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Trainers with horses attending the recent Te Kuiti Racing Club's meeting speak highly of the consideration and attention shown them by railway officials there, particularly Mr. Douglas Law, formerly of Pukekohe and now assistant stationmaster at Te Kuiti, who had charge of the unloading of horses. Instead of the horses being taken to Te Kuiti and having to be walked back to the racecourse as in former years, they are now unloaded at Te Kumi, and installed in loose-boxes until required to be taken to the course. These efforts on the part of the Department to popularise this mode of transport are much appreciated by owners and trainers in general.—”N.Z. Sporting and Dramatic Review.”
The greater proportion of capital expenditure in building the railways of this country was incurred at a time when the projectors could count upon securing the great bulk of the traffic available. Hence the range and quality of service to be rendered was based on such estimates, which included a long-term view of prospective additions to traffic through productive development made possible and specially assisted by the railways. In general, a broad outlook was held and generous attitude maintained regarding the responsibilities of the railways in fulfilling their function as the national transport undertaking.
The first consideration was to protect the lives of passengers. How well this has been done the remarkable record of recent years amply testifies. A further obligation to the public was the safe carriage of freight. In this, too, wonderful results have been achieved. Then suitable buildings, plant and timetables were required to assist in securing comfort and convenience for travellers and in meeting the needs of the senders and receivers of freight.
There are now over eleven hundred railway stations along the lines of this country, or an average of one for every three miles of track. Of these, nearly three hundred are officered, so that information about railway services as well as assistance in arranging transport is easily available to all.
Cattle and sheep yards, goods sheds, station platforms and waiting rooms, cranes for “out-size” lifts, trains to cater for various types of traffic, with suitable tracks and routes for them to run on, wagons for heavy loads, special types of trucks for different classes of traffic—fish, frozen meat, fruit, butter, cheese, coal, etc.—all these were provided on the long-term view that the railways would reap where they had sown.
Settlement has followed the railway as trade has followed the flag, but road transport along rail-serviced routes — competing transport that does not provide one tithe of the general public service which the railways do—is reaping where the railways have sown, with results that are proving decidedly detrimental to the financial position of the Dominion.
Help for farmers, help for suburban settlers, help for secondary industries, help in times of drought, flood, earthquake or war, all this has been given by the railways, in the course and cause of national development, and in a way which would have been impossible to any other form of transport. Hence when considering the advice “travel by
“The Board, upon its return to Invercargill, and in view of its experiences over the branch lines visited, desires to emphasize the serious condition of transport facilities in Southland, and again emphasizes for public consideration the fact that in its judgment the country cannot afford two competitive means of public transport where the railway facilities are sufficient to provide all reasonable services for the conveyance of goods and passengers. Proprietary interests could not be considered, but the national interests combined with reasonable public services only must be regarded in this important matter. A condition of transport competition as it at present exists is undermining the finances of the Government Railways and leaving as a legacy a very heavy obligation for road maintenance on public bodies. This economic condition is doing serious injury to public finance. The Board realizes there is room for both systems of transport, but they must be regulated and co-ordinated, and in its opinion the country must reach a point where its entire patronage is given to the railway system on main lines and important branches and that road transport must be—and should be—developed as feeders to the railway. It is along such lines that sound transport facilities can be developed in the national interest.
“The Board states that settlers and business people on their part must not take the short view, and think, as many of them apparently at present do, that they are getting advantages through temporary concessions from road transport—which leave them with a resultant heavy taxation bill to meet, which must be ultimately taken into account as pare of their transport charges. This point is frequently overlooked. The Railway Board depends upon the recent legislation under which licensing requirements are being enforced, but it realizes that New Zealand is only at the outset of such administration by the licensing authorities—and it is for this reason chiefly that it is resolved not to be hasty in any decision regarding the suggested closing of lines.
“In other words, it is affording to the people of all districts concerned the full opportunity as set out above to fully and sufficiently support the existing railway service of the Dominion to the end that it can be maintained and improved—and this can be done only by a ready and whole-hearted response to the appeal which the Board is now making to the Southland community and which it is reiterating to all districts of the Dominion. The Board, in making this appeal on its part, states that it realizes that convenient and efficient services must be given to the public and nothing will be left undone to this end.”
The publication of the March-April issue of the Magazine completed the sixth volume. Readers are reminded that they may send forward their accumulated copies (May 1931 to March-April 1932 inclusive) for binding purposes. The volumes will be bound in cloth with gilt lettering, at a cost of 5/- per volume. Those desirous of having their copies bound may hand them to the nearest station master, 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 16th July, 1932.
The “Mercury” was built in 1842 for the Baltimore & Ohio by Eastwick & Harrison, and was the first locomotive to employ a single long spring in the leading truck. Each end rested on one of the journal boxes and carried one end of a wrought iron bolster on its centre. In 1844 the “Mercury” travelled 37,000 miles, which was assumed to be the largest mileage on record up to that time. She was exceptionally fast, frequently attaining a speed of a mile a minute with the average passenger train. The “Mercury” had 14 × 20 inch cylinders and 60 inch driving wheels, and the driving axles were equalized, thereby overcoming the defect of the Campbell engine.
