ARTHUR’S PASS TUNNEL.

Hokitika Guardian, 6 August 1923, Page 1

ARTHUR’S PASS TUNNEL.

Afi-T several weeks tu tine weatliei there was a change about midnight on Friday and steady rain sei in continuing till g o clock oil SaUuday litoinjug. Then the weather cleared up and though cloudy there was no iurther rain for the day oud the function at Otira was enabled lo pass oil very successfully. Tile special train from Ross arrived at Hokitika on time and before 7 a.in. the train was on its way north again, carrying about sixty representatives of the district. At Givymouih i here was a short function by thn Mayoress (Mrs Partin) who cut a ribbon, wishing success to tlio Otira Tunnel and then augmented by a substantial addition in the party the train moved off for Otira. On the route further passengers were picked up, meluding at Stillwater, the representatives from Bailor and Rcofton districts, so that the Coast contingent was a fully representative one, including a good number of the lair sex. Otira was reached in good time shortly before II o’clock and there was a capital counter lunch provided for the visitors in the new and commodious refreshment rooms that form part of the now station buildings. INTO THE TUNNEL.

All aboard was soon sounded and then the train left Otira station shortly after II o’clock, an electric engine supplying the motive power. The Innuel was entered at 11.10 a.in., and the train ran smoothly till 11.21 a.in., the t rain slopping owing to a (null in tlr* overhead electric connection, which had lo he repaired Indore a lurther move euuld lie made. After a delay of 21 minutes the train moved on again and ai 11.. Vi a.m., daylight again came into view and the journey through the tunnel had been accomplished, the travelling being remarkably smooth and easy. The actual travelling lime for the trip was 21 minutes. Aithur’s Pass was found to have a light coat of snow on the ground and the surrounding hills were well coaled. Snowballing was indulged in by some ol the crowd, and then at 12..7 p.m. the special (ravn from Christchurch bringing the Premier and ihe Fast Coast visitors pulled into the station. •; EAST AND WEST MEET.

Hearty cheers were given by both contingents, and then there was an interesting meeting of the two branches of the Canterbury Progress League. The'Christchurch branch was headed h v Mr W. K. McAlpinc (President) and several members, the Westland branch being represented by Messrs ,f. Morris (Secretary), W. .lell'ries and 1L J. Evans. A hearty exchange of good wishes followed and the meeting and handshaking was very cordial. THE RETURN .JOURXEV.

The Coast, train then recommenced its journey back through the tunnel af 12.1,‘i p.m. At 12.26 there was a stoppage of half a minute and the through journey of the tunnel was completed by 12.112 p.m.. ID minutes being taken actual travelling, the station, about a mile away, lining readied til 12.1(1. il taking 27 minutes from station to station. AT OTIRA. On arrival, the visitors were lurther ivaled ai the refreshment rooms, i here being an ample supply of edibles, all served smartly and they were hilly nppreciarod. STATION 1 M PRO V EMEXTS. The new station at Otira is a very fine one. and should prove ample tor requirements even ol the large traffic expected to pass through the tunnel. The station is an island one. Coast trains arriving on one side, and East (Hast trains arriving on the other. A substantial sub-way allows egress under llm railway lines to the main road. Overhead stretching for a distance ol well over a mile, there is a labyrinth ~f electrical wires and contrivances for I he conveyance of the electric power to the electric engines. A quarter of a mile away from the station is the powei house, a large concrete structure, where the engines and huge machinery necessary for the provision of the electric power necessary to drive the trains through the tunnel are installed. Tncluded therein is a large hall which was utilised for the speeches later in the day, when the various speakers addressed the assemblage. A short distance from the station there is a young village in couse of preparation. Here over sixty houses have been eroded for the railway and power station employees Lo live in. They are a line Id of comfortable places, each having something distinctive from its fellows, ■ill on its own. The houses are laid off -I regular intervals, and in course ol '“,'o streets will he properly laid out ti\, comfort of the houses are the subof much favourable comment, and ||i/ general appearance was also the subject of approval. These building’ are in marked contrast to some of the nl a cos that had to do duty as homes for those who were previously working at the tunnel works. An interesting electrical contrivance in the station building, showing the movement of trains in the tunnel was the siihiect ol much observation during the period when the West Coast Contingent were awaiting the arrival o! tPc Gbri-tchuivh train parly. MfXI-TERr.U. PARTY ARRIVES The arrival of the Christchurch train coma'ring the Prime Mmister and the East (‘oast party, timed lo arrive at 1.15 p.m.. was considerably delayed owing to the necessity of effecting repairs found nec.-v-ary during the progress ot

Officially Opened.

Saturday’s Gala Day.

