THE AROHA TRAMWAY.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2202, 19 August 1886, Page 2

THE AROHA TRAMWAY.

TO IHE KDITOR. •Sir,— l beg respectfully to make the following .statement, without prejudice, in reference to the commissioner's report on tho county tramway. They report that during the day-> on which the tramway wan not working they failed to >cc how all hands were employed. Taking the last fire weeks as a guide, I beg to submit the following records taken from the diary : — During tho time specified the tramway ran quartz 17 day> ; H day* they were cleanup slips and repairing line, and the remaining four days they were working on streets in the township. 1 hiring those 17 days we carried over the line 403 ti neks oi a fraction under 2+ truck.s per day. Your cornmisoioners report 12, but they have evidently struck an average toi the wholv five weeks without giving me credit for slips or any other work beyond wot king the line. The commhsioneis also state that the horse grade from the top of Butler's Spur to the foot of May C^ueen ha« not been kept properly ballasted, and th.it water is allowed to lodge. Now, Sir, allow me to state that the commissioners as commissioners, 'did not visit the horse grade referred to ; they only reached the flag pole at bottom of Butler's Spur, and returned thence to the tramway office. The horse grade in question is the be«t ball ihted portion of the line, and I fail to see how any right-thinking body of men, if they know anything at all about horse tramways, could fail to report otherwise, unless they choose to be guided entiiely by the opinion of one individual. They report al«o that they have been informed that quantities of firewood have been carried over the line free of charge. I beg to state that this is utterly without foundation. All firewood is charged for, and returned to the council as haulage, &c., except what the staff requne for their own u>e, and this is cut and! sawn down the line in their own time. I always make it a rule to allow the men on the line this privilege. The commissioner* would infer that the tramway his been robbed of its re\ enue. With regird to tho remai ks made by some of the councillor, that r did not i educe the staff until the commissioners appeared, I beg to s-tate that as so >n as the works in the township and hill track were finibhed I immediately reduced the hands by five. In making these few comments, I do so without pieiudtce, and only in the interests of fair play. I cannot help expressing my strongest disapproval of the cowardly and ungentlemanly remarks made by Councillor Gould, in reference to myself and the Premier Hotel, at tho last meeting of the council. — I am, yours obediently, Edmund Cook>on\ Tramway Manager.

Axotulk old Landmark.— An f>ld London tavern of some historic interest— the Horns, at Kennington — is abont to be pulled down and rebuilt. The Horns tavern played its part, nearly 50 years ago, in one of the political dramas of modern times. It was in the drawingroom there that Lord Melbourne sat, looking at Kennington Commen, when he sent for Fergus O'Connor and warned him that if the troops were ordered to tire upon the army ot the Physical Force movement which he had assembled, they would aim at the leader, and not at the masses. The march on London never came off, Lord Melbourne returned in peace to Downing-street, and O'Connor to the House of Commons. Afterwards the common was in due course enclosed, and ceased to be a rallying ground for politicians. Mr F. Williams, ul olesale and retail fish and o>stcr dealer, Aucklnnd, announces in amother column that he h.is alnays on hand a lanfe stock of smoked fish. Country orders punctually attended to.