(From “The Development of the Locomotive” published by The Central Steel Company, Massillon, Ohio, U.S.A.).
In the financial year which ended on the 31st March last, the most pleasing feature in the net revenue position was the steady improvement shown in the closing months. With 32 weeks of the year gone, the improvement, compared with the corresponding term in the previous year, was only £32,000, but in the remaining 20 weeks, this figure was brought up to £149,000. Thus the net revenue for the year has risen from £688,728 to £837,973.
The Department's calculations regarding economies made necessary through reduced business have come very close to the figures estimated, but the decline in traffic has been more serious than was anticipated. The outlook, however, is now better, and I anticipate that the improvement shown in the net financial position during recent months will be maintained, especially if the relative prices of New Zealand's primary products improve in the near future (as appears likely), and remembering always that very close relationship which exists between the prices obtained for primary products and the amount of business which the Department is called upon to do.
Because of an increasing realisation amongst the public that duplicated transport services do not pay the country, there is now arising a distinct “back to the rail” movement, particularly in those districts served by branch lines which are not returning actual working expenses to the railways. The indications are that the public in the areas now served by these unprofitable branch lines, are realising more fully that there is a limit to the capacity of the taxpayers of the Dominion as a whole to subsidise such unprofitable lines where the national cost of the services is out of all proportion to the traffic offering. This applies more especially in those cases where the more profitable classes of our traffic are being eroded by opposition services. It is in the branch line districts that the “social service” value of the railways is most strongly felt—now that the possibility of losing their line altogether is before the minds of the residents. In many districts there is a strong drive to have everything sent by rail, and the cost to the community of keeping competitive services going is being computed,—with results which show an expense account clearly beyond what the country can actually afford.
Our endeavour always is to give a service commensurate with the needs,—one which will make the business offering for the trains run, pay for their operation. To the extent that our volume of traffic is increased, to that same extent can we give improved and increased service.
General Manager.
The Signal and Electrical Branch is, numerically, a small branch of the Railway Service, but the scope of its activities is large. Its work, embracing as is does, signalling, communications and electrical work, interlinks with almost every form of activity in the Service. Included in its operations are three distinct divisions of engineering: signals and interlocking —for the control and safe working of traffic; communications — whereby cooperation in the business of the Department is attained; and electrical work— embracing the installation and maintenance of lighting, heating, power for machinery and railway electrification.
The Signal and Electrical Branch has grown from very small beginnings, dating from the appointment of Mr. A. H. Johnson as Signal Engineer in 1898, but its wider activities were really commenced in 1900, when Mr. H. J. Wynne was appointed Signal and Electrical Engineer. Prior to this time there was practically no signalling nor interlocking on the Railways and the other activities of the Branch were only in the early stages of development. Since that date, however, great strides have been made, until at the present time New Zealand is well abreast of the latest practice in the various phases of signalling and electrical work.
The organization of the Branch consists of a Head Office where the various schemes are prepared and details of work are designed, the clerical division (under the Chief Clerk) being responsible for the accounts and correspondence. Supervision of construction and maintenance is carried out by the engineers, technical assistants and chief inspectors, and frequent inspections of apparatus are made in order to ensure that the requisite standard of maintenance is observed. In the Districts different railway sections are under the control of Signal and Electric Lines Inspectors. Under these Inspectors are the electricians, automatic signal maintainers, signal adjusters and linemen who carry out the detailed work of keeping the apparatus in working order, and attending to faults.
Probably no branch of engineering has developed more rapidly and been subject to more changes than signalling during the past 15 years. The development from the older type of mechanically operated signals and points, with which most people are familiar, to the latest development of centralised traffic control, by means of which points and signals are operated from a central point over lengths of line of 50 miles and more, is a very great advance. These developments have been possible only through the perfecting of signal apparatus and the adoption of many of the most ingenious inventions. Modern signal apparatus is complicated, but it can, when properly installed, do almost anything except think.
As is generally conceded, signals provide for the safety of traffic, but in addition to this, signals assist in the expeditious control of traffic. This latter function is not always quite so clearly appreciated.
The New Zealand Railways have followed the development of signalling fairly closely and, although at the present time there are no installations of centralised traffic control, automatic signalling has been installed over 318 miles of the railway. In addition to this, there are 107 mechanical interlockings for operating yards, and 27 interlockings operated by electric or pneumatic power. All facing points on the Main Line between Auckland and Invercargill not controlled by complete interlocking are key locked, and detected in such a way that the safety of the Main Line is assured.
To most people signalling only means a series of posts by the side of the railway, at any one of which a train stops when the signal is at “danger.” There is little realization of the complicated control and apparatus—usually out of sight—by means of which the indications of the signals are controlled to ensure reliable working, to continually safeguard the passage of trains, and in all weathers and at all times to give the necessary indications and assurance to the engine-driver that he can safely maintain the speed of his train, knowing that his road is safe.
Supplementing the signals, the tablet system, which has been installed throughout the Main Lines and on the major Branches, gives assurance to the driver that his section is clear for the passage of his train.
