THE SKIPPERS BRIDGE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2455, 3 April 1901, Page 53

THE SKIPPERS BRIDGE.

OPENED BY THE MINISTER OF MIXES The throwing open for traffic of the Skippers bridge over the Shotover River was the occasion of a very large gathering of residents in the Lakes district from far and near. Undoubtedly the person who came furthest was the Hon. J. M'Gowan, who on reaching Dunedm from Wellington left for Queenstown on Wednesday morning The openingceremony not taking place till shortly after midday on Friday, the hon. gentleman, who was accompanied by Mr H. J. H. Eliott, •■^fajbr-secretary for Mi^es-. and Mr Matthews, ' private secretary, went to the Head of the Lake on Thursday, and saw for himself the nature of the country to be met with there. An early start was made for Skippers on Friday morning, and after about a four and a-half hours' drive the party reached the bridge, of which a short description appears later on. Besides almost the entire population of Skippers, visitors had come from Bullendale, Sandhills, Queenstown, Arrow, Stony and Pleasant Creeks, Macetown, Garston, and Miller's Flat to be present at the ceremony The bridge was gaily decorated, and at the south end was an arch bearing the single word " Welcome.' and obove it the British Union Jack aud the New Zealand flag. . At the north approach there was a similar arch, constructed of shrubs, and along the length of the bridge the handiwork of the decorators was everywhere visible. >c*The bridge is 315 ft long, with a roadway Bft I 6in in the clear. It is of the suspension type, and the piers, which are of concrete I with cement foundations, are at the north ! and south ends, 38(t and 54ft in height re- ' speetively, and are another 4ft under ground. I The cables "upporting the bridge are 14 in ' number — seven on each side. The bridge I itself is constructed of ironbark. with red ' birch decking, and is one of the highest j bridges in the colony, being 250 ft above the j surface of the river. For a variety of reaj sons the cost of the work has exceeded what ' it was supposed to be. and it may be jmt ■ r'ovm roughly at £5000. the county having to provide the deficiency. Mr A. G. Fraser was the -contractor, and ha*, to all appearance, carried out the work well and faithfully. Tho proceedings commenced very shortly after the arrival of the Ministerial party, and although interesting and marked by con- ! fiderable enthusiasm, were shoit and of a 1 pfnsibly simple character. The people hay - itipr gathered at the southern approach to the bridge, The Hon Mr M'Gowan stepped forward and said he had to offer an apology for the absence of the Pr^irier. who, as they knew, took a very great interest in everything con necled with the chshiet, and no man wouM have boen more glfd than he to be present However, public duties in Wellington prevented him from coming, and he bad asked him (the hon. gentleman), on receipt of thp invitati/m to be present at thp opening of the bridge, if he could make it convenient to go He (Mr M'Gowan) at once said he ' would make it convenient to go, for he had I vinted She district previously, and knew the J reception he would meet with. — (Hear, hear.) Just before referring to the bridge he would like to say that he represented a Government that had the interests of the people at heart It had been called a Socialistic Government, but he believed its socialism lav in the direcI tion of ru^ki"^ roads and bridges for the [ people, in ord^r that they rraght be benefited — vicar hear . and applause), — and their efforts in. ilus direction were only limited by the iraney Parliament vas prepared to grant to carry on these work?. This bridge was one of the works that had been carried out by the present Government. — (Applause ) It was commenced I in 1893, when tenders we-e called for the approaches to the bridge at a cost of £1000 — Government finding £500 and the county contributing £500. The contract for the bridge was £3244, of which Government was <o find £2744, the county contributing the balance— £soo. Of the £2744, the department had already paid £2500, and when the : accounts and papers were put before him he i would only be too happy to authorise the balance of £744." The bridge was started with £1500. Arrow and Queenstown contributing £25 each, and the Lake County undertaking to raise a loan to carry out the work. Mr Black, county engineer, had suoervised the work of erection, and the bridge was very substantial, and had been constructed in a workmanlike manner. — (Hear, hear) It was found after the plans had been prepared that the ground on the south side was not good enough for anchorage puriDOf-es, and a shaft ■via* sunk and a rime made to provide for concrete foundations, and the result was, he believed, that they had before them a substantial structure. Mr Uss-her had also seen the bridge, and, as far as he was able to judge — not having seen tlie foundations — it was a well-built bridge. He (Mr M'Gowan) wished to congratulate the people of the district and the local bodies — especially the County Council, who had had the work s,o much at heart — on the bridge being now an accomplished fact. He bad much pleasure in asking one of the ladies, who had resided long in the district (Mrs Johnston), to cut the ribbon which was stretched across the entrance to the bridge, and would request her to walk .over the bridge with him on the ribbon being severed. Those present, the hon. gentleman concluded, would no doubt secure a piece of this ribbon as a memento of the occasion. Mrs Johnston then parted the ribbon, amid the most enthusiastic cheering, and having broken a bottle of champagne on the bridge, took the hon. gentleman's arm, and with him walked across the bridge, the crowd following. The ribbon, it may be mentioned, disappeared in a trice, and pieces were conspicuously displayed during the remainder

