584 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION H. 



land was very valuable : witness the sharp corners in London 

 or Sydney, where nearly every foot is built upon, notwithstanding 

 the great disadvantage of acute-angled and ill-shaped rooms; and 

 the cost of filling up these awkward corners is out oi" all proportion 

 to the accommodation afforded. 



CHESSBOARD PLAN. 



We are inclined to think that for practical purposes the chess- 

 board plan, with proper provisions for squares and parks, is the 

 best for a town, provided, of course, the natural features are 

 favorable. The streets should, if possible, run about north-east 

 and north-west, as this arrangement would ensure every street 

 getting a fair proportion of sunshine during some portion of the 

 day. In addition to the sanitary advantage, and in some respects 

 the business convenience of this arrangement, it is found in practice 

 that streets which have a fair share of sunshine in winter last 

 longer than those altogether in the shade. 



Rapidity of survey is the only advantage Mr. Sulman concedes 

 to the chessboard system, but there are others of far greater im- 

 portance, e.y., the straight streets afford better facilities for the 

 construction of railway, tram, and telegraph lines. The land by 

 being divided into rectangular blocks can be used to the greatest 

 possible advantage for buildings, court yards, and streets, whilst 

 there need be no lack of scope for architectural variety. 



STREET ALIGNMENTS. 

 The simplicity of marking the correct alignments of the streets 

 is another point in its favor, and this is by no means unimportant. 

 Even in the rectangular city of Adelaide the question of street 

 alignments has been found a very troublesome one, partly on 

 account of too liberal measurements being given in the original 

 survey for the reputed area, and it is at the present moment the 

 subject of legislation after years of persistent agitation on the part 

 of this Institute.* The difficulties in the way of a settlement 

 would have been far greater with the short lines or curves and 

 the irregular angles of the spider's web system. 



CURVES. 

 The idea of laying out the streets of a town in curves is by no 

 means a new one in South Australia. As long ago as 1871 the 

 h'e Mr. Arthur Cooper, then Deputy Surveyor-General, designed 

 the town of I'ort Pirie with the longitudinal streets following the 

 trend of the arm of the sea forming the harbor, and Avhich 

 happened to be a nearly regular curve ; the transverse streets were 

 laid out in straight radial lines. Port Pirie is a rapidly improving 

 town, and will eventually furnish a very good example of the 



* LegisliitivL enactment has since been obtained. 