A description of the possibilities of signalling in expediting traffic would require too much space to be dealt with here, but there is one phase of the question which may be touched upon, and that is, that it is only by close co-operation and by making the fullest use of the facilities afforded by signalling that the best results can be obtained in traffic working.
In order that the best and most flexible schemes may be devised, it is necessary that the very fullest information should always be available in regard to the traffic operations which the signalling is required to control.
It is sometimes stated that signalling costs a good deal of money, and this is true to the extent that reliable apparatus cannot be cheap; but the decision as to whether anything is expensive or cheap must be measured by results.
The results of signalling are safety and efficiency in traffic operation — both almost impossible to calculate in pounds, shillings and pence, but nevertheless real; and railways throughout the world, even in these financially difficult times, are still installing signalling, particularly of the automatic type, and to quote a leading English authority upon economic working, “Signals mean Salvation.”
The recent activities of the Branch have been very largely concerned with improvements in the communication systems of the Railway by telephone and telegraph operation.
During a number of years, additional points of communication have been required and these were added from time to time to the existing lines, nearly all of which were of the old iron wire type. In the days that these were installed, this was the general practice, but later requirements have demanded line improvements
Possibly the most useful among later inventions for communication systems is the Fleming valve and its allied developments.
Another development in reorganising the communication services of the railways is the use of one pair of wires to carry more than one circuit. By this means, superimposed over telephone wires, morse can be operated, and so two channels of communication can be given where only one was the usual practice in the past. Further developments of this system may be used in the future, by introducing the carrier current system, by means of which it is possible to have a large number of telephone conversations travelling at the same time over the same pair of wires.
The general scheme for the installation of selective telephones for train control purposes, approved by the Management some two years ago, is now nearing completion. Some sections are completed and in use, and with the completion of the major scheme this year, many additional facilities will be provided for the efficient operation of trains.
The importance of communications needs no emphasis, as it is by these alone that co-operation in the working of traffic can be efficiently carried out.
The provision of electric lighting has become almost a necessity in these days, and the Department has recognised this by the fact that it has completed only last year a programme for the provision of electric lighting at the majority of stations. There have been installed a total of 39,185 lighting points and 2,401 heating points. Then there is the provision of power for the driving of machinery and tools, and the Signal and Electrical Branch has been responsible for the design and installation of electrical plant for the Railway Workshops, numbering among them four of the largest industrial works in the country.
Electrical drive for smaller workshops and running sheds has also been installed, with many minor installations throughout
The extent to which electrical power is used by the Department is indicated by the size of the total installed load, which is equivalent to approximately 18,000 B.H.P. at the present time. When it is considered that practically all this development has taken place during the past ten years, it will be realised that the Department has taken full advantage of the facilities afforded by the development of electrical power in New Zealand.
In these days it is hardly necessary to point out the cleanliness of operation by means of electric power, the convenience with which that power may be switched on and off as required, and the quietness of operation compared with the older forms of mechanical drive, and the many other advantages which do not need to be stated as they are obvious to everyone living in New Zealand where electrical power is so generally used.
The design, installation and maintenance of electric traction is also under the supervision of the Signal and Electrical Branch. Up to the present the New Zealand Railways have not yet any long sections of line operated by electric traction, but this method of operation is one
which is now engaging the attention of most railways throughout the world. Many very large installations have been carried out and there is no question that, without going so far as to say that the Railways should be electrified en bloc, there is a number of places where the adoption of electric traction presents many advantages and economies. The cleanliness and general convenience to passengers needs no emphasis to any that have traversed the Lyttelton Tunnel under steam and electric traction conditions.
It will be appreciated that in a brief article of this description only outlines can be given, but sufficient has been said to indicate upon broad lines the functions of the Signal and Electrical Branch and its place in the operation of a modern railway system.
Electrical facilities will, in the future, be made use of even more than at present, and for many purposes not contemplated at the present time. The Management's appreciation of the value of electrical development, as indicated in the foregoing brief summary, would indicate that the New Zealand Government Railways will not be behind in taking fullest advantage of any increased facilities offered by new developments in the application of electricity in the future.
Mr.
Following high tributes to Mr. Tuohy's capacity as a railway officer, by the Mayor (Mr. T. W. Osborne) and other members of the public and of branches of the service, Mr. R. S. W. Smith, in commending the efficiency of the service to those present, urged them to secure greater patronage for the railways. “The trains have to run,” he said, “and it costs money to run them. Therefore it is bad business to carry ten people where there is room for fifty.”
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Admiration of the manner in which the Railways Department handled a difficult situation when the train services were disorganised by the floods in North Otago recently was expressed by Mr. James Hogg, when speaking to a representative of the Otago Daily Times. Mr. Hogg, who returned to Dunedin from the north, said he was very favourably impressed with the arrangements which were made for the transfer of the passengers from one train to the other at the point where the line was impassable. He also commended the foresight of the railway authorities in Dunedin in sending away cars capable of passing through the flood waters. The delay caused at Oamaru while the advisability of sending on the train from Christchurch was being considered, might have seemed to call for criticism, he said, but when it was considered that the decision was one which could not be made lightly, the hesitation of the officials was easily explained. “I consider,” said Mr. Hogg, “that the Railways Department is deserving of high commendation for the expeditious manner in which the train service was reorganised in the face of great difficulties.”
