A NEW RAILWAY.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4318, 29 March 1901, Page 7

A NEW RAILWAY.

TUIUNING OF THE FIRST SOD. Special to -the “ Times.” STRATFORD, March 28. Stratford.'was/cri fcto to-day, and there was perfect weather to celebrate the turning of the first sod of the Strut. ford-Whangamoraona. railway. The town was. .crowded with people, and presented a. very gay appearance. A special feature of the decorations wore two gaily-decorated fern arches over the bridge across the river. The first arch bore a legend in. front, “Kow .is the winter of dur 1 content,”/ and on the other, tlie side facing the scene of opera, tions, was printed in big Tetters “For this relief much thanks/” The Volunteers/ looking .exceedingly well, both mounted and infantry, formed up in ordepfifind, with the .'Ministerial party, various officers and members of local bodies, ' and The townspeople, formed a very fine procession, which sec out to the soanei of operations at 2.30. On arrival at/the spot, where the sod was to beturned—the Volunteers having formed, up l —the platform -was taken possession of by tlie Son W. Hall-Jones and representative local men.' Speechmaking then began. Speeches were mad© by the. Mayor of Stratford, Mr Byrnes, M.H.R., fhe chairman .of the County Council and the Mayor of Newl Plymouth, Mr Major and Mr E. M. Smith, M.H.R. The speakers congratu. dated the people of Stratford on the event, thanked Mr Hall-Jones for his promptitude in putting Ills promise into effect, and eulogised the Government, generally. Mr F. McGuire, M.H.R., also spoke, and called for three cheers for Mr Hall-Jones. The Minister, who was received with applause, . said that he had' groat plea, sure in keeping the promise ho made some months ago to turn the.first socl of the railway. When he made that promise, the only doubt in his mind was as to whether the survey would be sufficiently advanced to enable the work to be put in hand. He -was pleased to say that owing to the energy of his officers, he was enabled to make a start with the work, which would be prosecutod vigorously. Mr Hall-Jones said that his first intention was to have made the lino a narrow-gauge line, but after looking at the country, and going into the matter thoroughly, ho thought, it inadvisable to construct a lino on this bails, and ho had, therefore, decided to have the railway constructed on the ordinary 3ft 6in gauge, but of lighter const ruction than the standard lino. ../e was induced to take this course both from what he saw and-from the recommendar tion of the engineers. There was no doubt that the carrying capacity of a two.feet gauge railway would not be sufficient to meet the requirements of the district within a very few years. He had seen the difficulties that the settlers, in the back-blocks laboured under in getting their produce to market and fetting stores. With reference to what ad been saidfubout-it being the duty of the Government to make roads, Mr Hall-Jones said that ho need hardly remind Mr McGuire that during the year 1890-1 the; sum of £300,000 was spent in the Taranaki land district in tho matter of roads and bridge construction. Last year in the Egmont elector, ate alone over £28,000 was spent. The Minister went on to say that the 3ft 6in lino would bo made so as not to much exceed in cost a 2£t gauge. 'When he was here last he had been asked where the lino would start from, and a similar question was put to him at Eltham. That question, ho had left for, the engineer who was making the survey to. decide, and tho nature of the engineer's report was such that there could bo no doubt as to where the lino should, come on to the main line—that was at St rat, ford. Taking it to Eltham would cost more money for construction and iavolv e additional carriage to producers. He was pleased to soo the great interest taken in this matter in tho district. When.uo saw representatives from New Plymouth, Eltham; Waverley and other places, ho realised that this was not looked on, as a. purely Stratford project, but as something affecting tho whole Taranaki district. He held in his hand a printed'card which had been given to him with, tho words “ Stratford Junction —Change hero for Auckland." At first he could not understand what it meant,' and the conclusion ho had com® to was that it meant that the Stratford people.

would not be . satisfied . after reaching Whangamomona, but. would want to go straight through to Kav/akawa, and thence to Auckland. That was a question of time, but time would no doubt solve the question. He reminded his hearers that when they had got fortyfive mile® out of one hundred, they were very well on tho journey. The first section proposed to be put in hand was between Stratford and Toko, and he hoped to have the line completed to > Toko by next Christmas. He had instructed tho engineer in charge of the works to cam' on as expeditiously as possible, and he had every confidence in his doing so. The Minister remarked that he was extremely -pleased ' to see tho large number of.people who had assembled, and assured them that, upthing would be wanting on his part' t,p( push matters along. In conclusion, he said that if the railway was to be completed through to Toko by Christmas it was about time ho started work. Ho did not mean to have it said that he had delayed the work, so he had better make a start at once. (Cheers.) ■ Hero the Minister took off his coat, and, spade in hand, dug out a good squate sod in a scientific manner, and, putting it into a very neat kauri barrow, provided for the occasion, wheeled it alorm the plank. He then'tipped it over? and declared the first sod of the Stratford-Whangamomona railway duly turned. , Enthusiastic dicers were given for tho Ron Mr and Mrs Hali-Jones, Mr S.ymcs, M.H.H., tho Mayor and Mr E. M. Smith, M.H.R.