GOOD NEIGHBOURS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19979, 3 July 1939, Page 13

GOOD NEIGHBOURS

VISITORS’ INTEREST HAWKE’S BAY HUNDREDS SPECIAL TRAINS PACKED P.B. well REPRESENTED (Herald Special Reporter). Hawke's Bay and Poverty Bay interest in the opening of the NapierWairoa section of the East Coast Mam Trunk railway was manifested by the presence of - hundreds of visitors at the ceremonies in the Wairoa station yards on Saturday afternoon. To both tne neighbouring districts the event was of an importance hardly less than 1 assumed in the eyes of the Wairoa people themselves, and the satisfaction with which the advent of a regular rail service was welcomed by the “home folk” was reflected and enhanced by the attitude of their good neighbours.

Two large trains, conveying between ' 1400 and 1500 people according to different estimates, reached Wairoa on Saturday morning, and there were scores of people from the south who travelled by car. Gislborne and the East Coast were also well represented in the gathering, local bodies and semi-official organisations having sent delegations, and Sir Apirana Ngata and Mr. D. W. Coleman, M.P.’s, being among the official ‘ patty, as also was Mr. E. L. Cullen, M.P. for the Hawke’s Bay electorate, in which Wairoa is now included. Gaily-Decked Platform In preparation for the occasion, a dais had been erected upon the foundation of two bogey trucks resting on adjacent sets of rails. Beflagged and otherwise decked out :n gala array, the platform provided seating for the Ministerial party, which included Mesdames Semple and Sullivan, and for the large number of official visitors, including officers of the Public Works and Railway Departments. Chief among the latter were Mr. John Wood, Engineer-in-Chief of the Public Works Department, and Mr. G. H. Mackley, general manager of railways; while also present in the official party were Mr. W. L. Newnham, as-sistant-Engineer-in-Chief, Mr. R. Dinnie, district engineer for the Hawke's Bay district, Mr. R. Trevor Smith, district engineer at Greymouth and formerly in charge of the Wairoa district, and Mr. A. G. Harris, engineer in charge at Wairoa, these being Public Works Department officers.

Honour for Pioneer Journalist The Wairoa veteran journalist and advocate of railway construction, Mr, Thos. Lambert, was among those accorded a place in the Ministerial railcar on the journey from Napier, and was accompanied by Mrs. Lambert, they being introduced to the gathering in Wairoa by the Minister of Public Works in a happy though brief reference to their work for the district and for the railway. The interest of the press and broadcasting organisations in the opening of the line to Wairoa was reflected by the substantial representation of reporters, photographers, and radio officials; while amateur cameramen and V/omen were legion. Every point of vantage was taken by the operators of cameras of the most assorted types, and the Ministers and their wives moved among serried ranks of those anxious to preserve mementoes •of the ceremony in the form of snapshots. Autograph-Book Barrage Not less numerous and even more enterprising were the hordes of small boys and girls with autograph books, who were barely restrained from mobbing the platform while the speeches were proceeding. All in all, with a band and radio music playing at appropriate times, opportunities for personal greetings to “Bob’ ’and “Dan.” cheers, applause, and lively speech-making, it was a great day for Wairoa, and is bound to live long in the memories of those who took part in the celebration.