MARKING TIME.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 13541, 20 November 1914, Page 8

MARKING TIME.

RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION AT NGATAPA. >■ ■ ■ ,A GOOD QUARRY PEpPOSITION. SMALL- CONTRACT POLICY. . A convincing illustration of the "go slow" policy that has been adopted in' connection with- the- Gisborne south' wards railway is the grass.-grown condition of the track just beyond the Paiutahi p'ation 3ite. As. far back as April 13, 1912. over a mile of light formation had been finished, here, the gangs ,of navvies we're pushing oh towards Nga ltapa. Platelaving reached the Ngatapa ctation on July 7 last ? two years .-• arid; four months after the initiation of .cpn^ ctruction. .-■<"* ,v^i . V--..'ln view of the fact that a M fairly extensive length of the line between Patutahi and the Makaraka jukeiiion- traverses the flood area and is liable to m» undation, the Department decided to keep the permanent way,, down to/ground level. In order <to save the line 'from , being scoured out m fldod' time, it was further decided: to disjaro\ v tHe' use- of, the usual river shingle, and to ballast the track with broken stone. This will . -.ooc-psftate tho use of a large* quantity of stone, and for many months bast the engineering, staff, have"! bjeehV efflptd^ed m locating* a suitable quarry,! mv the" neighborhood of the railway aY Patutahi. SPLENDID . QUARRY. PROSPECTS. In this connection we are* glad- to be able to congratulate - the • omcers' concerned upon their lucky find. They are opening up a quarry that WiU doubtless ' be tho -r envy of ;^ne^;. lbcaT * bodfes; a proposition; tl&t- shouhsr herniate than' adequate- for the-D©partsmeYll?s'"rfeqt»ire-ments for manyr< years, to • come. „In fact,, if the quarry develops: ",aa \s% promfsfes. the Department sn^ld'i Well be able to assist the Borough, and Cotijitv : Council m the matter of .roaH material. -.^ ■■<■.... _ ■■■■'.■ - r . • .•' i The" mew quarry -felosca^ed-. a dittVe dn tho town side and Patutahi' -.qnarriesi ; and when f one seesr the-roc;k; r exposedr,by th*e%remoyal^o£. the" thin layer, jof.'.s&ippin^ wonderjnjj ..wh# .if — as;v;jnever, located' . before.' * > t W w- sv^ss-jm9- • aboafc< ten i minutes; waljEs-f rom .Xmif^s^a. tosd \ : on the qnt-side, ranch: a mile, fron£ tfto, Pa* tutfthi' Valley road oh the^ other- 'VE&&adjoining property ia, at .present; held , by Messrs Machell Uttssell, a* stretch of hill side, comprising 't&tfttiff&r havinir b^en . taken by the. Public* "Works Department; . ' "■"'•': , - ■'.-' A branch line >is -qejng catted m from <the railway at #^pomt> that- marks the Repongaere station, site across the stream,-: and; v directly* opposite fc Jhe. welly •known'- watew -..icrough near .^Mr ' Hlepr burn's. ""-:■:' ........ .. For the first few,. chaiiw.jthe tramline is ,quite level gfe\B^' v :af^,«>.whic'H: it" sJprts the hill side until, reaching the. "quart y . Platelayiiffg* is " ; beihtf ' . pusjio^ m from the flat., and* ;the* s4W^rSrVff"frorn" the quarry alone' is' being*; brongnt^wtir "by trucks' to provide the fillini? for several points a long- the track, v > The i wwk -•here- presents orn of "the bnai'esfc sights on th* ,entire jdb. The rails should' reach the quarry" bins by ChrlstrnaW. Th*? location lendsiirpelf admirably to qunrry proposition. The hill side ends ••-in-' a hirrlu -projecting tbafy,..puns away <to a point. From/the ; poiht'backwards a quarry h*n been- searfedvont of tbe hill ; ."ide. - . The .rock • formation on the point ts- most' romarVable; eon«us>fm<y us' it docß.'-for /feet -m,.. of flatshaped /spiwjp. packed closely ■ together; This 'wilf - considerably, ;assist ..quarrying and fortunately', as far as ;one could see. therj apr^ar to be practically no ?nverv of . mullock, a« wa* the esse at Gentlo Annie. A-. c d|iyo- has been inserted with satisfactory: resalts;^ Quan« tities ' of *hese nantakerispawls' .stand pqeked. ready, and spme-dray. loads that have been hauled outs^;^ia^the .yETairoa road, are stated to' Have <;' stood': the ' traffic test admirably. ; . The spur runs up to a big height, and. a Vffansr of men/. perched, on jthe hil?