THE TELEGRAPHS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17039, 12 May 1923, Page 1

THE TELEGRAPHS.

REPAIRING THE EAST COAST ROUTE. Last night at 9.20 communication was restored with Kaikoura by means of one wire on the inland route. Mr H. I. Bennett, superintendent of telegraphs, stated this morning that the chief difficulty encountered in repairing the line between Waiau and Kaikoura was the Conway River, but last night a man succeeded in getting across. Probably more wires would be got across the- Conway to-day. but, as far as Kaikoura was concerned, this was not very important as one wire was sufficient to carry all the business between Christchurch and Kaikoura. What was more important was to repair the breaks between Kaikoura and Kekerangu and so establish connection through to Blenheim and Wellington. The line between Blenheim and Kekerangu was all right, but there were several breaks between Kaikoura and Kekerangu and the difficulty' of repairing them was increased by the fact that the bridges over the Clarence and Hapuku Rivers had gone. However, he expected that connection would be restored through to Blenheim some time next week. The department was concentrating on the inland route via Waiau which was mere important than t-he coast route via Cheviot.