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The Home railways, like those of New Zealand, always endeavour to do their utmost to help the farmer and stimulate farm operations generally. At the moment the four group railways have placed special facilities at the disposal of the Home farmer in the way of convenient road services linking the farms with railhead, and the quotation of cheap rates for the conveyance of farm produce, manures, seeds, and so on. There are at present about 13,242 acres of farm land under cultivation in Britain, the cultivation of corn occupying a large proportion of this acreage. In a single year one of the biggest Home railways (the L. and N.E.) handles some 6,300,000 tons of agricultural commodities arising on its system, as well as 14,000 horses, 1,355,400 cattle, 4,299,000 sheep, and 700,000 pigs.
Britain's annual consumption of potatoes works out at about 4,000,000 tons, there being 633,000 acres under potato cultivation. The general question of the marketing of potatoes to best advantage is one engaging the attention of a special committee composed of railway representatives, Government officials, the Farmers’ Union, and the selling organisations. By consent of all the parties concerned, an intelligence service has been instituted, in which growers are enabled to know the available stocks at or in transit to the various markets, and the ruling prices, so that they may select those markets most favourable, both from the viewpoint of power to receive, and price. All the Home railways place many helpful services at the disposal of the farmer in the form of railhead warehouses, railhead markets, fast vegetable and fruit trains, the maintenance of stocks of grain sacks for hire by the farmers, the provision of farm collection and delivery services by road vehicle, and the establishment of postal telephone services at country depots. In handling imported farm produce, such as New Zealand butter, equally admirable facilities are provided by the Home railways.
The
New Zealand Railways Magazine is delivered free to employees in the service of the Railway Department, to the principal public libraries in the Dominion, and to the leading firms, shippers and traders doing business with the New Zealand Railways.
It is the officially recognised medium for maintaining contact between the administration, the employees, and the public, and for the dissemination of knowledge bearing on matters of mutual interest and of educative value.
Employees and others interested are invited to forward to the Editor, the New Zealand Railways Magazine, Head Office, Railways, Wellington, articles bearing on Railway affairs, news items of staff interest, suitable short stories, poetry, photographs, pen and ink sketches, etc. The aim of contributors should be to supply interesting topical material tending generally towards the betterment of the Service.
Contributed articles should be signed. If to appear under a nom de plume this should be stated.
In all cases where the administration makes announcements through the medium of this Journal the fact will be clearly indicated.
The Department does not identify itself with any opinions which may be expressed in other portions of the publication, whether appearing under the author's name or under a nom de plume.
If the power to adapt themselves rapidly and effectively to changing conditions can be taken as a test of their capacity, then the New Zealand railwaymen of the present generation have been amply tried, and have not been found wanting. The war period, the coal shortage, the vital changes in organisation commenced in 1924 and continued since, the economy campaign, the activities of competitors and the difficulties presented by national considerations in railway-business efforts to meet them, are all part of the quick-change history of the last sixteen years.
Railwaymen have gone through an exceptional period of rapid adjustment to new ideas, a period of rearrangement to a more elastic and flexible system in handling business rendered necessary by vital changes in transport relations generally.
This long training in adaptability undergone by the staff should prove of definite value in the profound changes to the whole situation of our Railways, which are to be brought about by the new system of control to be introduced from the first of June.
The history of Railways in this country dates from 1863, when a commencement of train running was made under the control of the Provincial Governments of that time. As the building of Railways progressed, this system, was retained until 1876, when the General Government took control, the mileage at that time being less than one-fourth of what it is to-day.
The lines which thus became one system under the title “The New Zealand Government Railways,” were first placed in charge of the Public Works Department, but within a few years they were handed over to the Working Railways Department, under the control of a General Manager, responsible to the Minister of Railways.
In 1889, however, a Board of three Railway Commissioners was appointed, the mileage of track being then about 1,800, or rather more than half the present mileage, although the capital invested in Railways up to that time was less than one quarter of the present amount.
This form of management lasted only until 1894. From then until 1925—a period of 31 years—the Railways were under a Minister of Railways who, to quote the report of the Fay-Raven Commission, “supervised the development of this great national asset through a General Manager, responsible directly for the administration of the undertaking.” Following this the lines were for three years under a Railway Board of three members responsible to the Minister
The purpose of the present change is to take the administration out of the hands of the Government so far as active management is concerned, and place it in the hands of a non-political Board. The duty of this Board has been clearly explained by the Hon. R. Masters—Chairman of the Railway Commission of 1930 which recommended the change—in a speech which he made as Deputy-Leader of the Legislative Council. Mr. Masters described the new body as a Board “whose duty it shall be to formulate the policy of the railway administration for the General Manager to carry out.”
The Board is to be made as free as possible to deal with the serious competitive conditions which have rapidly developed in recent years, and may be expected to give attention to improving the services which the Department supplies and, at the same time, easing the present burden which the Railways impose on the taxpayers. If this can be done, business confidence will be restored, and, in the ultimate issue, railway employees, as well as the public generally will stand to gain by the change.
Speaking on 26th May, before a deputation from the Invercargill Chamber of Commerce, the Minister of Railways, the Hon. W. A. Veitch, said the financial position of the Department was very much better than the general public believed, and if the economic state of the country returned to normal it would be found that the economies effected in the Department would place the Railways in a very sound position.
Mr. Veitch referred to the really live interest railwayman were taking in solving the problems of the Railways. He said that since June last, when he took over control of the Department, economies had been instituted at the rate of £1,000.000 a year. They would not show more than half a million, but the answer to that was that some had only been in operation for a few months.
“When we get a full year, even if more economies are not made, and they will be, we will show a reduction of £1,000,000 in our costs,” he said.
The reduction in railway revenue was considerable, Mr. Veitch stated, but it could not be expected that the country would always be in the hollow of the slump, and if the economies were kept up when trade returned to normal the losses on the railways would be reduced to £300,000 instead of £1,300,000.
Mr. J. Gilkison: Does that allow for interest?
Mr. Veitch: Yes. So you see that though the figures look bad, there is nothing bad about them. We only need continued rigid economy and the Railways will be in splendid condition.
Motor competition had only stopped railway expansion, he said, and had not reduced the railway business. Before the slump the Railways were increasing slightly.
Stationmasters, Mr. Veitch concluded, would be expected to come into much closer contact with the business world. The idea was to make every stationmaster a commercial officer.
The publication of the March-April issue of the Magazine completed the fifth volume. Readers are reminded that they may send forward their accumulated copies (May 1930 to March-April 1931 inclusive) for binding purposes. As hitherto, the volumes will be bound in cloth with gilt lettering, at a cost of 5/6 per volume. Those desirous of having their copies bound may hand them to the nearest stationmaster, who will transmit them free, with the sender's name endorsed on the parcel, to the Editor, New Zealand Railways Magazine, Wellington. When bound, the volumes will be returned to the forwarding stationmaster, who will collect the binding charge. In order to ensure expedition in the process of binding, copies should reach the Editor not later than 15th July, 1931.
On the occasion of far-reaching changes in the policy of administration applied to the railways of this country, I wish to give expression to one or two thoughts which, as General Manager of the system, have been passing through my mind.
The first is in regard to the usefulness of the railways to the people of this Dominion. I have a belief and faith in regard to this that has never wavered. Whatever developments there may be by road or air or sea in the future, I believe that for a long time to come the railways will be an essential factor in meeting the transport needs of the Dominion and so long as the railways continie to give that essential service at the lowest possible cost they will be “paying” in the only sense in which that word can be rationally applied to the work of the railway staff. This thought has stayed with me throughout the orgy of transport which has afflicted the country with such intensity in recent years and I feel that it is being increasingly recognised throughout the community. Many factors have contributed to this recognition, chief among which I believe are the growth of a more judicial attitude among the thinkers in the community towards the transport industry and the place of the railways therein and the steady levelling down of costs which has operated in the Department during the past year. During the present year I think we may look with confidence to further beneficial results under both these headings.
The second is in regard to the effectiveness of the railways on the personnel side. Upon this point I have been especially pleased to find the extent of public appreciation in regard to the willingness of our staff to afford helpful assistance to the public in their business with the Department. From one end of the Dominion to the other, business people engaged in an extremely varied range and scale of producing, manufacturing and trading occupations and enterprises, have gone out of their way to keep me personally informed of incidents in connection with their own businesses which have shewn the attitude of employees of the Department towards the Department's clients in a very favourable light.
This has been encouraging as shewing, first, the appreciation of members of the staff of the public viewpoint, for no matter how well-informed the customers of the Department may be upon the general features of our services with which they come into direct touch, there is always some further knowledge which members specially engaged in the various types of railway work possess, and it is in transmitting this knowledge that so much real aid can be given to those who entrust their transport needs to our care.
Then a second advantage from such service is revealed in the sidelight thereby thrown on the attitude of members towards their employment, for nothing indicates more clearly a healthy attitude towards their job than when the members of an organisation govern their actions in regard to those with whom they come in contact as they would do were the business their own.
As I write this message the change in the control of the Railways, as embodied in the Government Railways Amendment Act, 1931, comes into operation. An essential feature of that change is the constitution of the Government Railways Board to control the working of the railways and to shape their policy. I feel that the traditional loyalty of the railway staff to the constitution will be maintained through the present change and that I may speak with confidence for every member of the staff in giving to the Board and the public the full assurance that every member of the staff will co-operate with the Board and with one another with the single purpose of obtaining the very best results in the working of the system.
General Manager.
A Westerner and an Easterner on Russia—Soviet as Economic Challenger—Markets War in Asia—Falling Silver.
“We have not yet realised,” said Mr. G. B. Shaw early in May, “that the Russian revolution has come to stay, and consequently we have lost a magnificent commercial chance of getting a great trade. The building up of Russia is taking place without our capital and machinery.” G.B.S. thus taunts commercial Britain with losing a commercial opportunity. He implies that British political distrust of the Soviet's political methods has not prevented the politicalcommercial development of Soviet Russia. This national unit, embracing huge parts of Europe and Asia, gathers strength in spite of foreign spotlights on its weak points. The inference is that there are various strong points, not spotlighted. Russia will not be talked out.
It is a long way from London to Nanking, and from G. B. Shaw to the leader of Republican China. But about the time when Shaw was declaring that political boycott of the Soviet had won nothing, and that commercial boycott of defaulting Russia had lost much, no less a person than Chiang Kai-shek came into the argument with an affirmation of the Soviet's economic success. Addressing the first National People's Convention of China, he emphasised the progress of the Soviet's “five years plan.” Industrialisation, he said, was proceeding in the heart of Asia, close to the borders of China's own Turkestan and Mongolia. In short, the picture is presented of a Soviet Power astride the Europe-Asia land mass, and acclaimed equally by a London seer and a Chinese overseer.
