TIE ELECTRIC TRAMS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIII, Issue 273, 17 November 1902, Page 7

TIE ELECTRIC TRAMS.

INAUGURAL FUNCTION

A SUCCESSFUL RUN

, A little over fifteen months ago, on . August 1, 1901, the first ground was . broken in connection w7ith the lay- > ing of the. rails for the Auckland . Electric Tramways Company—to-day saw the inauguration of the serj vice. l During the comparatively short in- . terval the large sum of £120,000 has . been spent locally in the laying of . rails, the fixing of posts and wires, . the erection of the power house and ; depots, etc. To this must be added . the heavy sums spent in England and [ America for cars rails, posts, eni gines etc., the total being sufficient ■to absorb the company's capital of i £300,000. The lines laid measure ; about 20 miles, mostly double track, :in single track there being about 34 i miles of lines laid, all of this having been done in a little over a year, while the power-house and the de- : pots have been put up in. considerably less time. Several delays, altogether unavoidable by the company, have occurred, preventing the starting of the cars >on the date fixed in the Order-in-Cotmcil giving authority for the service, June 1. A railway strike in America delayed the arrival of the : rails, the machinery for the powerstation was delayed by lengthened trips of the New York steamers, and ' the wet weather hindered the work of laying the rails, so that nearly three months of unavoidable delay occurred. , The proceedings in connectior. with : the inauguration of the service opened at the power house in Albertstreet at half-past twelve, when a. large crowd of invited guests assembled within the building, examining the generator, the three large ; dynamos, and the switchboard from which the currents are Worked. Among those present were Sir John Logan Campbell, Comte de Courte (French Consul), Revs. Canon MacMurray, Father Patterson, Rabbi Goldstein, Canon Nelson, Professor. i Thomas, C. Seegner (German Consul), Lang-guth (Austrian Consul), Drs. Purchas (2), Colonel Banks, Prof. F. ID. Brown. Capt. Jackson Barry, Dr. E. W. Sharman, Graves. Aiokin, Bruce Lloyd, G. W. S. Patterson, W. B. Holgate, A. Cleave, 13. W. Alison, J. Batger, A. E. Devore, J. Winks, J. M. Laxon, A. B. Heather, J. McColl, W. W ra.re, W. R. Bloomfield, V. J. Lamer, C. V. Houghton, S. T. George, W. Berry, J. Patterson, W. Beehan, J. Jameson, J. Obok, W. Percival, G. 1 Fowkls, W. Kerr-Tnylor, W. M. Men- ■ nic, W. J. W. Philson, E D. O'Rorke, .A. P. Wilson, B. Kent, A. J. Entrican. A. Kohn, S. Cochrane, Hon. T. Thompson. J. Brinsden, T. Gresham, A. M. ' Myers, R. W. de Mohtalk, J. Bf iggs, J, i Fitt, W. Petford, W. Gilmer,, J, Mit--5 ehel'l, G. George, W. Lambert, J. Court, J. Savage, J. Kirker, R. Salmon, 'M. Clafk, A. Hanna, Wilson-Smith, S. ■ Voile, A. Millar, J. H. Upton, B. Gilt mer, A. Willing, T. Cotter, T. W. Leys, F. E. N. Crombie, J. H. Upfill. J. M. Brigham, A. J. B. ,Arvine, N. McLean, F. Hull, G. Wood, J. T. Julian, and rnnnv others. After the company had inspected ■ the machinery contained within the power house Mr Paul M. Hansen, at- . tornev for the company, accompanied by Mr Alfred Kidd (Mayor)," Sir John Logan Campbell, Mr H. Wilson (town clerk), Mr James Stewart, • C.E., Mr Carey, electrical engineer for the company, and Mr Turner, attorney for Messrs J. G. White and . Company, ascended the platform ■ from which the switches are worked, j and after a selection had been played by Hunter's Garrison Band the generator was started going. A few minutes after Mr Hansen, on behalf oj! his company, requested Mr Kidd to turn on the electrical current for the ■ line. Mr Kidd then depressed the lever by means of which the current was switched to the line amid loud apt plause. Addressing the company, Mr Kidd said that nothing during the term of his office had given him greater pleasure than to assist in opening that important work. On August Ist ol last, year he had the pleasure of turning the. first stone 'in connection with the work, and they would remember that the day being , gloomy and rainy Mr Hansen remarked that he thought it was the angeii weeping for gladness because the work had been started. When he (Mr Kidd) awoke this morning and found that it was raining again lie could not help thinking that the angels were weeping for joy that the work was finished. The work was one of the largest undertakings carried out in New Zealand in connection' with a private company or a municipality, and would do an immense deal of good to the city and its surroundings. (Applause.) When they remembered the serious troubles which occurred during the execution of the work —bad weather, the winter having been the worst for continuous rain that he remembered, and all the work being outside, the disaster to the. power house bjr the falling of a girder, the fire which destroyed a portion of the materials, and the strikes in America—they would understand that the work had been delayed by no fault of the company. There was n littis delay iv the formation of the company, but both the company and the contractors had done all in their power to bring" the matter to a successful issue in the time that*was arranged. They would all agree that ■tbfl delays which had occurred were unavoidable, because the company could not foresee them and provide against them. The work had not been skipped to save time, but had been done in very satisfactorily, and in this opinion he was backed up by "n expert in tho city engineer. Most capable supervision had been exercised by Mr. Jns. Stewart and the other supervisors, who were all jen of experience and sound judg-ment. !tL work would cost nearly £450,000 and would do an enormous amount o Set zsra sT^om the "cars would be inestimable. Workmen would be able to leave the crowded parts in the city and living- as far away as Onehunga would be able to reach town in almost the same time a 5 from the Three Lamps at present. They would all feel proud to think that Auckland ( was the first city in New Zealand to j

