RAIL TO WHANGA.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 36, 2 July 1914, Page 3

RAIL TO WHANGA.

TI.K LINE iV-KEX- (i\ ;-.j; , .;.',!!.. wan :>i. ; a,;i:.:..., Al.-C.i REJOICING IN li,, iiACKDLOCKS. A MINISTERIAL l-'UNc^oN. Til,; official opening of tin .-..clion of the railway between l'oiiiokma ami \\ luuigamomoiia was celebrated ye-ler-day, ami there; was much rejtecin" bv the settler- in tin: dUriel, «„o Were usaisied by a uig inllux of visitors from ••outsi.lt-." The Hon \V. 11. Herrie-. Minister of Railways, performed tin: opening cerement. He was accompanied b;. -\i.i- L. K. .lohnson, private secretary; -Mr .1. J!, lline. M.P., and ALrs Mine; Air \V. P. Kirkwi.od, Mavor of Stratford; Mr W. A. Coilis. Deputy-Mayor of New Plymouth; Mr W. Hathawav, vl-.ainii.in of tin .Stratford County Connvil, and many other representative people. At IVhokura the Whangamomona Keveption Committee, headed by the chairman, Mr Thoi-. A. lirudlev, came aboard, and -.his gentleman it was who uttered the official words of welcome tv> tie; Mini-io,- a.- he landed from the tiaiii. whose whi-tlo had wakened the echoes of tike surrounding hills, sue.'i • ;■!<"'/ hein.-r drowned by the vociferous cheering of the crowds in waiting. The functions w:re well a.rran«ed. On .arrival, the Minister received a few deputations; at I e■flock the line was opened, w.th ail fine ceremony; at - 2 p.m. thive was an oil'i.-ial luiiebron. which \,as very largely attended (the nonoii'icia] luncheon 'having- been Marled at noon, five to everyone); at ;U() p.m. the post oll'iee was duly 'opened"; and at 4 p.m. the special train steamed out of tie- on ihc return to StratI'ord. which .a, reached at about (i pm. Looking row at the completion of some 37 mil >- of railway from Stratford to Wliangamoiiiona," one rc-'uKs from (he dead and distant past the"battle of the routes" which was. f miff it long and insi-nnth. strong and persistently in the days of old.' R-ference to this hail,.wed niemorv w:v- made the otlie,- day i,i - A political speech in the Kgmont ele, I rate, reviving the rccolW tions of nice ring* of the Illtham Railway League :vA kindred bodies which produced maos and stati-iics showing Eltham as the penu.'timatc and unalterable centre c* the great and growing dairying indiisDv ofTaTruiaki. lighiiii'e to the last -;:i.|.'f..r the junction of the litv-to-be at or mar the Cornwall road. just, (iitside Klthiiin. the branch line to traverse the Ngaile swamp between the main line and Toko. That fight was waged fo r nianv years, but the Stratford men bad the pull of organisation and the pull in Ik- ::;atter of demon.trat ion. Many things happened that helpe-d the G ivi rnnicnt of the dav to select at lasi. the Stratford roul'p of the railway. ami the threatened construction cf .1 privat,". tramway, the popular idea ti.at one of Stratford's hading citizen- had .made his trip to London <Umoct solely with the idea of liinneing the project, all put a few ounce* in the scale in favor of what v.a . then known as the Government town ship. Tlvjh, iji. the Departmental ofli.er who wa.-> sent, to obtain 'some particulars of fie llikely traffic found iliiniself in Stratford on a Tuesdav. when hundreij- of head of slock Here travd ! ng the E.i t road to the Strut forij i.i.tj.irds. and when cv"vy farmer and I Hitler along tie road -,'\>mc<! to find il neecssarc to tinn on ii the Kiie/rl highway every wl I and re it hoof lie! could muster. T : ie official is repci'led to have that the Ka-t loii the great main road from Central Taramiki to the ri.iddl,- of tle> island, was the busiest u entry road in New Zca 'lend, and tin- pro-poets of support for a railway as (hi euintry was developed were ro.y indeed. For these reason;. :'nd perhaps foi others, in which the fitt that the Stratford township was -uveyed and sold by the Government ii-idf doubtless played its part, the junction wa- eventually fixed for Stratfi.~d, and then- wa- great enthusiasm in the populiie" vhen the linn. Minister for I'uWie Works. Mr W. llail-.lones, turned tllre first sod 0 f tile new line on irUh March, 1901. A LIGIIT-LTXE PROJECT.

!n thoso thueU the scheme was for a lifrhUinc on'iv, and it was hoped that tliiw would be con.stnutcd rapidly.

Uut the woik went on lowiv. and it was not until Aiiffii.st '.). lf>o2. "that tW.> ila«s wen: ilyin" for tin 1 official open iii.Lj of Hie lir-: section of about six miltst to TJs.o. The next 4'/ : . mile-, or Hereabouts, icpi'csciitine' the Douglas section, Wei", ('dialed open for re-rnlar trall'ie on March 1, 1!H).">. and the'subMi)iu>ul sections were taken over I>y the Railway Department and opened for traljic as follows:—Jluirea. -lin. oOOvds , Ist April, IMS; Te Wera. Gin. 771' Ads.. ■iitUh, dune 19:0; Poiokura. Sin. o.'iihds., Ist A ji'li; Wliiiiijianiomoivi, lim. biehains, Ist July, 1914. The Tnhora section, of 0 miles 070 yards, is now in hand.

