A NEW ERA.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 197, 9 January 1913, Page 7

A NEW ERA.

FERRRO-COX; RKTK I" THE CLIFTOX COUNT.. a bridme-openiw, . ::kl':mo-\y.. '. The Junction road, away out beyond Ing'iewooJ, possesses many' pretty and interesting glimpses of seem ry, and is well worthy of being ineluded in the tourist's list of places worth visiting. The surface of the road, too, beyond the .'ili-inile peg. is in perfect order for motor cars. The contour of the road cannot, be called by any means •traight; indeed, it is like "a ba'.ly corkscrew," as one of the occupants of a motor car feelingly remarked on Tuesday, when heing whished around some of the corners. This particularly applies to the zig-i»ga at Tarata and l'urangi, which are extremely narrow; in fact it would he dangerous for other than very careful and experienced drivers to attempt to negotiate them. One can quite appreciate the efforts of the Tarata 'iady to have motor traffic prohibited on one afternoon a week so as to enable ladies to drive over the Zigzag with a degree of safety. The scenery, however, on .both saddles is very beautiful, many preferring it to that of the famous Mt. Messenger. On Tuesday three motor-car loads journeyed through from Waitara, containing Messrs Elliott. O'Siillivan. Jones and 1 licks (members). Yaughan (c'.erk) and Dowsdtt (engineer) of the Clifton County Council, and npresentatives of the Waitara Mail and the Taranaki Daily Xews. The objective was the opening of a, new ferroconcrete bridge, known as Lambert's, near Taramauka. It was not a large' bridge, but it marked the dawn ot a new era to the Clifton County Council, being the first bridge to be constructed in fcrro-eonerete. The day was an ideal one, and a peasant run of about two hours brought the first car to the scene of the bridge, and the state of the road was favorably commented on by all, though some of the nervous ones expert- > enced thrills at the aforesaid sharp turns. The apparent progress of the district, too. was noticeable. The party were, met at the bridge, which was gaily j. decorated with..bunting, by the contract- J, or, Mr. \Y. 3. Clare, and one of the \ members of the riding (Cr. Sander). After a, brief, inspection and a short wait I for the third car, a brief run, carried | the party to the residence of Ci\ Sander, I y<-))o. entertained, them to lunch, which, ■ -was great'.y appreciated, the sharp run] through the air haying added zest to ] everyone's appetite. Two of the ears j . then proceeded to the 30-mile peg to i yiew.the sjte of Silk's bridge, over which, there is considerable controversy at pre- i ,se,nt. in the Council. Cr, Sander Isolds j a tunnel would be the most econp 7 J pii'cal,. to replace the present structure I' whrVst,,.the' engineer (Mr. lieves that the .country will.not hold a f tunnel, without, coricrot;hg 'or timber, p |..nnd..tha r t i; therefore, a' concrete culvert [ ,wjlii a, raised'roadway /would be the jmest,.,economical and. efficacious. . .An : Wfts, made,',to put in the tunnel '■ ,ajd .ahanflanetl, as the 'country proved - Cr-.'.Sander is. of opinioij. that/sbVid ' holding papa will be encountered.' This ,-nuiy be sq, but to the majprity of those ; • .present, on Tjaesijaj- it looked extremely ,^ou^"t{ut,.ah^ i one'^9'uld!'be ; iriclihed te j support' the,,,.professorial .engineer as ,-against an anrateur". Something, hov-j jeyer, has t .fy>~ b.c',,done, t the. .present j its usefulness. Jfpp J "over f uat, flflfj'dj tuhe'it.'is'' too low", the* ( ,wfttev taping*'right' over the Wind-rails. .jSnde"e.d (| ;on'.. occasions it, is ; necessary to .^ke^.t^e,.rnail : .ac'ross in/a,,canoe., The is,■only "a, small one,! Homing into flie Waitara jriyer, but,.as a patriarchal .Jiaori observed, "Ty korry, r| sQme.timc. ,Ie JJYaitftra Ji,e..come. up' to, rivpr; make, ,tg come ati Qver.'V The vexed .question -of the culvert or tiiiinel was I later, hut > Aft, Council decided J to'lflav.e. the; matter »« ttie haiids of the. j .y]ja,friiiahi as., was, decided-at the p'revi"oiis meeting." The" big wppd?)!..,bridge; ■ the Waitara.river'came.in for close eoiiueih\prs coutl be .seen ..inwardly .calculating what the/cost'will "be jWheji. tli;s.hri(Jge requires retons.truct-,: : ,i n gv,.-r" • - ■". '-■'■ " ■,,<■:..' !•■' / .„,,A return, to Wie site of. the ij:w : bridge ..vps,. not,: aecohiplished . without", mishap lo'one of .the,/ears, that driven/by Air. ..MeKeii^'.e. 'of t/r.iiti. : When the . hrldge' sorae. iiorses were , eiKQiintere'd '.wandering'-. oh, the<. roadside',,.. Mid, one, with hlink'crs attached, hacke! .across ~the.,r,oad .and, struck the .car, which had 'stowed 'down. Tlj^/force .of ..trie im-. . pact was svWiicjerit- to, bend a splasii;.- ; board-and- shatter the/wind screeji of'the car to atoms. ~,

