RIVER TRANSPORT.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4491, 13 November 1922, Page 3

RIVER TRANSPORT.

TE AROHA AND PAEROA. likely to be abandoned. Mr C. Andrew, the president of the Te Aroha Chamber of Commerce, who recently made the trip by river from Paeroa to Te Aroha in company with an engineer of the Public Works De>partment for the purpose of taking fresh soundings and measurements to ascertain the depth of water for cargo transport, evidently was no.t impressed with the methods employed, and the results achieved. In the course of a chat on Thursday Mr Andrew stated that there are five shallows' in the river between the twp towns, at two of which the water is only a few inches over 2ft deep, As the launches towing barges of cargo between Paeroa and Te Aroha normally draw 2ft Bin, the prospects of a continuance of the service during the coming’summer months are not bright. To show how a cessation of that traffic affects Te Aroha and neighbourhood Mr Andrew mentioned that the present shipping dislocation had caused: many tons of goods to be sent by rail from Auckland. There is already a preferential, tariff for Te Arpha district stations, designed to enable the State railways to compete with river services. If the river, service is discontinued, the Railway Department will almost certainly terminate the preferential tariff, and thus increase the cost of transporting goods by 15 per cent. That a great quantity of goods is received per boat was instanced in the case of one local produce firm which during the past few days had paid to the Department nearly double the sum usually paid for the same peirod for goods obtained from many toyrns not served by boat. The people pf this town and district seemed very apathetic about, a matter that affected them so vitally. When the boat service is stopped (as seems likely unless the Government .takes prompt steps to' reprove the obstructions. in the river) there will be loud lamentations from the section rf traders' and farmers thatjs invariably- slient now. He (Mr Andrew) would place the matter as fully“as possible before Sir Wm. Herries in the hope that that gentleman could suggest some course ’of action. The whole trouble appeared to be that the Public Works Department was concentrating in obtaining adequate drainage for much Crown and privately-owned lands, adjacent to the river, without conserving the usefulness of the stream as a means of cargo transport—News.