AFTER 30 YEARS

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 265, 4 August 1932, Page 5

AFTER 30 YEARS

Last Tunnel Pierced TARANAKI RAILWAY Dominion Special Service. Stratford, August 8. To mark the piercing of the last funnel on the Taranaki Main Trunk railway, there was a small function held yesterday in the gloom of the tunnel 400 feet beneath the top of the ridge. There were present, among others: Messrs. Percy Thomson, Mayor of Stratford, P. Keller, District Engineer of Public Works, B. G. Annand, and R. Dawson, assistant-engineers in charge of the eastern and western sections of the line respectively. “I believe the piercing of this tunnel is symbolic of the future," said Mr. Thomson. “The piercing of this hill indicates the overcoming of the last obstacle in the construction of the line and just as we are able to see daylight through it we are beginning to see daylight in the affairs of the world." Mr. Thomson congratulated Mr. Keller and the engineers on the rapid progress made, and referred to the fact that the new line would save from 12 to 13 hours on the journey from Taranaki to Auckland. Mr. Keller also congratulated the

workmen on the service they had rendered. It is 30 years since the first sod of this line was turned at Stratford and many engineering difficulties have had to be overcome. The most difficult section is that between Pahoa and Ohura, where in a distance of 23 miles there are no fewer than 24 tunnels, exactly four miles being underground. The last tunnel completed is 52| chains in length. Only 21 miles of permanent way now remain to be completed. In the centre of the ridge pierced by the No. 4 tunnel the land drops down into a gully containing a small stream. The floor of the gully was too high to allow the stream to be taken underneath the tunnel, and it was impossible to break the latter and build a bridge. The engineer’s made a temporary dam, ran the tunnel straight through, and used the outside curve of the concrete as a spillway to take the stream'on its course. Special reinforcement was necessary for this unique work and a protective surge chamber had also to be formed.

At a recent committee meeting of the Wanganui Boxing Association the question was raised as to whether amateur boxers from any* part of New ’Zealand could enter in a local tournament, even if the tournament was called the "X District Amateur Boxing Tournament.” Some members said that that meant that only boxers from that could compete, but experienced men present said that in their younger days they had boxed in tournaments outside their own districts and won events. No complaints had been made. Comment was made that if that were the case competitors from Christchurch and Invercargill or Auckland and Hamilton could rightly enter in the Wanganui district championships if they so wished. Reference to the rule book failed to show any reason why this should not be so, and the rules of other amateur boxing associations in other parts of the world apparently permitted boxers from outside centres to enter in local tournaments.