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THE OTIRA TUNNEL.

OPENING CEREMONY. MARRED BY CONTINUOUS RAIN. SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER. (BY TELEGRAPH. —PRESB ASSOCIATION.) Otira, May 5. i Tho West Coast deserved it's, name of the Wot Coast yesterday, when the opening ceremony of the Otira tunnel took place. During tho night a north-westerly gale .sprang: up, accompanied by thunder, and lightning, and. this morning the rain camp' down'in ■ torrents, and continued to fall throughout the day. A great disappointment was felt at the Christchurch 1 representatives beijig stuck up at the Bealey owing to. the high , state of tho river.' The Railway Department had made elaborate arrangements' for carrying threo thousand people, and only about three'hundred braved tho elements,.including Lady Ward and several other ladies. At'.. Otira the weather was wretched, tho ram coding down as is only known to West Coasters. The Otira River was running - ; bank high, and , the walk'of two miles to the tulinel site was .anything b\it agreeable. ; ' : .' ■ 1 ' ■ ; AT THE SCENE OF' OPE/RATIONS. On arrival at the scene, of operations, Mr. Bruce (County Chairman of Westland) introduced the Prime Minister, and expressed the pleasure all felt at the commencement of a ■ : ■ Vl rru was ®®tional importance. lhe Hon. A. R. Guinness explained tho active part lie had taken since 1885 in tho• movement for the' counling of the Midland Railway. '.. Mr..O'Halloran, the. only Canterbury reprosentativc who had got through, said.it. was ' .a proud day for him to take part in tho ceremony of starting the "hole in.the hill." (Applause.) SPEECH BY SIR- J. G. WARD. ; Sir J. G. Ward was greeted with cheere when he rose to speak. ,: Hp stated. that the .Work that they were commemorating that day was one of historical importance. Thfl Government had_[iot without 'a good deal of ' opposition sanctioned the undertaking, hut ' ho was confident thfit the Government were only studying .the welfare of tjjo. community ■in,letting tjie contracts' He traced the great progress the West Coast had made during the last_ five years, riot only in population, but in industries.The. West, Coast would SII9W out in . importance, and: tjie . rich rft-' ■■ ■ sources of the aistrict 1 would be developed. The timber industry had made rapicl strides, and the export had reached fifty-pile raiJKon feet annually. The coal export had increased considerably, and the flax industry was satisfactory./ The .resources of. the West Coast were enormous, and tjie opening of the railway to connect Christchurch would be the moans of developing . the, Coast. J3e felt sure that that day would mark an epoch in tho history of the Coast. The Government had done right in forwarding this great work, . and it was due to thejr late, chief Cth3 late Right-Hon; Mr, Seddon). ,'lf' the present • Ministry , had: not -taken the responsibility they wopld have been accused of cowardice. . .• He regretted-that so many enthusiastic citi- . zens of Canterbury had been • dolayed . at Otira. "• . ■ ■ 'V ■ . . THE FIRST SHOT FIRED. The Premier then touched the electnc but- ■ ton, and the first shot of the Otira tunnel l y was fired'amidst-great cheering. • ■■ : 1 . Mrs. /M'Lean then presented Sir J. < G. t Ward with a handsome;silver casket,'suitably inscribed, as a : memento of the occasion. . ■ Sir J. G, Ward thanked the.contractors fortheir kind present; wjiioh he would cherish. He;wished the contractors every success in v the undertaking. - ,-y : Throe choers were then given for the Premier and the contractors. ■ An -adjournment., was ...then made to the banquet hall, .wliere ,a : pleasant hour was ■spent.; - Speoohes'"in commemoration of the oeoaskm were* madeKarid the Premier was ■*• thanked and-'Cheered ;fpr taking part in the . ■gathering, , . ■■~; - . . Tho, party left Otira at 6, o'clock for Grej:mputh, wejl ! satisfied with 'the outing,; although the raitv throughout -the day did '.ribt' cease for one moment. .' i l ..- H'.. -\ CANTERBURY VISITORS BLOCKED. yXpS TELEGEAPH.-rSPECIAi COBHMPdSDBST.)