STRATFORD NEWS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 169, 16 January 1914, Page 3

STRATFORD NEWS.

TI.E OHU2A SOAD Tim question of re-inetitlling- the Ohura road I'rom the Mangare road to Koliuratahi w finally decided early this week, niter a lengthy meeting of ratepayers :-.t Whangamomona. It will be remembered that the road had been [ metalled with burnt papa, which wore admirably under ordinary traffic, but the heavy Publie Works trallic in connection with railway construction about two years ago, speedily cut. it up, and during the past two winters the road from Whangamomona, fuv about six miles has been a veritable sea of mud. Last winter the County Council decided that a move should be made to have the road repaired, and the Government, recognising that the Public Works Department had been the chief cause of the trouble, promised to make a grant of £3500 towards the work of reinstatement which they estimated at .€SOOO. Tile ratepaj. its were to raise £ISOO ibv a special loan, and at a poll ratified this arrangement, ' The county engineer, 'however, estimated the cost of tho work at £(5000, and when tenders were called, the lowest tender was in the vicinity of £(it)()l). Tiie Government would not entertain a proposal to make a grant of £-1000. the ratepayers to (bid £2OOO. Therefore, a meeting was tailed for Tuesday to get an expression of opinion* from the ratepayers as to whether they would agree to a loan of £2"i(X), to make, with the Government grant <>f £.'1500, the £OOOO required for tho work. Air. Meredith, who presided, stated the £OOOO would put eight inches of metal ten feet wide from Mangere road to Koliuratahi railway station.

The motion to raise £ISOO, passed at the last meeting was formally rescinded. After considerable discussion, it was decided to apply for a. loan of £2500. It was also resolved that settlers on the by-roads should only bo half-rated towards the cost of this loan.

STRAY PARAGRAPHS ' Another effort is being made, to raise the much-ncccjcd funds for the Eire Brigade. An energetic committee has the matter in hand, with Fireman G. Bradley as secretary, lie was assistant-sec-retary to the big all'air which resulted in several hundreds being raised for Uie Feilding Fire Brigade, and proposes several novel methods of raking in the nmible shillings. It hoped the public. will back up the urometers, for our brigade is well worthy of liberal support.

Stratford tennis-players got well up yesterday in their various matches at Hawera, though at time of writing only Leslie Curtis had got as far as the semifinal. He has played steadily through the tournament in the A grade handicap singles, and will meet in the final to-ilav the winner of the Brown-Lampe ma tell.

There, is very strong suspicion locally that the verdict of the Government against the erection of a new post oifice at Stratford is to be reversed. There is not the slightest douht that a new building is urgently required, and, it is stated, this fact is more likely to be recognised in higher official circles r.ow that the money market is easing. Public men are never tired of declaiming against Government inaction in this matter, and, really, it is time that the postmaster, and his growing staff, were more decently housed, particularly in "view of the number of country offices whose mails issue from here.

The increasing volume of postal and telegraphic business of local origin, in view of the fact that the telegraph office here closes between five and seven o'clock each evening, might, we suggest, justify the erection of a clearing-box :'n the public lobby for the reception, of messages during hours when the. office is closed. Such a box is set up at Hawera. The messages, if properly stamped, to be cleared and sent as soon as the office re-opens. A young lad named Cameron was brought to the hospital from Whanga-. niomona on Wednesday, having staked himself while climbing down a tree on which lie had placed a flag in connection with the local cadets' musketry practice. He is now progressing favorably. At the Court sitting to-day, 10 civil cases, of which two are defended, are set down for hearing. There are also three breaches of by-laws and one ca«e of obscene language to be dealt with. In the absence of the -Magistrate, justices will preside. Mr B. Hume, of the Stratford branjli of the Bank of Australasia, is at present on relieving duty at Whangamomona, Mr Baird, of the branch staff, being on holiday.

