RIVERLEA AND ELTHAM.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 31 March 1925, Page 6

RIVERLEA AND ELTHAM.

INCIDENTS. AT THE TOLL

EARLY OBJECTIONS TO' PAYMENT

The' task of the* first keepers of the gates was by no means an. enviable one as, by a section of local road users, ias) well as by visitors, from other parts of the Dominion who were loth to piay the tribute demanded, the advent of the system was viewed with come 'hostility. The better conditioned road lyhicih came .in due course, served, however, to lessen the irritation 'felt by the latter mentioned dbieetors, and tii6 c-ounty .residents, who in time came to a realisation of the advantages, of a. system which ensured contribution to maintenance costs in proportwin to actual use inacle of the road, mil so eventually accepted the position without antagonism. Prior to that desirable accordance with the new regime, ail instance of disfavour occurred tin ring the early life of the Riverlca. gate. Under cover of darkness some persons whose identity has remained Obscure, made a raid on what they evidently regarded as an unwarranted restriction on public freedom, and, removing tire offending Riverlea gates, consigned them to a. .waifcery grave in the bed of the Otakehb stream. NefetHess to

say, the* demonstration failed in its object, for it Whs. hot, long before the gates were restored, and in the meantime, even without, them, the persistent. collector .still demanded his dues. Oases of deliberate evasion of toll payment- have, in the Eltham Council’s experience, been, rare, though it was hardly to be expected that the regulations governing the system would remain absolutely tree.' horn contravention. In some 'instances court proceeding,si had to- be- resorted to, but, such. Were comparatively few the, majority of people reported by the collectors, choosing the line of least resistance and effecting economy by accepting. their liability rather than risk the result of a magisterial inquiry; Thus in Dec-eimher, 1910, the following communication was. received by the. council from a. district resident- whose conscience was evidently somewhat uneasy : “T believe that I am to receive a, bit of blue paper for toll evasion. 1 was. however, unwillingly drawn into eomimiitta! of the. offence, which. 1 re—grot, and now realise it will be cheaper to pav the fee promptly rather than take the consequences, and trust you will see. your way clear to withhold any legal action intended.”

During the same month another writer, who thought legal proceedings were pending,, naively informed the council that it was summoning the wrong nva.u, hut promised to. pay il the contemplated action were withdrawn.

Again at the February meeting of the Co,unoil in 1912 a, number of cases of persons having refused to pay toll charges were reviewed, aitd as a, result of intimations forwarded the delinquents stressing their liability to penalties prescribed under the Act, the fees were, subsequently paid, there being no further record of trouble with these particular offenders.

FIRST TO FAY TOLL. Reference to the opening oi the Ri.verlea gate was made by the- Awatiina east correspondent, of the Star in. whose contribution on the subject, published in our issue of Monday, January 4,1909, appear® the following ; "VV-hat has been, called the Riverlea tplll-gate, situated about a mile east

of the Await,unia ,stream, wa& Opened on New Year’s; morning (Friday) jurat about sunrise. * Tlie first to get a ticket wow an, Awafuha, east man, and, as the keeperris a Scotsman, he is wondering if his. first customer will bring luck or not to the gates. About 9 o’clock a fine herd df about 130 head of cattle went through which, at a penny a head, brought in a good figure. Shortly after, a driver of a pair of horses a>ndi a, load of passengers rushed the gates; and drove through at top speed, without paying a cent, •much to the annoyance of the, gatekepeer, who was .unable to- chase the law-breakers'. The coach with' mails passed 'through, on Saturda,y and had to, pjjy -2. s fid at’ cadh. gate, - while MadgWick’s waggons, had to pay Os. at each gate, or 12=; for the day, which works .out at £3 12s per Week. Surely a isltfiff tax indeed.

After further comment, in which he severely criticised the imposition, entailed in ilevyilig two separate tolls on the road, the writer expressed the opinion that “if the gates had only been, erected before the general election a tremendous haul would have been made Out of the Parliamentary candidates. Who were hardly ever off the road.”

Sp'eailciiig; with, a Star reporter yesterday, Mr. J. J. Kins, of Riverlea, stated he believed the Aw-atuna. east man mentioned as the first to pa.y the toll was norie other than Mr. ML K. ITowuifct, then of Awatuna, who was at that time, the Star correspondent, and was consequently the writer of the above. I SFGCIFBSTVE KEEPERS. !

The first keeper appointed at the Eltham gate, Mr. W. Gifford, was jaiitceded by Mr. J. H. Forbes, whose place was in turn, taken by -Air. R.. Eaneill. When the, latter left in November, 11)2-1, the gate was put in charge of Mr. J. Haworth, who has ■remained there sine© and will share with Mr. J. E. Bennett, at Ri.verlea, the distinction of being one of the last two toll-gate keepers on the Eltham Road.

Custodians of the Riverlea. gate, have been numerous, • and. include i Messrs. H. Hansen, A. Hare, H. Greig, J. H. Forbes, the late J. A. B. i Voullaire, R,. Farrell, McCracken, I and Mr. J. El. Beinieitt, whose term as collector expires to-day. Mr. Bennett, who took over the gate at the end oif September. 1919, informed a Star reporter yesterday that during' the- whole of the five and a half years during which lie lias officiated, his duties bad .not been marred with un-, pleasant behaviour on the part of the travelling public, except on one occasion, when a motor cyclist, in endeavouring to get through without parting with the nimble sixpence made a dash at the gate at a. high speed ancl collided with Mr. Bennett*, who was thrown heavily to the ground. As the result of subsequent proceedings, the rider realised that saving sixpences mav. in. certain circumstances, prove a false economy. Though the services required of him involved tedious hours, extending daily from 6.30 a.m. to 9.30 p.m., Mr. Bennett considered they had proved very agreeable as, almost without except tiom, people using the road hod been most courteous in their manner towards Mrs. Bennett and .himself.

FINANCIAL RESULTS. As shown by the annual balance- 1 sheets presented by the Eltham County Conn,oil, .the. total grossi revenue received' from the Eltham and Riverlea gates between dlahuary T, 1009, and March 31. 1924 (the Latest, figures at present, available), amounts to £34,960 •is 3d. The total expenses amount to £sl ill 3s Bd, leaving a net return of £20,849 ft? 7d. The grass revenues received from each are approximately £26,487 2s 4d from the Eltham and £B4 73 Is lid from the Riverlea. giate. The respective expenses, were approximately £2813 1 ftkt 3d and £2292 7si nd. the net. results' thus being: FI (.haul £23.668 6s Id, Riverlea. £6lßo'l Is 6d. The following table shows the approximate net returns! and totals realised in. «Ticice>sf-ivo years from each gate, the figures' given being computed to the -nearest shilling.. The 1009 figures relate to three months oulv, ns the. financial year terminates'on March 31.

Year FJtham, *RiV' x> erlfta Total r* 190:-) t 85 14 X** 42 S . 17 128 11 1910 879 0 197 13 1076 13 1911 91:1 7 oo-, 12 1169 19 1912 1017 15 256 12 130-1 7 191.1 1198 8 100 10 1498 18 1914 1282 9 303 It 1586 3 1915 1121 11 309 3 1790 1.7 19i n 1558 1 408 13 1986 16 1917 1 (535 371 17 2007 o 1918 1768 181 7 2149 8 1919 1611 r, 334 o 1947 > 1920 1992 18 509 1 2501 19 1921 2078 17 571 13 2650 10 1922 2028 9 603 o 2631 11 1921 1890 .7 550 io 2440 17 1924 2243 13 754 e 2997 19