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“The Evening News,” England, reports that the Bavarian State Railway has offered a railway line, 15 miles long, complete with stations and rolling stock, and in full running order, to whomsoever is willing to take it over.
Not merely is it a free gift, but the State will also pay £500 yearly to the person who accepts it.
It is the last Bavarian State Railway and runs through a most picturesque district near the Austrian frontier, from Ruhpolding to Reit.
Hitherto it has been run by the Forestry Administration, who could not make it pay, but the State does not wish it to be closed down, as it is largely used by summer holiday makers and winter sports devotees.
“Now we have fully considered and wept over and for ever bidden farewell to and transferred these lands descended to us from our ancestors with all their streams rivers waters grass stones good places and bad places and everything under and upon the land which has been transferred absolutely by us under the shining sun to Victoria the Queen of England and to the kings and queens who may succeed her for ever and ever.”—Translation of Maori Land Sale Deed.
In this poetic and somewhat pathetic diction, with its legal lack of punctuation, many early deeds of native land sales to the Crown were couched. When making historical researches for material dealing with the official career of that great Native Minister, Sir Donald Maclean, I read many of the documents of the Fifties, and it is to be noted, as proof of the care and deliberation and consideration for Maori rights which characterised all “Te Makarini's” transactions that none of these bargains in the early days were disputed. The Maoris were content with the payment given for the land; the Government was satisfied because it secured very large areas of land for comparatively small sums of money. That remark applies particularly to the early purchases in the Wairarapa country, where just on eighty years ago Governor Grey and Mr. Maclean secured from the Ngati-Kahu-ngunu tribe areas totalling more than half a million acres for white settlement.
That was the series of transactions which set the rich and beautiful Wairarapa sub-province fairly on the onward path as a district of civilised enterprise. But there was some settlement in the lower part of the Wairarapa long before the Crown purchases. Mr. C. R. Bidwill was there very early. That fine figure in New Zealand pioneer politics, Sir Frederick Weld, was sheepfarming there, with his friends Clifford and Vavasour, a decade before Governor Grey toured the Valley and opened negotiations with the Maori chiefs. In Lady Lovat's life of Weld, a book worth the reading for its sympathetic study of a splendid character, there are letters from Weld describing the vicissitudes of colonial life in the raw as experienced at Wharekaka, one of the woolgrower's primitive stations, and the difficulties of the coast journey from Wellington before the road was cut over the Rimutaka range from the Hutt Valley.
Wairarapa—the name means “Glistening Water,” applied to the long shallow lake, which was once the settler's and Maori's highway—possesses distinctive physical features which mark it as apart from other provincial areas in the Island. It was, in the first place, so hemmed in by mountain ranges that it was not an easy place to reach, and that to a certain extent is its character to-day. The mountain barrier is there, all the way from the southern sea to the plains of Hawke's Bay. Road transit was always difficult; it was not until the railway came that travel became simplified and comfortable. The Tararua ranges, extending northward to the great break made by the Manawatu River, are a formidable barrier on the west. On the east the main valley
The contour and soil character of the Wairarapa largely determined the system of settlement. The greater part of the region between the Tararua Range and the East Coast is not suitable for farming in small areas. It was naturally adapted for stock-raising on a large scale; a run-holder needed a large extent of the country, so broken up into ranges and valleys and gullies, to make it pay. So it fell into the hands of a comparatively few sheepowners, whose estates were of great area, and although the process of closer settlement has somewhat reduced a number of the holdings the Wairarapa remains, to a considerable extent, the domain of the large graziers, whose flocks roam the hills from the central basin eastward to the sea.
Then there is the region of the moderately-sized farm, where the soil is good and where the conditions are most favourable for the production of fat stock and of butter fat. Fruitgrowing, too, is an industry that has become of great importance to the small holders of the great alluvial centre of the district, and, in fact, all along the main routes of traffic that have been made where once the dense forests clothed the land. A great and wealthy country, redeemed from the comparative isolation that once was its lot, and contributing millions of pounds worth of produce to fill the holds of the great English liners at the Wellington wharves.
Some of the numerous towns in the sub-province are historical reminders in themselves, for they are either the names of notable pioneers or are coined from those names. Featherston, the first town entered by the railway from Wellington, reminds us of a one-time celebrity of politics and administration, Dr. Isaac Featherston, Superintendent of Wellington province, who was one of those who worked energetically for the successful settlement of the district. Greytown, the first pakeha village in the Wairarapa, has a history going back to 1854, when it was laid out and named after the greatest pioneer of all, Sir George Grey. Masterton, Carterton, Martinborough, too, embody the names of local little builders of Empire.
As was inevitable, the settlers, in the process of clearing the land, made some mistakes which have had grave effects on the countryside. The destruction of the forest on the slopes of the Tararua Ranges and the consequent injury to the river sources made the valleys subject to floods, the natural result of hastening the run-off of the rainfall and the melting of the snows. This initial blunder in the breaking-in of the country unfortunately is being repeated to-day in many parts of New Zealand, and even the sources of city and town water supplies are not exempt from the greedy destruction of the indigenous bush clothing that forms their natural protection.
