The Timaru Herald. FRIDAY, MAY 17, 1889.

Timaru Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 4541, 17 May 1889, Page 2

The Timaru Herald. FRIDAY, MAY 17, 1889.

The Government have not yet made up their minda with regard to the appointment of an Eagineerin-Chief, or, if a deciuion has becu arrived at, it bau beeu curefully kept secret, and the post ia etill vacant. This is following tho method pursued m relation to tbe Supremo Court JHdgeabip, which was ktpt t'pi?n for iniiny mouths, until tlje

delay came to be looked on as a public scandal. There was no good reason for not making an early uppointtnent m that case ; and so with regard to the post of Engineer-in-CJhief, the vacancy might have been fillsd at once. We suppose the trntk is that the Government are afraid of taking the final Btep lest m doing so they give offence to some of their Parliamentary supporters. The appointment, as we showed some time ago, ought to be given to Mr C. Y. O'Connor. He is one of the most talented and experiencedengineers m the colony, and his rank ia the service, as Under Secretary for Public Works, gives bitn a decided priority of claim to the post. The Government are very fortunate m having sucb a man at tbeir disposal. Only m one quarter has any attempt been made to cast a reflection on Mr O'Connor's professional career. We refer of course to the thoroughly unjustifiable insinuation m the Wellington Evening Post that Mr O'Connor had failed as the designer of bridges on . the West Coast of this Island. In connection with the subject it is a remarkable fact that the Grey River Argus, ' which at the time of a serious mishap [ to the Cobden bridge, then m course of construction, laid the blame on the dc- , signer, Mr O'Connor, now admits its i error and entirely absolves him from all responsibility. Seeing that this affair has been referred to, it may be as well to state the facts very shortly. , Some of the cylinders gave way during , a heavy flood, and it was alleged for the ; contractor that it was m consequence of faulty design of the structure, they not being sunk far enough into the bottom 1 of the river. The matter was referred to arbitration, as tho question was whether the authorities or the contractor should bear the loss. Tho arbitrator took all the contractor's statements for ■ gospel and awarded him £2000, which developed into £5000 before the matter ' was finally disposed of. But the sequel f showed that the award was entirely | wrong, and that faultiness of design bad nothing whatever to do with the mishap. When work was resumed at the bridge the cylinders were found to be broken off at the ground. They had not been supported as they should have been during the peogress of con- » struction and wero lumbered up with a ' lot of piles, which during the Hood ' caught the debris being washed down the river. Finally some large trees came down the river and lodged, and thus the unsupported cylinders were I exposed to a strain which broke tbem off. Clearly the designer, Mr O'Connor, ) was not to blame, and the contractor should have been held responsible because of the very risky method of procedure adopted by him. These facts - were known years ago to the Public , Works Department, and no engineer woold dream of charging Mr O'Connor with having designed the bridge faultily. • Yet we suppose thut it was on the Cobden mishap that the Ecvniny PoH based its untruthful insinuation. The only other West Coast bridge accident that we can call to mind is one that occurred to the Brunner suspension bridge, which r fell m during construction, owinpr to , two of the anchor plates breaking. But . that was not Mr O'Connor's design. It was the production of some Wellington genius. Mr O'Connor was on the West Coast when the accident happened, but had not arrived till after the building of tho bridge had been let by contract and the work considerably advanced. He was therefore not responsible, nor did the department hold him to be so. We notice that whilst the Grey Bluer Argus acquits Mr O'Connor of all blame with regard to the Cobden bridge, it profeßseß to know very little about his engineering skill. This is a strange admission for one of the oldest newspapers m that part of the colony. The Grey River Argus ought to have known that Mr O'Connor was the designer of hundreds of bridges on the West Coast, and that not one of them ever failed through fault of design. These facts may appear of little interest to readers m this part of the colony. But the question at issue is the appointment of an Engineer-in-Cbief, whicli ia a matter of colonial importance ; and a3 a Wellington newspaper saw fit to make a sneaking insinuation against Mr O'Connor m his professional capacity, it was only right and fair that the truth should be put forward with equal publicity. We sincerely trust that the Government will be courageous enough to disregard the Otago political element ' m making the appointment. If they do so, Mr O'Connor will assuredly be the successor of Mr Blackett, and that he . will make a worthy successor there can be no manner of doubt.