«ide were stripp'&iff^'ot^'ithe^rfaqf layer 1 cf. earth, at a hoinrh't of Tori, or 80ft. above- the^uarry ,v fl<MJrT ' V A- f v»- e---1 chains \ from -the point' there is ;an outorqp of sandstone, f which disappears further nlong where the .limestone an pears -to be m a- solid mass,. It is quite evident, there is an immense body of *tone m m'crht, very similar to ' the familiar bluev-grey limestone from the Patutahi quarry. On the occasion of the visit, work on the hill side was no enviable; task. The wind blew with great force and the dust nujsanae was so great that the men had actuallv'io be knocked off for a portion of the day. The clods of ioil\ ! !came*'Toi^ ing down the face into a.-tinTpwrfiotfriet;. out of which the spoil was"'heing tipped' into trucks. A downhill jrrade and a wire-rope arrangement permits of a loader! truck running down to the bin and hauling up an empty; one. From the lower bin the fstooil is fed into furvther tVuckr- aTfid^'ißstrucked down the *ram line fiuvthe" fillings. In the same ->way. when the plant is erected, the * .■spawls. will come down, by gravitation. •j-io the erushors and pass ; throueh as broken stone into the hoopers below, ; ready for loading by chutes m• f, th* 'hallast ' trucks/^ ••'•/. i . -"v- v., %i, .^ :.■- --,, "The conditions, we repeat, are admirable, but what one fails to under- . stand is why the- work is not more adm .[ vanced. Why all the delay m the con--struction of the tramline-?- P^xwpectTng "operations were m progress twelve i...ponths ago, bub. if has only beeni <km aivg .the past seven months that" the ,quarry X has " been adequate^ manned. . Even so, there ara still all the crushing plant and permanent ;binstto.i)~ere^t«f and so far nothing of tKe^ plant, is- to' be *een At a guess, it will doubtless be , -March at the earlieatf before thfevquarrvv svill commence its output. If the De..partment was m earnest, the equSppimr of the quarry could have been carried 7 on , simultaneously with the present development. When it is all said and <lone, there are -only- twenty men working on the prop^9ie»n;;^arfe iron* the gang constructing . the tram" line from the flats. .Approaching the P^pongaere -station ?ftex ' there- are thrW: small brfd„e» -yet to Bt? erected. Meanwhile temporary str.ucti«es permit of the' baUastf^emin' passing over. So far. there is no evidence of *ny start havinir been made to get the permanent hrid^emmSmc^^ • few meh^ -.«>* erhployea^'inserting cul- \ re J* aTl^ doinsr other odd-^jobw-*-. ...■.: J *y£r ong; tH formation^into Ngatapa -,»' .'. ■ I7d TSBsMtl!# ( A^&&\ :n ; , TBE RAILHEAD. ' _ % ata Pa, the present railhead and the headquarters' of thp Public Works Department's staff, is. 11! mileVfrom the" railway junction at Afc**arafcav With the undulating foothills and clumps of aiative btislvi -Ngatapa ie somewhat pi<s- i -Hero the- line^ Mewsf iup. tflie • Totangi road for about half a mile, and •a big horseshoe bond', marks the com- ' „ menccmenfc of "7^ niiles-ofi vsphlft climb to reach the low divide between the watershed of the Mangatoetoe. on.- the worth and tho extensive Hangaroa diß.iruct on the south. Before j ejitoring upon the question of route and the cohstructaon* problem that fatee the railway engineer^, ; » wore! or two is necessary regarding the Ngatapa .. .- ,-atation, ;. -..-' • -- _ ■-'-... - "";" Ngatapa. is- destined -iri" years to-come . to develop, into ia thriving centre. Situated on 'Jhe Government estate, acquired a few years ago froni Mr Sidney Williamson, rlt marks the convergence of the Totangi and Wliarekopae roads. Already the establishment of the dairy in.dustry warrants » regular visit from Mitt motor eoilectfng van, and the •day will doubtless epw© when Ngatapa well boast a factory 'of lt» own. - The wide stretch of valley thai, opens out at Ngatapa is subject to repeated i Inundation, Three, if not four, times last winter ?th"e now placid trickling i stream, converted 'into torrents, •■ overflowed the flat, and fairly took posses- ; :sion of the Ngatapa road. These ciri '. ' cumstances - have necessit«ted consider- : able earttiwdrk at the station yaixl m j . the hope of raising.it above flood level, i Whilst the Waikakarilri stream : - that ! ; scarries off the drainage of this area into j ; v /the Waipaoa river at Tavenham reinains ll its. present st^te^ *6¥is%rowh by wil- 1 lo#s, at is questittniWsi •„ jsrittyther the r i