of the afternoon on the coats of the men and on the dre— r- of the Luhe=. On re-aching the northern end of the bridge the following address of welcome wa- lead tmd presented to the Hon. Mr M'Gowan — Skippers, Match 29, 1901. To the Hon tho Minister of Mines. Wo, the residents of Skippers, heattilv welcome you on the important occasion of the opening of the new Skippers budge, marking, as it does, a new era of piospentj and encouragement to enterpuse. We lecogmse the heaity surport we have recen ed from voi>Ministry m gra-nting us the funds to cairy out this most important work, which we feel satisfied will be of immense benefit to the district m cheapening the cost of the necessaries of life, and also in cheapening the cost on naming plant. Thanking you for jour attendance here to-day,— We arc, on behali of the residents of Skippeia, Thomas Cottf.e J. S. Collins. Ben. Rogers. The Hon. Mr M'Gowan, in acknowledging the address of welcome, said he desired to thank tho residents very heartily for the unexpected pleasure of receiving the address, and it was no lejs pleasing and no less acceptable to him because it was not framed and ornamented, a-, some addresses were, m mottled kauri or filigree work. He felt that the bridge would be aji advantage to the district, and that it would enable the people to get the neces=aries of life at a cheaper rpte. There were no doubt those present who had been there long before t.'-e bridge was constructed, and none knew better than the miners the difficulties that had had to be met in the pa"t. People came from the towns to tee the c c places after the mfner had been there, and he considered that the miner might be truly regarded as the pioneer in the settlement tlie country. They could see wherever' he had been, and could always find him respectable and living in a comfortable home. He would call for three cheer 3 for the gold miner. Tho call was responded to with a good deal of enthusiasm, and three cheers were al=o given for Mrs Johnston. Mi A. Lambie, repre-entmg Skippers in the Lake County Council, then, on behalf of the chairman of the council (Mr W. Reid), who is suffering from a disorder of the throat, said it gave him very great pleasure, on behalf of the residents at Skippers, to v. elcoine all those, present at tlie formal opening of the new Skippers bridge. He was very sorry to find that naither the Premier, the Hon. Mr Ward, nor Mr Wm. Fraser, their member, could attend the opening; but he was glad that th^y'had a representative of the Government present in the Hon. Mr M'Gowan. As they were all aware, the Hon. Mr Cadman had sanctioned the building of the bridge, and their member (Mr Fraser) had done all in his power to have the work earned out, and it was a matter of regret that Mr Fraser could not be present. The LaLe County Council had also need every effort to get the bridge built. Those present were aware that the residents of the district had been waiting for the existence of this bridge for the last three years, and they had now got a good, substantial bridge. that would bo of great benefit to the ch&trict. although it had admittedly cost a large sum. Those pre-ent would also Fee that they leally required a new br.dftc, and anyone who doubled this had only to go down and vyallc over the old one to be convinced. When they got the road continued on to Skippers Creek the bridge would be of immense benefit to the district and to the mining industry generally He was quite sure if they had cheaper and better mean? of getting mining material on to the ground they would have an increase of population, greater enterprise, and, of course, more gold. Tho system of packing stuff on horseback was a Jong way behind the time, and a great drawback to enterprise of any kind. A considerable amount of farming could be carried on if they had good road= over which to take their produce: and .in thi° connection he na< highly pleased to see. through the medium of tlie press, that the Government would have a lar<*e surplus to show this year—wmetl Ing like £400,000. He hoDed t^at a fair proportion of this might find its way to Skippert, for work". He was sure n large amount could with advantage be spent in Wakatipu in road-making and prospecting the mining districts, a larp - e area of which had not yet been tried. In" conclusion, he wi-hed to extend a hearty welcome to the Hon. James M'Gowan and all the visitors. Three cheers were given for the visitors, and. after a brief inspection of the bridge by tho^e attending the ceremony, an adjournment vva's made to Johnston's Hotel, where a dinner had been prepared at the instigation of the Bridge Opening Committee. THE DINN-EB. About 40 or 50 gentlemen sat down to the dinner, tlie character of which showed at once that the Skippers, people intended to treat their gues-ts leally well, and th-e manner in which it was laid out and the subsequent attendance at table reflected the grcate-t credit upon Mrs Johnston and hci assistants. Ample justice hpving been clone to the plenteoucly supplied good things on the table, The Acting-chairman, Mr Cotter, who filled the position on account of Mr Reid's indisposition, t'>at npntleman occupying the position of viee-Jiairman, proposed the toast" of "The King," which was duly hon oured. Mr Rogers proposed " The Government," and in doing so s>aid they could see that the present Minister of Mines was veiy much alive to the interests of miners, and he considered ho had shown himself very wise in his handling of mining matter;,. — (Applause. ) The Hon Mr M'Gowan said it affordo 1 him very great pleasure to respond on behalf of the Government, of which he formed