SEATOUN TRAMWAY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 55, 28 November 1907, Page 7

SEATOUN TRAMWAY.

; MIRAMAR PENINSULAR. : \ ! THE PAST AND THE PRESENT. A few- years ago. Seatoun, Worser Bay-t yea, even Lyell liny—wore isolated spots, vaguely situated somewhere to tlio south-' .'cast, 'where tlio .-foot- or man—Wellington seldom trod. At times a ie,v .souls, made .these places'their objectives For week-end walks, and. surprised sundry;'rabbits'and fowls of tho air. '.'llerC'iind'.there, jn .somo sheltered cranny, 'stood a, fisherman's hut;, his boat lay. 011 tho beach, his nets Were festooned on, .dryingpoles, and deep peace lay upon tlifc vicinity. The iMiramar Peninsula itself was dedicated to sheep and cattle, the pilot station, and the .Defence Department. • • . Among,the grass and small brusli, Iny relics -■.of.a; '.forgotten past. '.Green-stone axes, moabones,. and grisly skeletons yielded themselves to the persistent investigations of enthusiastic antiquaries, who said', " What mean these things?" The relics testified to sanguinary conllicts, cannibal orgies, and other incidents of barbarian epochs. But that was years ago. The übiquitous 'p'akcha'h'as swarmed .all over sacred, history, and has desecrated with his modern wharcs the ancient war-grounds'of tho former lords' of the soil. A visit to these remoto outskirts is no longer a day's undertaking to bo seriously contemplated, and carried out at expense of much solc-leathor and", muscular tissue. With the tide-like advance of population, these lonely wastes have become settled and civilised, and tramways, artories of 7a' great city,? reach? out' to-.the farthest limits like tho feelers of an octopus. With tho 'completion of the Seatoun lino, tho Wellington, tramway system may bo said to bo, .in an elementary sense;.- - , True, tho ends of the important-lilies still remain to be joined. TheVo arc several little things still to be done,, but concerned for'tho. present with the glow of anticipation which" 'suffuses tho population of- Seatoun. On Monday nest the Government Inspecting Engineer will go over, the track from tho ,city boundary on the Jliramar Isthmus, to the terminus of the section at Seatoun, and if his report is, siatisfactoryj tho lino will probably bo cptjiv-ftir trnflic 011 Thursday. The pliraso; "Tlifr mills of the gods grind slowly," might boiused as an appropriate rdforence to the construction. of this Jiilc. In-tho first place, by tho death of tho contractor (Mr. Saunders), to whom the work of constructing the tunnel was originally let, tlio big contract ■received its; first check. The executorship in -tlio business was vested in tho Public TrUstoo, and the contract was transferred to Mr. M'Gratb, who subsequently died after a long illness. The work again lagged, and ' the Public Trustee tool; tho contract in hand; Tlio principal feature 011 this section is, of course, tho tunnel, which, although not the longest in Australasia, is by far the largest. The tunnel is 469 foot long, and is 27 feet wide at.the base. On either side are asphalt footpaths,; 3 feet 6 inches wide. Between tho tramway' and tho northern footpath is a. 20 feet road of tarred maoadam fcr vehicular traffic. Single-decker cars will, of courso, bo used, and from tho city boundary to the Seatoun terminus, a distanco of 1934 yards (a little over a milo), the faio will be ono penny. ,

Tha. steamer Manaioa will make a special fr',.). : to Pelorus Sound, .'leaving at ten o clock this mornibK. The .vefcsel' -will for ah' bays,' but only carry passengers for Haveloot