“With a Full Heart.”

Addressing a welcome to the official party, Mr. H. L. Harker, Mayor of Wairoa, stated that it was with a full heart that the people of Wairoa greeted the gift of something they had waited for for many years.

One would need the oratorical gifts of the late Timi Kara (Sir James Car-roll) to do justice to that sentiment, Mr. Harker declared, and to express how thankful the people of Wairoa and of the whole East Coast felt concerning the completion of this link.

The benefits that would accrue from railway connection with the main centres were, he considered, illimitable, but at a glance it was possible to enumerate many that would be deeply appreciated. To those who had been instrumental in giving Wairoa its rail-way connection, he extended the most heartfelt gratitude.