MAINTENANCE OF ROADS

Taranaki Daily News, 18 April 1932, Page 8

MAINTENANCE OF ROADS

STRATFORD COUNTY WORK. COUNTY ENGINEER’S REPORT. Road maintenance work in the Stratford county during the last month is described in the following report presented to the council on Saturday by the engineer, Mr. J. W. Spence:— North riding: During the past month the formation on the Upper Pembroke Road between the Barclay Road and the • radius line han been straightened where necessary, the watertables have been cleaned and three culverts have been lengthened. The recent wet weather’ has’ delayed the scarifying and rounding of the metal. The wooden culvert on the Rutland Road has been repaired and the filling made up. The metalled portion has been patched. The metal on the Cryodon West and Flint Road has been similarly treated and on the latter the watertables and drains have been cleaned. Further quantities of shell rock have been quarried at the Stanley Road pit. Some of the small metal obtained has been placed on two bad parts of the Manawaiwiri, 18 cubic yards being used. Fine shingle has been placed on the Ackland Road to repair the metal surface. The weeds have been cut on the metal depots at Midhirst. The loose stones on the. Radnor have been gathered and 24 cubic yards of pit shingle have been used in blinding the metal. ... ~ South riding: All the drains on the Cheat and Bird Roads have been cleaned and where necessary have been deepened. Clay blinding has been carried out on the Warwick, Climie, Sole, Skinner South and Pukengahu Roads. A culvert on the Waihapa Road has been lowered to give a better get-away for the surface water. Metal patching on the Robson, watertabling and. metal banking on Wingrove No. 2, Finnerty, Bird and Pukengahu roads have been done. Repairs have been made to the small bridge near Mr. Harvey’s property, Cheal Road, and to the Ngaere stream bridge on the Bird Road. East riding (Toko, Douglas and Huiroa): The road culvert on the Ohura Road near Toko has been lowered. Eight chains of the ditch on the Ahuroa Road have been cleaned and the bottom lowered. The grader has been run over the sides of this road and the watertables on this and Toko No. 1 Roads attended to. Portions of the formation on the Raupuha Road have been widened and watertables cleaned. General .maintenance in the way of metal blinding and patching, fern cutting, drain and culvert cleaning has been carried out on the dhura, Mangaehu, Mangaotuku, Douglas South and Gordon Roads. The grass edges on the Akama Road have been trimmed off and the watertables cleaned. Similar work has been carried out on the Mohakau. Some small slips have been removed on Douglas North and general repair work on the Makuri. The small stream, near Mr. Darraghs property has been diverted through a new cut and a new bridge has been erected. The original stream is being filled with, the spoil from the cut. West riding: One mile of the lower Hastings Road has been repaired on. the sides with, chips and. colfix. Rejects from the Manaia Road pit have been placed outside the repairs to-hold them in place and strengthen the sides. The water tables have been cleaned and overhanging fern cut. Colfix patching on Opunake No. 1 between. Stratford and Cardiff has been, done, similar attention having been given to th© Manaia Road. On the Palmer South the metal has been patched and the surface given a light coat of clay followed by a coat of screened shingle from the Manaia Road pit. Portions of the Waingongoro and Ronald Roads have been metal-patched and blinded. Approximately 1000 yards of shingle has been stripped at the Manaia Road pit, further quantities of boulders having been carted from the face to the crushing site. Maiigaheu riding: Fern and willow cutting have been carried out on the Mangaotuku, Mangaehu Main and Puniwhakau Roads. A start has been made with the caterpillar and grader in cutting off the grass edges on these roads, the, watertables, culverts, inlets and outlets having been attended to. Forty-four yards of shingle has been need to improve the metalled surface of the Mangaheu Main and further quantities can be obtained from the same pit. Three days were spent in carting shellrock fines from the pit on Messrs. Gatton Bros.’ property for; the blinding and maintenance metal on the Mangaehu North. The wire cable oyer the Mangaehu Stream has been tightened and two new pulleys and a length, of Manila rope have been placed in position. The clay surface on the Taillore has been repaired while the watertables have been deepened and culverts attended to. On the Puniwhakau the metal has in places been patched with shingle and the water-tables cleaned. Ngatimaru riding: A considerable amount of sandstone hase beeu used in improving the surface of the Matau North, and overhanging scrub has been cut. The dray-log has been run over portions of the Matau South. Some of the worst corners have been cut back, improving the width of the formation. Repairs have been made to two bridges. Repairs have been made to the approach to the Purangi bridge. The metal surface has been clay blinded on the clay portion and general repairs have been carried out. The grader has been run over the Mangaoapa, where the watertables have been attended to. The metalling contract on the Matau South was almost finished before the weather broke. It is only a mater of a few days’ Work to complete the 2>} miles.

ELTHAM THEATRE.

“CONQUERING HORDE.”

“Conquering Horde” deals with the period just after the American Civil War, when the land-poor ranchers of Texas were being victimised by moneygrabbing lawyers from the north. It is a real “Western,” possessing all the dash and excitement and all the outdoors glamour that a well-produced picture of this kind should have. It is sweeping in its magnificence; gripping in story value. Fay Wray is seen as the proprietress of one of the most desirable ranch properties in North-west Texas. She has a fine and large herd of cattle,’ but she cannot convert them into cash because there is no way of getting them to the rich eastern markets. Into this situation comes Arlen, her childhood sweetheart, who volunteers to lead her herd across a trail with which he is familiar, taking the cattle to Abilene, Kansas, the nearest railroad point. Richard Arlen and Fay Wray have the leading roles in the film. Other featured players of the cast include Claude Gillingwater, lan McLaren and Arthur Stone.