Don't leave it too long. Get your order in now for one of Dan Malone and Co.'s groat value Christmas hampers. All liquors of the best brands. If dc-. livery is required -at flag station, please I add freight. | It's time to have that long promised I portrait taken. No need to wait for a t fine day. Fast lenses and fast plates make showery weather as good as sunshine. Make the opportunity to-dav. McAllister's Studios will give you faithful and pleasing results. Warmer weather makes neslige shirts more than ever desirable. "Tho Ivash" j has them in new patterns and "various 1 materials. Tennis shirts, light singlets J and pant?, new hosiery, new ties, new i sox, new bats, are here: in fact, an en-1 tirelv new stock of men's wearing ap- j parel.—Mullen and Marshall, proprietors. I Give him a lire. But let it l.e a sood pipe. Handsome is as handsome does, nnd our handsome pipes provide a delightful smoke. Fill the nme with Stan. Sharp's special mixture, or any of the Tegular brands, all of which are -stocked I here, as well as cicars, cigarettes, cicar I and cigarette holders, cases, pouches, ! and so on. Stan. Sham's, next to Bell- ] ringer's.

FROM QUE IIESiiD EIJT REPORTER. Oiikc ,iud Job Printing Works: York Chambers (upstairs). J'ak|iioa»i Ho. 119.

THE OTISA TUNESL,

.SHOULD BE OPENED IX T 1!)][!. STEADY PROGRESS. DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK. C'lirißtchurch, January J:J. Work on the Otira Tunnel was recommenced last week after the -New Year holidays, the Public Works Department carrying' on th'o operations The tunnel has been driven in about threequarters of a mile from the Bealey en'd, and tho embankment is formed from the spoil (writes a News representative). There is a decided 1 down grade from the eastern end of the tunnel, and this fact accounts for tho bother that, has been experienced from tile water soak age. .Surface, water collects in an annoying marmei, and a very elaborate system of pumps has been rigged up to deal with this accumulation, which unlets removed would quickly put a ston to all work at Urn inner face of the tunnel Ihe works at the Otira. or western end of the tunnel are of far greater si/.e than at the Reale.y end, and at present roughly about eighty men are being employed in the tunnel. Up to the present the depth of the drive is about two mites and a quarter, and the work is proceeding steadily. Much trouble has been experienced at the western end from water, but the fact that there is s b:g tail from the face to tin: tunnel's month has simplified matters. Pumping does not have to be resorted to, and the water comes away through a covered concrete drain in the floor of the t:;n nel.

TUN NELL IXO BA1) GEQUND. . The tunnelling is now in very nad ground and has been for some time. To start with, the going was through solid rock, which caused practically no trouble but latterly the course of the work ; s through rock, winch at some time or other has been disturbed by some upheaval. Fissures and cracks, tilled with a sort of cemcnt-lrke substance, ntn ',n all direc .ions, and it is r.ot good ground at all. The working face <;!' r,,« tunnel is estimated to be just about underneath l'egleg Creed;, 'which the traveller crosses nearly at the too of Arthur's Pass, and the water from Uiis creek filters through the fissured rock into the tunnel far below, washes out cement, and causes the rock to become unstable and dangerous. The eonsequence is that the utmost care has to be taken in all the tunnelling operations, and the work is rendered rather slow and also rather more expensive than was anticipated.