station site will not still remain subject to periodical immersion. What with huge drains and the raising of the station level, there, has been a great deal of work at Ngatapa, and it Uj not yet finished. More fili*u& is reqturod, and Trill., o«o presumes, bo obtained from, cams convenient bank or cutting. SMALL COifTSACTo. A few chains beyond the station one reaches the first section of work under,t*>teen'< under the small contract system introduced by the Hon. W. Fraser. In • cidentally, the Ngatapa contracts, we ..believe, were the first of the new policy, and they, are consequently of special interest. Seven contracts m all were let, as folloWs : Messrs Lynn (3). Abberton, and Howard (1 each), Small and Morris ,j{2). Messrs Lynn's and Abberton's convtracts wero i the largest^ the former's 'three jobs, which were let first, com- ' prising a total distance of 5§ chains, 'and were taken up about July of last year. •■ The .contract time stipulated was twejlye months. Two of Mr Lynn's jobs "are finished, but m dispute, and the other is being cancelled: Mr. Abberton expects to cut- out m a month, whilst the other three minor contracts are out of hand. Up ; to the present no others have been let, nor ' Has there been any mention of any more. Singularly enough, .the whole of the work from this on has been done on the co-operative system. ••. So. far the Department has not taken !the public- into its confidence as to the financial success or otherwise of the new system, but the fact that no further work has been let under this method inclines one to the idea that there is some truth m tho assertion that the Department is going back to the old "co-op." after all. Tf. ono can -go by the statement of one < of. the contractors. in- question, it is a 'moot point whether the Department would get any more- contracts taken up. Mr Lynn!s"'first two contracts extend -up.' to.. a point" where the line will cross l ;^na Tbtangi-road' by an overhead bridge. ; The workmen "ha v c . just finished up, and arje waiting, to bo naid- off. A dispute, .However, has' arisen . as to the accuracy of. the worJcj.it being alleged, our repreisentative was informed, that tho earth.wbrfc is hot. quite true to plans. The : contractor; on" the other hand, asserts v^at'-the formation has been carried out m.- accordance with the pegs given him jb^ftheV Department's officers. The De- , partmcntal reply to this, our representa- ; ti*vo* learned, was that the specifications ; retire ; the-, contractor to satisfy himself as to the accuracy of tho data. As the contractor, put it— if the engineers •could not run it out correct, how was a small contractor expected to do it? To hare' tO go over the job again would, bo a serious matter for the contractor. ; It -wouldv. pay a man to - throw it up. As regards No. 3" contract, 17 chains a bjg cutting and a corresponding .HeaV^bailki thik had been excavatedi to .a' chain and* a half of the end-, WheTl' a hbig sUde occurred last winter jiaud. fifties, it: upt ; . From this point on, m places" tire*, country is very rotten, and itiie mullock that came down into the contract m question rendered the job -impossible m the winter. It will, en- j tail the removal of more spoil than specified m the. original contract, . and into- this .it was intended to place the vsteamivshovel. • '•ENGOTJRAGrNG" THE SMALL ••••- .: MEN. And here m November of an excep- • tionaU^"diy ; season, wheh the" work could have been undertaken with advantage, one finds there is not a hand's turn being done, for reasons, that will be stipulated 'later. "''; Mr Abberton's contract adjoins, and : as 'indicated above v is nearing the finishing point. i.'i TKe gang, now comprises six men and a cook. Now as to this case. Mr Abberton had got nearly through the work when he was told there had been a mistake.' .He had had to go back and take another" 3ft 6in off. the Bottom, and a corresponding quantity off the sides relying 'in good faith upon the Department to pay him for, the extra work entailed. . •-, And this f , it. was" pointed out, was tho ; way the Department encouraged small contracts. Then, again, it was com- ' plained- that sia and e:ght weeks elapsed .