A SILVER PICKAXE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 803, 28 April 1910, Page 6

A SILVER PICKAXE.

WADESTOWN TRAM,

THE WORK INAUGURATED.

Notwithstanding the cold ' thero was a good muster of Wadestown residents and others yesterday afternoon to see the Mayor (Dr. Newman) drive the first pick on the Trades town, tramway construction works. The cere-' mony took place -at a sheltered nook' on the hillside, just beyond ' GoldieV Brae. The Mayor was accompanied. by Mrs. Newman, while Councillors J. P. Luke, MJ?., T. Ballinger, T.. Car-, michael, A. R. Atkinson,' J. Frort, and J. E. Fitzgerald, Mr. J R. Palmer (Town Clerk), and Mr. W. H. Morton' (City Engineer) were also in attendance. Mr. T. M. Wilford, M.P., was present during a portion of the proceedings. The Mayor sajd be was . very glad to : drive the first pick on a work which, was so dear to the hearts of the people of Wadestown. They had had to wa'it a long tune for the-commencement .of the tramway, but the delay had had- ' good results, because the route no«r adopted would be £700 cheaper than . the one which. it was -at first .intended to follow. Money, too, had become cheaper, and he hoped tbey. would b« able to float the debentures at 4 percent., instead of ii per cent., which would have been the rate some month* ago. ' Councillor Luke and Councillor Atkinson had both suggested to him that the money might be obtained through--the State Guaranteed Advances Board' at 3| per cent., but tliey found that, while the Government would advance money for unproductive works, like rpads, it would- not sanction any advances ' for tramways,: which were reproductive. The line would be profit-' able, all the way, and this would' mi have been the case' with. the original route, so that.the burden on the rate-, payers would be easier. Moreover, tho beautiful views along the way would, attract sightseers, who would walk about the district, and when the neigh- . bouring estate was cut up, as be under- ! stood it would be very soon, there wouldbe a considerable population to help bear the large burden —for they knew- ' it was a large one —which the Wadestown people had undertaken.,- No suburb near a large, city']would ever grow without a tramway, in fact, one might say, "No tramway, no suburb.",. The new line would be of enormous advantage to 1 the city, because it would open up a large new building area. Ho regarded the work as only an instalment, because the line would by-and-by be extended, perhaps as far as Crofton. KhandaUab, and Creswick. The legal and other troubles which had so long'. delayed the starting of the Wadestown tramway were now practically all ex- ' tinguisned, and the areas of land that woSd have to: be ,taken were settled. The Order-in-Council authorising the work would have been issued .some time ago, but the Chief Engineer of the Public -Works Department had been away, lie had now returned, and would deal with it that' evening; but they knew that when'.Mr. Morton laid';. off or built a tramway no engineer in New Zealand was able to carp at it. - .They would be able, to put gangs of men on the work in three or four days. The bank would advance money, so that there would be no trouble about finance, and when a good deal had been spent . the debentures would be floated. There was no possibility of any further hitch, and the Wadestown people, who had. waited so long, .would nave.their tramway in avfewj^months! ..time. .(Applause.) . .. . . • Councillor Luke, in ' congratulating the Mayor on being in office to inaugurate the "new tramway, mentioned that his Worship; bad been connected with Wadestown and district some years ago in a; different capacity, and had done the' residents signal service. Ha also; congratulated the Wadestown people on their'efforts in connection . with the tramway scheme, which but for those efforts would not have been so far advanced as it was that day. Ho ■ had no misgivings about the engineering of the, work, because during tho time that Mr. Morton and Mr. Richardson had been in the service of the council it had never been necessary, to call in a consulting engineer to review their .work, as was so frequently done , elsewhere. . Yet ■ greater engineering . difficulties had to be encountered in Wellington than in any other city in the Dominion." -The Wadestown /tramway ' would greatly benefit the city as well as Wadestown.. In conclusion, Councillor Luke communicated an apology • from Mrs. Luke for her unavoidable ao- . senco from the ceremony. - Councillor ~ Atkinson, : speaking as a Wadestown representative, said tbey were not going to be a burden on the city, for he believed that before very long the new tramway would be a paying venture all round. , . . Mrs. Heigliton, one of the ojdest residents of Wadestown, made an appro- ; priate little speech, expressing the sat- ' isfaction felt by herself and her neigh- ■ hours in the./near prospect of tramway connection with the city. She recalled occasions when she. had had to get over the feuce and..walk on the turf, ■ because of the badness of the road into , town. . • Mr. E. Wylie, as president of the Municipal . Association of Wadestown, presented . the . Mayor .with a ; small silver pick-axe. "Throughout the last twelve months," lie remarked, "you have wielded , the pick jof municipal affairs very vigorously." Tho Wadestown people were grateful to the Mayor and to the Council as a whole for having inaugurated the tramway connection. (Cheers.). ' The Mayor, in returning thanks, advised the residents- to use their tramway as much as possible, and pleas- . antly-assured them that the more they, rode on the cars, the less they, would have to pay in rates.