Another cause of forest injury, in the eastern parts of the province, is the presence of great herds of red deer. Once upon a time these large numbers of deer were regarded as a great asset of the more rugged bush areas, for they attracted many stalkers from the Old World, who considered that the quality of the heads they obtained was sufficient reward for the expense and trouble of hunting in so rough and out-of-the-way country. Now-a-days deer are regarded as a nuisance and stationholders are glad of the assistance of stalkers in reducing the numbers of the roving herds.
The Wellington-Wairarapa railway route may well be regarded as one of the fine scenic lines of the Island. The traveller's interest is attracted at the start by the beauty of the Hutt Valley, with its wayside towns and townships and its many beautiful homes set in sylvan surroundings. Then the ranges narrow in and the train winds up along a sub-alpine
way to the Summit tunnel and the notch in the range by which the Rimutaka spur is penetrated. The landscapes are bold and there are many clumps of forest, chiefly the beech or tawai. The crossing of the Summit, 1144 feet, is a much steeper ascent on the eastern side than the climb from the Wellington side; as we discover when we run down from the long tunnel to Cross Creek, on a grade of 1 in 15, dropping nearly 900 feet in a distance of about three miles. On this section “Fell” locomotives operate the trains. A central rail (elevated about 6 1/4 inches above the ground) against which the centre engine grip wheels are compressed, and vans with special brake gear, are a feature on this section of the line.
The descent through the wind-swept gorge gives the traveller a series of views of Highland wildness. Then, leaving the defile, the train sweeps out into the plain, and the waters of Wairarapa Lake open out on the right, somewhat diminished in area by the process of drainage, but still shining in the sun as of old in the days when the Maoris first sighted its bright glistening surface. It is a welcome foil to the sombre mountain view. Due east, across the Wairarapa Plain, we see the Maungaraki Range and the steep hills curiously called Nga-waka-a-Kupe (“Kupe's Canoes”) celebrated in local Maori mythology. South-east rise the forest-clad Aorangi Ranges (popularly miscalled Haurangi); they rise to altitudes of over 3000 feet, and are seamed with many a wild glen and corry, the haunt of the red deer.
Featherston town, a pretty place of gardens and orchards, is spread along a fan-like slope at the base of the Tararua Ranges, and commands a view of the lake
nikau palm-tree fronds.
Roads radiate from Featherston to all parts of the Wairarapa Plain, and anyone of these will give the traveller panoramas of blended Nature and the results of the industrious settlers' toil. The growth of English trees is particularly to be noted here.
Greytown and Carterton, old established places, are each the business centre for thriving districts of moderately-sized farms.
On to the north is Masterton, the chief town of the Wairarapa, a handsome well-furnished provincial metropolis, with all the makings of a city, and commanding a glorious view of the Tararua Ranges and of the great undulating and mountainous limestone country, famous for its growth of grass, on the east. The plain around Masterton is mostly a country of small farms, and in normal seasons they are very profitable farms indeed. This is the land of fat stock and of wool, with dairy produce and fruit, which finds its way to Wellington for export. Local freezing works deal with the perishable products. The Masterton district may be described as the pick of the Wairarapa country.
Continuing northward, from Masterton, the railway passes over a fertile countryside, which half a century ago was all one vast forest, known as the Seventy-Mile Bush, and later, as its area became reduced, as the Forty-mile Bush. The forest extended as far north as Takapau, in southern Hawke's Bay. It was a task of enormous labour, the clearing away of this forest, in the era when our native bush was regarded simply as an encumbrance to be got rid of. This steady attack on the forest, as the preliminary to the farmers' enterprise, is the history of this goodly land all the way up to the southern part of Hawke's Bay, the territory of the “villes”—Maurice-ville, Woodville, Ormondville, and all the rest of them, where Scandinavian settlers were among the most industrious subduers of the wilds to the purposes of home-making and the making of a nation.
Just sixty years ago a little group of time-table experts drawn from the principal European countries, gathered together for the purpose of giving consideration to the improvement of through passenger train running across the Continent, and the betterment of international rail travel generally. This was the embryo out of which sprang that important body now known as the European Time-table Conference, which recently held its Annual Convention in London. In his current Letter our Special London Correspondent makes interesting reference to this Conference, and reviews recent railway progress in Britain and on the Continent.
The business of the Conference was to arrange the principal European passenger time-tables for the summer of 1932, and the winter of 1932–1933. Representatives from twenty-nine countries were in attendance, and on the completion of the more serious business, educational trips were made by the delegates over the various Home railway systems. The statutes of the European Time-table Conference define its aims as being to decide general questions relating to international passenger train services, the arrangement of international communications by rail and waterway, and the amelioration of Customs service and passport verification at frontier stations. Steamship lines, sleeping and dining-car undertakings and aerial transport concerns engaged in international services, are also parties to the Conference. The value of the work accomplished by this body of experts throughout its sixty-year history will be appreciated when it is realised that to make an alteration in the running of a single European longdistance train sometimes involves nearly a dozen different administrations. For example, if an alteration is suggested in the Simplon-Orient Express, ten railways will probably have to amend their time-tables; while a change in the running of the Ostend-Vienna-Constantinople Express might upset the train times of eleven administrations.
