TE AROHA TRAMWAY.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1987, 2 April 1885, Page 2

TE AROHA TRAMWAY.

'I'iih follcn ing is the monthly ri port of tin above laid befoie yestei day's mtutiii^ of the county council :—: — To the Chan nun and mcmhcis of tho Piako County Council. (iENTLKMEN. — 111 Compliance With ill»ti actions received fiom Councilloi-i Smith and Mmpliy, I heiewith forward you .1 full and detailed icport of the whole of the pinueedingt? in connection with the woikintj of thu tramway sinca my tilctng it o\ei ftniii Mi Adams, and aUo befoie. When I Iji'Lome sole manager, I leccivcd fiom Mi Ad.un-i an nnentoiy <if the whole of the belongings &.c. of the tianiway. 1 found himevei, them weie many things wo weie u-ing m the tramway shop that belonged to the battery company ; the->o I was obliged to replace, such as vyce, blocks, rope, stocks, and dies, <!fcc. Respecting tho voik. of cat punter and blacksmith, about winch there appears to bo some nusappieheiiaion, I may state that the line was never without 11 carpenter for any long peiiod. When the lino started to work after tho new ye.v, there were 6 trucks lying about the line completely disabled, thc»e tho caipentei has repaired, and during the hot suiiimei weather a carpenter is constantly required in the shop; the timber bin inking causes bolts to slacken, which must be attended to ; the brakes also wear out very much faster during hot weather, thus necessitating the constant attendance of a carpenter. There are also a gieat many rollers on the line which constantly icquiie renesving. Respecting the blacksmith, when there is nothing for him to do in the .shop he takes a station on the line, but should any accident happen to a truck, a blacksmith is as much required as a carpenter. The hoises require shoeing about once a month, and an occasional shoe between whiles. He also does any outside work for any of the companies. Formeily there woie two blacksmiths employed ocsasion.tlly, one fin shoeing, and the batteiy blacksmith foi any woik that requited doing on the line. Now tiie one blacksmith does both, and as I waid befoie when there is nothing to do in the shop he takes a .station on the line. This also applies to tho caipenter. We h.i\o now a staff of 11 men and boy.-, and foui horses. The expense of this staff daily, when the line is working, is fi ."ss. To meet this expenditure, allwcioquire is 2"> trucks, and had wo plenty of qu;uU we could mn down to tho batteiy easily 40 trucks a day, w Jiich over and above 25 trucks would be profit, This would be 15 tiucks a day at 4s (id, 43 7s fld a week, £20 5s a month, fi.Sl • deduct 50 per cent, wear and tear and slips leaves £40 10s. We aie now woiking the line about two days a week in consequence of the \ cry small output from the mines. The men naturally are very discontented at this especially when they »re kept so long waiting foi then wago». It has been suggested that the line could be woiked by a \ery small staff, say five, and follow tho trucks fiom top to bottom, I oitnuot sco how this could be dime, unless tho number of trucks weio increased to 15 ; wo have now 30. Another thing against it, tho loops or stations are all too shoit. The longest of them will only hold about 10, and May Queen station only si* trucks. Dutiug Mr Adams' management tho greatest day's run we ever hud was G!) trucks, with the following btatf :— l9 men and three boys, five hoi .sos, and worked 12 horn«. I was then traffic manager, and was continually up and down the line. Since our staff has been so i educed I ennhne myself to a stolon, and I havo Miftioient conntlenoo in my men to know that they do their duty.— l have tho honour to be, gentlemen, your most obedient servant, ErniLNn Cook^on', Tiamway Manngor.

"Who is that man applauding so voci ferously near the hont?" asked afneiul of a theatrical manager on the fiist produc tioii in an up towu thcntro. "That lotitfhaireb man with a light colored coat?" '•Yes." "He— he's the author ol the play." A "notion" seller was offering Yankee clocks, linely varnished and colored, and with a looking glass in fiont.to a lady not remarkable for her personal beaut) . "Why, it's beautiful!" said the vendor. "Beautiful, indeed! a look at it ihnost frightens mo!" said the lady. "Well ma am," replied Jonathan, "Iguess you'd better buy one tljat hain't got no looking glass. 1 ' Ihe Waipa County Council intend to make at its next meeting, a special rate of tli-j l-57th part of a penny in the £. Ihe defaulters list and tho burgess roll of the IWough of Hamilton arc now open for inspection Mr J. S. Buckland will sell at Cambridge on liiuisday next, 10Q0 cues from Napier, fat cattle mil mixed cattle from I'iako. On Tuesday, the Htli mst , at Ohaupo, 2000 wethers from Napier, o\cn, fat cons, &c, &c. Mr k. Artlmr, auctioneer, will sell at his Mart, Auckland, on Friday, the 10th inst., the firm now in thcoroipitton of Mr W Oinltrouph, Ki'ukiiii AUu ,i number ul .ilkuinuiti in t h<_ tUWliblup.