-after- -the- Vmeasure up" before the contractors received their money. Why, it was askid, could they not bo paid at the same time as the co-operative men? Standing out of money did not affect' big contractors who had capital available, but the small contractor, whom the system was supposed to assist, was sometimes sorely put to meet the wages of men who were leaving before the pay arrived. "The way we have been treated," one of them remarked, , ' 'shows that small contractors are not wanted. Small jobs 'might be let to gangs of two or three, but the Department could not let a job of our size again when contractors know 'what has happened. Is this, it may be asked, the system that the Hon. W. Fraser intends shall take the place of the much-criticised co-operative system? Space will not permit of an exhaustive discussion of' the arguments for and against co-oper&tive work, but the trial has demonstrated that contractors can only afford' to< employ the pick of the workmen. That being so. if the old system were wiped' out, what is to become of the numerous breadwinners who are admittedly- below the average, but who, putting up with the Hardships" and inconveniences of camp life, are content to earn enough to keep their homes together? A COMPLETE STANDSTILL. The description has now carried' the reader to' a point along the lino about a mile from tlie Ngatapa station. Within t&is distance, it'- should be remembered, itheTe'are now"half-a-dozen men finishing up a small contract. This is on the horseshoe bend just below Mr lies' homestead. Between this point and -the^ summit, overlooking the • Hangaroa there are seven miles of heavy construction, equal m magnitude, if not greater, than on the Otoko section. • Mr Holmes, the Engineer-in-Chief, has stated that it will take four years to construct these seven miles of line. If that is so, then Gisbornites might reasonably demand ; Why is the work i standing idle to-day? Why has there not been a day's work on the formation for the past two or three months? The Departmental answer, doubtless, will' be" that" a suggested new route is under consideration. Nearly three months ago the announcement appeared m the ( press- that a new. lino to cro»3 the watershed was being investigated, and that am inspecting engineer was to come hero to determine the merits of the proposed deviation. Has tho inspecting engineer arrived? If se, what was his decision? As- -farf ■as>can ! -;,bo j ascertained he has never* arrived.. And'yet all this exceptionally fine weather is being allowed to slip by and not a hand's turn on con-, struction is being done. . ' We do not propose to enter upon the merits' of- the rival routes. That is surely a matter the- ' engineering experts can 'decide-. The point we desire to stress is i'that thoy should hurry up. The very nature or the country demonstrates that the earthwork can be handled much more" economically m the dry season. Wo would go further, and say it is questionable if it would be prudent to put the men into some of the cuttings m the winter without the danger of a repetition of last winder's fatality. It is readily admitted that the Department has a difficult piece of work ahead on tho' original route. Skirting rourid_ the hillside on Mr lies' property the line- enters the Mangatoetoe. The scarfed hillside of disconnected cuttings marks the progress of the Jino for a distance of about four miles from the Ngatapa station. The slip on Mr Lynn's contract has already emphasised the treacherous nature of the ground. Further along one conies across the big slice or hillside which, without warning last winter, suddenly carried away, engulfing several camps, and one unfortunate man lost his- life. From this point there is quite a substantial stretch of earthwork done, ending agamst a tunnel face. Clambering oyer the spur to the Wharekopae road, one reaches the spot where the tunnel is planned to emerge. This' is dpon Mr McLowghhVs section/. and it is here that the great bugbjert): of this route comes m. Fully 30 acfef df- the hillside is on the move. The Him is pegged out to cut " through the- too pf the slip,, and it is this that is causing anxiety. At a rough estimate, J33o'/- 1 000 and more has been expended oh the* present route, pp the advantages of the deviation justify the abandonment <of

'this work, because that, would bo a necessary condition to the adoption of the new lino. Tho latter, from what one could gather, -would turn off by the Ngatapa station and traverse the flat bed of the valley, and start tho ascent to the summit up a crock leading to the left behind Mr ""Vlonckton's. As was stated at tho time, the workmen ' were tern-' porarily withdrawn from formation on the original lino, and they have - never been sent back. A small gang was employed on the tram track up tho Mangatoctoe, but they have since been withdrawn, and we again- assert that not a single pick or shovel ia being put into this all-important undertaking^ .beyond Ngatapa. Surely it is time, the people of the district stirred themselves to knov.- the reason why they .are. not.getting a "sqiiaro deal. -