On top of the messages of Shaw and Chiang Kai-Shek comes that of the English section of the Anglo-Russian Debts Committee. London cabled on 7th May that British members of the committee had decided to report that progress is impossible because of the refusal of Soviet representatives to give definite answers. It is feared that the Soviet Government will side-track the whole obligation of Russia for bonds and for nationalised property, if the industrial rebuilding of Russia can be accomplished while ignoring such obligations. And if Shaw's calculation is correct, there is good ground for such fear. Though Lenin is dead and Trotsky set aside, Stalin and his associates are bold enough to challenge “capitalistic countries” on
The economic challenge issued by Russia is still so new, in point of time, that its progress is not yet based on statistical facts. The favourable predictions of Western observers like the Canadian Customs Minister, Mr. Stevens, who declared that the Russian “five years plan” was succeeding “all along the line,” are not a sufficient substitute for proved performance. There is no denying, however, the blow that Russia has given (with or without forced labour) to the timber and the wheat markets. Shanghai cabled on 8th May a serious invasion of Middle China by Russian timber, oil, and also piece goods. How seriously Britain views the struggle for Eastern markets, including the Chinese and Indian, is shown by Mr. Snowden's repeated contention that a revival in the purchasing power of the multi-millions of India and China could do far more to relieve British unemployment than could possibly be done by sparsely populated Australia.
If Eastern markets are to become a battle-ground between a repudiationist Russia and a Britain saddled for half a century with American debt, special attention must be paid to the pronouncement (8th May) of the British Trade Mission to the Far East, that trade in those countries is based on low price rather than on quality. This must be so while the purchasing power of Eastern populations continues low. Apparently Mr. Snowden has no plan to raise it, and the persistent depreciation of silver has carried both China and India in the opposite direction. At the important International Chamber of Commerce sessions in Washington, the most pressing demand of the Chinese delegation was “an immediate international conference to stabilise the price of silver.” And the silver fall in India causes Senator Borah (chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee) to demand from Britain a reversion of the gold standard in India.
American silver exporters are, of course, concerned about India, but they are also concerned about themselves. Silver, which used to be quoted round about half-a-crown an ounce, has touched one shilling. Yet its production is not checked by price-fall in the ordinary way because silver is usually a by-product of the producing of base metals. As the value of silver money in China and India falls, their people have to pay more for imports (including British cottons, etc.), but are in a better position to export. Not only must British manufacturers face that difficulty in the Eastern market generally. They must also meet in India the boycott. The exclusion of foreign cloth from India, says Mr. Gandhi, is “an economic necessity,” and “Manchester must find new markets.” Mr. Gandhi is a political force. Thus once again politics and economics intertwine.
An outstanding lesson of the Twentieth Century is the linking up not only of politics and economics, but of all countries in a single political-commercial net. Touch one string of that net and every other string is pulled. The above-quoted British Trade Mission to the Far East reports that British products in that region are dearer than German and Japanese and less attractive than American. Japan, it is added, will increasingly export cheap woollen manufactures. If so, Japan must become in greater degree a buyer of wool from wool-producing countries like Australia and New Zealand, and may become an angler after trade reciprocity treaties with them. On behalf of Britain, Mr. Snowden prefers a larger Indian consuming market to Customs-concessions with Australia. It is within the bounds of possibility that Japan, as a manufacturing country, will try to collar both.
A break-down of the British aeroplane initiating the British-Australian air-mail was repaired by Kingsford Smith, who flew north from Australia into Dutch territory to supply the missing link. This mail route seems to be now open for good airmen with good luck. In Africa Glen Kidston did some fast flying as an argument for speeding up the British-African air-mail, but after a remarkably rapid flight from England to the Cape he crashed fatally, with a companion, in Natal. Schneider Cup winner Waghorn jumped from a falling aeroplane in England, and his parachute (owing, it is said, to low altitude) did not save him from injuries resulting in death. His place will be quickly filled in the British Schneider Cup team. The Victorian-New South Wales air mail aeroplane Southern Cloud vanished without trace. British airship effort (gas) pauses after a colourless report by the R101 inquiry.
A new note in air navigation is the investigation of the Greenland route between Britain and Canada. Its promoters claim that nowhere is there a cross-sea flight of more than 300 miles (which distance is substantially shorter than any of the sea links in Chichester's three-hops trans-Tasman plan, via Norfolk and Lord Howe), but the sea itself is hardly more inhospitable than the icecap of the Greenland plateau. This fact has been advertised by the dramatic loss and rescue of Augustine Courtauld, but the investigating party to which he belongs may yet open up a Canada-Britain air route via the frozen North. It was via icy Labrador that Norse sea-kings are said to have reached America years before the Spaniards.
The value of time; the success of perseverance; the pleasure of working; the dignity of simplicity; the worth of character; the power of kindness; the influence of example; the obligation of duty; the wisdom of economy; the virtue of patience; the joy of originating.— Marshall Field.
Dear Reader, brains are handy for calculating the penumbra of a cucumber, acerbating the alcoholic aspirations of an isozzlese triuncle, deciphering the symbolic subtleties of the ancient gum-chewers, and propounding the theory of assassinated aspirates. Brain is a useful adjunct to academical ascertainment and is effective in combating the inroads of ignorance; but preponderating platitudinously and with regard to the impotence of adequacy and the unification of the unicorn, over development of the “overhead” at the expense of the undercut, means biological bankruptcy. Likewise, a preponderancy of bovinity with a paucity of perceptivity is equivalent to deductive decapitation, or a state of arrested animation north of the squeakator.
It is notorious that Samson, while excelling at such muscular attainments as pulling the pillars, was incapable of propounding a fallacy or other achievements in the realm of academic gymnastics. Goliath, too, although a man of solid girth, was practically unconscious north of the main trunk. On the other hand, some of the ancient intelli-gents were so bereft of biceps and immune from flesh spots that they eventually fell prey to the athletic jocundities of the musclebound.
Nature teaches that aesthetics and athletics must be embraced bigamously to achieve that perfect balance and joie de glee enjoyed by, say, a pugilistic philosopher, better known perhaps as a pugsloshopher or a mashamatician.
Personality or purse-o-nality is rather physical than metaphysical. Life's prizes are consistently arrested and put into gold storage by the human bean with the brain power to recognise opportunity in the raw, and the horse-power to shape it to his own spends and push it home in his own barrow.
It is possible, of course, to maintain life without brains, but only because it requires presence of mind to recognise the absence of it, and without it the body having no means of recognising the fact that it is practically defunct, goes on growing regardless.
All of which brings us to the subject of Health and Happiness. Happiness is Health's sparking partner, and wealth is incidental or accidental. If you are fourteen stone in your socks, consume fried liver for breakfast, and greet the morn with the joyousness of a Manchew-rian tiger who has dropped on a member of the Gastronomical Society, then you are Nature's answer to the maiden's prayer, the man they couldn't wang, the elephant's
Health is regained not by railing but by rail.
The pursuit of health is the passion of the plutocrat, and is remindful of that old song “Bring Back My Body to Me.” Too late the merchant quince who has neglected liver for lucre, realises that the boyish figure is no girlish dream, but is something to “have and to hold.” Consequently he spends large figures on his large figure, mindful of those wistful words, “Too late, too late, you cannot canter now.”
If an imperfect stranger were to smack him on the back in a spirit of give and skate, or even wang him abaft the fountain pen, he would probably claim damages for contempt of courtesy or false pretensions; yet he divorces himself from his currency to induce unknown man-handlers to knead him with their bare hands, manipulate his skin like chewing gum, and run over his personal defects with rolling pins. He submits to the indignity of belabour and uncomplainingly figures his cheque to check his figure. Before he fell for the machinations of Mammon, health was his inheritance; but he disinherited health after inheriting wealth. Not that every plutocrat is a suit o’ fat; on the contrary, poorliness is as common as portliness, and just as uncomely. In fact absence of avoirdupois is more mortifying than presence of rhind. The weighty personality is not necessarily a banned rotunder, but often the undermanned is undermined by the consciousness that, on account of his superfluity of flats and sharps, he is more amusical than musical.
A doctor often retains some glimmering of respect for the weight-for-age entry, but the Napoleon of finance too prolific of bony parts is nought but a case of false pretences. The human frame-up, when divested of its sartorial hypocrisy, is at best at its worst, whichever way you look at it. It is either an unqualified apology or a bare-faced lie.
When the patient has unearthed the skeleton in his wardrobe the doctor focusses his stethoscopic sights and gets the range. Having got a bead on the quarry, his whole being seems to protest and cry out: “It can't be true; it is a hospital illusion, a shirtless chimera, a broken malady in A minus.” He touches it to see if it is real; it reels before the breath of suspicion. The doctor hides his head in a poultice and great sobs shake his confidence. Doctors are only flesh
“What do you suggest?” whimpers Napoleon.
“You are beyond the power of suggestion or digestion,” says the doctor. “You are a human frailty, and should travel in an egg crate, packed in sawdust. You are really only a passing thought or a minus quantity; plus-fours might pull you together, otherwise I would suggest putting you in splints until you set. What you require is a complete change of body—mind the grating as you go out.”
The human hiatus reassembles himself and rattles off among the maddening throng like a second-hand body without tyres, length without breadth, geometry without symmetry, or a thin excuse simply because he neglected to practice the precept, “take heed of the sorrow.”
Sport is an essential credential to bounding health. It is not necessary to be a bounder before you can bound, any more than a flounder should flounder or a limpet limp, but constant impact with Mother Earth either fore or aft is conducive to long levity and muscu-hilarity.
Let us ferment:
We are indebted to Mr. S. Fahey (Railways, Featherston) for the following appreciative letter recently received by him from Mr. O. Taussig, Vienna, Austria:—
I am very much obliged to you for sending me your very interesting New Zealand Railways Magazine.
May I express how much it gives to the European reader, and how much it informs him about your beautiful country, and makes rise the desire to see New Zealand. The Magazine gives new and surprising ideas about the successful development of your railway system.
In view of the present interest in the above question, it is worth recalling that Mr. H. W. Manly, a former president of the Institute of Actuaries, London, and a world-wide authority on pension funds, said:—
“A fund maintained in a sound financial condition is a blessing to both employer and employed. The employer secures a continuity of service, for the employee will think twice before he leaves a service where he has a number of years to his credit for pension, for a small additional income; and if he (the employer) makes a proper contribution to the fund, in addition to guaranteeing a good rate of interest, he secures efficiency in the service by superannuating his servants with a reasonable pension when they are no longer useful. His salary list is a good 5 per cent.—I am inclined to think in many cases nearer 10 per cent.—less than it would be if there were no fund, and I do not think, therefore, that he can reasonably object to subscribe 5 or 6 per cent. of salaries to the fund.”
On Guard is the title of a special little pocket magazine issued by the National Safety First Assn. (London) as part of a specialised accident prevention service, which consists of an intensive campaign each month against one of the principal dangers of industry. In an issue of the magazine just to hand, the particular hazard covered is “Collisions with Objects,” which, as Sir Gerald Bellhouse, Chief Inspector of Factories, points out, are the cause of injury to about 11,000 people each year in industry alone. He gives some useful hints on how to avoid such injury. The magazine deals with various aspects of Health, as well as Safety, at Work, in the Street and in the Home.
The Health hint for the month is the much discussed one of exercise. “Do anything to get just out of breath—and no more—once a day” is one of the maxims of this article.
The magazine also contains particulars of a competition, the purpose of which is to find out which means of arousing interest in accident prevention is most effective. As the editorial points out, “a large proportion of the fifteen thousand killed and the million injured annually in various forms of accidents would be saved if more interest were taken in prevention.”