undertake that great work and bring it to a successful conclusion throughout the whole of the city and suburbs. Mr. Kidd referred to the excellent services 6f Messrs. Turner and Carey in carrying oiit the work. He went on to say that though there had been considerable trouble at times everything had been arranged smoothly, an-d the clouds had all been dispelled. They would remember that when the matter was first talked about people said that the work would never be started, and when it was started they said it would never be finished. Well, it had been finished now. The starting of the cars would mark an epoch in the city's progress. Mr. Kidd concluded by calling for three cheers for Mr. Hansen. The invitation was heartily responded to, after which Mr Hansen thanked the assembly for the honour they had done Mm, and then asked them to give 'three cheers for His Worship the Mayor (Mr A. Kidd). The cheers were heartily given, the band playing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow." The. assembly then left the power house, and proceeded to the foot of Queen-street, opposite the Tramway Company's offices, where six cars ■were waiting to convey them to the Choral Hall, where luncheon was provided for the guests. Three of the, cars were despatched from the Ponsonby depot early in the morning, and remained on the roadway until the party was ready to start. All the •morning4 they were surrounded by crowds of people, and their attractive appearance, comfortable- seating accommodation, and general elegance, were tbe subject of much favourable oomoaent. -A full description of the cars has already appeared in our col- '■ Uinns, and it is only necessary to add ' that on the street they look very attractive, the dark red panels contrasting well with the bright yellow sides and tops. The cars are not disfigured externally by advertisements, the number of the ear and the monogram of the company being all. which appears on the outside. A crowd numbering several thousand people gathered round the cars before the hour at which they were timed to start, 1.15 p.m. When all the cars were filled with guests, Mr Hansen stepped to the front of the first car, and addressing Sir John Logan Campbell, said that on behalf of Jiis company he had the honour to ask Sir John to start the first electric tram car in this city. Knowing that to drive an electric car, or any other passenger vehicle in the city without a license rwas illegal, and /furtfcher knowing that Sir John would not do anything against the law, he had taken the liberty to take out a motoranan's license for Sir John, which he would ask the town clerk (Mr H. Wilson) to present. Mr Wilson then presented the license, wihich was handsomely bound in red leather, with silver corners and clasps.

(Continued on page 2.)