THE "DOOR SPIDER."

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 428, 10 February 1909, Page 8

THE "DOOR SPIDER."

■ .\/ V.; HON. MR.; HOGG EXPLAINS. . '. . : ; :' •'..' ■ NO GENERAL ATTACK ON'ENGINEERS. ' The Hon.'A.-W. ;Hogg, Minister in Charge; of the Roads Department, says that'owing to" his remarks at the opening of, the Makakahi River Bridge not. having been fully published an ! injustice" has inadvertently; been done .to 'engineers, responsible for the construction of many of bur bridges. ' He did not .liken .them, he deolares, /to ..the . "door-spider. working 'in a groove; , .'. To; a .representative, of The.Dominion? the Minister said:.;"My remarks at the ing of the, bridge, at Hukanui were necessarily very muoh condensed, and thdugh'a fairly,'accurate/roport 'was'given/ the' substance, as reported.'.'hardly,: conveyed my meaning.' ?I. - made 1 no/general., onslaught on. the ■engineers' of New ■• Zealand—more 'especially,. on!' r the' engineers of .my .Department. \I-am 'perfectly well, , aware..that we have many highly competent engineers in our Dominion; but,, on ..the other hand, we have-men calling " themselves'' engineers, •and..^placed, in responsible',positions 'where they are doing ' a . great.deal:of harm by : standing;in ithe .way of', necessary -and im-: pottant reforms.' The language I made'use of, and which applied .to this i.class'.of so-called engineer, was to the effect (that the. days of horn and: wooden 'spoons,, and also i wooden ploughs, had disappeared; and I believed that ;the .days of;.wooden-legged /bridges that were both costly and'inseoure were. also numbered; ■I- compared some '. of our Wmateur; engineers 'who have .been ■ condemning some of .Mr.- Dawsori's suspenjsipn bridges tp/trap-dobr sptders,- because , ■they! resented" the intrusion .of light; or; anything else iriio : their holes. Mr.'.Dawson iha'd been poking them' not with, a straw, but;with' wir-e-rope;" 'With regard to' the cost of Mr/ Dawson's•.bridges, some of. them-' 'had'- , b'eeffi erected.at as.-low aprice as.Jjlvper -footy-arid" they had' done splendid work.,-j..:Tney - had .now, been tested.."for'a number of years,.and Lhaye had .them; examined■ by; the -.most. , competent men.in,,this-, part of .the Dominion, and.-they: have expressed': a; high opinion of them. '■, It has ,been found-that 1 wherever an ordinary truss-bridge oould> bo erected ■ a suspension bridge would, answer the purpose equally' well, 'and generally; , cost.'a, great-deal less money. As : regards, the 1 length .of the';.bridge,. the 'Maurioeville County. Cbunoil: have had one 'or: two very' short bridges erected on their main roads by Mr. Dawson,. and those, bridges have been erebted at 'much less cosh than the trussbridge ;' they ;■ have, ■ been:- tested /by "■ extremely .heavy traffic,:and:they have given entire."satis-, faction." :■' : }},;'-v{\: '. vv'/ ; ; .".■"■.-. ■ ;vv ;:'■'.■■