OPENING OF THE TAUERU BRIDGE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4901, 6 December 1876, Page 2

OPENING OF THE TAUERU BRIDGE.

(BY TELEGRAPH )

(from odk own correspondent.) ■ Masterton,, Tuesday.

A high holiday was''observed in Mastertoa/ and. the adjacent districts to-day, on the occa-' sion of the opening of the Tauern.,bridge. Indeed, holiday,, symptoms, were not wanting, on . the' previous evening, when the whole township of; Masterton and hotels were crowded by ! an influx of visitors 1 from distant parts of the .Wairarapa, and ..a ..number- of ..guests from Wellington, invited by the committee who had undertaken the arrangement of the opening’ ceremony. The guests included Mr. Bunny, Administrator of the Provincial district; his Worship the Mayor of Wellington ; Mr.. Buckley, Provincial Solicitor; and others? The morning broke with every indication Of ,a warm day, and the indications were fulfilled, but the heat was tempered by a pleasant breeze. The whole proceedings were under the direction of a committee of management, the members of which carried out their onerous duties in the most admirable manner. The committee consisted of Messrs. Valentine (convener), Rockel, Mace, Gilligan, Williams, Wyllie, Girdlestone, Caselberg, Chalmers, and Garrick (hoa. sec.) At' a little after 10 o’clock a procession was formed at the Club Hotel, Masterton, headed by a coach containing the Masterton Brass Band. This was followed by a break, on which were the convener of the committee, the Wellington visitors, and Miss Beetham, of Brahqepeth, who, as will be seen, subsequently took an important part in the proceedings. Next followed the vehicle carrying the' committee, and then a very large number of private traps and of horsemen. The ride to the bridge, which is situated about nine miles from Masterton, was through a country perfectly beautiful in all the richness of'natural and artificial vegetation, and rendered moat picturesque by the diversity of landscape it afforded to the travellers. There were plain, and hill, and dale, and mountain glade, and woodland clothing many a slope. The procession arrived at the bridge about twelve o’clock, the band playing,most appropriately “ Scenes that are Brightest” The members of the committeethenproceeded to the first pier of the bridge, and there halted and received Mr. Bunny, who had, on his arm Miss Beetham, and was followed by the visitors and general public. Mr, Vallanoe then welcomed Mr. Bunny, and Mr. Carrick read the following address: —“To Henry Bunny, Esq., General Government Agent for the provincial district of Wellington and Deputy-Superintendent of the late province. Sir, ■ — The settlers of the Taueru, East Coast, and Wairarapa generally desire to congratulate you on the occasion of this your visit for the purpose of celebrating the completion of another of the useful and important public works undertaken and carried out under the auspices of the late provincial administration, of which you were for a lengthened period an active member. The advantages a work of this kind will confer on the neighboring settlements are palpable, and need not be nere enlarged upon. It is a work of more than mere local importance, tending as it does to open up the more remote inland districts, and promote settlement by means of increased arterial communication throughout the colony ; and as a protective means against the sacrifice of life and property, this bridge is a matter of . the greatest convenience to the settlers, and the travelling public generally. These are a few of the reasons which have induced us to ask you to give the opening ceremony the public significance which your lengthened connection with the administration of the affairs of the late Provincial Government is well calculated to do. We have therefore respectfully to request that you will formally proclaim the Taueru bridge (now about being named by Miss Beetham), open for public traffic.—o. A. Vallahce, Chairman Bridge Committee.” Mr. Bunny, in reply, thanked Mr. Vallanoe and the committee for the kind reception accorded to them, as well as for the address; and said that while it was melancholy perhaps to think that this would be one of almost the last official acts performed in connection with the province, yet there were certain reflections connected with it that brought satisfaction. When Mr. Fitzherbert, five years ago, had called him to the Executive, the only bridge in the district was that over the Waiohinp river, but now they themselves knew how widely spread were such works. Miss Beetham then advanced, and having' most scientifically tapped with a hammerheaded whip a bottle of champagne suspended 1 to one of the ties, in a few well-chosen words hoped that the time would be long before another structure would be required in the same plane. , The whole party then returned to the vehicles, and having passed across the bridge, paused on the other side, whilst Mr. Tait, of Masterton, took a photo, of the whole. A dispersion was then effected for a time, and at one o’clock nearly all assembled again in a marquee erected near the bridge, where a very , excellent dejeuner had been prepared by Messrs ClaysOn and Thompson. Over one hundred ladies and gentlemen sat down to table, the chair being occupied by , Mr. Vallance, who had on his right hand Mr. Bunny, and on his left Mr. Beetham, whilst in his immediate vicinity were Messrs. Buckley, and Wardell (R.M.), Rev. Mr- Knell, and Messrs. Hutchison and Watt (Mayors of Wellington and Wanganui-respectively). Mr. George Beetham occupied the vice-chair. The Rev. Mr. Knell said grace, and after the lunch had been done ample justice to, the usual loyal and patriotic toasts were proposed by the Chairman, and received with due honorsJ Mr. George Beetham then rose, and said that it had fallen to his lot to propose the toast of the day. It had been urged tb exclude politics, but he. scarcely knew how to do this in proposing the health of : Mr. Bunny,, whom :he had known as a friend, and as one foremost in politics. -At the end of Mr. Bunny’s pro-vincial-career he (Mr.-Beetham) was glad to see that he had been appointed Provincial Administrator, which hq ’ (Mr. f Beetham), in a’ speech at Grey town, two years previously, had .recommended.! He felt sure that everyone in ‘the district would be glad to Welcome Mr. ißunhy on any occasion. The ' toast 'was drunk with due honors. Mr. Bonny* returned thanks for the land and cordial manner in which his health had been received. He was glad that politics had been excluded, as discussion was by that means- prevented. He was addressing them fike’a schoolboy before the holidays. . In: six *and ! twenty days he would, comparatively 'speaking, retire into private life;; but until bis-death he would always look back with satisfaction to the seven years during which be had shared in the administration of the province. Whatever the changes were that had been brought about, he thought it was the duty,of the people to carry: out that change which Parliament had legalised. ,He would now bid them an official farewell, but before doing so asked them to fill their glasses and drink the :real toast of; the day, “Miss Beetham." , The toast was received most enthusiastically. Mr. Hugh Beetham returned thanks on behalf of his sister. .