Because of its geographical situation in the heart of Central Europe, Czechoslovakia (Bohemia, as it was once termed) is called upon to handle much through business between eastern and western Europe. Some of the heaviest passenger trains on the Continent pass through Czechoslovakia in the course of their runs, and for operating long-distance international trains the Czecho-slovakian railways have just acquired eleven “Pacific” type superheated locomotives of especially interesting design.
The new locomotives have been built by the Skoda Works Ltd., of Prague. They are of 4ft. 8 1/2in. gauge, and have a total wheelbase of 36ft. lin., with an overall length of 48ft. 8 1/4in. The coupled wheels have a diameter of 6ft. 4 3/4in., the diameter
While powerful new steam locomotives are being brought into use in Central Europe, another European land—Spain—has just acquired an interesting type of electric locomotive, capable of operating at speeds up to 68 miles an hour. This locomotive is the joint product of Sociedad Espanola de Construction Naval, Reinosa, and the Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Co. Ltd., Manchester. It is intended for express passenger haulage between Irun and Alsusua, on the Northern Railway of Spain.
Of 3,600 h.p., Spain's new locomotive is of the 4–6 + 6–4 type, weighing about 150 tons. It consists of two main trucks connected by an articulated coupling. The body terminates at the front ends of the two driver's cabs, and is separate from the trucks resting on the usual pivot centres and bearers. Each truck has three driving axles and a standard Northern Railway guiding bogie truck, and each of the six driving-axles is driven by two motors, rigidly mounted on the top of the trucks and employing the Winterthur universal drive. The motors have a one-hour rating of 320 h.p., and the control gear is arranged for 1,500 D.C. supply. Nine economical speed combinations are provided, with regenerative control on down grades. The Spanish railway electrifications in the northern sector are proving especially successful, and as by degrees the gauge of the Spanish lines is being converted to the European standard of 4ft. 8 1/2in., through running between Madrid and other Spanish points and the principal European capitals will be greatly facilitated.
Spain is not the only European land that is finding electrification a pronounced success. Recent reports from Sweden and Switzerland all tell of the successful conversion of main-line railways from steam to electric traction. In Sweden one of the biggest conversions tackled has been the electrical equipment of the ore transport
In Switzerland the latest electrification work to be put in hand covers the conversion of some 300 miles of main-line track, making a total of about 1,350 miles of electric line operated by the Government Railways. In this case single-phase current at 15,000 volts and 16 2/3 cycles is favoured. In addition, several privately owned railways in Switzerland are being electrified, the principal of these being the Bodensee-Toggenburg line (41 miles) connecting Romanshorn, on Lake Constance, with St. Gall. In Britain, big electrification works are being carried out on the Southern Railway, and in the course of a few months this system will work all its trains electrically between London and Brighton and Worthing.
In solving the problem of short-distance operation on economical and efficient lines, several European countries are finding Diesel-electric railcars of distinct utility. Germany is a leader in this movement and a feature is the effort that is being made to decrease driving resistance by the design of light railcars and stream-lined rolling-stock generally. In the near future there will be put into service in Germany a number of Diesel-electric railcars with V-shaped 12-cylinder Diesel engines developing 400 h.p., and with an engine weight of 3,750lb. There is also under construction an articulated stream-lined railcar for fast passenger movement, having a 400 h.p. engine in each end bogie, and capable of speeds of up to 95 miles an hour with about 150 passengers on board. Encouraged by the satisfactory results achieved with small Diesel railcars, the German railways recently have placed large orders for 150 and 175 h.p. units, as well as for the railcars of much higher power output to which reference has previously been made.
Many years ago Mr. Isaacs, a recognised authority upon railway transport, when General Manager of the Great Eastern Railway, said: “Station work is the backbone of the railway system.” The responsibility for the way in which station work is performed lies with the stationmaster.
Auniformed figure in gold braided hat, promenading the station and signalling the departure of successive trains, between which he sits in solitary splendour in his private retreat—that is perhaps the idea that some of the general public hold of the duties and the functions of a railway stationmaster No doubt his existence becomes all the more Arcadian in our eyes through the tendency to look upon the next man's job as more desirable than our own. Actually, with a multiplicity of troubles besetting him, the stationmaster might himself have plenty of reason to sigh for the next man's job.
What causes stationmasters? Well, some of them can be accounted for like Topsy, as having “just growed,” from sound, orthodox beginnings. With others something of the romantic factor has operated, as it operates in every profession that is worth the brain and brawn and devotion of men. Already, in this young country of New Zealand, heredity has worked its magic and has inspired father and son to the service of the iron trail through generations. The master at one railway station in this country to-day comes from two generations of railway-men. His interest (let us whisper it, because it is against all rules and regulations) started at the age of nine years. His uncle was at that time an engine-driver, and that worthy hid his young nephew on board the engine. Out on the open road, the youngster would make his appearance, and find infinite delight in firing the engine, shovelling in the coal with the enthusiasm of a tyro. What finer adventure could there be than feeding fuel to a real engine that responded mischievously and raced away into the sweep of sunlit countryside? The iron trail had already fastened upon the heartstrings of this youngster, and through the next six years his interest quickened rather than abated, so that at the age of fifteen years he joined up with the service as a cadet in a proper and thoroughly respectable manner, burying his irregular boyhood in his memory. His was now
Well, well, we must have rules and regulations, and the adventures of this boy of the coal tender are not revealed to be emulated. But it shows that men are attracted to the service of the railways by something more than we imagine, and that they become station-masters by an incentive greater than “the sake of a ribboned coat, or a selfish hope.”