East and West Linked Up.

the West Coast train to Arthur’s Pass and hack, and as a result Mr Massey and party did not arrive till I -In p.m. Heartv cheers were given and the oflicial visitors at once made their way te the Railway Hostel where the refreshment rooms si alf are domesticated. Here i lie official luncheon w as held, and at the conclusion a number of toasts were honoured. THE PUBLIC FUNCTION. At the conclusion the visitors assembled in a large, hall attached to the Power House, the entrance to which had been festooned with ferns and greenery, and from a balcony aL one end the official speeches were made. THE SPEECHES. Mr E. W. Furkert (Engineer-iu-cliiet of the Public Works Department) opened the proceedings by announcing that at the conclusion of the speeches, the door leading into the power lionsivould he opened and that the. public would he allowed to walk through, keeping moving along in the course indicated, and that all the various pa ids: were marked in plain tickets stating what portion of the machinery they were. HON W. F. MASSEY.

Mr Massey, who was received with applause, said he did not need to tell them how pleased he was to he there on such an important occasion, one of great national importance, especially to the people of Canterbury and Westland. 'Hie long looked for had come at last (a voice, a long last). Acs. hut everything comes to him who waits. Now (In' tunnel had been completed, and the railway linked up the two provinces. For fifty years the people ot Canterbury and Westland had urged the work of joining their two districts by rail. The tunnel now completed had made that an accomplished fact. Kipling had said:—“East is East, and West is West, but East and "West would never meet.” That was not so here for East and West had met, and now the two provinces can join hands, and work together for the common good, and of the Dominion as a whole. Referring to the early agitation for the line, Mr Massey said it was 2d years ago when the discussion took shape. When lie went into Parliament 2!) years ago the Midland Railway was a burning question. Then the late Mr Sedclon was Premier and he did his utmost to advance the work. In 1907 lenders were called for the piercing of the tunnel and Messrs Me Lean Pro*, tender was accepted. The first shot was lired on May dth, 19DS by Sir Joseph Ward. They know of the difficulties tint I the contractors met with, ami Id years ago Sir Win Fraser, then Minister of Public Works, decided to carry on the work by the Public Works Department. It wa-j ('ratifying to know that before Sir William pas-ed away ilull his life work had been accomplished and that the tunnel had been completed. Thanks were due To tlit* stall' of the Public Works Department. from the engineers down, to Mr Furkert, and the pick and shovel men for what they had done. They find put through the biggest tunnel in Australasia and the biggest in the British Empire.- it was something to he proud of. Lot . of people had been very pcssirnisiic about the work, slating it would not pay axle grease, but they were wrong lor ii would he lound a great amoiin l of business will go through. Tliev were going lo get something out of it now. There was more good coal in Westland than in all of the rest ol New Zealand, and also of timber. The railway was going to do a great trade in timber and eonl. and a tremendous passenger traffic, and they would find the tunnel will pay. fie wanted to see it a tremendous success and he would assisi io the utmost in making it so. Applause). DON .1. G. tDATES, lion .1. G. Coates Minister of Public Works) said he wished to thank them all for eoming along. There was a time limit of live minutes io his address s; he would confine his remarks. lie wa.auxious to have the use ol the railway between Christchurch and Greymoulh. The actual ceremony did not interest him, hut the railway works did. They tation. lie joined with the Prime -Minall knew the history of 50 years of ngiister in ridiculing the pessimists There would be a great future East and West:. He believed in the years to come would prove that their foresight was justified. The cost of the work was C 1,500,000, much being due to the difficult-climatic conditions. He wanted Lo refer to the men who had done the work. He had given the men a day off, and he thought it was quite fair to give them another day off. (Apnlan.se). In this celebration lie did not think they could forget the great work the men had done. He wished specially to mention some one in particular. That was Jack Manson Capnlausc). Engineers may come and go. but Jack Mattson goes on for ever. Had it not been for him he did not think there would have been such a hie success achieved, due to his work as between the men and the Government, owing to the great confidence all renosod in him. He mentioned that while there had been POO killed in the making of the Simplon tunnel, in this tunnel only 5 lives were lost, three only being due to tunnel accidents. A great deal of this success was due to Jack Mam-on. Air Coates concluded by congratulating the people on the opening of t.h ■ tunned and expressing the hop" that it would be a thorough success and that the Railway Department would 1v siuisfitd. (Applause). STB JOSEPH AVAR!). Sir Joseph Ward who was specially well received, said he wanted to cor gratnlate the districts of Canterbury and Westland, and also the whole <>; New Zealand on the attainment of fifty years of dreaming. He assured them that lie had not prepared anything lik* the previous speaker to hand to the press. He congratulated the Minister of Public Works on the way he had paid a deserved tribute to the engineers and men of the Public Morks Department, for to them was due the work of connection. He was glad _ te have been able to accept tne invitation to be present, because he had fired the first shot, and so desired to tie in at the last shot. Though reference liar! been made that day to those who had taken part in the work, the people of the West Coast can never forget the work the late R. J. Seddon did to further this great connection. The speak-