The eliainujH- to YVbaiijinmomoiia i'. Jl7 mill's ~)'i chains, and the Wh'olc Jcnsth from Stratford to Okahukura is !)7'/miles. As before menli'.iiej. the line was dint intended a- a lh,'lit line. Imt the enormous traffic .vbhh immediately commenced ihe rails earlv i'i] a line of tin .-landa-r.L tvp,". aiel the 1.-:i<iiH i- now laid in ."OH,, rails throngle out.

THE COST OF TIIK 1.1 NT.. The cost, of course, then ran to far al.ovc the oiij'inal estimate. ,nid Hie total amount impended up to March :il lust w, £575.54). The <-..-t of He'Vluinpimoiiiona section, which was opened vestenlav Ijv the lion. .Minister of lUiiways, was £l:i2..")00, of which £:11.4G! was re'ijiiired for the tunnel cons! nation, and £4iti:l for the .station build whidh are ccrtainlv vcrv spaciouand cemplet •. Tin- length of tli" Whanirainomona '.ut.nif, the longest en the line to Stratford, is ?A)Mi chains, anil there are on the Wlianjraiii'unnnu sc,iion bridges totalling :«> fe.-t m leneth. The vnianea.inomnua -tation ii;o."> feet above sea level, rcprescntiM;.' a drop of about o'Ki feet fr, u Siratf. rd -.ml of 281 feci from tlio tunnel. TROri'.LKS THAT ARK TAST.

It takes the old resident of tlio Uhangamomona district or v.i tin- coimtiv beyond it to appreciate to the lull what the opening of the rai.way means to those line men and women who have il.ine and are doinc the i;rea! work ot pioneering.' the country-work for which we are most I v prepared to praise them a „d <rive credit, hut work the mere iv.■iiarot who-e incidental privations is Isiillicient to make many a -tout heait tremble, n.anv a sturdy citi/cn shudder, .listen as we 20 ainon»st these joyous dniizeiis of the mud-road country today, ami hear the tales of terrible isolation of the selector and his family, cut off from fellow-beings and from civilisation bv miles of ho- or slush which are represented on Hie map oy a road. Hear the women tell of the days and nifrhts spent away in the fastnesses „f the winter-hound bush country—spent bv women raised in the towns, wiilun reach of telephone, daily letter delivery and tram services, but who in order to ~,-ure for themselves that independence whose phantom dances before the imagination and fires the ftopc of every man

at sonic time or other in hie life, have boldly sacrificed their home ties and I gone as real help-meet to the determined iponeer. Hear them tell of the nights of htiguished illness—not even a neighbor within call, not a doctor within orty or fifty miles, or more. Lend an ear as they tell of the journey made perhaps once a year, perhaps not nearly so often, "over the saddle" to Stratford, in order to buy raiment and to enjoy the delights of even small-town civilisation —breaks in the monotony of the bush life, intervals of change" and variety which doubtless saved the reason t-f many of these grand partner-pioneers of the hinterland of fertile Taranaki, who have converted the bush into smiling farmsteads, drawn from the wondrous fertility of the soil that produce which could never return to them anything like its value until at last, by much persistent agitation, after long weary years of waiting, on the Ist day of July, 11114, t'ne New Zealand Government Railways Department, represented by its Minister, the Hon. Mr. Hcrries, brings the first train of the regular time-table service into the station on the borders of the township nestling at the foot of steep, forbidding hills, and they know that their days of mud-bound isolation, of soul-crushing freight rates, enormous prices of foodstuffs and wearing appar'd, lack of means of export of the produce of their lands, have all been left behind, anil, as Air. AbCutchan put it in his post oflice speech yesterday, a new era opened for Whangamomona.

" CAUSE POK GLADNESS, Sit any wonder that all wore glad? he visitors from Stratford and lymouth, numbering possibly over li'cd, rejoiced with them, despite the misty cloud which shut out of the valley the sun for which the promoters of the day's functions had so devoutly wished.

CUTTING THE RIBBOX. They were proud, those two of the oldest women pioneers, when they took their places one at either side of the rails in front of the Whanga. railway station and stretched the broad blue riband across the track. They were Mrs. Mclvor, whose 'help in the time of need will never be forgotten by the old settlers, and -Mrs. Tym. Davis. The 'riband was severed by Mrs. Dan. Wihlermoth, Mrs. Melvor's daughter, and thus these three ladies, who had for twenty years successfully wrestled with the very forces of Nature which oftimes threatened to wipe out the little settlement, performed that little seemingly inipty ceremony which enabled f:e Whangamomona section to be "oflicinlh " placed'among the open sections of the New Zealand railways. The Baldwin engine, No. 300, slowly steamed through the gap. and shrieked' a scries of "cock-a-doodle-doos" that would have shamed any bird. The photographers, did their tiutv, and caught the Minister's face smiling from the cab. Then lie came round to the station and did his * .:. the business.

