enable us to counteract its effects. Then,, as regards distinguished men of science, that this country has produced many examples of whom it has every right to •be proud is indisputable, and it may fairly hope that the supply will continue in the future. But that is not sufficient. No general, however brilliant his strategy, could expect to win a campaign unless he were., assisted by a competent staff and had under him an army properly trained and properly equipped. The case of the highly-gifted man of science is somewhat similar; he must fail to exercise his full influence unless he, has a band of disciples whom he can* send forth to teach his doctrinesmen of ordinary average ability whom he has trained in an adequate laboratory.