MT. COOK HERITAGE

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 62, 25 May 1928, Page 4

MT. COOK HERITAGE

STRATFORD MAN’S VISIT. :Mr P. T. Aitken arrived home; last night fter spending two and a-half months at the Mt. Cook Hermitage, where he was engaged on the setting up of the Diesel engine purchased by .the Government from the Stratford Borough Council. Mr Aitken told a “Post” representative thi s morning that he was well looked after during ilii® stay, but he got very weary of the place. As soon as one set foot out of the Hermitage, ho rtiid. there was nothing to see but mountains, and there was nothing to do and nowhere to go. He full of admiration for the many wonderful sights to b© seen, hut all the same he felt the loneliness of the place during his somewhat long stay. To pass the time, therefore, he worked long hours, working for 10£ hours each day. tus when the evening meal was finished there was nothing to do but platv card®. The Diesel engine was ■aeit up on its bed. and the shed was afterwards built round it, so that Mt Aitken wa.g working in tli© open 1 air all the time. The parts of the engine had been dumped lull over the place by the carriers, on a shingle bed. and there was plenty of bard work in assembling and ' erecting Them. No lifting gear was provided, a nd temporary gear hadto be rigged, And working on the shingle was not over pleasant. During Easter there wer© 240 visitors to the Hermitagewliich hais 10Q bedrooms. Everything possible here is done by electricity, the ocoking range being ani immense affair. There was already a waterpower electric plant in existence, but the water froze in the winter, the Diesel engine was erected as a standby. The running of the Diesel win b e an expensive matter, as a lorrv can bring onlv twelve barrels of oil at a time, and all the ml has to be rjirried 132 miles from Timarn.