CORRESPONDENCE. TE RORE BRIDGE.

Waikato Times, Volume XVI, Issue 1336, 22 January 1881, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE. TE RORE BRIDGE.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, — In your issue of the 18th instant I see a paragraph as to the proposed site of the above bridge, in which it is stated, "The District Engineer forwarded the wrong sections to Wellington, but that no doubt matters will be set right, aud the work proceeded with on the upper and proper site." I am, of course, not aware where you got your information as to which is the proper site, but I think it will not be hard to show that, in the interest of a majority of those concerned, the upper is not the proper one. In the first place, it is to bo presumed the District Engineer forwarded the section of both the proposed sites to Wellington. If he did not do so, no doubt a grave error has been committed. Now, as to which ia the proper site. Mr Stewart inspected both sites, in company with several members of the Pirongia, District Board holding different views on the subject, and, after hearing the pi os and com, in each case from their respective advocates, gave it as his opinion that the lower site was the best in an engineering point of view, much the cheapest and most central, being in a direct line between the point on the west where the roads from both sites would unite, arid the railway station at Ohaupo. He at once instructed Mr Hunter to take a section at the lower site, and aftorwaids one was taken at Te Roie, to enable the best site to bo chosen, after i an lmpiiicidl estimate of the cost of each. Subsequently, Mr Bntou, the contractor for the Narrows bridge, hearing one was about to be erected near To Bore, wrote to a member of the Boaul, off ex ing, if he was furnished with a section of the liver, to send a design for a biidgc and estimate of its cost, with certain conditions in case hi-, tender was not accepted. The letter was foiwaided to Mr Stewart, Avho expressed ft favourable opinion as to Mr Briton's capabilities as a contractor, and consequently tho sections of both sitos were foiw.ixdcd to him. A design for a biidge at tho lower .site, with estimate of cost,""was icccived, but none for the upper, after inspecting which he stated his opinion that it would cost nearly twice .is much as the lower. This view was subsequently confirmed by Mr Beere. After thi«, Mr Stewait changed his opinion, chiefly because of the vested interests at Te Rore, and the Government owning some laud there. As for the vested interests, I can oxly say I never heard of them until Mr .Stewart laised the question, aud I think it will be admitted I have had as good opportunities of knowing about such interests at Te Rore as Mr Stewait. I may also state that it was the largest landholder in the immediate vicinity of Te Rore who fust pointed out the lower site to mo as tho proper place for a bridge. Ho has, also, hjco Mr Stewart, changed Ins opinion in view of the increasing gcneiosity of a grateful Government. True, the Government own some 100 acres n\ Te Rore, but they own some 7000 aci^s in Pirongia Distuct alone, the giYAcer portion of which would be practically brought some two or three miles nearer the railway station and the saleyards, by a bridge at the lower site than by one at the upper. Besides, if there i& to bo any way of recouping the large cxtia expense involved in the latter being adopted, out of the 100 acres at To Rore, it could only he by cutting it up snd selling as a township, and with Alexandra, only three miles, where there is already a biidqo over the Waipii elected, and maintained by the Go\ eminent, one or other township would neccssanly piovc a t.nlure ; aud tho Government having alic.uly established ono at the latter, it seems h udly light to necessitate, or encourage by unnccos-aiy cxpcudituxc on tho formation of ono at Te Roie. Twoyeais ago I wiot'j m your columns, pointing out as fmly ami impartially as I could the lespeethe ineiiti of cadi Mte, and expressing the opinion fi.it they were so nearly balanced, that the engineering points a-, to cost of constiuction and maintenance should decide the question. The extra cost of the upper site has been variously estimated nt from £700 by Mr Stewart, to nearer £2000 l>y Air Briton, other con ti actors expressing their opinion in still stronger tei ms. Tho simple lact being that tho bridge and approaches at the Te Rore would be about 20 chains lone, and that at the lower site about 10 chains. (By the way, perhaps it is to piovide for tho extra cost that the Pioperty Tax assessment has boon so much mci eased ) Under these cneumstances I unhesitatingly express the opinion that to expend this large extLasum without any couosponding advautagc would be a waste of public money. Again, the cost of maintenance, ■which will undoubtedly f;ill on the adj Dining local bodies, will, it is to be supposed be in propoxtion to that of construction, and it seems unfair and impolitic to saddle those bodies with an increased annual chaigo for maintenance, when not ono of them was ever consulted as to which was the bc-t site. I venture to s,iy th.it it' the local bodies referred to, vu. , the Wai pa and Raglan County Councils, and the Piiongia and Manga - piko Distuct Boards were asked thenopinion, they would one and all put the budge on the best aud cheapest site, leaving Te Roie ami its vested interests out ot the question altogether. The only vested interests I know of in the matter, is the gieatest good for the greatest number both present and prospective. — I am, &c, Edward G, McMinx. Harapepe, 19th January, 1881 .

Stanley went to Afriga, and found himself by turns 'a mere newspaper correspondent, a soldier bent on extermination, and a missionary called upon to extend the faith of his race. Feeling, for a wonder, some incapacity to act the last named role, he came home with a piteous story of kings in the dark continent crying for some knowledge of the gO3pel. It needs no telling that his story produced an immediate subscription. Two anonymous donors gave between them £5,000 for an expedition. It was duly equipped and despatched. Sad to say, the natives responded rather badly. Instead of themselves seeking to go to heaven, they sent the missionaries thither with a rapidity which startled us at home. Within the last few days, the second of the donors of the £5,000 has died, and I am at liberty to mention their names. The first, the Rev. Henry Wright, wa3 recently drowned in one of the Cumberland lakes ; the second Mr Wilson of Sheffield, has just passed away. Mr Wilson actually gave £10,000 a year in charity, and sometimes spent a whole year's income upon it. "What do you mean, playing marbles on the Sabbath, you young rascal ?" exclaimed a father. "Oh, this is a sacred game of marbles, pa." That boy remembered that i;he old "rascal" attended a "sacred concert" the previous Sunday, whereat the "Fatinxta? March" and the "Turkish Patrol" were th esacredest hymns. The " Nationalist 1 ' and I^and league journals in Dublin are ajjreed that even if the prosecutions succeed the u movement" will not be stopped, but that on the contrary, it will receive a renewed impetus.