Copies of On Guard can be obtained, price 2d. each, post free, from (or quotations for quantities will be given by) the National Safety First Association, 119, Victoria Street, London, S.W.1.
Some idea of the relative speeds of trains on leading British and American railways was given as the result of a recent visit to the United States of seven directors of the London, Midland and Scottish railways, who crossed the Atlantic to study methods adopted on the Chicago system. Sir Henry Fowler, spokesman of the party, said conditions in the two countries were different, and it was difficult to comment. He observed, however, that the Royal Scot, the crack train of his company, made the 390-mile trip between London and Edinburgh at an average speed of 56 miles per hour, against an average of 49 miles per hour accomplished by the train on the 960-mile run between Chicago and New York,
In his current Letter our Special London correspondent makes interesting reference to the recent Presidential Address delivered before the London Institute of Transport by Sir Arthur Stanley, and discusses the latest railway developments in England and on the Continent.
Changing conditions of transport and trade are at present having a marked effect on the railway industry. World trade, although now on the mend, is still in a generally depressed state, spelling lessened freight revenues; road transport is taking valuable business from the rails on both the passenger and freight sides; and such developments as the wholesale distribution of electric power from big central generating stations and the pipe line conveyance of petroleum call for serious attention from railways everywhere. The fact is that business conditions throughout the world are at present in a state of transition; and at the heart of this transition lies transportation progress.
As Sir Arthur Stanley remarked, some time ago (in his Presidential Address to the London Institute of Transport) railways, in consequence of improvements in road and air conveyance, have lost the virtual monopoly they once enjoyed, but there were many means by which they could regain their prosperity. The Home railways have wisely entered the field of road transport on the passenger side, while on the freight side they have improved their services by a general speeding-up and by the introduction of containers, introducing also a comprehensive system of road collection and delivery services.
It was Sir Arthur Stanley's view—and with this we are in entire agreement—that railways can do much to secure prosperity through efficient organisation and effective salesmanship. In my last letter I dwelt upon the value of an attractive passenger station as a business-bringer, likening this to the “shop window” of the railway organisation. By ways such as this, and by the whole-hearted support of every employee in the direction of traffic solicitation, the future of the railway can be assured, and with it, of course, the future of every individual worker. Another point brought out in the Institute of Transport Presidential Address was the inelasticity of railway carriage charges. Railways certainly do attach far too much importance to the value of the commodity carried, and too little importance to actual cost of service. The old axiom of “charging what the traffic will bear” was doubtless sound enough in the “good old days,” but now it should not be forgotten that to the road
By more than one leader in the field of transportation has the view been ex pressed of late that, eventually, the four big consolidated railways of Britain will be united to form one comprehensive transportation undertaking serving the whole of the country with its rail, road, steamship and aeroplane services. The time may be somewhat distant before this move is actually tackled, but there would seem every reason for the belief that unification would produce substantial economies in operation, staff, and other directions. Waste and redundancy of effort would be nullified; and provided political interference was not permitted and the railways were operated on strictly commercial lines, it should be possible to build up a sound and profitable undertaking covering the whole of Britain with its co-ordinated rail, road, water and air services.
At present there is contemplated the setting up of a single transportation undertaking in the London area, to take the place of the existing individual rail and road carriers; and there is really no logical argument against the fusion of the whole of the four group railways of Britain to form one big consolidation. The existing group railways of the Homeland each possess a mileage on a par with the New Zealand Government Railways, and while on combination the resulting system would be a large one, it would not be too unwieldy bearing in mind the experience in lands like Germany and the United States. Everyone connected with the Home railways would, in many ways, be sorry to see the passing of the existing group systems, just as there was general regret at the disappearance of the smaller individual lines swallowed up by the introduction of consolidation ten years ago. All things considered, however, it would certainly seem that unification of the four Home group railways is inevitable sooner or later.
Locomotive equipment on the New Zealand Railways follows on general lines
The new locomotives have cylinders working on the simple expansion system, with diameters of 16 inches and a stroke of 26 inches. Cylinders, valve chests and steam and exhaust passages, are formed as a monobloc casting, and all three cylinders drive on to the second pair of coupled wheels. The outside cylinders are fitted with Walschaerts valve gear and the inside cylinder with Gresley valve gear operated by extensions to the front of the outside valve spindles. Principal dimensions are as follows:—Grate area 22 square ft.; boiler working pressure 180 lb.; total heating surface 1609 sq. ft.; tractive effort 22,464 lb.; total weight in working order 84 tons; total length 42 ft.; coal capacity 4 tons; water capacity 2000 gallons. The locomotives have been built in the Doncaster shops—the home of the far-famed “Flying Scotsman” machines—to the design of Mr. H. N. Gresley, the L. and N.E.R. Chief Mechanical Engineer.
The locomotive fuel bill is a very large item of railway expenditure, and all concerned should ever be on the alert to prevent waste of locomotive coal and to follow methods of firing that promise efficiency and economy in practice. In a paper presented to the British Association some time ago, Sir Henry Fowler, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, remarked that the consumption of fuel in
If locomotive firing were correct and the boiler properly designed, said Sir Henry Fowler, only a very thin smoke would issue from the chimney. At Home two methods of firing are favoured. In the one the fire is kept slightly hollow, being somewhat thicker at the side. In the other—the “haystack” method—the thicker fire is down the centre. In both cases the fire is kept as thin as possible, yet not in holes. Intelligent anticipation is called for on the part of locomotive crews, and really keen drivers and firemen may secure wonderful results on a minimum of fuel. By concentration on fuel saving on every run, it is probable most railways could effect quite remarkable economies throughout the year in their coal bills.
Safety in rail travel has always been well assured at Home. The recently published report of the Ministry of Transport upon the accidents occurring in the working of the Home lines during 1929 shows that in that year only three passengers were killed in train accidents and 507 injured. The three deaths arose through a single accident involving collision between an express passenger train and a shunt of goods wagons during foggy weather. Fourteen railway employees were killed in train accidents during 1929 and 97 injured. Accidents at level crossings were responsible for the deaths of 16 persons, of whom 15 were pedestrians. Having regard to the continued growth of road traffic these figures are eminently satisfactory, revealing that danger to the public using level crossings has not unduly increased.
An indication of the magnitude of the earth movement associated with the earthquake in Hawke's Bay on 3rd February is afforded by its effect on the Westshore Bridge (at Napier), and approaches. The bridge, which has a total length of 1,232 feet, is of reinforced concrete construction on reinforced concrete piles, and consists of twenty-one spans of 50 ft. each, five of 25 ft. each, and one of 57 ft. (the latter designed to allow the passage of boats and launches).
The old road bridge which crossed the inner harbour from Port Ahuriri to the south end of the shingle spit at Westshore, was in need of renewal in 1914. At the same time the Napier-Eskdale railway was about to be constructed, while the Napier Harbour Board was also contemplating the construction of an extensive inner harbour in the Ahuriri Lagoon. An agreement was, therefore, entered into between the Public Works Department, the Napier Harbour Board and the Hawkes Bay County Council (an agreement subsequently confirmed by legislation), by which a combined road and railway bridge was to be constructed in a position that would not interfere with the proposed inner harbour.
The bridge was constructed by the Public Works Department at a cost of £44,708 18s. the County Council contributing approximately half the cost. (The embankment leading to the bridge was constructed by the Harbour Board, the Public Works Department contributing £20,000 out of a total cost of about £47,000).
Provision was made for the Railway Department to maintain the bridge and embankment and collect, from the County Council, the cost of maintaining the portion carrying the road, the County Council being assigned the work of maintaining the road surface.
To allow for expansion and contraction, the bridge was constructed in units, each consisting of two 50 ft. spans, one 25 ft. span (in centre) and two 50 ft. spans, making an expansion joint at every 225 feet. The 25 ft. spans were strongly braced against longitudinal forces, and also provided with raker piles acting in the same direction. The waterway was designed to allow for ample provision for the discharge of the Tutaekuri River and also for the movement of sufficient tidal water to and from the lagoon, this provision being for the purpose of preventing the shoaling of the entrance to the inner harbour.
The earthquake of 3rd February, 1931, was accompanied by an earth movement from the north of a magnitude sufficient to push the south end span entirely off the concrete pier at the expansion joint, allowing the span to fall into the estuary. The pier (with the expansion joint placed centrally) is three feet wide. The photograph shews the second span well over the edge of the pier. All piles in the piers to the northward were cracked on the north side, but the reinforcing remained in place. The southern-most pier was broken by the falling of the span.
The whole structure was raised 5 ft. 10 in. by an upward movement of the bed, and this movement extended for many miles in both directions. The maximum uplift noted on the railway was 6 ft. at Bay View (about 5 miles north of the bridge), steadily decreasing to 3 ft. 9 in. at Eskdale (9 miles northwards). The uplift was less where swamps were crossed, due to the semi-fluid earth flowing
The bridge was thrown only slightly out of line, but the embankment at the south end was forced to the westward so that the roadway on the embankment lined up approximately with the railway track on the bridge.
The uplift considerably reduced the portion of the lagoon covered by tidal waters, and in consequence yachts and launches which formerly sailed the inner lagoon were left high and dry. The railway line between Napier and Eskdale will require to be regraded, and in many places relocated to suit the altered conditions.
Judging in the railway gardens competition, in Canterbury was concluded a few weeks ago, when the judges, Messrs. W. J. Humm, M. J. Gilpin, W. S. Young, and H. L. Darton, secretary of the Canterbury Horticultural Society, visited the station gardens at Little River and Ladbrooks. They were accompanied by Mr. H. A. Penn, Railway District Traffic Manager.
The results of the judging are as follows :—
“A” Division, for the trophy presented by Mr. L. B. Hart:—
“B” Division, for the Canterbury Horticultural Society's trophy:—
Apart from the above awards, individual awards to the men concerned in looking after the gardens are made by the Railway Department.
A valuable record, in miniature working models, of railway development in New Zealand, is being built up by model engineering enthusiasts in Auckland. Nowhere in the Dominion, perhaps, is there to be seen a finer collection of models of the kind than that at the home of Mr. G. T. Roberts, Kimberley Road, Epsom, Auckland, the headquarters of the R.S.R.R. Some interesting particulars of the locomotive stock represented in the collection are given in the following article.
Utility and romance appear sometimes to be as far apart as the poles, yet the pressure of utility has been largely responsible for the changes which form the very foundation of romantic history, whether it be of kings or postage stamps, of clothes or railway locomotives. It is regard for utility which has brought men through gradual processes to the wearing of drab clothes, and it is a similar need which has made the railway locomotive the monster of efficiency it is today, with little of the outer show it once possessed. The processes of development have in each case made history, though it must be admitted that some of the experiments, both in clothes and locomotives, have produced appalling results, creations which have been an affront to the eyesight and a discredit to their inventors. Still, these have been mere lapses, and they have served by contrast to add distinction where beauty has already been apparent. In clothes, for instance, one admits the beauty of the crinoline, but deplores the hideousness of the later leg-of-mutton sleeve and bustle, despite the fact that both were steps towards utility.
