UPPER SHOTOVER BRIDGE.

Dunstan Times, Issue 300, 24 January 1868, Page 3

UPPER SHOTOVER BRIDGE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE DUN'STAN TIMES. Sir, —Referring to the numerous articles, editorial and otherwise, published in the " Wakatip Mail," extending over a period of fifteen months, upon the above structure' 1 must say that, when you come to put them altogether, side by side, they re' present the most disjointed and contradictory ideas that could emanate from one mind. At one time the bridge is doomed to certain destruction before the winter is over, by being swept into river by an avalanche as it were. This afterwards becomes a very distant result in their minds, and after every phontasmagoria (is that the proper word ?) which they have imagined has beeh dispelled by practical illustration, the whole gist of the eleven or seventeen articles, editorial or otherwise, becomes narrowed doAui to what width a pack bridge should be. The " Wakatip Mail," aliout the 19th of December (1 have not the paper by me), published the article copied into the "Daily Times" of the 30th of Decemberstating that the packers preferred crossing the river to crossing the bridge, on account of the bridge width. This is a statement which admits of the reasonable inference that the packers had tried the bridge and experienced the imaginary difficulty. Now at that time no horse could' possibly cross the bridge, on account of the approaches not being completed so far as to admit of it On the-ith of January I asked " A Constant Packer - '—Have you got over the bridge yet ? "Yes," he replied, " I got over with my last load, and the approaches will soon be done." He also said that the bridge had one fault (of that more anon)—it wanted staying. I have, under d.te the Gth of January, officially reported a3 follows :—" The approaches are opened out to the bridge, although not completed. The pack traffic is now crossing the bridge, which is a great boon to the district. The desire to cross before the works were completed shows this. That report of mine most assuredly represents the feeling of all interested unbiassed people who will be constantly using the bridge ; I observe the editorials have ■ brought the tape to bear in support of their ] argument. Tho horse and pack-saddle 2 j feet 6 inches and loading 3 feet (both wide measurements). Well, docs any one supi pose that a practical packer would place his : load outside the outer measurement? Cer- | tainly not. The main bulk and weight I would, be above and on the back of tho | horse. Ease to the horse would alone settle this point when a packer is loading, I ! woullask tho question of the "we'-s" If . one laden pack-horse requires sfeet flinches I of space, how comes it that they travel and j pass one another on roads only 0 feet wide, and often 5 feot 6 inches, on tho edge of I verticle precipices, described by an eminent ! contractor as thousands of feet deep ? If | ihe local packers require the bridge widened they certainly would the road from one end I to the other ; but we all remember tho time j when the traffic up this road was twenty i times greater than it is now, and th.ey got j through well enough. The bridge in its | present width is capable (iu width point) of I passing a railway train. The attempt to prove the bridge useless altogether fails. I undertake to obtain nearly tho unanimous written testimony of residents and others that the bridge is indeed a great boon to the district. Did it never strike'the worthy Editor tliatjpack bridges are put in several of the provinces, and several in this one? and i; has always been found' that 6 feet is more than ample ? Bond's bri ge, on the same road, is only about 5 feet 0 inches. The famous Hill's bridge, acoss which the editorial very likely crossed, with pack horse or otherwise, and which supplied all the wants of three districts as large as." the Wakatip, as well as the Wakatip itself, in the busy times, was only 5 feot No en. gineer would dream of a pack bridge wider than G feet where this one is, or, perhaps, any where else. The Waipori bridge is C feet wide. Another thing is, when 1 hear of such monstrous loads being put upon horses I mentally ask, has the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals not an officer about the camp ? Even 3001b. is too heavy to put on a horse on tho Maori Poiut road. Any one would also know that for a few pounds the wooden parapet could be lowered and tho suspension rods spread, so that 7 feet wide could go over the bridge ; but of what use would this be unless all the road wore ma le to similar gage ? None. Only expense and disfigurement of the not unhandsome bridge. As for the editorial veracity, people must form their own opinion. Language can be cunningly put together to give unjust conclusions, and the moßt modest acts of some persons are equal in magnitute to the most audacious of others. I cannot engage to contradict every mis-statement, of which I there are miny. The "Constant Packer," who says the bridge wants staying, makes a statement which requires the attention of Gover: ment The practice of rushing, pell mell, a string of ten or twelve laden horses on to a pack bridge and crossing at other than a walking pace should be prevented. Boards will be of little use, as horses cannot read. A person iu charge, or Jotting the bridges on toll, naturally suggests itself. Without some such precaution the bri.lge3 are liable to be destroyed. lam, &c, THE REFERRED TO OFFICIAL. I unstan, Jan. 16, 1868.