A PROGRESSIVE ROAD BOARD.

Taranaki Daily News, 28 October 1918, Page 3

A PROGRESSIVE ROAD BOARD.

OPENING OF MACHINERY DEPART- ... ! MENT. A distinct step in the advancement of the Moa Road District, which the residents therein hope will shortly be a county, was reached on Saturday, when the board's town depot was oiiicialiy opened in the presence of it large and representative attendance. This dcpot, which is situate close to the centre of the town, consists of half an acre, which has been well roaded and on which has been built commodious sheds, is to accommodate the board's road-making plant, consisting at present of a road grader, Collett stone-crusher, and Aveling and Porter road-roller. There is also an office for the overseer, Mr. R. C. Gray. Ore of the sheds contains the pipe-making plant, the board having been one of the first local bodies in Taranaki to manufacture its own concrete pipes. Alter the various buildings had been inspected and favorably commented on, .severai photographs were taken, and an adjournment was made to the board's ollke, where a. short toa3t list was cussedMr. A. Corkill, chairman of the board, presided, and there were present: Messrs R. Stewart, J. Hunter, T. S-, Bowler, D. I odd, J. B. Simpson, F. J. Bracegirdle, and J. Lyon (members of the board). H. Trimble (ex-chairman), R. T. Williams and U. ttipper (ex-members), G. Young (.Mayor of Inglewood), J. V. Winfield (ex-Mayor), and A- V. Coldwell (borough councillor), and representative farmers and citizens of Inglew : ood Apologies were received from Messrs A. E. Lawrence and Henry Brown. After the usual loyal toast, the chairman welcomed those present, remarking that one of the great advantages of the present depot was that the men, who resided m the town,' could make pipes •vhen the weather was too wet to work on the roads. There was also considerable saving and much more convenience in the delivery of pipes from town. Some time ago road-making machinery to the value of ;C2OOO had been purchased, and, as in private business, they found it paid to- house machinery, they had followed out the principle on behalf of the ratepayers. It did not pay to have the plant worl'ing during the wet period, say, for at least three months of tha year, because on account of broken time the cost of laying metal was 25 per cent, higher than in the drier part of the year. One. of the advantages of housing the plant in town was that it could be repaired and overhauled during the v/et weather, and because liigh-pressure water supply was available for cleaning out the boOer. The district now had very valuable assets in the plant, buildings, and site, all paid for out of rates. The roads .verc now in better condition than they '■ad ever been, notwithstanding that the wages had increased by 25 per cent. This showed that the roads had not been starved at the expense of the plant, and proved that with an up-to-datc "plan,; roads could be maintained cheaper than under the old system. Mr. .T. W. V,'infield proposed "The Boys at the Front," responded to 'by Messrs F. J. Bracegirdle. Geo. Capper. A. Marshall, Egan, D. Todd, 'Hodges, and R T. Williams.

"Local Bodies'' was wotted by Mr. T. E. Hamcrton, who remarked that he had ■ been a member of the last Town Board ; and the first Borough Council to sit in ' New Plymouth. If there was one position on the earth where a mart made , enemies, it was on local bodies, and he ' considered that a man acted wisely if ! he did what lie considered best without considering wdiom he pleased. He rc* 1 fcrred to the progress made by Ingle- , wood, which had advanced from a town ; district to a borough since he had been in the district, and its progress was due to the initiatnte and determination of those elected to govern it, and during no period had it responded more than under the regime of the present Mayor. The ceremony that day opened a most valuable page in the history of the district. There wa? no period in which the district had made the same advance tiian durinsr the past five years, .when the : board had given tip its policy of working without an overdraft, and gone in for road-making machinery, with the result that the roads had considerably improved. Settlers had also shown their appreciation of the board's initiative in providing machinery by turning out cheerfully and working to provide frea the necessary metal for the crusher. Mr. Corkill, in responding, considered it was everyone's duty to lieln the district along. The Moa Road Board had a good plant and a good staff, not one man of which was dissatisfied, {.hongli they were told 15 months ago that they would jret no one to stop with themTie hoped in the near future thev would he celebrating the establishment oi an

Tn<*lowoo<l County. Mr. "V oung, -Mayor of Tnjlewood, con- 1 siderwl he was fortunate in bavin? followed some fine men who had laid the foundation of the borough of Inglewood. He was also fortunate in having a good council and a good staff. All the councillors were active in promoting the in--1 crests of the borough, where progress, despite the extraordinary times; wag evident. "Rut for the war he had hoped to have had on the Library site a muni- 1 cipal chambers worthy of the town, and this, he thought, should be one of the first acts after the war. He touched on the urgent need for extensions to the electric lighting plant, for which ratepayers had given authority to borrow £9OOO. This the Government had held up for the present, ,but lie did not intend to give up, as the plant was working right up to its full load now, and a, breakdown now would mean a serious thing, as both the ■ Bacon Company and Dairy. Company used their power. Mr. J. H. Lyon prefaced his remarks by paying a high tribute to his predecesssor, the late Mr. Henwood, whom he characterised as an earnest and sincere . member of the board, a good debater, and a man who was faithful and loyal to his friends. He""touched on the progress that had taJcen place in the past, but considered it was nothing, as- compared to that of the future, when they made use of the electrical energy that, could be' obtained so cheaply from the, available rivers. He was a great advocate of electrical power, which was, the 4 cheapest, both from the point of v t io.w.>, of lubricant and labor, He considered; that no district was so.;fortusately situ-, ated in the matter of generating power for electrical energy as their district, and, in considering the obtaining of this; energy, it must bo remembered that they. were building up for future generation.?, lb was their duty to use sserv opportunity to make, ior their children somp .self-sacrifice to compensate in some way t ft or the sacrifices tfieboya l were, making' lat tin; front. Electrical, energy was abt *~solutely essential to the groper

plant, mid lie looked forward to the time when electricity would be used for the working of their road rollers, lorries, crushers, concrete-mixers, ete 7 and that it was going to have a far-reaching effect on the prosperity of the district and the system of road and bridge making. It would also enable them to manufacture their own primary products and so provide within their own borders worjc for the younger generations. He hoped that as one progressive step they would speedily see tho establishment of an Inglewood C'ouyty, with self-centred in? terest and a prosperous county behind it. He had forsworn local bodies, but it had been pointed out that he could assist in attaining that desired end. Other toasts were "Visitors," proposed by Mr. A. Marshall and responded to by Messrs S. Death, J."Allen, B. T. Williams. and Barrows; "The Press," proposed by Mr. Lyon and responded to by representatives of the Daily News and Inglewood Record: "The Chairman and Secretary of the Moa Road Board," pronosed by Mr. Young- In responding, the chairman spoke in high terms of the capabilities of Mr. Buckley, who was doing invaluable work in connection with the proposed county, which he considered would soon eventuate unless the majo-

rity of members of Parliament had made up their minds to do an injustice. As chairman he intended always fo give of his best, and when the tima came and they could obtain a, man to give better results—well, "trot him out," and he would be pleased to sit beside him,