And so it has been with railway engines. “Josephine,” of the locomotive crinoline days, was a pretty thing, but the double “F” experiment, intended to achieve equal or greater efficiency, was the last word in hideousness—a monstrosity with scarcely a redeeming feature.
I shall not pursue the subject of clothes: for the time being I am a keen railway man, my enthusiasm dating from my last visit to the headquarters of the R.S.R.R., and I am satisfied now that there is sufficient romance in railway locomotive development and history to interest even the most unmechanical mind, if the material be presented in suitable form. Blue prints and departmental books of records are available to a very limited number of people, but few even of those so privileged are sufficiently interested to study the subject. Photographs are undoubtedly more arresting to the attention, but departmental records in photographs do not include what might be termed action pictures, the old engines in their most interesting settings with the train crews of those days gathered about. Nor do the records make mention of the crack drivers of forty or fifty years ago, or of the stories which their names revive. This is where there has been opportunity for an enthusiast to gather the material while it is available, and this is where the record side of the R.S.R.R. (in the care of Mr. W. W. Stewart) has done, and is still doing, work, the value of which will be better appreciated as the years roll by.
But the activities of the R.S.R.R. extend beyond the collection of information and photographs. A friendship of long
The concern is now above all things a working railway, though profits, unfortunately, do not find a place in the accounts. The practical side of the business is located at the home of Mr. Roberts, whose interest in the subject and ability as a mechanic can be gauged by the results of his efforts as Chief Mechanical Engineer of the combination. A hobby must not be permitted to encroach too far upon time which otherwise might be spent upon domestic affairs, therefore the output of the construction sheds is to some extent limited. Nevertheless, the fear of a “blister” from the domestic departmental boss does not altogether prevail, and the railway is steadily progressing. At present it possesses seven locomotives, all of them modelled on classes of early period. The intention of the management is to construct, in the course of time, a range of locomotives which will represent fairly closely the development of our New Zealand Government Railways.
The rolling stock comprised originally a working steam model 2 ½in. gauge loco, with a short train to steady its pace a little, which, by the way, it failed to do. However, it was very soon realised that a collection of steam models would involve a lifetime of work in construction, and that they could not be employed satisfactorily as part of a timetable demonstration. There is too much “get there” about a steam model once it is started off, and control from a distance is impossible. Steam, therefore, was voted out of place, and the scheme at present is the construction of electrically driven models of what are steam engines as far as outward appearance goes.
Power is picked up from the track, and trains can therefore be controlled from either terminus. An article in our issue of September, 1929, has sufficiently described the system, but since that date five locos, have been added to the “fleet.” The pioneer of the team in the 1 3/4 in. gauge was a representative of the “D” class, and surely a more appropriate beginning could not have been made. The “D” was the first orthodox main line engine built in New Zealand, the makers being Messrs. Scott Bros., of Christchurch. There are still many people (railwaymen included) who remember the first appearance of these Scott-built engines. One can picture the scene at Christchurch station on the morning of 24th February, 1888, when Sir John Hall, the Hon. E. Mitchelson, Minister of Public Works, the Hon. J. T. Peacock, Minister of Railways, the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, and other public men took their departure by special train for Little River as guests of Messrs. Scott Bros., the contractors. D139 drew that train.
To return to the models. Two “F” engines in miniature were next constructed, and assuredly it was right that this class should have a prominent place. As the late Rous Martin said, “I doubt whether smarter or more capable servants of all work (within the limits of their power) were ever seen on any railway.” F243 was a sister of the locomotive which had the distinction of taking the first train out of Auckland in October, 1873. In accordance with the fashion at that time, she bore the name “Flora McIvor.” The other “F” class model, No. 164, is of the high pressure type, and carries the elaborate finish of the early days. Construction of two “M's” an “L” and an “R” followed in due course. At Auckland, in March. 1929, the “R” (Fairlie's Patent) won the Sim Cup at an exhibition of working models, held by the N.Z. Society of Model and Experimental Engineers.
While it can safely be left to the photographs to indicate the care which has been taken to reproduce in the models the
All this is by way of showing what an interesting record of railway development is being built up by the R.S.R.R. members. Primarily they work for their own amusement, of course, and rumour has it that there is not too much gravity at their meetings, but they are in a fair way towards establishing a memorial to the Government Railways, past and present, and it is to be hoped that their ambition will suffer no check.
By an arrangement made with the Auckland Transport Board, Mr. A. E. Lovell (Railway Passenger Agent in the Auckland district) has secured cheap transport by tram as well as by rail for country school parties visiting the Zoological Park of the Queen City. School parties of children and parents travelling at the very low railway rates for excursions of this type may hire tram transport by the tramload for conveyance between Auckland station and the Zoo, the rate for the return journey working out at about 5d. for children under 15 years of age, and 8d. for adults.
As a further incentive to travel, the Secretary of the Zoological Committee has written to all schoolmasters in the Auckland district offering prizes for the two best essays upon the subject “A Trip to the Zoo.”
From the Deputy-Chief Commissioner, Girl Guides and the Metropolitan Commissioner, Boy Scouts, Wellington, to the General Manager of Railways, Wellington:—
On behalf of the Joint Scout and Guide Rally Committee we should like to thank you for the very valuable assistance you gave us in arranging our transport in connection with the visit of Lord and Lady Baden-Powell to New Zealand, and the rallies of the Scouts and Guides to meet them.
We were most grateful for the special fares you allowed for Scouts and Guides and their friends coming to the rallies, and also the special trains arranged where necessary.
We should specially like to say how very much we appreciate the splendid help given us by Mr. Hawken, who was in charge of all our business with your head office, his courtesy and consideration for us in every detail did much to lighten our work, and all the arrangements he made worked most smoothly and easily for everyone. We found railway officials everywhere most helpful, and we realise that the smooth working of all train arrangements did much to contribute to the success of our rallies.
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From the secretary, Boy Scouts Association, South Taranaki district, to the District Traffic Manager, Wanganui:—
I write in appreciation of the manner in which your Department operated the train in connection with the Scout Rally in Wellington. Everything went off well and everyone had a most enjoyable run.
I wish particularly to express appreciation of the courteous manner in which the guard of the train on both trips performed his duties. I rather think he much exceeded what could have been expected of him in his endeavour to see that everything was as it should be, and that the wants and comfort of those travelling were catered for. It is officials such as this gentleman who do much to popularise your services.
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From the Scoutmaster, St. Andrew's Troop, Stratford, to the District Traffic Manager, Wanganui:—
I wish to express, on behalf of my committee and myself, our thanks and appreciation for the courtesy and consideration accorded to us by all the railway officials with whom we came in contact on the occasion of the excursion to Wellington for the purpose of meeting the Chief Scout. They one and all appeared to me to be trying to make the trip enjoyable to the Scouts and Guides, and as easy as possible for the officers. I must specially mention the guard of the train—who was on duty both ways—he was the embodiment of cheerful courtesy and helpfulness, and I am sure that if you had set out to pick the best man for such a job from the whole of your staff, you could not have done better.
In the following article Mr. Davidson gives some interesting historical particulars of railway construction at Auckland, and tells how our railway engineers have solved the many intricate problems associated with the scheme of providing the northern gateway of the Dominion with modern terminal facilities.
Railway construction in Auckland dates back to the year 1863 when the Provincial Council put in hand the construction of a line between Auckland and Drury with a branch to Onehunga. It is interesting to note that this railway was projected in view of the ultimate establishment of a main trunk line to Wellington, although the immediate necessity which gave rise to it appears to have been the want of military transport to the seat of War in the Waikato. The fighting with the Maoris was suspended, however, and the construction of the railway remained in abeyance.
This railway enterprise did not take definite shape until 1872 when a contract was let for the construction of the Auckland -Mercer railway.
The railway station at Auckland had its genesis in a contract entered into in September, 1872, between the then Governor of the Colony, Sir James Fergusson, on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen, and Alexander, Henry and James Brogden of London, railway contractors. Mr. John Carruthers was the Engineer-in-Chief for the Colony of New Zealand. The contract covered harbour reclamation, sea walls, drains, and platelaying.
The station sidings were a little over one and a half miles in length and the points and crossings numbered 20. In the new Auckland yard, opened on 24th November, 1930, there are thirty-two miles of sidings and 338 points and crossings.
In 1872 there were less than 100 miles of railway open for traffic in the whole country. The population of Auckland city and environs was only about 25,000. Today our railway system has a length of 3,287 miles and the population of Auckland is 212,100.
The first station building at Auckland stood approximately where the large new outwards goods shed now stands on Breakwater Road. The subsequent station site which has served the city for many years was then water, and Customs Street formed the water front.
The first railway yard paralleled Beach Road, its outlet being along an embankment crossing Mechanic's Bay. In addition to the usual goods shed and engine depot the yard contained railway workshop and stores.
The year 1879 saw large reclamation works in hand at Auckland. These works were for the purpose of providing additional station accommodation, and to further relieve congestion in the yard, a site was purchased at Newmarket for workshops and stores. With the removal of these buildings to Newmarket the accommodation in Auckland yard was gradually improved until such time as the reclamation work permitted the removal of the passenger station to the Queen Street site. The new station building on this site was completed in November, 1885, and the station yard was finished about the same time. The station was officially opened for public traffic on 30th November, 1885, almost exactly 45 years ago. The intervening years have seen wonderful growth in the city and port of Auckland,
It may be of interest to quote some figures to indicate the measure of progress which took place in Auckland up to the years when the Great War disturbed the equilibrium of our economic life. Apart from the mounting prosperity of the district, the biggest impetus to railway business in Auckland arose from the opening of the Main Trunk Railway through to Wellington in 1908. We find, also, that the railway revenue in 1913 was double the revenue in 1908. Over a period of twenty-five years the passenger business in Auckland province increased at twice the rate indicated by the figures for the whole of the Dominion. It doubled itself between the years 1888 and 1902, and doubled again between 1902 and 1911. The goods business doubled itself from 1888 to 1902 and again doubled itself from 1902 to 1911.
It was not to be expected that such increases should continue indefinitely, nevertheless the railway business in Auckland has been marked by a steady growth.
It will be realised from the figures quoted that right from the inception of the Queen Street station, in 1885, the question of adequate accommodation has been an ever vital one with the Railway Engineers. Two very serious obstacles presented themselves. These were Breakwater Road and the proximity of the Parnell grade. With the development of the Auckland waterfront, Breakwater Road had become a very important thoroughfare and though provision had been made in the Auckland Railway Station Act, 1882, for the bridging of this crossing a satisfactory scheme was impossible.
The necessity for trains starting well clear of the heavy grade to Newmarket prevented the provision of adequate train sidings between Queen Street and the foot of this grade.
These difficulties were greatly intensified when, in 1907, the railway frontage to Queen Street was handed over to the Post and Telegraph Department for the erection of
The other outstanding necessity was the avoidance of the limitations imposed upon both loads and station operations by the Parnell grade. This could only be achieved by the construction of a new outlet on almost level grades across Hobson Bay and Orakei Basin to Westfield. This scheme permitted of the expansion of the Auckland Railway Station yard eastward and seaward. This expansion, however, could be obtained only by a reclamation of the harbour front which absorbed Mechanic's Bay and later on St. George's Bay.