1 By/.the tithe for. t]ie opening, eer.emony., "(jiiilo a cro"wd had assembled .at tin; including .visitors" iroji. ingle- *,',- CrV.JS. :l K.enmiiglon, ehairniin -of-the, Clifton County Council, in' a. ..commend- : a~dy brief; speech, referredi to.the faet,.'that the.v~.were about to open ,a bridge. "•winch,, though, not the iiyst. to be ciwtVd bn.thi\t site,, was., hehoped;-the last. It-,. fjh'oiud. last- for • iiODO . y eit r^longer, thanT-.the, Clifton County- Ceun- ' but i,t' s)io,uJ(r- certainly durable. ; . . i'h SaiicW said-' that this ;represent.eU th'e n 'dawn of, a. new era in the Cliftoji ' tftiijjlv,, yiz.. 'the erection of, bridges, in Torrb-eoncreterand he t.hoiight the cijea-" .. sion \yas. worthy 0f.a... ~itile : - celebration.' Councillors did / not know much about' ferro-concrete,, ami, '-iiidlcuitl. he .thought that' engineers. are. still studying the' question : and would perhaps -be able to , greatly, iu the cost -of '.contraction,. s .The. t bridge waH to be paid for- ou(, of. the, bridge loan, .which it VYas'.pi'Qposed.to raise. ,A poll would l)p,'a'lv'wi shortly, and he. ]r.ul\no doubt Yatopayc'rs.yould..support, it ,it would' be necessary to-:strike a rate of one-; sixteenth pf a penny to coyer the in.tercil. but '.here would be no necessity , ,t'o '.coiled it. as the. interest could be paid out of ordinary revenue. J The chairman then called- on-.Mrs. V. ■l. -Webb, of I'tuyngi, Ui cut the ribbon and formally declare the bridge opei, 'which -he did with a pair-of silver scissors amidst applause, the M-issoß?after-wards .being presented to her as'a memento of the, occasion. ( The bridge, which is ;iSft long by 14ft. wide, is sl.rong-'iy and-neatly constructed, throughout, with ferro-concrete. ft is. bujlt on ferro-concrete piles, driven lift! hilo the bed of the stream. The deck- ] ing consi~t.s of • eight inches of solid, conc-nitc set in with expanded metal oil'.j .three reinforced girders. The handrails 'consist of galvanised piping passing t lliroueji neatly capped ferro-concrete i post-. Mr. W. .1. Clare.-<.d.,AVaJt;u*v i was the contract or. and lie must be pleased at the encomiums passed ou his workmanship. The Jailies. among whom Mesdames Drake. Watt and 11. Lambert were the moving *piriU, then attended to the wants of the gue-ts in a marquee near by. and a short toa-l list: was'-gone through. ~ Mr. .1. "W. Winlield. in proposing "The Clifton County Council." commented on the fact liiat this bridge represented a w\\ era in the county, and, he hoped, a new era c.f prosperity. lie did not think they wou'.d mind paving the threatened bridge rate for such-a structure. \.ii'e-!: though it mi.yht lie, expensive. wa~ everhisling. ! Cr. O'Sullivan. who was termed the ) '-father of the Council." congratulated i the members of the riding first on file bridge and then mi the 'state of the n>nds. which he considered the best in the county.

Mr. Vaughan, jarring to the present reception';•'considered that it was a good idea for councillors to take the opportunity of visiting the outlying districts, as it increased their knowledge of the requirements of the county. Cr. S. J. Elliott proposed the toast of "The X-gatimaru riding." In responding, Cr. Kennington took the opportunity of enlarging on the subject of the bridge ioan, which was a good husiness proposition. Many bridges needed re-building, and the money could be found in two or three ways, either by increasing the general rates to 2d, by raising the overdraft and thus paying 6 per cent, for the money, or by the proposed loan, getting the money at 3% per cent., paying, with sinking fund, equal to a little over 5 per cent., which repaid the loan in 36Vi years. This latter he asked them to consider. Cr. Sander considered the state of the roads was in the main due to the good work of their foremen. Mr. Weob, an ex-councillor, remembered the stream when a few saplings were laid across it; then came a punga bridge next a wooden bridge and now a structure which they had just opened and which appeared to be of a permanent character. .' The chairman proposed "The Engineer and the Contractor.", Many, he said, grumbled at the cost of the work, but none' could point to any part that was not substantial. The bridge would last iis «• '-monument to the engineer and contractor. - ■ ' The engineer, in a forcible speech, said that his sins of omission and commission were usimljy heralded far and wide, so no one was more-surprised than himse'if at the pleasant reception he had received. He referred to the dill'erence between the cost of building bridges over streams with.Jmd foundations and where gravid cost over 14s per yard, as against.good foundations and gravel at 5s per yard. A bridge in the former case would cost £3OO, as against the latter.'s £IOO. Referring to the bridge loan, ho said that they could omy secure £4OOO, where £IO,OOO was required, and he urged that it should ail be expended on the. two main roads, where the ■ hri,dges were the first to be built, and 'the first to rot out, and should, therefore, be ,t;he first to be rebuilt. Ke,leafing,,.to the. progress that had been -inado in-Waitara,', he urged the. settlers io,do; all (die trade with that port via the Otaraoa road,'which was 'being improved yeaT by*-' year. The work of the, contractor came in for eulogism. Mr. said- that Mr. Dovvsett would be satisfied with notmng bnt fir-st-elass- wjj»k. and he gave him OtHer- - toasts ( ' wei-e "The Foremen," "The Visitors." '-fhe Ladies," and "The PrgSß.^- : -"-'--^-'.-•■:•: ■■'■■■■■