MR. T. DIX RETIRING

Wanganui Chronicle, 30 January 1948, Page 4

MR. T. DIX RETIRING

LONG SERVICE WITH THE 1 WAITOTARA COUNTY More than 28 years service with the Waitotara County Council as engineer will be severed this week by Mr. Thomas Dix, of Wanganui. For several years Mr. Dix acted in the dual capacity as engineer-clerk and his long association with the district has given him an unrivalled knowledge of back-country roads and their problems. Joining the Waitotara County Council in 1919, he found that the roads in the county were in poor condition as an aftermatch of the • 1914-18 war. The council was requested by the Government of the day to do as little work as possible on the roads as the war effort had to have first priority. Consequently, at the termination of hostilities the roads were in a bad state of repair and this was the main task which confronted Mr. Dix in his new appointment. Prior to 1914 the roads under the control ot the council were as good as any in the country. Mr. Dix was asked by the Waitotara Council to estimate the cost of bringing the roads back to the condition they, were in before the outbreak of war. Mr. Dix’s estimate was £lO,OOO, and in order to raise this amount the council increased the rates for a number of years. After a period of fiva years the roads were brought back into reasonable condition. LITTLE ROAD ACCESS. Back in 1919 there was little access for back country settlers but improvements were effected as the result of Government grants and council subsidy. The flood damage of 1936, which caused havoc in all parts of the Waitotara County, was recalled by Mr. Dix in an interview yesterday. More than £lO,OOO damage was caused. Roads were blocked and bridges had been swept away. The Tokomaru riding suffered severely and It was necessary for Mr. Dix to go on a comprehensive tour of the riding on foot, for all roads were blocked. The task was accomplished within a few days. The Public Works Department came to the aid of the local bodies on a basis of £3 for £l. The other ridings of the county came to the assistance of Tokomaru with finance. 1 Unfortunately, the Tokomaru Rid- 1 ing could not repay the advances made and it became necessary to get an Act of Parliament put through The House to enable the other ridings to make grants to Tokomaru. TREE PLANTING. Tree planting on the Main Highways in the Waitotara County has long been a hobby with Mr. Dix, and excellent progress had been made when the outbreak of hostilities in 1939 ended for the time-being, an • ambitious programme. It is a matter of regret to Mr. Dix that he is retiring before the scheme is finished. Mr. Dix's long association with the Waitotara County Council is unique in the fact that he served under only one chairman, Mr. William Morrison, of Maxwell, who recently retired after being chairman since 1918. Mr. Dix first made the |:quaintance of Wanganui 55 years ago, when as a youth apprenticed to a firm ot surveyors, he came from Wellington. He did surveying in Wellington, and later up the Wanganui River. It was a trackless bush in those days and one went into the hinterland for 12 months at a time. Stores and provisions had to be taken in—flour, tea, sugar, rice, currants, hops, and baking powder. Wild pigs, of which there were hundreds, and cattle, provided meat. PAY WAS LOW. In thoae days pay was low. When Mr. Dix became apprenticed his wages were 5* a week and on completion of hi* articles, after a period of five years, he was paid £1 a week. In his younger days Mr. Dix surveyed in all parts of New Zealand, including Taranaki, Wairarapa, and in Otago. In Otago Central Mr. Dix surveyed several dredging claims, many of which were "wild cat” undertakings, during the gold boom period. He said some of the claims were "salted” with West Coast gold, which was of a light golden colour, while the Otago gold was more of a copper colour. A former engineer of the Waimarino County Council. Mr. Dix was in Raetihi at the time of the duastrous fire in 1918, which caused thousands of pounds worth of damage and some loss of life. Mr. Dix is a former consulting engineer to the Upper Wangaehu and Mangawhero Road Boards.