COMMUNICATION RESTORED.

Press, Volume L, Issue 14983, 2 June 1914, Page 5

COMMUNICATION RESTORED.

EXCELLENT WORK BY TELEGRAPH STAFFS.

(press association- TKL-GH-M.. WAKAPUAKA, Juno 1. Excellent work by two staffs, under the respective control of Mr Kemp, engineer of the New Zealand Telegraph Department, and Messrs M. Black and .1. Hanron, of the Eastern Extension Company, resulted in complete restoration, within a few hours, of communication between Cable Bay and Nelson, Blenheim, Wellington, and Wanganui, on the one hand, and between Cablo Bay and Sydney on tho other.

A temporary office has been established by the Cable Company, and all work is now proceeding with the usual despatch.

Tho cable oflicefi that have been destroyed were erected by the New Zealand Government about seventeen years ago. Before that time, the buiidiii|t referred to as "the bungalow" was used as the combined office for the Government and cable staffs. For the. last two or threo years the whole of the cable and telegraphic work of tho station has been carried out by the Eastern Extension Cable Company's staff, but prior to that the New Zealand Telegraph Department had a fairly strong staff located there for the purpose of handling the cable messages on the New Zealand land lines. That work is now done by tho cable staff, which occupied tho whole of tho building destroyed. The ground floor of the building was used as a battery-room (and storeroom, tho offices being on the floor above. Before the departure of the New Zealand Government staff from the station "tho bungalow" was occtipied as a residence by the senior operator. The cable station at Cable Bay, about sixteen miles from Nelson, is ono of the "show" places of the district. The Cable Company's officials aro always willing to explain to visitors the wonderful mechanism of tho instrnraentand there must be thousands of people throughout New Zealand who have pleasant recollections of the hospit.ality of .the little telegraph settlement on the shores of Tasman Bay. A large number of tho New Zealandens who are now in tho service ot the Eastern' Extension Cable Company in Australia, and in the Far East, received their training in the offices that wero destroyed yesterday morning. Tho interruption of cablo communication at Wakapuaka, .fortunately, did not havo the effect of " isolating" New Zealand from tho rest of the world, as would have been the ease a, few years ago, before the pacific Cable -was laid between Brisbane and Doubtless Bay (North of Auckland). The destruction of the instrument- at Wakapuaka caused the whole of the cable work to and from New Zealand to be temporarily diverted to the Pacific Cable route via Auckland, but. thanks to tho excellent work of the Telegraph staffs complete communication was restored in a few hours, advices received from Wakapuaka last night stating that traffic "via Waka" was bcin-_: handled as usual'