The trend of development in railway works in Auckland was of vital interest, not only to the Railway Department, but also to the Auckland City Council and the Harbour Board. So in the planning of railway facilities in Auckland much valuable collaboration has been done by these three bodies. Many features attaching to Auckland station to-day are the result of the balancing of the various interests and requirements of definite sections of the community.
The Railway Department has at long last been provided with adequate means for serving the people of Auckland. They have been served loyally in the past, but such service has depended more on the skill and grit of the railway staff than on the means at the men's disposal.
Perhaps the most vital function of the railway yards is service to the overseas shipping at the wharves, a service amply provided for in the new scheme.
For many years the goods shed accommodation has been poor, and the local loading facilities not equal to requirements. Now the business people of Auckland have a commodious up-to-date outwards goods shed with ample cranes for handling all kinds of freight, and, also, a new inwards goods shed designed on similar lines.
In the Upper Waikato there is a family, old schoolfellows of mine, who are life long lovers of the horse and who would sooner move about the country on horseback, though they own motor-cars. The head of the clan, a patriarchal Scot, now about ninety, came to New Zealand seventy years ago, and all his life he has been a horseman. I remember his riding his own horse at the country race meeting when he was fifty years old or thereabouts. His six or seven stalwart sons practically grew up on horseback; and when polo became a popular country sport in New Zealand they formed a family polo team that was invincible. They bred polo ponies, as well as cavalry horses, and shipped them to India. Now the third generation of the family has its polo team, and it bids fair to equal the dash and perfect horsemanship of its fathers.
The same old colonial hand just quoted is full of bird-lore garnered from the Maori and from pakeha oldtimers like himself. “Did you ever hear tell,” he asked, “about the morepork and its value as a life-lengthener? It's a true bill among some of the Maoris. Up at Ketemarae, in Taranaki, we once had a bullock driver by the name of Jimmy Simmonds, who had a Maori wife. I was out with old Jimmy one day when he shot a morepork. ‘Surely you don't eat the Ruru!’ I said. ‘Oh no’ said Jimmy, ‘but my old missus does. All the women eat the ruru when they can get one; they believe it prolongs their lives. My missus will go to bed quite happy after a feed of morepork”’ But any ruru-slaying today must be done strictly sub rosa, for the bird is on the absolutely protected list, and rightly so.
The following is the third instalment of the text of a little booklet, explanatory of the services and facilities of the New Zealand Railways, recently issued by the Railways Publicity Branch and distributed to all schools throughout the Dominion.
You do not need to carry your own cushions to increase the comfort of journeys on the Main Trunk Express trains of the North and South Islands. The railways supply nice big pillows, soft and clean, at ls. each for the whole of the trip. The seats themselves are cosy, but the pillow gives a pleasant finishing touch.
On the Limited Express trains between Auckland and Wellington and on the Night Express between Christchurch and In-vercargill, pillows are obtainable from sleeping-car attendants. For the ordinary expresses on these Main Trunk lines they may be hired at Auckland, Wellington, Christ-church, and Invercargill.
In other ways your railways make provision for your comfort. On the Main Trunk lines there are train attendants who keep the carriages clean, and are pleased to offer a helping hand to elderly persons entering or leaving a carriage.
Altogether your railways are doing their best to ensure safe and comfortable travelling at the lowest possible cost. Many visitors from other countries have warmly praised the spirit of service and courtesy of the railways staff.
(To be continued.)
The following is the concluding instalment of Mr. Kent's non-technical explanation of surveying, surveying instruments, and the methods employed in their use, more especially in relation to railway engineering.
We now come to the question of surveying as applied to Civil Engineering, a branch of surveying usually demanding extreme accuracy.
In figure No. 13 is shown a survey for a tunnel through an inaccessible mountain range (except by the Pass followed by the survey). Proceeding from the point A, a survey is made to the point B, with great care and checking. In computing this survey it is found that the point B is 35 chains north, and 55 chains east, of the point A. We now have the triangle A B C of which two sides are known, and also the angle at C. The angles at A and B and the length of the side A B can now be computed, as previously explained, giving the length of the straight—included in which is the tunnel and also the bearing of the tunnel in relation to true north. In the diagram the dotted lines are computed and the full lines observed and measured. The grade of the tunnel is fixed by ascertaining the relative height of the points A and B. This will be dealt with when explaining levelling practice. The figures above the line are the measured distances, and below the line the bearing or angle to true north.
In railway engineering the location and setting out of curves enters into surveying practice. All true curves bear certain relationships according to their magnitude or radii to the angle of intersection of the straight lines which they join up, i.e., the length of the starting and finishing points of the curve from such intersection. The length of the curve is also known, the distance in a straight line across the curve and joining the curve ends, and the angle a chord of any length makes with the straights when drawn across any portion of the curve from the starting point or end of a curve (see figure No. 14). This information is given in books of tables for any curve for any angle of intersection of the straights and the calculations are reproduced on the ground with a theodolite.
There are several types of curves as shown in figure No. 15 and their characteristics are as follows:—
A true curve is one of even curvature throughout its length. The radius is decided upon to meet, economically, the configuration of the country with a minimum of construction work in the placing or the removal of earthwork. The present allowable minimum curvature is 7 ½ chains radius, but this is only adopted in very rough country and easier curves are provided if at all practicable, even with increased construction costs.
Reverse curves are provided in rough country to meet local conditions, but are not good practice as the opposing elevations of the outer rails of each curve give a rolling motion to vehicles at the junction of the curves. A compound curve is a curve made up of two or more true radii
Intimately associated with engineering surveying is the necessity for accurate levels to determine heights, fix gradients and earthwork quantities. This work is carried out with an instrument known as the dumpy level. The instrument comprises a telescope mounted on three rigid legs and fitted with a very sensitive spirit bubble parallel to the telescope. The telescope and levelling bubble revolve freely, horizontally. The eye-piece of the telescope is fitted with two fine vertical cross lines and one horizontal crossing at right angles. The instrument is fitted with thumb screws on the top of the leg mounting to bring the telescope into a horizontal position in any direction. The telescope has considerable magnification for distances up to 300 yards and onehundredth of a foot can be observed at 100 yards distance. A graduated staff about 14 feet long and three inches wide, marked in feet, tenths and hundredths of feet, is employed in observing the heights of various points in relation to the line of sight through the level telescope.
In figure No. 16 is shown the method of taking a series of levels with the dumpy level. In the first series of readings A B C D and E it will be seen the readings are 12, 3, 11, 7 and 5 respectively. That is to say B is 9 feet higher than A, C is 1 foot higher than A or 6 feet lower than E and so on. The instrument is then moved from station 1 to station 2 and a back sight taken on the last reading from station 1 at E. This connects the second series with the first series—a procedure repeated again and again until the area to be covered is completed. As a check, levels are taken on the completion of the work back to the starting point as at A, and if the work has been well done the same level is arrived at, or at least within allowable limits. The levels of each reading are then tabulated, the original level being related to mean sea-level by connection to fixed monuments known as bench marks (much the same as surveying trigs), and available throughout the country. When thus tabulated the varying heights of each point of observation above mean sea-level are shown, and any one point can be compared with any other point as to their relative heights.
When locating a railway or road, short lines of levels are taken at each chain at right angles to the line of proposed construction. These lines are called cross sections and are used to determine the best exact location of the centre line of railway or road for economy in construction and at the same time to give data from which the filling or cutting at each chain can be computed. In figure No. 17 A are shown typical cross sections with the filling or cutting shown thereon in dotted lines, the heights of such filling or cutting being obtained from the plan of the levels and grades, known as the longitudinal section, as shown in figure No. 17. This figure shows a small portion of the finished plan for the construction of a railway. Above is the alignment or location of the centre line, with curve. Below is a graphic representation of the mileage at every chain, the heights of the surface at every chain, the heights of the formation decided upon, with a grade of 1 foot per chain, i.e., in this case a fall of 1 foot in each chain. The difference between the surface heights and the formation height give the heights of the filling or cutting at each
The modern practice is to compensate railway grades for curvature, i.e. to provide a slightly easier gradient on sharp curves to balance the resistance of wheel flanges on the rails on such curves.
Railway location in rough country calls for considerable investigation and trial lines. To reach a given elevation by a direct route is often impracticable as the gradient would be prohibitive. The only alternative to get a working gradient is to cover distance, called development. The Raurimu Spiral is an example of this. It is frequently remarked by railway passengers, when proceeding up a valley and they see the river well below them, that they cannot understand the mentality of the engineers in leaving the river flats where the gradient is so easy. They overlook the fact that in the lower part of the valley the river has an easy gradient, but higher up the valley it begins to rise until finally it may be as steep as 1 in 10. The railway leaves the level of the river at the lower entrance of the valley and following a workable grade throughout eventually again joins the river level at its source and passes over the summit to the adjoining watershed. This is illustrated in figure No. 18.
In past years it was the practice to go in for cheap construction, the alignment and grades following the contour of the country. This gave heavy gradients and sharp curves, but light banks and cuttings. The Lawrence Branch is a typical example. This practice is economically unsound. Though the initial cost is light, the limitation of loads, speeds and the heavy wear to track and rolling stock is perpetuated and this expense would more than pay for a better and more costly location in the first instance. When traffic demands make it imperative to improve the old location by grade and curve easements, the money expended on the original location may for the most part be written off as a dead loss. In locating and grading a line, the likely trend of heavy loading should be investigated. To have an average falling gradient over many miles in the direction of heavy loading, with a steep opposing gradient for a short distance at some point in this area is bad practice. The opposing grade limits all loads on the down gradients to that of the up gradients.
Surveying has its humorous incidents, and I give one or two of my experiences in an endeavour to detract from the heaviness of this subject.
I once sent a man down a high embankment to measure the size of a large square culvert and gave him a three foot rule to do so. He returned and said it was as high as the rule and three widths of his hand. On investigating personally I found it 4 feet high. He had overlooked the using of the rule for the additional measurement beyond its length!
After placing a number of pegs to the exact level with considerable care I instructed the ganger to see they were not disturbed. He met me later looking very pleased with himself and informed me he had knocked them all in to level with the ground so they would not be disturbed!
When surveying a water catchment area on the Bluff Hill I was unable to
When on grade easement surveys near Auckland I was camped near Paerata. A cadet in the camp was going into Auckland for the week-end and dressed in his best. I instructed him to pick up a peg dump left near Paerata Station as it was required, elsewhere, on the Monday. A peg dump is a round iron bar about three feet long, one inch thick, with a flattened head and used for making a hole in the ground and then driving the peg with the flattened end. The cadet was very indignant on his return as he overheard a lady on the Paerata Station remark that he must be a “professional strongman” because he walked about with an iron walking stick!
When transferring camp from Turakina to Otahuhu on grade easement surveys I wrote the Auckland Office to engage for me a chainman-cook for the camp. I intended a man capable of either work. My request was evidently only casually read as they replied, “What did I want a Chinaman cook for? Was not a white man good enough?”
In conclusion I may state that surveying is a very satisfactory following as there is no guess work, all work automatically checks itself and one knows definitely the margin of error. In this respect the final computations give as much satisfaction as solving a problem does to a mathematician, or a balance to an accountant.
