Labour-Saving in Hutt Valley Workshops Area
Preparations Well in Hand

In connection with, the drainage of the new workshops area in the Hutt Valley it was necessary to dig a trench through gravel and clay in boggy country for a distance of 1,800 feet. Mr. Pirie, the Foreman of Works, to whom the job was allocated, considered this would be a good opportunity for the use of a mechanical excavator, and under an arrangement with the Wellington City Council, their ditcher

Steam Excavator At Work
Ready to Bite
Digging up the Spoil
A Good Mouthful
The Discharge

[gap — reason: illegible] hired. The result proved eminently satisfactory, the whole distance being excavated to a depth of from three to four feet in 8 1/2 working days. In view of the country negotiated this was a fine piece of work. We are indebted to Leading Fitter W. Watkinson, under whose charge the actual operating was done, for opportunity to obtain the accompanying photographs of the excavator at work.

The social question requires to-day, more than ever, to be examined on the side of human dignity.—Victor Hugo.

Plate-laying Gang on Main Trunk Line, North Island. Mt. Ngauruhoe, 7,515 feet (active volcano), in background