a portion He was exceedingh glad to see that the efforts of tln ? Government in the direction of advancing the mining induct)}had been appreciated. Of couise, the feeling in the matter wa=. not s O intense in that paiticular chstiict as in other portions of Ota go. The feeling had been very strong with rogaid to the mining regulations, and some of the country papers "went for" the Minister of Mine- because they thought he was the round peg in the squat e hole, or the square peg in the round hole, and because he did not promise everything they had asked for. Tlie Minister then, as at the present time, was one who had had a close, acquaintance with mining for years, aud while he wa« open to learn he was very careful to saj- nothing about his own knowledge of mining The requests made to him had in many instances been leasonable, and while he had not promised to comply with them he had trained lesolutions in In- own mind that he would try to act up-m the cucuin stances as far a« he undci stood them He was not going to act upon the lp-e ch\it of anyone, but was determined to see for himself, and while doing &o was able to form some opinion of the difficulties that

arose, and to take steps to meet them. Those who had condemned him for not givnig everything that was asked for had since admitted that they were somewhat hasty, and had found that instead of his being the square peg in the round hole he was the right man in the right place. — (Applause.) He was very glad he had been in a position to assist the mining industry. Reference had been made to the fact that some of the dredges had had to be con fctructed in Melbourne and America, but that was not the fault of the Government. The companies were wanting dredges, and were determined to get them as quickly as possible m order that they might go to work and obtain returns without delay, and under these circumstances, when they found they could not get them constructed in New Zealand they went elsewhere for them. The Government had prevented the locking up of the land, and its object was to prevent land monopoly. He did not believe that monopoly of any kind was a good thing, ;is someone was injured by it. The Government had done its best, and was still doing its best in order that the country might be developed by the people in tho country. They wanted to bring the people and the industries together, bo that population might increase as the country was developed, and so that they might get wealthier and wealthier. He did not think there was any colony more prospeious than New Zealand was at the present time over the whole length and breadth of the land. Government wanted to make -a, connection between this wealth and the individual — to bring the product and the producer together as closely as possible, so that*the wealth might be distributed over the land, — and had opened more land than any other Government for tho purpepe of settlement. They did not want" to see the population go away from New Zealand. The hon. gentleman then proceeded to refer to New Zealand having lost some of her best men, who had gone to fight the Empire's battles in South Africa, and said he did not know of a single instance where the men had not done credit to themselves and to the colony. — (Hear, hear.) Referring to the Government again, Mr M'Gowan said it was a working man's Government — a roads and bridges Government. It had been said that under' the present Government the country would be destroyed, but what had been the result' Why, the country never had been better than at the present time. In conclusion, he hoped that the Government would be able to open up more roads and construct more bridges than they had been able to tip to the present. — (Applause.) Mr Collins, in proposing the toast of "The Bridge," referred to the' benefits that would accrue from it, and to the difficulties experienced in the packing of by means of horses. Air Black, the county engineer, in the course, of a brief response, gave credit to the Government for having a°->isted in the con struction of the bridge, to the contractors, and to Mr Rogers and Mr Moore Tho last two gentlemen had fought hard to get the bridge. He thought it was a great honour to tho residents of Skippers that the Hon. Mr M'Gowan, accompanied by Mr Eliott, tho Under-secretary for Mines, had come down to open the bridge. The other toasts were " Local Government." proposed by Mr J. Johnrton and responded to by Messrs Reid and Lambio ; "Mining Industry," proposed by Mr Rodgers and ac knowledged b}' Mr Collins ; "Agricultural and Pastoral Interests," proposed by Mr Lambie and replied to by Mr Coekburn and Mr M'Bride (the latter saying that if the fern was ta'kei away from about the lake and the land sown down in grass it would carry 100.000 more sheep); "The Press," "The Ladies." and "The Hostess." The Hon. Mr M'Gowon supplemented the toast list with a toast of his own. which included the chairman of the County Council, tho chairman of the Bridge Committee, and the chairman of the Banquet Committee. In proposing the toast, he referred to the v&rv small thanks members- of local bodies received for the work they did, and uiged that votes should not be lecorded m favour of a paiticular individual on account of any direct benefit he might be ablp to confer upon the voter, but rathe- that the merits of the in dividual should be the consideration wbon votes hid to be cast At the close of the proceedings, telegiamponv eying apologies were ipeeived fiom th" Premier, "the Ho^n. J. G. Ward, and Mr W. Fraeer, the member for the electoiate. At S o'clock the Ministerial party cb-ove back to Queeiißtown which wa» reached veiy shortly before 10 o'clock, and left QneT«tcv/n early next morni' % for Duue'lin. cf.tehmg the south express at Gore.