OPEN FOR SERVICE

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 2, 3 July 1939, Page 10

OPEN FOR SERVICE

RAILWAY TO WAIROA

PUBLIC ENTHUSIASM

(By Telegraph—Press Association.)

WAIROA, July 1

With the Minister of Railways, the Hon. D. G. Sullivan, at the controls, the railcar Aotea broke through a rib- ■ bon across the track that from now on 1 brings rail communication fx-om . Napier. For Wairoa the event signi- : fied the greatest advance in the history of the district since the first sod was • turned by Sir Joseph Ward in 1911. Public enthusiasm showed itself in the crowded streets, colourful decorations, and'continual bursts of cheering at the opening ceremony. The speakers at this function, and later at the dinner tendered to the visiting Ministerial party by the local bodies of the district, j drew a remarkable picture of the tremendous difficulties encountered in the construction of the line, with its nine tunnels, five viaducts, and numerous deviations and bridges. First there had been the disastrous earthquakes of 1931 and 1932, and then, just when the completion of the line was in sight, one of the worst floods in the history of the Dominion had occurred, 22 persons losing their lives and whole sections of the line being swept away. The official party at the ceremony arrived from Napier by the railcar Aotea at 2.30 p.m. They were greeted on the platform by Mr. H. L. Harker, Mayor of Wairoa, and Mr. A. T. Carroll, chairman of the Wairoa County Council. Bouquets were presented to Mrs. Sullivan and Mrs. Semple by two Maori maidens, and several picturesque waiatas were presented by a Native party as part of the Maori welcome. After the inaugural speeches and the opening ceremony, the Hon. R. Semple unveiled the memorial tablet to the ten Public Works employees who lost their lives during the construction of the line. A dinner at night was attended by a large number of residents of the district and local body officials. GREAT BENEFITS EXPECTED. Mr. Carroll, chairman of the County Council, in his speech of welcome, said the new line would develop the treasures that had been stored for so long. He hoped the remainder of the line through to Gisborne would be opened at ah early date. Mr. E. L. Cullen, M.P. for Hawke's Bay, referred to the great benefits that would accrue to farmers. He pointed to the likelihood of Wairoa's again being isolated in case of earthquake, and asked for an aerodrome that would fill the gap in any such emergency. Sir Apirana Ngata, M.P. for Eastern Maori, who led the Maoris in a spirited haka of welcome, said the railway should be completed right round into the Bay of Plenty. "Southern Auckland and the Bay of Plenty form the largest undeveloped district in New Zealand, with some two milion acres yet to be brought into production," he said. "It is the greatest ewe breeding area in the Dominion." The justification of the new line, he continued, lay not in the natural resources of the area, but in the fact that residents had been contributing to the cost of upkeep of other railways in New Zealand. Now they would have contributions to their own, from outside.