ELTHAM.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 November 1916, Page 3

ELTHAM.

(From Our Own Correspondent.) Eltham, Nov. 21. It was very fortunate that a serious a evident did not occur nt tlie Waingon,roro bridge just outside the town. TV? recent heavy rains had scoured out the foundation metal. To the ordinary observer the concrete abutments and the road appeared as safe ns usual. The danger was discovered through a carrier taking a load of wood across suddenly finding the roar part of the vehicle sinking. He had enough pace on to carry th? cart on to the bridge. Investigation wide by the County Engineer, Mr. P.asham, showed that the bridge was in a very unsafe rondition. The concrete work was intact, but the willows at the bottom ana the grass at the sides had prevented the road from dropping, and the thin crust of tar and stones had eairied the traffic. It is remarkable that the "crust" hung out so long. The job of repairing will be a big undertaking, a weir being required to prevent future scouring. An Eltham boy, Roy Slaslin, writing to a relative from France on September 17, thus related his experiences: "Our company (3rd Brigade) were badly battered We tonic a village, but our numbers were so few that we Mere obliged to retire 100 yards to a sunken road Here we lost another iiO men, including an officer, killed by machine-guns and snipers. The officer received his woun:l through hiding in a shell hole on top of which another shell landed and buried him. Shells were continually falling, and he was buried and rescued three times in thirty minutes. We had the satisfaction of taking 200 prisoners. Tfi' Germans were good at sniping, but no ;w<l when it came to bayonet work. George Bendall, of New Plymouth, was killed by an explosive shell the first night we were in the trenches."