er was in lii.s Cabinet for 18 years till they got to the Joint of inviting tenders for tlre tunnel. It was in 1895 that the Government served notice on the Midland' Railway Company terminating the contract. They went to law, but finally the Privy Council upheld the attitude of the Sodden Government. He had one minute to go, but no more rivers to cross (laughter). He was in England in 1595 and addressed SOO leading citizens of London, debenture holders of the Midland Hailway Company, and at the end the Chairman of the Company addressed them. Later on they had the satisfaction of the best legal men in England upholding the action of the Government. lie had never heel) a pessimist in connection with the Midland Railway. Now they had got a land communication and he felt that the result of the operations of the railway in five or ten years will astonish those persons who fought against the railway while the people of Canterbury and Westland fought for it, and on the consummation of their agitation be heartily congratulated them. (Applause). lion n. m. McKenzie. I lon Roderick McKenzie (formerly Minister of Public Works in .the Seddnn Cabinet) said he had favoured the connection with the Midland Railway, for forty years. They had been waiting for this consummation for 30 years and 8 months. There had been a great deal of extra expenses owing to war conditions, and he suggested that the Government should strike off a million of the cost, and then they would bo able to make the lino pay. He was pleased to he here, where he had met many whom he had known for 10 years. He reminded them that the Midland Railway was not finished. That would not he accomplished until there was railway connection between Westport and Triangulum Junction, and InangaInift Junction to Murchison. He was very pleased to he present and thanked them for hearing him. (Applause). MR T. M. WILEORI). Mr T. M. Wilfcmi (Leader of the Liberal Party) said he wished Lo thank the Minister of Public Works for the opportunity of being present. He had that day been in the second largest hole he had been in his life. The largest was the Simplon tunnel. He would like to congratulate the English Klec(rical Company on the electrification of this line. He had had an opportunity of seeing large American installations and they know of the great amount of assistance that can he given to-day by electric traction. We must electrify our lines, especially our suburban lines, s) as to give cptick. rapid transport. It was the duty of the Government to sec the electrification of suburban lines was carried out. He trusted that the tunnel would prove a success. The country with its water power need not lag behind the world, hut as ic had done in its social legislation, so ii may easily lead the world. (Applause). Mr Kurkotl here made an apology for the absence of Mrs Seddon, owing to ill-health, stating she wenild have dcarlv liked to have been present. MR. H. HOLLAND. Mr 11. Holland (M.P. for Boiler) was heartily received. Me expressed Jiis pleasure at being present for the celebration of one of the world's achievements. the linking up of East and West, which meant the opening up of the great possibilities that it leads to. The railway system of this island will not lie complete until we have Westport linked up to Inangaluia and Glenhope linked up lo Innngahua. Junction. I To commemorate the opening of the tunnel they ought to put up two tablets. On one, write the names of the men who lost their lives in the work, and on the other the names of the men who worked in the tunnel, and on another tablet the names of the wives of the workers who had worked in the tunnel, lie had seen the cheerfulness c* the wives of the workers. New Zealand owes a debt of everlasting gratitude to the men who carried on the work. Their work affects the welfare ~! i),c whole of the country. He offered iiis congratulations to everybody responsible for what had been achieved. I A pplaiise). no 1 1 vv trrutui.’sJ

Mi- 0. \V. Korbes (M.l\ !'»r Unrumii) said a* the- representative for llurunui. !n which olio Imlf of flit' timr, lies, tlio completion of the work is j |, 0 fmi'sli of !i 1011-: ilreain Hint had lusted from the time he was a hoy. fie referred to the past afiitnlion. and s. of lII.' old workers in the furtherance of ihe railway. They were now onterinp on a new era. History would refer to two staples, before and after the tunnel. The West Coast deserved this tunnel. They had parried the West Const spirit from one part of New Zealand to all parts. Now they were porn- to have a new era. the day of the phni-di. Now they were linked up and Ihe you up men of Canterbury were pain- t„ brinp the pl-mpli and assist m a-rieuHure and dairyinp. Their yonnp nieii were lookinp for laml to settle on ;m-l develop, and when they eame he asked the West Coasters to pive them the riplii hand of fellowship and help them to develop the country. (Applause). Ml? JAMES O'BTCI EN.

