HUTT VALLEY NEWS

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 91, 11 January 1935, Page 6

HUTT VALLEY NEWS

WATCHING THE RIVER

Man Who Knows Every Pebble That Moves “PART OF THE FAMILY” Every pebble that moves in the Hutt River is noticed by Mr. Alfred Searle, one of the two foremen of the Hutt River Board. That is the tribute of persons in the valley who follow the long, winding, stretch of water that begins away back beyond Upper Hutt. And even the foreman does not consider it a great exaggeration, because for 40 years he has watched the peculiar habits of this river, its swinging out from one part of the •banks to another in its craze for a different course. He has planted pines and willows along the banks and watched them grow to a stage when they begin to be coveted by the factory owner, seen some of the worst floods in the history of the river, and compared them with the tranquil waters at present used mainly for the comfort of bathers. Indeed he will say the river to him is like part of the family. . , , Perhaps it is this energetic interest—for his job calls for vigour—that so well preserves this 70-year-old Cornishman, who has been employed by the board for some 14 years. At six o’clock in the morning he will leave his house in. Tennyson Avenue, Lower Hutt, and for the best part of the day parade his favourite area. Unconscious Tribute. An unconscious tribute to Mr. Searle was paid by the secretary of the River Board when a reporter called there yesterday for information about the river. “See our foreman,” he said. “He can tell you everything you want to know about it.” , The foreman was not at home. He was investigating again tlie ravages of the fire that wiped out several young pines in the board’s estate a short time ago. Possibly he was thinking what he would like to do to the vandals who nearly caused the total loss of the Hutt Gun Club’s property, and the timber mill that stands near Mabey’s Road. That tire spoilt a day of Mr. Searle's annual leave, for he and a party of the board’s employees had to fight it out with sacks soaked in water. As it is.his own animals have to graze in a neighbour’s paddock, for the flames ruined his Mr. gearle has great admiration for the board’s engineers, both past and present,; and will speak of the excellent work they have done for the ratepayers of the Hutt, of how they have checked the waters by stop-bank, boom’groynes and stone weir from pursuing a haphazard course. The present engineer had got the river back at Mabey’s Road to the point half a mae further out intended 1 by his predecessor, the late Mr. L. Meason. It was necessary, in spite of contrary views, for this long stream to be controlled by engineers, he said. ■ , ~ The foreman is emphatic that you can t work a straight river. It must have its natural turns, for otherwise it would keep rising all the time. Some thought wrongly that it could be straight from end to end. Tree Planting.

At Haywards, said Mr. Searle, the board had planted, between 14 and lo thousand pines, which were anything from 15 to -0 feet tall at present. Ten pence a year was the value of these pines, which took 40 years before they were ready for the mill. Willows, too, were put in every year, and it was only a matter of a few years when they would extend right along the river. These were cut from time to time and put into water to grow again. Then they were stripped and sent to a factory at Palmerston North, where they were made into prams and that sort of thing. The proceeds all went to assist the ratepayers. Two to three hundred thousand willows were in one bed at Haywards alone. Unfortunately nine chains of them had been destroyed 1 by fire at one spot in the Stellin Estate. In the 14 years he had been in the board’s employ the biggest flood he had seen was in 1931, when the waters washed away every fence that was the property of the board. But for the stopbank no Jhouses in the Hutt would have been left. As it was two homes were demolished. He had seen many worse floods in the 40 years he had lived at the Hutt, but, of course, there were only one or two buildings there then. Every January and April Mr. Searle and' his gang clears the Waiwetu Stream to make it suitable for boating. The planting is about May. But all the year round there is plenty to keep him busy, but not too busy, for he is never happier than when going at top. In spite of his 70 years, it is said that, in the parade of the river, the gang is always pleased to take a rest before the foreman tires. PLAYER FAREWELLED B. A. Killeen, Hutt Rugby Club Supporters of the Hutt Rugby Football Club met in the gymnasium last evening, to bid farewell to Mr. B. A. Killeen, the club’s five-eighth, who is leaving the district on transfer to Auckland. In the absence of the president, Sir Alexander Roberts, Major T. King presided, and spoke of the regret all felt at the loss of so popular a member of the senior team. Major King said that all his old clubmates would follow Killeen’s football career with the greatest interest, and he personally felt confident that in the . near future he would be selected as one of the All Blacks to visit the Old Country. On behalf of the members of the club he wished him every success for the future, and asked him to accept a handsome rug as a small token of their esteem. Mr. Killeen spoke of his early associations with the club, and said that after eleven years as a playing member, he had made many friends, and regretted the parting. He thanked his friends for their good wishes and for the useful present.