“BOB’S MECCANO”

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19365, 1 July 1937, Page 8

“BOB’S MECCANO”

MOHAKA VIADUCT JOB A COLLEAGUE’S TRIBUTE PRTDE IX X.Z. WORK (Special to tho Herald.) WAIROA, this clay. When the announcement was made a few clays ago that the Minister of Public Works, the Hon. R. Semple, was under the necessity of taking a health-recruiting journey to Australia, it was feared by many that his state of health would not permit of his taking part in the official ceremonies at the Mohaka viaduct. It was with the greater pleasure, therefore, that his friends in the Wairoa district and those who had been working for years to secure the advancement of the Napier-Gisborne railway welcomed him yesterday at the site of the great structure. The Minister of Public Works appeared much jaded by the effects of a long period of strain, in connection with the progress of the public works programme of the Dominion, and in order to spare him the effort, Mr. E. P. Meachen, member for Wairau, his co-opted colleague in the Public Works Department, read a statement for Mr. Semple covering the history of the Napier-Gisborne railway construction, from the clays in 1912 when the Ngatapa route was put in hand, only to be abandoned later. Subsequently Mr. Semple spoke to the large gathering, and made a forceful speech upon the significance of the job completed at the Mohaka River crossing, and its importance as a manifestation of New Zealand's capacity to produce men and materials for the most difficult tasks. Minister’s Health The enthusiasm shown by Mr. Semple for the Mohaka viaduct job and for the men associated with it was commented on by both the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Hon. W. E. Barnard, and the Minister of Railways, the Hon. D. G. Sullivan. The Speaker, in expressing his pleasure at being able to take part in the function, declared that the Minister of Public Works had devoted himself wholeheartedly to the direction of the department he controlled, and that it was especially pleasing that he j was able to be present to take part in the completion of the great work which exemplified his gift for organisation, a work for which the local people had coined the name of “Bob ; Semple’s Meccano Set.” (Laughter , and applause. i Rumors which had reached his ears I regarding the health of the Minister iof Public Works were referred to by Mr. Meachen, in the course of a brief speech. Everybody would be pleased to know, Mr. Meachen stated, that Mr. Semple was as sound as a bell, organically. He had undertaken an 1 almost impossible task in the initiation of so large a public works policy in the short time he had been in office a? Minister, and had given himself so thoroughly to the work that his nervous force had been exhausted. It was sincerely hoped that Mr. Semple would return from his journey restored to his old-time vigour, added Mr. Meachen. “Always the Same Song" After the Minister of Public Works had acknowledged the welcome extended to him by the gathering, the Minister of Railways, the Hon. D. G Sullivan took an opportunity to assure the gathering that what Mr. Semple had said of the splendid work accomplished by the engineers and officers of the department, and the workmen employed under them in connection with the viaduct job was nothing new for his Cabinet colleagues to hear. What Mr. Semple had just said was what he had been saying in Wellington, in the Cabinet room and in Parliament. Mr. Semple was always singing the same song, he stated, and had paid superb tributes to the engineers and men who were making the department’s work their closest interest. He lost no opportunity of complimenting his department upon the loyalty, energy, and ability displayed in pushing on such jobs as the Mohaka viaduct. Mr. Sullivan added that he felt Mr. Semple’s compliments to be well deserved by all who had been associated with the erection of the yiaduct. Mr. Semple’s Choice Just prior to the conclusion of the ceremony, Mr. Semple spoke again in response to a presentation made to him on behalf of the Wairoa district local bodies. Commenting on the necessity for his taking a holiday at an early date, he made a characteristic comment. “Fve given the Angel Gabriel his running shoes for the time being,” he remarked, amidst laughter. “You know, there comes a time when you have to make a , choice. Mother Nature shook her fist at me, and said I must either take a rest or go to the cemetery. That was the choice! Well, I thought it over, and decided that there would be no fun in the cemetery. Besides, when you go to the cemetery, you stay a long time there. So lam going to go on being Minister of Public Works.”

The sally aroused new laughter and applause from the keenly appreciative audience.