HOUSING RAILWAYMEN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17622, 8 November 1920, Page 8

HOUSING RAILWAYMEN.

RAPID PROGRESS MADE. NORTH ISLAND PROGRAMME. STANDARDISED CONSTRUCTION. House-building operations on a large scale are being organised by the architectural branch of the Railways Department. Substantial progress has already been made, sand plans are ' being developed rapidly. As the department owns forest areas and sawmills, it has been able to overcome some of the difficulties in regard to timber supplies, and its officers have partly solved the labour problem by let-ting small contracts. The scheme was inaugurated at Jiaiwarra, a suburb of Wellington; 22 houses in this settlement are occupied and 14 are nearly completed. Altogether the department hopes to have 100 houses occupied, or ready for occupation, by March, 1921, and by March, 1922, the figure will probably reach 400, for long before that date it is hoped that the " ready-to-build house" factory at Frankton will be in full operation. Standardisation has made for speed of the work, and the Frankton factory will make for even greater expedition. Kent Equal to a Day's Pay. Some of the chief settlements in the North Island are to be situated at Marton, Ohakune, Taihape, Taumarunui, Te Kuiti, and Frankton, and lesser settlements are to be commenced at other centres and townships on other -railway lines. At Marton about %30 -cottages; standard as to plan, but made individually distinct by a variation of porch design, gabling, and the like, will be erected on a triangular block of 46 acres. The sections run from one-fifth to one-quarter acre, and will provide ample room for kitchen and Rower gardens. The rent, as in all settlements, will he on the basis of a day's pay." A large area has been laid out as a recreation ground, and two slightly smaller, planted parks or reserves have been provided. Roughly a third of the block will remain a grazing area, which may either be leased in sections at a low rental to individual tenants or may, if the railwaymen decide to club together, be farmed on a co-operative basis. Other town-planning ideas are to be carried out. Other Settlements.

At Taihape 40 houses 'are to be erected on a block of 39 acres, set out on a plan similar to - that of Mar ton, and operations will be commenced within a month. The Taumarunui block will, in many respects, be the show settlement of the North Island, for % a very fine area of 70 acres has, been secured close to the town, but on the far side of the Wanganui River, upon a terrace 70ft. to 100 ft. above the- town. The survey division-of the architectural branch is" at present laying out roadways at. this block, and the.work of erecting the 40 houses will be commenced shortly. Negotiations are practically completed for (the securing of 60 acres of land at To Kuiti at a slight elevation adjacent to the town. The Department has in all cases, aimed at securing land at slight elevations, which will ensure dry and well-drained sections. An area of 45 acres has also been acquired at Ohatune and stumping, roadmaking, and building operations will be put in hand immediately. ».., The Frankton Scheme. - The , "house-factory" . j and sawmill equipped with modern automatic milling machinery and up-to-date, American bandsaw benches, will be erected at Frankton immediately the necessary plant comes to band, and this will, necessitate the erection, of a larger number of houses: than at other settlements. A rectangular block measuring approximately 36 by 16 chains' has been subdivided into 180 sections, of one-fifth to one-quarter acre in area. At the western end of the settlement a ha!f,moon reserve and drive are planned, in, the cen- 5 r< L" is £, ■««* 4 ti&».; and football reserve, .while two smaller-planted reserves, the larger roughly m chains square, and » scouts reserve are planned. The Vesical and factory areas are to be dearly divided by tree-planting. This settlement with ita several reserves, tree-planted streets, and general layout, should become a most attractive residential area. bis bouses are completed and eight more are in course of erection, • but no further building will be undertaken at this settle, ment until the factory « fc operation. Hectric .power for the factory and ffl for the bousra will be obtained from the Ho.ahora .hydro-clectric station, and an up-to-date drainage and sewerage system m at all the chief settlements, i! provided

A start-is also being made with * the building programme for the South Island for contracts have been let for the ertX of a number of standard house* at lyttelton. Once the situation so far as the cement -shortage is relieved the department '"S ™. new of the almost TnlinS supplies of gravel in proximity to th» railway, to proceed with the erection of houses IS- demand for the South Island, while pressing is not S argent as in the North Island.

ADVICE- TO PEOPLE WITH , /weak: LUNGS. , v -.-*£**> «"* » tie open-air as much as pp*, Eat plenty of rich nourish food. r Taxe a " b * t , U * 0 *!»*»«»•■ every now sad teen-ma if you don't feel «a immediate need tor it. -«-»»•«, TuMicura is a -^est'fcas..tonic, and eenera] sfrenctßjner. It k«p» tie deiieal. nMan. fer**« of t«e threat *nd I QaM « good healthy WKstw, cures ooa g fcin* T „ d » .to* saw*- tone crae*s up the whole system i Cor.wsmptifln sad other serious threat and bold if Tassicwra be ***«« frequently. All chemists and stoles. La Je * beta., 3, ed; '"""' '■•'-' L ■'/' '■■" « --• ' f. "'