Wellington – Manawatu Railway.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1695, 29 April 1886, Page 3

Wellington - Manawatu Railway.

Tho special reporter of the New Z%v land Times famishes the following ad- < ditional particulars :--Thc Company's ' office is connected by telephone right, up to Palmerston. The length of the line - is about 00 miles, and it is doubtless the longest telephonic line m Australasia. The cost was about £1500. There are a fow large bridges, the one placed across -.::,. the -Manawatu Ewer near Longburn : bein# about lloo ;feet in length', there being thirteen 80ft spans and two 40ft spans. The one which crosses the Otuki Eiver is about 1200 ft m length, thert • being eleven BDans of 70ft each, and ' twenty girder spans of 22ft each. The cylinder bridge which crosses Ponma ■ ■••• harbor is one ot the strongest m +he •".-. vColpny. It has live 80ft spans, with three . ,• -piers/ two of which rest on abutments at • ..oacb end, the centre trier being m the rpid channel. All the cylinders have - ■■". been filled m with concrete. The viaduct between Johnsonyille, and Tawa ■ 'Flat is a cleyer piece of. engineering, the .. - rails being laid 120 ft above the bed of ■:.-. .^ the stream. There will be thirteen tunnels altogether, there being 'no less than • seven on the first five miles of the line, and six between Pukerua and Paiksi- ",. kariki:. "Eleven out of the thirteen tun- *' nels are now finished, the rails being laid down and the ballasting completed. \~ Work is gointr on night and day at the r other tunnels, and Mr' Brown is m hopes :■'•• that he will be able to hand 'them over .to. the Company m two to three months. The length of No. 10 tunnel is 236yd«, ' for which 5211 cubic yards had to be ex- ' cavatefl. In. the lining 465,000 bricks were used, and of that number 415,000 ' had to bef- taken out from "Wellington : ' There were 697 casks of cement and ; and 350 yards of sund, while no less ""- than 17371 b of candle^ as well as a large . quantity of kerosene, had to be used to light, the tunnel whilst the work was i going on.. With the exception of 9 days •' :il at Christmas, work was kept going con- : tinuonsly. In No. 11 tunnel the lining .- is being pushed ahead vigorously, about 120 yards being completed from the southern end, and preparations were being made to start the lining from the ' northern end. In No. 12 tunnel work is going on very satisfactory, the lining beine complete for two chains from the : southern ' end. Great difficulty is experienced m getting a sufficient supply .. of bricks, as none but the very best quality are allowed to be used m the lining of the tunnels. In addition to the bricks made at the extensive works at P'ukeraa, all the brick makers m Wellington are supplying bricks for the rontract. Every possible exertion is being: used — the men are working day and ••■ night — and unless something unforseen happens, the contractor and hi? overseer expect to finish Nos. 11 and 12 tunnels by the end of July. No. 13 tunnel (the last on the line) has been finished ' for" solne time past, the inside being lined with concrete. A close inspection of all the works along the line leads one to the belief that the line may be opened • iright through by next October, or, at . the furthest, by the end of the year. This fact will, no doubt, Drove very gratifying to residents along the whole of the West Coast, as well as to those m • : the city of Wellington,

