"A HOPELESS TASK"

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 110, 5 November 1937, Page 8

"A HOPELESS TASK"

NEW PLYMOUTH TRAMS

OFFICIAL RESIGNS. A WEEK AFTER APPOINTMENT

(By Telearaph.) (Special to the "Eveninu Ppst.") NEW PLYMOUTH, This Day. The recently-appointed superintendent of tramways at New Plymouth at a salary of £400 a year, Mr. R. i. Pentecost, some years ago a tramway inspector and later a borough councillor, resigned the week after his appointment because he said everything was worn out. "I withdrew from tne position when I saw the condition of the service, which made the task hopeless," said Mr. Pentecost. "The Borough Council reduced the number of applicants for the position to five, and four of those who had previous tramway experience withdrew. Two were from outside New Plymouth, and they decided not to take the job after they had looked into the position. One did not meet the council and the other had no intention of accepting the position when he did. I resigned after I had time to look thoroughly, into the position, and the fourth man would not accept consideration for the position when the appointment of my successor was before the council." -. The Borough Council's reply to Mr. Pentecost quoted a report made to the council by an Auckland applicant with wide experience, who expressed the opinion that the plant was not worn out and that "with care and efficient control the undertaking generally could be carried on for a few more years without the need of any great expenditure other than ordinary maintenance charges." Parts of the track, however, he considered were in very bad order, and he recommended consideration of the replacement of trams by buses on certain routes. _