, Mr. Wakdell proposed the ‘.‘.Health of the late Provincial Executive,” which was responded to by Mr. Buckley. The health of the “ Engineers of the Province” was proposed by Mr. Tolhurst, and responded to by Mr. Fitzheebert, jun. ' The toast of “The Contractor" was proposed by Mr. Gilligan, .and responded to by Mr. Francis. . ■ , Mr. Rockel proposed the health, of the guest, commenting on the distance from which visitors had come. He connected with the toast the name of Mr. Hutchison, Mayor of Wellington. Mr. Hutchison, after some preliminary remarks, said that although he was _ only now making acquaintance with the district, he had long taken an interest in it'in a quiet way. Among his first experiences in the Provincial Council of Wellington (an institution now going down among dead and almost forgotten things), were attempts to support the member for Wairarapa in developing the resources of this fine district. He did this, although a member for Wanganui (of which he was

still, proud), because he believed in no rivalry but a friendly rivalry ; the settlers of eachdistrict improving their own properties, and! lending a hand to the public improvement; for they .were all part and proportions of one whole, and if there should be a friendly rivalry between one district and another, they -Would permit him to say that much more should there be only a friendly rivalry between the several parts of our districts. He 'ventnred'to make this remark,” because he had! occasionally seen attempts made to set up one and one interest in a sort of semiantagonism to another township- and another district; ' This,’ he considered, was a mistake. There was no more earnest advocate for - settling - the-country with- a .numerous; population of yeomanry, who wouldbecome their' country’s pride, than- he was, and let there be small farms by all means; but there was room also tor large farms, and for pastoral runs. They were all necessary to the development of the country ; and instead of being pitted against each other, should all co-operate to one common end—to advance the interests of this new country, which they had, made a home for themselves and their children—a country in which education, freedom, and comfort should be widely and equally diffused. The remaining toasts were “ The Pastoral Interest,” proposed by Mr. C. Pharazyn, and responded to by Mr. Barton; “ The Mayor of Wanganui," proposed, by Mr. Williams, and responded to by Mr. Watt; “The Resident Magistrate of the Wairarapa,” proposed by Mr. Buckley, and responded to by Mr. Wardell ; “The Clerk of. Works,” proposed by the Chairman, and responded to by Mr. Chamberlain; “ The Chairman,” proposed by Mr. Watt; and “ The Press,” proposed by Mr. Wardell, and responded; toby Mr. Perrier, of the N. Z. Times, who urged, the necessity of duly supporting the local Wairarapa Press. The proceedings then concluded. Several of the company spent a few hours enjoying the hospitality of, Mr. Gilligan, whose beautiful homestead is in the immediate neighborhood of the bridge. The bridge is in three spans of 85ft. each, and five of 30ft. each. , The height from the bed of the river to-the top of the floor is. 48ft. About two hundred thousand feet of timber was used in its construction. It is an iron-girder bridge, there being three spans of girders and five of stringers. The work was begun on the 6th of March, 1876, and it was finished at the end of October, 1876. Mr. William-Francis was contractor ; Mr. W. E. Chamberlain, clerk of works. It has. cost a little over £4OOO. Mr. Gilligan, whose residence, as.l have said, is in the, neighborhood,, afforded the utmost facilities to the contractor in getting a supply of splendid; timber from his bush ; in fact, had it not been for the facilities afforded by Mr, Gilligan, the bridge’could not have been built at anything like its present cost. The piles in the first span have been sunk 30ft. to the bed of the rock; ; those in the centre are built and braced.