I trust that my explanations have been sufficiently lucid to be followed by an attentive reader and that some may have found interest in this subject which is an important branch of railway work.
On a May morning, at 8.40, we were leaving the city of Auckland, with its turmoil of noisy trams and bustling crowds, for the quiet content of country scenes. A day's journey, with the quaint little station, Opua, tucked snugly away in one of the many coves of the Bay of Islands, at the end. A few minutes and we were chugging through the water across the bay to that little settlement, slightly altered from the settlement of 1860, the front li?ne of shops and dwellings closely hugging the shore. A veritable haven of rest, until recently undisturbed by the intrusion of the motor. Kororareka in the fading light, with the fishing launches dimly outlined, a stray pearling vessel at anchor, the perfect curve of the beach, and the dim buildings thickly interspersed with the dark tree foliage, is ravishing; but Kororareka, reclining in the full blaze of the morning sun, is a land of enchantment, teeming with tales of ancient lore.
The first room we stepped into had been Bishop Selwyn's reception room at Kohimarama, Auckland, and had been brought up on a scow to its present resting place by one of the Bishop's admirers. Overlooking the building is Flagstaff Hill, of Hone Heke renown, while a few steps to the right, a short distance from the shore, is the little white church, that has witnessed the drama and tragedy of so many pioneer lives—the heralds of civilisation. The church was erected in 1835, the first to be built in New Zealand by the Church Missionary Society. Among the list of subscribers is the notable name of Charles Darwin. H.M.S. Beagle was a visitor in the bay at the time, and the officers and captain, with Charles Darwin, subscribed the handsome sum of £15 towards the building fund. In 1837 Samuel Marsden visited the church, in December, 1838, Bishop Broughton, the first Anglican Bishop of Australia, preached a consecration service, and on the 29th January, 1840, in the same building, Captain Hobson read the Crown proclamation and his Commission as Lieutenant-Governor. A church loved by pakeha and Maori alike, so loved by the latter that during the war of 1845, the Maoris placed a guard over the church to prevent it from sustaining injury.
The white tombstones, rising from the green carpet of Mother Earth, untrammelled by fence, or border, as is befitting these pioneers of the free wilds, lift the veil and let us peer into the dramatic past. The tallest monument, and close to the church, on our right, as we walk up the path, is the stone erected by the Governor of the colony to Tamati Waka Nene, Chief of the Ngapuhi, for thirty-one years a loyal subject of the Great White Queen. He died in 1871. His voice raised at an opportune moment changed the destiny, not of kings, but of thousands of lives. We see him, while the Treaty is being read and interpreted, with bent head, deep in thought. Unlettered, but possessed of the heritage of a more cultured era, he is able to look into the future and compare it with the past. Raising his arm to quell the rising intonations from the gesticulating chiefs, he speaks with the ease and inherent poetry of his race, and the fate of a country is sealed.
We viewed the spot where this unique rite—the forming of a treaty between civilised and uncivilised man—took place. Across the harbour from Russell, on the right-hand side of the Waitangi estuary as you enter, is a beautiful shelving beach,
One can navigate the entrance to the estuary, or lagoon, only at high tide; the quaint beauty of the mangroves is then apparent. Their gnarled trunks rising from the water are fascinating and the pohutukawa, gracefully bending from the cliff faces, adds majesty to the scene. We wound up the calm estuary with the mangroves on our right, the steeper contour with forest growth and pohutukawa on the left. About a mile up, the estuary widened, assumed the shape of an upturned bowl, over whose rim flowed the waters of the Waitangi. A charming picture, the perfect curve fringed with overhanging greenery, and the white waters tumbling into the mirrored surface below.
Leaving Waitangi we coasted the shore on our left and entered the pretty little bay, Paihia, with its beach of shining shells. A more beautiful bay, with a more beautiful view, would be difficult to imagine. In close proximity are picturesque islets so characteristic of the harbour; the coast circles round until far out just opposite, is the glimpse of open sea which marks the entrance. Modern homes, instead of the old Maori whares, now line the strip of level land between shore and bush-clad hills.
The old mission church has been replaced by a handsome stone edifice, erected by the present generation of the Williams family to the memory of their great forebear, Henry Williams. The monument in the foreground bears the inscription— “In Loving Memory of Henry Williams, 44 years preacher of the Gospel of Peace, a father of the tribes. This monument is raised by the Maori Church. He came to us in 1825, he was taken from us in 1867.” A few chains further on just above high water mark is a smaller stone marking the spot where the Mission ship “Herald” was built, and launched by Reverend Henry Williams on January 24th, 1826. And farther back, on the same grounds are the ruins of the early mission house where the first printing press was set up. Picture the interest of the savage tribes when, on the arrival of Colenso, the machine became animated with new life and spoken words
We were advised not to leave Russell without climbing the Trig station, Tikitikiora, where a grand panorama of the bay can be obtained. A winding road led us round the shore for about three and a half miles. Leaving the road at a point where red and white cottons tied to the scrub laid the trail, we commenced the ascent, ultimately emerging from the manuka on to a sun-bathed plateau thickly carpeted with the soft native grasses.
To stand in the midst of a beautiful picture with the fresh grass at one's feet, and the sweet mountain air around one, is a joy indeed. Here was a sky of blue softened with distant fleecy clouds, a sea of darker tone to match, dainty little treeclad islets merging into islands—undulating, green-sloped and cove-curved; bays and inlets and deeper inlets; the blue horizon to the northward, and the rolling hills to the south. Before we left, the son tints of the evening sun were shading the western clouds, and night, that follows apace in these northern lands, overtook us on the homeward track. But the wekas, calling across the valleys for the evening rendezvous, kept the taniwhas at bay.
The following morning we left Russell by mail launch for Kerikeri. The passengers included a small girl and a kitten— a knowing little grey tabby that liked not the look of the briny, and a Home lady who was going to her new place of residence, “away out back o’ beyond,” in one of the hidden recesses of the Bay of Islands. We wondered how she would appreiate the contrast from noisy Sheffield —her home town. She spoke of maids and many visitors, here she would have neither—water being the only means of access to her new home
On the slopes towards the entrance was pointed out to us the spot where Marsden preached his first sermon. A stately Norfolk pine stands as a living monument to his memory. Here, too, the first white woman was born. She lived to ninety-one, and lies in the old church cemetery in Russell.
On 6th February, 1863, Mr. W. S. Moorhouse resigned the office of Superintendent, and Mr. Samuel Bealey was elected as his successor.
At this time the date of termination of the financial year was altered from 30th September to 30th June. (The financial period which ended on 30th June, 1863, was, therefore, for nine months only).
The Provincial Council assembled on 15th July, 1863, when the Superintendent reported that the Province was in a prosperous condition. In addition to ordinary works on an increased scale, payments for the financial period (nine months ended 30th June) for the railway works, including the Ferrymead Branch and the main line from the Ferrymead junction to Christchurch, had been borne by the ordinary revenue. The Superintendent proposed that the bridging of the Rakaia River proceed at once, and that the expenditure of the loan of £500,000 authorised by the Canterbury Loan Ordinance, 1862, be allotted as follows:—Rakaia Bridge £50,000, Southern Railway £200,000, Northern Railway £200,000, leaving £50,000 for other works. He also proposed that a separate loan should be raised for harbour improvement works.
A Commission, consisting of Messrs. W. B. Bray, T. Cass, W. J. W. Hamilton, R. Kerr, Henry Rose, J. D. Macpherson, G. Buckley, and J. E. Allen, had been appointed on 10th March, 1863, to advise as to the best means of improving the harbour at Lyttelton, and, particularly, as to bringing the shipping into direct contact with the railway. This Commission in submitting their report recommended that, before proceeding with the work, the advice of some eminent English authority be obtained regarding their proposals.
The Council agreed as to the necessity for constructing the Rakaia Bridge, but asked that the reports and estimates of engineers be laid before the Council preliminary to the voting of supplies. The Council also considered that £150,000 would be sufficient for the proposed Northern Railway, and that £100,000 of the loan should be devoted to harbour improvement. It was also recommended that, with a view to the purchase of private rights, a detailed survey of the land required should be made so as to avoid the extravagant demands for land taken. The Council had before it a return of the cost of the land for the Lyttelton and Christchurch Railway.
As indicating the progress of Canterbury, the Census of December, 1861, shewed a population of 16,040 as compared with 5347 in January, 1856, and it was estimated that at 30th June, 1863, the population had increased to approximately 20,000.
The revenue for the year ended 30th September, 1862, was £237,896 (including land revenue £207,669, and Customs £17,365). The expenditure was £173,868 which included £46,972 paid on account of the Lyttelton to Christchurch Railway.
In view of the expansion of settlement, and the proposed increase of activity in the construction of Public Works, it was deemed necessary to reorganise the Public Works Department of the province. The chief feature of the scheme of reorganisation was to place the Department in charge of a member of the Executive who would be responsible for its administration, and who could take part in the
Surveys under the control of the Chief Surveyor.
Roads, bridges, and telegraphs under the Provincial Engineer.
Buildings under the Provincial Architect, and that minor local works be handed over to local Boards, each with its own Road Surveyor.
In relinquishing charge of the Public Works Department which had been under his supervision since its inauguration in 1854, Mr. Edward Dobson stated that the programme of works which he, as Provincial Engineer had planned, had been now practically completed. Although they still required much work to bring them into thorough order, main roads had been constructed throughout the length of the Province and connecting with the adjoining Provinces of Otago and Nelson. The whole cost of the works constructed (exclusive of the Lyttelton and Christchurch Railway) was, in round figures, £283,000, all paid out of the revenue of the Province, the whole population of which, even at the date of the report (1st July, 1863) was little in excess of 20,000 souls.
Mr. Dobson retained the position of Resident Engineer for the Railway; and the English Agent (Mr. Selfe) was requested to select a suitable person to fill the position of Provincial Engineer. He engaged Mr. George Aickin, but on his arrival in the colony Mr. Aickin failed to comply with the requirement of the Provincial Government and his engagement was terminated. Mr. George Thornton, who had been assistant to Mr. Dobson, was appointed to act as Provincial Engineer and subsequently was confirmed in that position.
After the passing of the necessary legislation the Hon. John Hall was appointed the first Ministerial head of the Public Works Department, with the title of Secretary for Public Works. The appointment was dated 2nd May, 1864.
On 27th October, 1863, a Commission, consisting of Messrs. E. Dobson, Jas. Wylde, J. F. Roberts, T. Cass, E. Richardson, and E. G. Wright, was constituted to reconsider the lines of railway projected north and south, and the bridges over the large rivers in connection therewith. To this Commission were subsequently appointed, on 17th May, 1864, Messrs. John Hall and R. J. S. Harman, and on 17th June, 1864, Mr. W. T. Doyne.
The original commission made a preliminary report (dated 8th March, 1864) regarding the south line, stating that it had fixed the points of crossing the Rakaia and Waitangi (Waitaki) rivers, and the route of the line between Wash-dyke and Pareora (a difficult section), and recommended that a detailed survey of the whole line be made, and the private land required for the railway, be purchased. It was also recommended that the south branch of the Rangitata River be closed so as to confine the water to the one channel. The south branch was then of small dimensions.
