THE TRAMWAYS ENGINEER.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXIX, Issue 14609, 17 February 1908, Page 6

THE TRAMWAYS ENGINEER.

Possibly Mr F. H. Chamberlain, who, like all good workmen, is modest about himself, has ideas of slipping quietly down to Lyttelton some dark evening and so leaving Christchurch without a formal farewell. We hope he will bo allowed to do nothing of the kind. The Automobile Association paid him a pretty little compliment on Saturday night, setting an example which the citizens generally might very well follow. Mr Chamberlain came here without any blowing of preliminary trumpets. The story goes that inquiries were made in suitable directions in the Old Country for a capable, allround electrical engineer to set the Christchurch tramway service in working order. The first authority mentioned tho name of an American, who happened to be working on the now Sydney lines. Another said that the best available man was an American engineer engaged on tho Sydney lines, and a third recommended an American then in Sydney. Tho name of the engineer in each case was Chamberlain. The story may be' 1 apocryphal, but at any rate we know that the .recommendations were too emphatic to leave the Tramway Board ia doubt, and Mr Chamberlain was engaged. It has certainly had no reason to regret its choice. Mr Chamberlain had a very difficult task before him, not so much in the designing and construction of the service as in the reconciliation of the conflicting interests that have to be consulted in any public undertaking. But his tact x>roved equal to his ability. His thoroughness speedily won him the confidence of the public, and his popularity to-day is a tribute to the other side of his character. The future of tho tramways rests with the administrators whom tho citizens appoint and with the citizens themselves, but they were soundly built and equipped, and the service to-day challenges comparison with any in the colonies in efficiency and comfort. Mr Chamberlain, in his pleasant way, will tell us that he did to the best of his ability the work which he was paid to

do, but he certainly placed no narrow interpretation on his duty. As Mr Frostick put it, he has been a good citizen as' well as a, good engineer. The Tramway Board has wisely obtained from him reports and estimates on various proposed extensions of the service, and w© think that before he goes back to America his expert advice should be sought on other necessary works. The Government itself might very well employ him to report on tho electrification of the Lyttelton railway line, a work that will have to be undertaken in the near future. 73nt, in n.ny case, whether his departure is delayed or not, we trust that the people of Christchurch will not permit him to go until they have given him some formal assurance of their satisfaction with ln» work and havo expressed their recognition of'his qualities as a citizen.