THE MINISTER'S S l ' The Minister was clearly affected by tin- enthusiasm of the several : of settlers present, and a jovolls hope penaded his utterances, in'taking over the line from the Public Works 1.-:,-ment and ending the svstem of dual control. He promised the settlers that he would do all that it was possible for him to do in catering for their railway needs. lie had'been given an idea of the capabilities of the country, and he knew of the capabilities of the old settlers and the new. who had done so much in the face of bad roads and almost against Nature herself. They had carried out the work that the pioneers were expected to carry out, and lie gave all honor to those men who had carved out their homes here. New Zealand should be proud of them, and lie was proud indeed to have the honor of formally opening this railway. From the particulars which he gave of tlie construction of the line they would see that the delay in opening was not due to any Government or to the engineers, but to the excessively heavy construction. He believed the line through here would be one of the best paying lines in the Dominion.

Mr. .1. IS. Iline, M.P., also briefly expressed his own gladness at the completion of so much of the line, u thing he and others had worked for long liefore even the Toko section was started. The country, he was glad to say, had grown with the line. As far as lie was concerned, he had no intention of leaving Stratford, "nor," lie added, "has Stratford, I think, any intention of leaving me,"' and he. hoped to see the last sod turned before long in the through connection with the Main Trunk line. Amidst laughter, he complained that the Department had not made provision, as promised to him, for foot-warmers in the carriage, but he would not rest till he got them. More cheering, and then, at the suggestion of the Minister, the children were given a "joy ride" in the train.

THE SECTIOX DFSCRIRKD. J The Whangamoniona section, which wa= '• yesterday opened for regular trallic, ex- s tends from Pohokura. 31 miles 4(1 chains, < to Wliaiigaiiiomona station 117 miles oil < chains, from the junction with the main line at Stratford. The construction of 1 this section has involved a particularly ; heavy piece of work, especially over the. ' last ';!'/■ miles, from the tunnel through the main ridge into the township. Repeated slips in the heavy cuttings have J retarded the completion of the section, and added appeciably to its cost. Thr- i tunnel through the ridge is Wy, chains ' in ' ngth, and between it and the new te; .inns there are no fewer than seven sub.-tnntisil bridges over the same stream. Pending completion of these ' bridges, a temporary tramway was laid from the tunnel exit into Whangam.imona, and was used for nearly two years to eonvev heavy material for the construction' works' ahead, besides proving u great service for the conveyance ot supplies and stores for settlers in th; locality, and the haulage of their produce to the rail-head at a time when the means of access by road were iar from satisfactory. The tramway lias since been pushed ahead up to the Tahora tunnel, and is still serving the same useful purposes up to that point. The completion and opening ot the line to Whangamoniona will be a boon to the numerous settlers on the Man«are. Prospect and Whangamoniona -Valley roads, who will no longer have to faie the long and heavy journey over the Whanganii'.mona Saddle. The construction of the section now being opened for trallic. (! miles 111 chains in lengt i. lias involved an expenditure oi approximately :Clll.W«». lleyond the new terminus' construction work is in hand | a distance of seven miles, and turthoi o„ there is a stretch of "t/c.nely dithcult country to be negotiated lietou- a junction can be effected with the line m -•curse of construction lrom the Main Vrunk end at Okahukura. The woivs ; from the eastern end are in hand o ; a length of about six miles, and as tin distance between Whangamomona and I the Okahukura junction by the route is approximately 58 miles, t-heie is , a stretch of country on wuich ronstruc- ■ tion has not been commenced, n.easurm - approximately forty-five miles. \-tr> little of this length is easy to twei*,

and the construction of the remainder of the through line will involve more than the average expenditure per mile.

THK LUNCHEON. In excellent luncheon was served at the Whangamoruona Hotel, and the company honored the healths of "The King," "Parliament," "Local Bodies" and "The Chairman," the gathering concluding with the Minister's thanks to the people of Whangamomona for the nature of their reception of himself and the other visitors, stating that they had given out of the fulness of their hearts and hi a fashion which would not have been «- celled in any of the large centres—praise which was fully earned. The. Minister laughingly declared that such treatment, and such an air of prosperity as was fairly beaming from the settlers present was likely to make the Government think the settlers needed little more, despite all their deputations and representations. AT THE POST OFFICE.

Mr. Herries was apparently amused »t being called upon to "open" the Whangamomona post ofiice, which had been open for business for considerably over a year, but it had not been "officially opened." When he looked at the date, he said, he felt that this opening represented what he as .Minister of Native Affairs was supposed to represent, "the taihoa policy." Hut still it gave him great pleasure to declare open the building. Before long he hpoed to have the Whanga. people coining to the Government and asking for additions to it or to the railway goods shed, or the loading bank, any or all of which things would follow upon the undeniable development of the district. Ife then performed the formal ceremony of opening the office, which stood open the whole time. But no one seemed to mind. . Mr. McCutchan addressed the gathering, and the proceedings ended.