LINESMEN'S TASK

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23027, 3 May 1938, Page 10

LINESMEN'S TASK

TELEGRAPHS RESTORED

COLO AND RAIN ENDURED

WORK IN RUGGED COUNTRY

[BY TZXECBAPH owx CORHESPOXDOrrJ GISBQBXE, Monday

For the first time since the storm the week-end before last, telegraphic communication between Gisbome and Napier has been restored. Much work, however, remains to be done before the lines are restored to their normal condition.

The linesmen engaged on the restoration work from both ends have en-« countered exceptional difficulties, and all the time they have been out of touch with headquarters.

Fire men who were available at Wairoa at the beginning of last week hfva been out on the job without interruption since the damage was caused. The men left T\airoa with limited supplies of food and clothing, and their work has involved frequent, crossings of streams in half flood, ahd steady work through rain and in the cold high country of the route. Aeroplanes hare dropped food supplies to the men from time to time, and they have been givea | hospitality at the homes of settlers, but | even these compensations have mads , their task an unenviable one. * [£■. Many modes of conveyance hare been used during the week, these including railway jiggers, road trucks and horses, but the greater part of the distance has been covered by the men,on foot. At- the Tli aikoau River, beyond Pulo-. rino, the swift-flowing stream was crossed on a raft. After the first crossing had been made with the assistance of a rope stretched .from bank to bank at the Mohaka River a device used by fishermen for keeping a line taut was employed to float a light cord across the river as a preliminary to drawing wires across for repair purposes. The iinesmen who were sent to Waiikaremoana to repair the damage to the telegraph and telephone lines, had to cover the whole distance from Wairoa to Tuai. 3-j miles, on foot. SETTLERS ANNOYED HAWKE'S BAY SIGHTSEERS UNRESTRAINED CURIOSITY :_BT TEL FX. RAPH —OWX COESESPOXDENI] Hastings, Monday Sightseers are stated to have annoyed flood sufferers in the districts near Bay View and the Esk Valley by their unrestrained curiosity. Complaints have been made that some sightseers have passed the police by "'g sacks and shovels on the backs of their cars, and by representing that they were going to assist in the relief work. A number of these people, it is stated, have looked through houses affected by the flood, regardless of the owners and occupiers, who have in many cases been in the houses at tha time. ' -