. Credit balance as per Bank book> £23 lOsiil . Audited and found correct. Signed,— - Thos. King, Auditor, 28th April-, ISB6. Mr Leafy inrdrtned the meeting; that r .the amount of £23 ifo 7d, was not solely from capitation money received from the Board, £19 9s 6d having been rawed by entertainment, given some time ago, out of which some £4 expenses had to be . -mot. The balance £15 had been set apart for a special purpose*, viz., to build shelter-sheds for the children at the two schools. This amount was not enough . to carry out the work, and the committee had applied to the Board that the same should be supplemented ,£1 ..for £1 according to Act of Parliament. Mr Goldfinch asked if separated accounts of the schools were kept. Mr Leary stated that the capiUtion money stnt by the Board was sent out m one sum, and it would be a difficult thins for the committed to divide it, beaiclfis giving double woik to their treasurer. Mr Goldfinch remarked about a fence which was required *t the Terrace End School, and believed it would cost about £4. He thought the Board would give something towards the amount if requested to do to. He also thought that m all fairness the two schools s'lould be managed separately. Mr Leary staled that a sum hud been already spent at Terrace End, and the Committee had endeavoured to deal fairly with th« school since its erection, • aud without any impartiality or bias. Mr Goldfinch, m reply, hoped that members to represent Terrace End wonld ho elected that evening for the Committee. Mr Millar moved the adoption ef the bal nee sheet and report, seconded *by Mr Partridge, and carried. Mr West moved a voto of thanks -to" Mr Ferguson for his generous action m pel ting up tho entertainment m aid i>t the schools. This was seconded by Mr Miller and carried. A discussion then took place as to who was m a position ' to vote, the word "householder" not being, it was . thought by some clearly enough defined by tho Act. i *Mr Stewart believed tbat ©very one m | the room could vote. An amendment to the original Art had been passed constituting any resident, m the district a voter. # ! Mr Ferguson remarked that he did not bolieve m bußhmen coming m for 10 miles round and packing a meeting of that kind, nor that men of tbat class should have the power of electing eoinmitteernen who should have the eoutrol of tho education of his children. He certainly did not wi«h to s«e all and sundry ooine there and decide m a matter of that kind and hoped the ruling would take the "meaning of the Ace as it was intended and not consent to a meeting thai lodgers should be permitted to 'vote. Mr Wrieht stated that he knew very well that it would bo illegal for any other than a householder to vote. Five years ago he had, m a case of this kind, been refused permission to vote because he was a lodger. Mr Stewart informed Mr Wright tbat since then an amendment had been passed and that now the reading of such amendment clearly gave power to all residents m houses, lodgers, &c, to re- j cord their votes at a meeting of householders such as the present. The Chairman said thoy would take the Act as it Btnod and not allow lodgers to vote. He hoped those present would understand that! Mr Walton asked it the chairman wonld altogether ignore tho reading of the Act, which plainly Stated that all residents m the school district should havo a vote. ' Tlia Chairman replied that the queßtion at all meetings of the kind hnd been^ a very vexed- one and the)' could only'take the course customary to adopt. The amendment to the Act was theu read. ?*?r Walton hero took occasion to remark that the statements mads by Mr Ferguson regarding hnshmen were direct insults. Thfs<j nen living i» the 'bush were their own flesh and blood and m his opinion quite as good as any of the residents of the town. Every one m the room that evening, he wss convinced, had a vote and hoped they would use it. The Chairman remarked that he hoped lodgers would not vote, as they j certainly were not entitled to d« so. jg Mr Ferguson here explained that his remarks about buslimen were evidently misunderstood or misconstrued. His intention was to convoy to the meeting that he did not care to have swagmen roaming about the district and men of low reputation given a power which it was evident the legislature never intended, (fries of No no— You did not say so). Mr Woodroffe thought that Mr Fergnsson's remarks were an insult to everyone m the room. Mr Walton stated that Mr Forgusson gained his living by supvilving swagmttn amongst others from his store, and he ought to be the last man to refer to them as he had done (applause). No further discussion took place and the voting papers were handed bur, Messrs Smith and Healy acting as scrutineers. The following is the result : A. Stewart 83 A. M.Wright -77 G. F. Hawkins 59 T. It. Walton 48 . A. Ferguson 46 Hosking 45 " ! Wo:>droffe 35 i T. Hall 32 ,T. P. Leary 30 D. Sinclair 20 G. M. Snelson 16 F. Pi rani 11 J. ,T. Lee 10 L. G. West 6 The" first seven were therefore declared duly elected. Mr Stewart mc-yjd a vote of thanks to Mr Leary for the services he hricl lendered as chairman of committee during the past year. Mr Hawkins secohilcd the motion and spake m the highest terms of the impartial, disinterested and painstaking manner m which Mr Leary had conducted the busings of the committee during his term of office. The vote of thanks was carried with acclamation and responded to by Mr Loan-, who concluded his remarks by stating that if at any future time nis servicos were required, providing the time were at .his disposal, , he would be very willing to come forward. A vote of *-- 'thanks to the chair concluded the proceedings and the committee remained to elpct officers for the ensiling year. Mr Hawkins was proposed as chuirmaa hub declined the honour.' Mr Nrewart was then proposed; Mr Wright dH not think he was qualified for the pnriti"n for which reman? he bronght down on himself severe rebukes from the other ruernhers of committee. Mr Stewart was duly elected chairman, and Messrs Hawkins and Wright treasurer ami secretary respectively. Mr Wright hnvinjr apologised to Mr Stewart for his remarks, the meefcint? adjourned. •