The route of the north line was still under consideration.
On 7th April, 1864, the Provincial Council was called together to consider the programme of Public Works, including the building of the Rakaia Bridge and the construction of Railways from Christchurch to Timaru and to the Kowai, and to authorise the purchase of the land required in this connection. Mr. W. T. Doyne, an engineer of experience and standing, had been engaged to report as to the bridge over the Rakaia. It was decided to proceed at once with the bridge, and the railway from Christchurch to the bridge, and that for these purposes a sum of £300,000 be raised under the Canterbury Loan Ordinance, 1862.
The Council then adjourned and met again on 11th August, 1864, when the Superintendent stated that there had been a difficulty in negotiating the Provincial debentures, and it had been necessary to approach the General Assembly with a request that the General Government
Although the financial arrangements had not been concluded, the first sod of the Great South Railway was turned by Mrs. Samuel Bealey, wife of the Superintendent, on 24th May, 1865, and a contract was arranged with Messrs. Holmes and Richardson for the construction of the line from Christchurch to the north bank of the Rakaia, 33 ½ miles for £210,000, payable, half in cash, a quarter in Provincial debentures, and a quarter in land at £2 per acre, the lands estimated at 5 per cent. depreciation of value. The work was divided into sections of approximately seven miles, and the Provincial Council retained the rights to suspend operations at the completion of each of these sections. For reasons hereafter explained, the work was temporarily suspended at the south bank of the Selwyn River.
(To be continued.)
One of the most important lessons taught by the disastrous earthquake of Hawke's Bay is the immeasurable national value of the State Railways for New Zealand's welfare. Immediately after the great shake the stricken area had the help of the Railway Department's far-reaching specialised organisation. The details of this article show the quickness of the Department's response to the need, and further assistance would have been available in accordance with the people's requirements. Indeed, if the effects of the earthquake had been severe enough to demand the complete evacuation of Napier and Hastings, the Railway Department could have mobilised sufficient rolling stock and trained man-power to remove the whole of the population in twelve hours.
The Railway staff living in the earthquake area were probably affected to the same extent as the rest of the community, but the discipline in the service was so good that without exception the staff remained at their posts throughout their terrifying experiences and did everything that could be reasonably expected of them to provide for the safety of their lines of communication and for any demand that might subsequently be made upon transport facilities.
The earthquake occurred at approximately 10.50 a.m. on Tuesday, 3rd February, and within eight minutes, or to be exact, at 10.58 a.m., headquarters had been advised by the Stationmaster at Waipukurau that a very severe earthquake had taken place and that communication north of his station had been interrupted. Shortly afterwards advice was received that the viaduct between Ormondville and Kopua had been damaged and that the Napier mail train could not get through and was returning to Takapau. The General Manager (Mr. H. H. Sterling) immediately communicated with the heads of his departments and arrangements were made for a special breakdown train in charge of an Inspector of Permanent Way and a special gang of workmen to leave Woodville at once, picking up men and material in order to effect any repairs to the line that might be required. This train left Woodville at 12.5 p.m., 1 hour 15 minutes after the earthquake had occurred.
At this stage, owing to the lack of telegraph or telephone communication with the stricken area, few details of the extent of the disaster were available, but news and information were slowly trickling in, indicating that the upheaval had been of great magnitude. It was considered wise, therefore, to make further arrangements for the dispatch of men and material to Hawke's Bay, and a second work train was made up and fully equipped to deal with the more urgent engineering requirements. This train left Wellington at 1 p.m., 2 hours 10 minutes after receipt of the first advice.
The Inspecting Engineers and District Engineers meantime had left for Napier, and were speedily on the spot to give whatever expert direction might be required.
The Electrical Branch had not been idle, and very luckily a special gang was working in the neighbourhood of Takapau. This gang was split up into small
The earthquake had, in many instances, thrown down the poles, and in other cases the lines had been so tangled by the oscillation caused by the rapid shakes that they had to be cleared with long poles as the gang moved along.
Headquarters at Wellington were by this time receiving more detailed information as to what had happened in the devastated area, and the Defence Department had made a requisition on the Railway for special trains for transporting material and hospital equipment from Trentham. Foodstuffs were also assembled and were in readiness for dispatch. The first of these trains left Trentham at 7.31 p.m. on the Tuesday, and arrived at Waipukurau, the nearest point that could be reached in the then state of the permanent way, at 1.44 a.m. on Wednesday, 4th February.
Lorries were requisitioned to take hospital stores and equipment from Waipukurau, and within an hour of the arrival of the train 41 loaded lorries had been dispatched. Consideration was then turned to the question of providing food, and, if necessary, water, and also of arranging for transportation of refugees and casualty cases from Napier and Hastings.
The Railway Refreshment Branch had assembled large supplies of food, and arrangements were made for cooks and assistants to proceed northward at once. These food supplies and the Refreshment staff in charge left Wellington by special train at 7.30 p.m. and picked up additional supplies en route.
In Napier and Hastings events were happening with such startling rapidity and earthquakes were so frequent that the population as a whole, although accepting conditions with that bravery characteristic of our race, were more or less stunned by the calamity that had come upon them.
The Napier Technical College, which is situated close to the Railway Workshops, was observed to have collapsed and several of the Railway employees, headed by Mr. A. G. Foster, Railway Locomotive Foreman, rushed over and rescued several boys from amongst the ruins. As it was manifestly impossible to remove sufficient of the debris in time to save those buried beneath it, the method adopted was to listen carefully for cries or groans that would locate the boys, and then work with the utmost haste to uncover them. One lad was held under fallen timbers and brick-work some twelve feet from the edge of the pile, but luckily a narrow tunnel had been formed by the fallen masonry and by using great force the rescuers were able to release him from the jammed timbers.
With the exception of those officers whose attention at the railway station was absolutely indispensable the remainder of the Railway staff assisted in the urgent work of rescue.
The Railway Bus Office, which was located close to the Masonic Hotel, was utterly demolished, but by extraordinary good luck the staff had saved their lives by sheltering in the strong-room and extricated themselves after the first heavy quakes had passed. The Officer in Charge, Mr. S. Viles, with the help of the available staff, set about turning some of the railway buses into ambulance cars. A skeleton service between Hastings and Napier was maintained up to 10 p.m. and the balance of the fleet of buses did yeoman service in conveying injured and maimed cases to McLean Park and refugees to Central Park and racecourse. Railway buses were also sent down for the sailors who were being landed by H.M.S. “Veronica,” and every transport facility was given that the plant available would permit.
The earthquake had destroyed the Loco, water tanks at Napier, but the staff
The evacuation of the injured was proceeding methodically, and as Waipukurau was at this stage the nearest point of the rail a special hospital train was made up there, and the first patients left for Palmerston North at 11.30 a.m. on 4th February.
As the possibility of a general evacuation of the earthquake area, particularly Napier, had arisen, the General Manager of Railways (Mr. H. H. Sterling) proceeded to Napier to assume control of transport operations for such an emergency. Mr. Sterling was in the earthquake zone from 5th to 11th February, and during this time he was in close touch with all aspects of the disaster. In co-operation with Captain Finlayson, who was in charge of the Nelson Park camp, Mr. Sterling formulated a comprehensive scheme dealing with all aspects of the transport problem. He also assisted in the development of a permanent relief organisation, under which he assumed full responsibility for all transport arrangements. As Chairman of the Transport Committee Mr. Sterling remained constantly in touch with the Control Committees at Napier and Hastings. He also conferred with his departmental officers from day to day, and dealt on the spot with questions requiring decision as they arose. Another important activity was his personal inspection of the line in the affected area from Napier southwards.
Railway headquarters had set the wheels in motion for the possible evacuation, and carriages and other rolling-stock were being hurried to Hawke's Bay district from all parts of the North Island.
The arrangements made covered a possible evacuation of 15,000 to 20,000 people, and within twenty-four hours there were available 150 railway cars and 50 railway bogie wagons each with a capacity (in emergency) of 100 people or 20,000 people in all.
Schedules were prepared to enable trains to leave at short intervals and had the necessity arisen the whole of the population could have been removed from the danger zone in a short space of time.
The Railway Refreshment Branch had accumulated sufficient food and stores of various kinds to supply all possible demands that might be made upon it at Napier or Hastings. A main depot was established at Napier and subsidiary depots in other parts.
A number of the Department's experienced chefs and cooks were assembled at Napier, and cooking arrangements were adequate and satisfactory. Luckily, the weather remained fine.
Repair work to the track which had been carried on without cessation enabled the trains to get through to Hastings by 10 a.m. on Thursday, 5th February, and to Napier by 9 p.m. the same day. The rapidity with which the track had been restored astounded all who saw the lines immediately after the first heavy earthquake had taken place. To all branches of the service praise is due, but in this connection the Maintenance Branch came in for special mention. The restoration of rail communication had a very steadying effect on the people, and when the first refugee train of twenty cars, carrying some 1,200 passengers, steamed out of Napier those remaining felt their courage stimulated by the fact that great numbers of people could now leave if they so desired.
Mrs. B.: “I saw you had your daughter's young man to tea on Sunday.”
Mrs. C.: “Yes, and he was clumsy. He spilt his tea all over the tablecloth, and we hadn't even read it.”
* * *
The twins had been brought to be christened.
“What names?” asked the clergyman.
“Steak and Kidney,” the father answered.
“Bill, you fool,” cried the mother, “it's Kate and Sydney.”
* * *
“Do you ever have to hurry to catch your morning train, Mr. Ballantyne?”
“Well, it's fairly even, you know. Either I'm standing on the platform when the train puffs in or I puff in while the train stands at the platform.”
* * *
MacAllister: “And how did you feel when you learned that your uninsured shop was on fire?”
Isaac: “Feel? I turned as vite as your shirt—no—viter!”
* * *
An Englishman, an Irishman, a Scotsman and a Jew foregathered at the bar of the hotel. The Englishman stood a round of ale, the Irishman a round of whisky, the Scotsman and the Jew stood around for a few minutes and then walked out.
There are, on a certain train, a driver, a fireman, and a guard, whose names are Smith, Jones and Robinson, but not in that order.
On the train are three passengers, also, Mr. Jones, Mr. Smith and Mr. Robinson. Mr. Robinson lives at Leeds, the guard lives half-way between Leeds and Sheffield. Mr. Jones's salary is £1,000 2s. ld. per annum. Smith can beat the fireman at billiards, the guard's nearest neighbour (one of the passengers) earns exactly three times as much as the guard, the guard's namesake lives at Sheffield. What is the name of the engine-driver?
* * *
“Aren't you afraid the birds will eat your seeds? You ought to put up a scarecrow.”
“Oh, it's not worth it. There's always one of us in the garden.”
In a very interesting article entitled “Health from Housework,” published in the March issue of “Town and Country Homes,” Mr. F. A. Hornibrook shows how housework, the performing of the tasks of the home, can become a definite means of developing physical fitness, beauty of figure, and grace of movement.