WKT AND UNCOMFORTABLE I WORK. •' The whole of the interior ef the drives! has to be timbered, as the work proceeds, and then, when the whole face had been taken out to the required sine, it has to be lined with heavy concrete blocks to .prevent any possibility of a fall of rock. Tarred felt protective coverings have to be laid between the natural rock and the concrete lining blocks, ; to prevent the water from percolating i through and washing out the joints of j cement between the blocks, while lower -5 down the walls are provided with large! "wecp-holes" to allow the water to es- ' cape into the tunnel drain. The method of tunnelling is one that allows the largest possible number of men tc be at work at one time. The whole face is not taken out at one operation, but n. drive eight feet high is made into the lower part of the face. This is timbered as it proceeds, and when the spoil has; been removed, the rock above it is taker 1 out. The wooden "roof" of the first drive servos- as the floor of the upper'' one, and all the spoil can be shovelled into the trucks, which are run in underneath, with a minimum of exertion Then the sides are taken out in sections, while the original drive is carried oil into the. rock. The Hangs of men can. thus work in "layers." One let will be driving ahead, another lot will be timbering, yet another lot will be taking out the sides, while the rear is brought up by the men facing the tunnel with concrete. It is exceedingly wet and un comfortable at the tunnel face, and the laboriousness of tho work may be realised when it is said that the men only work six-hour shifts, though they are paid for each shift as though they had worked eight hours. TIIE ENGINEERS NEVER KNOW.

The rottenness of the ground in which work is proceeding at present is- the cause of much additional labor and lost time. When a charge of explosives is fired, the engineers never know whether the correct quantity of material will be brought down or whether there will be

a regular rrK-k slide. If the latter oca big gap is left, which, if not filled up, w-ould mean that there would be a hollow behind the .cv; Crete casing. Obviously this could not be allowed, and often extra time and money have to be spent in carefully packing up these hollows again with rock so as to make all solid. Nevertheless the work is going steadily on, and it is estimated that at the present rate of progress the ceremony of opening *''e I'm; should take | place in 101!).

J INTEREST KATES,

j TliK HANKS NOT TO IiLA.MIi. MR. BEAIXaiAAIP'S) OPINIONS. ON SOME SCXif.KSTIOXS MADE. A good deal has tan Ha id and written of late about the. rates ,being charged ; by the banks for overdrafts aiid discounts, a-nd in dili'eroul quai'ici.- attempts 'have been made to fasten the blame on tho Government, or on allegedly rapacious bank directorates. * "I think there, is no justification whatever for what is being said about banking charges," said .Mr, Harold Beauchamp, chairman of directors of the Hank of Now Zealand, when invited by a. Dominion reporter yesterday to disI cuss tho question. "In many cases banks I are advancing money by way of overdrafts at slightly lower rates than are I obtainable by ordinary mortgages. If you look carefully at the banking- returns just published, you will lind that the banks in this Dominion have been doing more than their duty towards the trading public. Further, if you consider tho rate* charged by banks here, compared witli (.hose ruling throughout Kurope, von will lind that, during tVie period of stringency through which we have been passing during- the past twelivo months, people in this country are actually receiving more liberal treatment than those in the. Northern Hemisphere. "J observe that one or two newspapev correspondents are suggesting that the Government should endeavor to influence the Bank of New Zealand to charge lower rates than its competitors. 1 venture to think the Government will not go to that length, as the Ministry must recognise that, the price of money, as in the case with every other article, in which people have Ideal, is regulated bv the inexorable law of supply and dema ml.

"To-day six- per cent, is quite a common rate for overdrafts, oruvided the borrowers tan oll'er first-class security. This is no higher than the rate, charged by tirst-class mortgage companies, who almost invariably insist, on a margin, of from JO to -l.j per cent, in the value f(i their securities. I have noticed some suggestions that the present rates ruling for money, are in some way attributable to the action of the present Government. That, of course, is ridiculous, when one. knows that the rates, as ! have ailready pointed out, ruling in this Dominion compare most favorably with those now obtaining in Europe and elsewhere. 1 presume, it is not suggested that the Government of Now Zealand can dominate the. money markets of the world, which is the inference one might draw fromisome of the remarks I have seen iii the Xew Zealand papers.

"In answer to the statement that rates in Australia are lower than those ruling in New Zealand, f would mention that one large lending institution in New Zealand, whose, head ollice is in Australia, has been instructed to transfer to Australia any of its funds for which it cannot, lind immediate employment at (i per cent... on the ground tliat there is no difficulty in getting 0 per cent for gilt-edged securities in Australia."