GANE ROAD.

Patea Mail, Volume III, Issue 237, 18 July 1877, Page 2

GANE ROAD.

(To the Editor of the Patea Mail,) Slit —1 see Mr “One who hates trickery ” is inclined to finish up in Saturday’s issue re Gane Hoad Work, ami if lie will allow 1 will help him at the finish with the following particulars : Certain road work was required on Gane Hoad, bo the persons chiefly interested, determined to put their shoulder to the wheel to get the work done. Mr John Paterson, road contractor, &c., was asked to estimate the quantities for the job, which he found would require £.GU to complete it. The undermentioned persons, viz., Messrs John Paterson, James Fairwcathor, and F. J, & G. W. Gane wrote to the Hoad Board and offered to complete the job for £3O ; that was to say if the Board would give £3O in money the abovementioned persons would give £3o’s worth of labor, making a total of £6O. Now, if Mr “ One who hates trickery,” can see any trickery in the interested parties offering - to give one-half of the cost out of their own pockets, rather than wait and plough through sand axle deep, perhaps for years, I, for one, would like him to point it out—the thing lie has utterly failed to do in any of his effusions. The offer was signed ami addressed to the Patea West Road Board. The Board being short of funds sent the following reply “If Messrs Patterson, Fairwcathor, and Gane would do half of the work, the Board would give half the cost, viz., £15.” On receipt of the above, Mr Patterson declined to have anything to do with the work, stating, as his reason, that we might work with our teams for days and make no show shifting sand, as ho was thoroughly acquainted with that kind of work, having done a good deal of it in forming streets in Wanganui, and if the Board could not give onc-half of the cost of the job, considering we had offered to do onc-half of the work at no cost to the Board, and improve our properties and should have to pay more Road rates in the future, he certainly would have nothing to do with it. However, Messrs Gane and Fairweathcr thinking a half a loaf was better than none, resolved to start at the work. After spending about four days with the teams shifting the sand out of the sand hill and forming the road up to the main road, carting flax for several days, Mr John Paterson looked at the job, and stated, we should earn our money by the time we reached the sand hill. Mr Paterson being a contractor for road work for eight or'ten years is a man that should know the value of road work. However, we determined to flax and clay through the sand hill and gorge the sides to prevent the sand blowing on W the road : also lay gorse both sides of the road adjoining the main road, to prevent both wind ' and cattle shifting sand at the approach and undermining the clay, which, by the by, was put on, on an average of eighteen inches thick all {hr>mgu thseven chains.

■ Happening to hear that some of the members of the Board differed in

their valuations of the work, Mr Wright, Patea County Road Inspector, was asked by one of the persons interested, what he considered the work was worth per chain. He stated, in reply, that someone had asked ins opinion before, and his valuation was £4 per chain, without any shifting sand or formation whatever, He bad paid particular attention to the work when in progress, as lie nearly always stopped and looked at it when passing up and down the main road. —I am, &c. ONE THAT IS INTERESTED. [Note. —A littlo “ rave ” has been struck out of the above letter. Any further correspondence on the above subject must have the writer’s name appended.—Eu.M.]