... ' ' ' Christchurch, May 0. News received from the representatives of the Christchurch' Press at the Arthur's Pass tunnel ' inauguration- this afternoon / indicated-that the weather, with a perversity truli? typical of the West Coast and;more particularly of the Otira,'had to a large extent - spoiled ■ the Bain fell all night with steady persistency,- ' and : there was every indication • of - the Btorm continuing all, day in a soddening downpour. ', The Waimakariri 1 at the Bealey is impassable,"' and : ' the passengers y from Christchurch are blocked. The only representatives of Canterbury at the ceremony will be ; the veteran, Mr. John O'Halloran, and representatives'.'-'-'of the Christchurch . newspapers, who .alone put of the uUmber; who made the trip from Christcliurch' crossed the river and reached Otira: last night. Among the party.? thus >yp?therbpund on. the .wrong - sidp of the'river is Mrs. 'R., J.' and a number .of the representative'business mop '. of Christchurch, who have for years interested themselves in the progress of the Midland , Railway.; The tiro trains from Greymouth brought about 800 visjtors, a number that wonl3;have: been, considerably larger 1 if_ the . weather-conditions had been more propitious. ■ . 'Advice-frpni- t!ie 'Telegraph Department. > regarding the state of, the river at' the Bealey. at three o'clock this afternoon was that it ■ was eight feet above the normal; Heavy rain was still falling-ahd • there i is every indication of a big flood. EARLY HISTORY, ■ , Arthur's Pass, the present road connection between-Canterbury and: Westland, which is to be superseded to a large cxtont by the tunnel, was never officially named, but received its title froih a casual reference. Tho story goes that in tho early days Mr. A. D. Dobson, now.. City Surveyor -. of Christchurch,' discovered the Pass at a time when connection with tho .West Coast was a .matter.; of exploration; more or less. . TIIO Pass 1 was. generally' ..as a 1 great improvement on anything previously known, but a reward was offered for the discovery of another pass •as good' or better. ■ Apparently there / were, 'different'routes un--der consideration, for a relative of Mr. Dob- . son, then in the Government service, - was asked to report on them; He reported that- ~ he could find none' better than "Arthur's . Pass," his reference being merely to Mr. Dobson's Christian name, and not to any name that the Pass had then recoived. Tho < name, however, stuck •: to the . Pass, and Arthur's Pass it will probably remain. : 'THE WORK. . When tho work of bonus the tunnel has been commenced, it' will be carried on continuously day and night, except on Sun-' v days. • . In conversation with a "Times" reporter, Mr. Murdoch M'Lean said the completed tunnel will be 17ft. high by loft, wide, but the first shaft will be miiclr smaller. Tho skilled men who will be:boring,into the moun- ... tam frpm either end will cut a; tunnel 9ft. by 7ft, Nino-men will, form a,'shift at; the face, six .of whom /will work the pneumatio drills, and the other three will-be in attendance on the drillers,. , There will bo other men carrying away debris and as-' sisting tho nine men at the face, the number' varying according to the needs of the hour,; The drills, driven by compressed air with powor derived from ' water-driven' Polton wheels, will boro into tho solid , rock to & depth of 4ft. 6iu. Thirteen or fourteen holes will bo mado at the face, at points distributed over its entire surface, and then tho blasts will be inserted. Thirty or forty pounds of gelignite will form a charge, a; portion in , each hole. The firing will be done by electrical charge, an elcctrio exploder firing .the ohargos in sections. A blast will, remove; from eleven to twelve cubic yards of the solid rock, and advance tho tunnel from two to two and a half yards. Eaoh day should, see an advance of from oighteon -to twenty-two < feet. When the tunnel is a'Jong, way in, . 1 apparatus will be installed to scatter a fiiia spray of water in tho air at the fact, thus ' absorbing the fumes and clearing the air of dust. The work of enlarging the tunnel to its full width and lining it with concrete ' in terms of contract will be carried on about half a mile behind the boring gang, so there may be no danger from blasta.

Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19080506.2.27

Bibliographic details

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 190, 6 May 1908, Page 6

Word Count
1,335

THE OTIRA TUNNEL. Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 190, 6 May 1908, Page 6

THE OTIRA TUNNEL. Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 190, 6 May 1908, Page 6

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