The early training of a cadet was particularly exacting when the railways were younger than they are now. He found himself checking the numbers of the cars, assisting the guards, visiting country stations to load fruit, wool and milk. Nowadays, a cadet generally begins his work at a country station, and thus obtains early a thorough insight into all the varied duties that attach to the conduct of a station. Like the professional journalist, he soon comes to know “something about everything and everything about something” connected with his job. Passenger, goods and parcels traffic reveal their secrets to him, and by his contact with the work in all its phases he is able to store up valuable knowledge for later years: a station-master must know from the ground floor up the structure that he controls, either by his own experience or from observation during the course of his duties in his training years.
It is when the cadet is brought to a city station that the varied work to which he has been accustomed is necessarily, because of its greater dimensions, subjected to division and sub-division, and he finds himself in a specialised department. The change gives him perspective, among other things. The extensive system of which he is a cog forms more clearly in his mind, like lines taking shape on a chart. His little country station has been magnified into a dozen busy departments. The rumble of the shunting yards has succeeded the chirp of the birds outside the window. The express trains that roared impatiently past his country station, with a blur of faces at the windows, now come home here to rest. Around this place is the buzz of power.
But he will go into the country again, this rising young cadet, this time to take charge of a station there, to practice what he has learned from that city system, whose hot, quick breath has warmed his heart. The big shunting yards are far away, and the birds are outside his window again. He will come to know Strawberry, the vagrant cow, and chase her off the railway track; he will exchange good-days with Farmer Brown entraining for the wool sales; he will cultivate a garden patch around the station platform, with all the railwayman's traditional love for flowers. He will handle the waybills for the produce of his district—sweet, golden butter and springy wool, to tempt some distant palate and to clothe some foreign skin. He will stamp a ticket for the nervous Widow McGurkinshaw, plumed for a visit to the city to see her son. And his station will resound to the rumble of the trains that come and go with majestic instancy.
But his grip is tightening, and some day it fastens on the chief position at a city railway station.
Innumerable threads of control meet under the hand of the stationmaster. He has at his disposal a certain number of passenger cars with which to make up his trains, and these have to be so handled as to be used to the best advantage. Each train has its varying passenger requirements, and it is as bad to have too many cars on a train as too few. An unexpected party of footballers filling up the one smoking carriage will at once incense John Citizen, bring the stationmaster
In all, there are 350 cars available for use in the Wellington railway district, and these are divided between Thorndon, Lambton, Palmerston North and Napier. It is necessary for these stations to call upon each other for extra cars that may be required, and these are worked through the district as if on a chessboard, meeting passenger requirements as they arise. But what cars go out from whatever station must come back to keep supplies balanced, and to avoid some horrible congestion in a corner of the chessboard and empty yards in another. Ohakune, Auckland and Wanganui railway districts operate independently.
Another of the stationmaster's many charges is the ticket reservation department. What would you say if two ladies asked that they be given seats facing each other and also the engine? Well, whatever they think, the clerks put their finger in the index sheet, and do the best they can. Reservations are obtainable there for any train at a moment's reference—unless the seats are all gone, and then the clerks are sometimes expected by an anxious public to be able to conjure up more from the blue. (Oh, dear! After all this I have resolved to be a much more reasonable member of the travelling public for 1932.)
Nearby are the ticket-selling windows, behind which are rows of multi-coloured pasteboards, marked “single,” “return” and “child,” numbered successively and strung up like tiny hams These are the open sesames to home and friends and far-away places. Next door the clerks are entering up the waybills for all manner of goods, destined for stations large and small over the rolling miles ahead. At Thorndon station there is a big influx of parcels at 4.45 p.m. daily, intended for the “Limited” Express, in fulfilment of orders received during the day by city firms.
In another department porters are weighing the luggage of intending passengers. Just as an ordinary passenger is allowed lcwt. of luggage free, so a workman is permitted lcwt. of tools free in addition, charges being made in each case only on excess weight. Over in the yards the shunting gangs are marshalling trains in accordance with instructions, and in the locomotive sheds the drivers and firemen are preparing their engines for the next run. Nearer at hand, a large staff is engaged cleaning the passenger cars, washing and polishing windows, dusting seats, sheening the brasswork, providing paper drinking cups and so on. Round and about the station railway operations are proceeding in all divisions. The walls of the stationmaster's room are covered with charts showing regular train arrangements for every day, covering trunk lines, as well as the suburban lines that carry 4,700 passengers daily. Throughout those intricate charts, with their train lines, is balance—balance—that brings back scuttling trains as if on the end of a length of elastic. All day pens are flying, trains are coming and going, the ticket machine is grunting, parcels and luggage are speeding along the platform.
