The Star. FRIDAY. JULY 19, 1907. DUST.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8985, 19 July 1907, Page 2

The Star. FRIDAY. JULY 19, 1907. DUST.

New Zealand is not alone In her wa*' witli the dust nuisance. Perhaps ill would be better to cay in her suffering under the nuisance, fox but little effort has been made to fight it. When ths old stage coaches ran in Europe, be* fore the advent of the railways, all transit that was not by sea was ovei the roads. In very early times, when the Romans were dominant in Britain, roads were made that are monuments to this day of the thoroughly practical engineering of the Caesars' regime. Bull after our British ancestors were left! ' to themselves they forgot the lesson taught by the Roman power, and ton verted to the primitive roads which] were the rule before Macadam. Not content with this eves, in some case* they made quarries of the stone roads built by the Romans. When Macadam* the innovator, came upon the scene* everything was changed. Like David of old, he chose him "smooth stones from the brook," only he was not pari, ticular about their smoothness, nofli were they intended to he used in it; sling against the nations foe. He set men to work on the roadsides to breaW tho boulders to standard; sizes, whicht standards he himself set. The roads were excavated to what " navvies ". call the "hard pan," and on this stratum the larger stones were laid, then layer upon layer of brokettj metal till the smallest standard sizar was upon the top, and formed ths> traffic surface. This system of road*, making has prevailed ever since. Whettj the railways came into existence less : and less attention was paid to ths roads, because traffic steadily decreased upon them with every mile of ne**»| railway opened. The roads werS good enough for what was required oi them, and but for the changed circular stances of the last ten years would bs good enough still. With the passage of time has come a marvellous fulfilment of the prophecy that "the chariots •shall rage in the streets." Thoss horseless chariots are raging all ove* the world, and they have made a con* quest of New Zealand. The conquest has been- recognised by the New Zealand Premier, who has made such ai tariff concession in their favour "that they will "rage" in greater numbers than ever. And, while they rage, the dust flies in clouds — dense, blinding, choking — drawing forth expressions of opinion, even - from staid members of the community who do not usually, "express" themselves. At Home this dust question has become acute. Thaf authorities who have the care of ths roads are, many of them, content withi the qJQ Macadam system, failing to re-* cognise the altered condition of thihgs». But others are more enlightened, and) more progressive. While adhering, as they must, for Avant of a better, to ai macadam formation, they have experimented with every known, assistant t<* the formation. The steam-roller ap» plies its consolidating pressure to the surface, and for a time a smooth face is presented to cyclist and motorist,'' but the effect is ephemeral, and ths dust offering is again ascending up^ wards, and falling just where it is least welcome. Tar has been tried, and has, proved eminently successful in abating) the nuisance and giving greateij strength and consolidation to the. roads. But, like all good things, tar is costly, and some of its compounds are even more so. It is the bugbea* of cost that stands in the way. In England the annual cost of a tarred road is about 8d per yard, or £60 a mile« This is too high for many districts,, even when tnere are set off against ifc ; the abolition of the water-cart and th* longer life of the road by the prevention of disintegration. It ie claimed that a tarring machine would do the*work at half the cost of hand labour,. but the machine does not appear to be generally adopted. The situation ia, one that those with an inventive turn:, of mind would do well to consider. A' fortune awaits the man who can place before the world a means of conquering, the duet fiend on the roads at same-. thing like a reasonable cost, and ia; addition the successful inventor's name will go down to posterity as a benefactor of his kind. Over Macadam's nams his will, go one niche higher.