STRATFORD-ONGARUE RAILWAY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 262, 27 March 1911, Page 8

STRATFORD-ONGARUE RAILWAY

SATISFACTORY PROGRESS. MR. W. T. JENNINGS DESCRIBES THE POSITION, Auckland, March 24. Referring to the work of the Strat- : ford-Ongarue railway, Mr. W. T. Jennings, M.P., who has just been over the line, says that satisfactory progress is being made from the southern end. i • In the course of an. interview with a Star representative, Mr. Jennings said he had recently proceeded from Nihoniho to Whangamomona. Fifteen years ago this journey used to occupy five days. On this occasion, he left Mangaroa at 7 o'clock in the morning and reached Whangamomona at 4 o'clock 1 that afternoon, and the greater part ot ' the journey was accomplished by ve-, hide, so that it is evident good progress : has been, made with the road-moking. I ENGINEERING DIFFICULTIES." | Mr. Jeuninigs found that great activity is being shown by the Public Works Department in, pushing, the railway forward. Large gangs of men are now right into Whangamomona, which is forty miles from Stratford, while surveyors are pushing on. their work through Tahora. The greatest engineering difficulty now confronting the department is some very heavy tunnelling. The Pohukura tunngj is nearly a mile in length and is father an extraordinary one as. far as engineering is concerned, since two shafts, each over 30ft deep, have to be sunk before a level can be got to take them into Whangamomona. Another engineering difficulty will be to get through the Tangarakau Gorge, and it is understood that a tunnel a mile and a quarter long will require to be driven. From thence oil to Ongarue through Mangaroa and Matiere the work of construction will not amount to anything out of the ordinary. As tihe construction of the line from the Ongarue end would be such an easy matter, Mr. Jennings says it is quite impossible to understand the attitude of the Minister for Public Works in not at once proceeding with the work. The population of this district now totals 2000, and it is prosperous and well settled. About ten miles from Ongarue' it is intended to shortly open up a block of 20,000 acres, and there is every, reason to justify the immediate construction of the railway at this end.

, A PROGRESSIVE POLICY. "I was delighted with the Prime Min-' ister's assurance before the end of last session that the Stratford-Ongarae line is to be finished in live years, and that 1 when a certain point is reached a start will also bo made with the construction work from the Ongarue end," concluded Mr. Jennings, "and every endeavour will be used on my part to encourage the Government to pursue a progressive policy." .