Mr -T. O’Brioii (M.P. for Westland) said lie v.as pleased to lie present nt (Ik- opening of tlie tunnel, and to add Pis tribute to the workers and their wives, who had put in Mich splendid work under conditions far trout plcasaut. and lived in houses that were not nice'to live in. As the products of the West Coast fro through the tunnel, he hoped that the good spirit would also no. Another wish was that when the other side eaino in they would not extinguish that good old spirit which was the life of the Coast. On behalf of t: <■ Otirn people he wished to thank the 'trey celebration committee for the got of £2O for a gala <Tav. That will be held later when influenza was not so rampant. Tie also wished to thank Mr Massey for his agreement to grant the "sum of £2OOO to assist in building the Old I’eonle’s Home in Grcyinouth. 1 again thanked the workmen had put the tunnel through, and their u-ress was due to there being no speeding m>. (Applause). AIR T. E. Y. SEDDON. ATr T. E. Y. Heddon said Mr Msisspv lwd quoted Kipling about East and West, hut the two were one. It was a great day that the West Coast had looked forward to from time immemorial. I. it had not been for the indomitable '■oarage of the early West Coasters, uni the agitation of KOKOII. Marlborough and Canterbury, we would not have it here to-dny. All praise to those stalwarts of old who were alwayworking and agitating for it. Hr thanked the speakers who had mentioned the part his father had taken ill the movement. For nearly lit teen years he was member for the district and had. watched the various phases of the operations, ihe references to - 1 Manson had been well merited anil served. The people of the W est Coast were used to wet weather. A\ lien the line was started at Stillwater it rained, judging by old pheugraphs oi 11 1 j

umbrellas. When Sir Joseph Ward lired the first shot they knew how it rained. Their was only one who had not reigned long enough and that was himself (laughter). He fully endorsed the references to the workers of the tunnel, and also wished to refer to the work of Ministers of Public- Works connected with the work, the Hon Hall Jones. Hon McGowan. Hon It. AliJ-G-n----zic ,Sir Will. Fraser and lion -J. G. (nates. To them Their thanks were line for the manner in which they had pushed on the work to a successful c-cn-clusion. Air Seddon concluded by extending a hearty West Coast welcome to the visitors, and at liis .call three hearty cheers were then given by the assemblage, and the ceremony c-onchid-

THE POWER HOUSE. As stated at the opening of the speeches, the door of the Bower House was then opened, and the large assemblage passed through on a visit of inspection of the machinery, of which but a cursory glance could lie obtained as the large crowd walked its way through the building, ultimately reaching the ground floor and the open air. THE f LOSING STAGE. The large assemblage gathered in the vi.-iiiily of the railway station where lb - two trains were drawn up. one in cm li platform, and the opportunity «as taken for mceliug the Ministers, Ibirlininemarians, and visitors generally. The photographers were busy snapping notables, the crowd and the general surroundings.

An opportunity was taken by Air Tloglund to present Hun AY. E. Massey with a handsome gold medal in commemoration of the day's ceremony, which Air Massey suitably acknowledged. Then the Coast train left at 4.10 p.m. amid cheers, while the Christchurch train did not leave until after o p.m., owing to the necessary repairs to the overhead electric: gear not being completed till then, the Hon J. G. Coates as the train left cutting the ribbuus. held by .Messrs O’ATallcy and Al. Fitzgerald, and declaring the tunnel officially opened, amid further cheers.

CHRISTCHURCTI BANQUET. Heavy rain started to fall just, as llii* train was leaving on the return to Christchurch. A considerable delay in i nrreil before the train got away. The insulation in Ihe tunnel was still giving trouble, and it was not until .l.oi) p.m. that the train, after several false starts, finally got' under way. The return journey through tiic tunnel was made without a stoppage or mishap in 21 minutes. Clirislebnr'-li was reached at !>.20 p.m.—over two hours behind the scheduled time. Ibe whole delay was caused by llie trouble eMieiii-uced with the electrical equipment in the t-unnol. and this, in turn, was caiisi-il by faulty insulation, due. set n was stated, by the damp condition prevailing. The banquet oigauised by the ( aii-tt-rbury Progress League was a f.ting (•(inclusion to a day of memorable innetimis. Nearly three hundred were p:e----m-mI. Mr A. K. Ale-Alpine (President of i In- League) presided, and had cn his right Mr Alassey. and cm liis left Ah- Coates. Sir Joseph Ward was on All Massey’s light. The banquet (oiieluded at mid.i-.Pt anil a special train witn the- . -rtn L—land visitors left lor l.ytlc-lton sioitlc allei wards.