How strange it seems that a man should take such a scientific interest in a woman's work, but Mr. Hornibrook, as an authority on bodily culture and physical fitness, has seen in the hundreds of movements incurred in the jobs of the house, possibilities for changing them from mere dull routine into pleasurable and beneficial exercises. “The housework does not exactly become play, but it is changed from uninteresting toil into pleasurable exercises,” says Mr. Hornibrook.
Of course there is a certain amount of satisfaction in the results of our work—shining floors, white benches, neat piles of ironed clothing, etc.—but if at the same time we can feel that we ourselves are benefiting physically while our families reap the material gains—how much greater will be our pleasure throughout a busy day in the home. Let us banish the thought of aching backs, tired feet, rough hands, and an idea of having “far too much to do” to bother about how it is done.
In the first place it is essential that the housewife should be comfortably and sensibly attired for the performing of her tasks so that they may be beneficial to her rather than injurious. How often have I seen a woman hobbling painfully about for hours on end in uncomfortable shoes! Comfort of the feet is imperative when so much is demanded from them. Shoes, soft and fitting easily, should be worn while we are hurrying from room to room with mops and vacuum cleaners, standing at sinks, cooking or ironing. Long skirts are, of course, ridiculous. They hamper free movement, as do tight sleeves and “frills,” necklaces, etc. Most women now-a-days have a pretty overall, just below the knee, which is a very suitable garment for the performing of their daily “tasks” or exercises.
There is no doubt that from our housework we do obtain exercise, often to such a degree that we are thoroughly “fagged out” and unfit for anything at the end of the day. This is probably because we are adopting incorrect postures, straining
Mr. Hornibrook deals with six ordinary household “jobs” carried out by thousands of women every day in the year. Thus they have the value of regular continued physical movements, and if done in the wrong way will naturally develop permanent deficiencies—round shoulders, bent backs, aching feet.
When you are using the carpet sweeper or cleaner adopt a rhythmic movement and brace your shoulders back. Encourage the use of the body—a swaying from the hips rather than excessive and fatiguing use of the arms.
How often during the day do you stand at the kitchen sink, washing-up, preparing food, etc.? Our author suggests that if one, stands a little further away from the bench, unnecessary stooping and slouching is avoided. The same applies to ironing, when one should stand on a mat.
When you are sewing, knitting, or doing anything which necessitates sitting for long periods, be extremely careful of your position—see that you have support for your back, so that your shoulders will be straight and your chest not contracted. Many digestive complaints are caused by sitting in a faulty posture.
Surely it is worth our while to pay some attention to these details, because housework occupies the greater amount of many a woman's day, and should not be a drudgery to her—nor should it result in undue fatigue. In all your occupattons think of your position; think of the task as an exercise, and never allow yourself to adopt slack and slipshod methods.
With reference to the correct postures and rythmic movements recommended, Mr. Hornibrook says: “Above all they give the housekeeper herself a living interest in work which would otherwise tend to become dull routine.”
When the days become shorter, the sunshine “luke-warm,” and the winds biting, we seek the comfort of blazing fires, hot-water bottles, cosy rooms. We spend a great deal of thought, and often money, upon warm coats, woollen stockings and jumpers, thick gloves and frocks—and quite wisely too! Some of our most attractive clothes are our winter “rigs;” so utterly different from the frills and drifting draperies of summer and spring, the soft colours and flower effects. Nothing can be more “chic” and smart than a well planned winter outfit—warm, colourful and protective. Just as in the hot clear days of summer, we want to look cool, fresh—part of the season—so when the days are grey and icy we must give the appearance of warmth and brightness.
Ever so many office girls confess that they make absolutely no change in their underclothing for the cold months of winter, believing in the value of a warm frock and coat. They are faithful to the almost non-existent silken garments of summer, and are surprised when they are always cold, and consequently never happy. If you have to sit for long hours at an office desk, often in a draught, rush out at lunch time, and often again in the evenings, you must have warm underclothing in addition to your attractive and cosy “outside” clothes. I am not advising layers and layers of superfluous garments. The less you can wear the better, but let it be wool, even if it is only one garment. Many people dislike the touch of wool against the skin, then why not wear silk first? If you like knitting it is very easy to make a woolly singlet for yourself—soft, fleecy, and also pretty—it need not be bulky and spoil the fitting of your clothes. You will be infinitely grateful for its warmth and comfort.
The officials of the Railway Department in Poverty Bay are doing their utmost to meet the needs of the district, and as an evidence of the Department's enterprise a stationmaster and efficient staff have been appointed at Putorino, the present railhead (says the Poverty Bay Herald).
The facilities at Putorino include a fine goods-shed with an overhanging verandah which permits of the handling of freight under any reasonable weather conditions; sidings with accommodation for 55 cattle or sheep trucks; and the necessary ramps for loading stock and ordinary merchandise on to the trucks. The business at Putorino has increased substantially of late, and the Department has had to make arrangements for sending additional staff there to meet the demands of peak periods. In the near future, it is hoped, a permanent addition to the staff will be warranted by the volume of business developed under a scheme of road-and-rail freight service connecting Gisborne with Napier, and through that junction with the whole of the North Island railway system.
Under this scheme, lorries will be employed in conjunction with the railway facilities, and will keep Gisborne in close touch with Putorino. Farmers and business men will appreciate the fact that freights are to be based on through rates, and that in future bookings can be made from Gisborne to any station throughout New Zealand.
Arrangements have been made with the H.B. Motor Co. to take delivery of goods at Putorino for freighting to Wairoa and Gisborne, and also for accepting goods at Gisborne and Wairoa for dispatch to the railhead. The service should be of particular interest to farmers, and fruitgrowers will appreciate the opportunity offered them of getting soft fruits on to the Wellington market within thirty-six hours of picking. As an instance of what the new service is designed to do for the fruitgrower, it will be possible to lodge fruit with the local office of the motor company, with the assurance that it will leave for Wellington at 2 o'clock the following morning, connecting with the southward express at Napier, and reaching Wellington the same afternoon, for delivery the following morning at 8 o'clock. By the development of the road-and-rail service, the travelling time for freight between Gisborne and Napier is to be reduced to six hours.
Discussing the new service, Mr. L. L. E. Chapman, business agent for the Raildays Department, stated that the rates could compare with any other form of transport, even when sea traffic over a portion of a route is taken into account.
Although the sparking plug is the all important unit responsible for the firing of the automobile and motor-cycle engine (firemen not being required) it was regarded as a necessary evil in the days when motoring and motor-cycling were in their infancies.
Since, there has been a distinct evidence of increasing knowledge among motorists generally of the important part played by sparking plugs in the performance of an engine and it is now definitely acknowledged that a sparking plug is not just a plug.
It is agreed by all that intelligent consideration must be given to the selection of a type which incorporates the correct characteristics to suit the engine which it is to serve.
The greatest difficulty confronting the sparking plug manufacturer is to produce a type which will suit practically all average engines. It is not possible to produce a sparking plug to suit all engines due to the varied difference between exceptionally high speed compression ratio engines as used under racing conditions and the slower speed engine used in the average car and motor-cycle of to-day.
The manufacturers of K.L.G. Sparking Plugs, as a result of years of experience gained on the racing track and in tourist trials, have succeeded to a great extent in overcoming this difficulty by developing the new “K” series which, from the car-owners’ viewpoint, may be classed as universal models.
K.L.G. Sparking Plugs have had an almost unbroken sequence of successes since their entry into competitions on land, sea, and in the air.
“K.L.G.'S” have been associated with many notable achievements, the most recent of which were Sir Malcolm Campbell's astounding World's Land Speed Record at Daytona Beach of 245 m.p.h. in his racing car the “Bluebird,” and Kaye Don's Motor - Boat Speed Record of 103.9 nautical m.p.h. in Miss England II. Many notable aviation achievements are also credited to “K.L.G.'s,” the most familiar to New Zealanders being Miss Amy Johnson's, Mr. Frank Chichester's and Mr. Oscar Garden's famous flights.
The importance and design of plugs have already been emphasised and illustrated, but care in manufacture is no less vital and it is to this that the success of K.L.G. plugs is attributed.
Every single plug manufactured is’ subjected again and again to the most rigorous tests, devised in practice to ensure perfect suitability. There is no system of percentage inspection, but each individual plug is submitted in the preliminary, partial and completed stages of its manufacture, to test after test.
(Published by arrangement.)
That elegant representative of the order Orthoptera, the Mantis, is comparatively rare in New Zealand. Mr. G. V. Hudson, F.E.S., considers it local to Nelson in the South Island; yet, it does not seem indigenous to this country and was, in all probability, introduced from Australia by the early miners who came over.
Slender of body, beautiful in leaf-like colouration and design that renders it most difficult to locate—alike by foe or prey—as it lurks in a most devout attitude of prayer—a personification of piety that has earned for it the common designation of “Praying Mantis.”
Alas, what a misnomer!
An arch hypocrite, a veritable cannibal, the Tiger of the Insect World! Were the word “praying” spelt “preying” it would correctly define this insects savage attributes, still, what a wealth of legend this devotional semblance has given rise to!
In France, not only has it the repute of pointing the way out to the lost wanderer; but, the peasantry carry its nest—carefully stitched into a pocket to avoid losing it—as the most potent of “goodluck-charms” and an infallible cure for chilblains and toothache. The natives of India attribute to it absolute intercessional power for remission of sins and omission and commission.
This is the arch hypocrite whose delicate elegance conceals an herculean strength for its size; fires of savagery that burn with insatiable slaughter lusts. The devotional arms are weapons furnished with alternating black and green saw teeth; the first joint bears a cruel spike to impale the victim beyond hope of escape; the feet have needle-pointed claws. On the tibiae, or second section of the foreleg, are a series of drum-shaped spots which Mr. A. K. Swinton thought to be organs of hearing; this is very open to doubt.
Some forms are of wondrous beauty, others gigantic as the species go, and all are credited with a power of changing colour to harmonise with environment surpassing that of the chameleon.
In Java is a variety exactly resembling the pink orchis flowers where these man-tidae sit in wait of prey.
In India are two beautiful forms; one that has perfectly mimicked the rose leaves it haunts, the other with leaf-like appendages and prothorax of a pale violet edged in delicate pink shades. This insect's method of securing prey is to hang head downwards and, as it swings to and fro in the breeze, mimic perfectly the corolla of a flower as an attractive lure.
In Africa are many giant forms; amongst them one that preys on smaller birds and animals the size of a mouse—a feat in which it out-rivals the giant and carnivorous green grasshopper of the same parts.
On the occasion of the retirement from the service, on superannuation, of several members of the Addington Workshops staff, a most successful social and dance was held in the Railway Works Dining Hall, on Tuesday evening, 12th May. The hall was tastefully decorated and excellent music was supplied by the Works Orchestra, under the leadership of Mr. W. Kitchingham. A feature of the evening was the fancy dances given by the Misses Bruce and Chisholm. These were much appreciated by the 150 couples present.
Mr. J. S. Cummings made an excellent M.C. In the course of a happy speech (in the absence of the Works Manager, Mr. Jenkins), he feelingly referred to the long years of devoted service which the retiring members had rendered the Department, and expressed the hope that they would live long to enjoy the benefits of the Superannuation Fund. Mr. Jackson suitably replied on behalf of the members.