But the schedule duties of a station-master do not end his day. He is often the friend and counsellor of his staff, and even family troubles find settlement in the quiet of his room.
All of which shows there is more to a stationmaster's job than parading in gold brocade and signalling a train's departure.
From the Secretary, Royal Agricultural Society of New Zealand, Wellington, to the General Manager of Railways, Wellington:—
On behalf of the Council of this Society, and of the exhibitors at the recent Royal Show in Christchurch, I have to thank your officials for the capable way they handled the stock.
I would personally like to express my appreciation of the courteous manner in which I was helped in my duties by Mr. McLean (S.M. at Addington), Mr. Rogers (District Traffic Office, Christchurch), and Mr. Parkes (District Traffic Office, Wellington).
I can assure you that it was a pleasure to deal with the gentlemen named.
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From the Secretary, Nelson Children's Gala Committee. Nelson, to the Editor New Zealand Railways Magazine, Wellington:—
On behalf of the Nelson Children's Gala Committee, I wish to express appreciation of the efforts of the Traffic Manager, Mr. Hornblow, and the staff, for the obliging and courteous manner in which they assisted us in helping to bring our annual event to such a successful ending.
The trouble to which they went in decorating the railway station in their spare time added greatly to the enjoyment of the juvenile and adult passengers on this joyous occasion, and was greatly appreciated by the Committee and the public of Nelson.
It is on occasions such as these that we recognise in our public officials men who are worthy citizens as well, and the hearty cheers that were tendered to them when the last special train was leaving were endorsed by members of the above Committee in no uncertain manner.
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From the Secretary, Dannevirke Friendly Societies' Council, Dannevirke, to the Stationmaster, Dannevirke:—
I have been instructed to convey to you the thanks and appreciation of my Council for the excellent train arrangements for the occasion of the Friendly Societies' Excursion to Napier.
Special mention may be made of the courtesy and consideration shewn by the railway officials—guards and station officials alike. It was indeed a pleasure to travel under such conditions.
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From the Secretary, Timaru Harbour Board, Timaru, to the Stationmaster, Timaru:—
At a meeting of my Board yesterday, I was instructed to write to you, conveying the best thanks of the Board to those of your Department who so readily gave willing and timely assistance when the R.M.S. “Corinthic” parted her ropes recently. Had it not been for the prompt action of Mr. Wilson in placing an extra engine and staff at our disposal the consequences may have been of a very serious nature.
I have been taking a hair-raising course of ghost stories—try that excellent collection, “A Supernatural Omnibus”—and the thought naturally comes that New Zealand is too young yet to have accumulated much of this kind of lore. Pakeha ghost stories, of course; there is any amount of supernatural association in Maoridom, with its belief in wairua, kehua, matakite or second-sight, and the like. Our dwellinghouses are not yet old enough to have attracted the serious attention of ghosts. Here and there, though, one has seen lonely houses which might well harbour a spook or two. I remember in a certain part of the Waikato a pioneer farmhouse, locally called “Matai Castle,” because of the timber chiefly used in its building, which always gave me a shivery feeling, it looked so spooky and unhealthy. A number of the family which owned it had died in it, and perhaps that fact made special impress on healthy youth.
Down in Opotiki the old home of the Rev. Volkner, the missionary who was murdered by the Hauhau fanatics in 1865, was reputed to be haunted by the spirit of the martyred clergyman. There was a creepy story to the effect that at midnight there were sounds as if a heavy body were being dragged from step to step down the stairs. But the historic church is, of all places, a building that the missionary's spirit might well haunt, for the reading-desk on which his head was set by the devilish prophet Kereopa, still bears the stains of his blood. The full story of that tragedy makes blood-curdling reading. But in general New Zealand has yet to raise its ghostly visitants.
By the way, I have discovered that the best time to read a collection of ghost stories is between midnight and three o'clock in the morning. Particularly if the night is still, with now and again a little wandering waft of a breeze making a low “whee-ooh” around the house. In that way you get the right atmosphere and the full flavour of the spook tales. Try it.
Some American has been telling a Wanga-nui paper that New Zealand really ought to get some birds for its forests, and he suggests the wild canary and the Chinese parrot! There is really no end to the diabolical craze of would-be acclimatisators to introduce strange animals and birds to these benighted wilds of ours. The importation of
Our recent summer saw more bush and seaside holiday camps than ever before. The simple life in the bush is the best thing in the world for a week or two for our city-pampered people. Highly popular, too, is the week-end tramping outing. The girls have taken to it, too, and it is an excellent correction to a too-long course of picture-shows and dance-halls, and other haunts of crowds. But one has noticed a tendency among week-ending girls, as well as youths, to overdo the swag-carrying habit. The inexperienced townbreds are apt to load themselves like packhorses, lugging all sorts of unnecessary impedimenta over the ranges. It is not a pretty sight, a young woman bent almost double under a packload she could profitably reduce by two-thirds. It is ridiculous to trudge up into the hills for a couple of days burdened with such things as heavy canvas tents, patent cookers, and excess quantities of iron rations. Some of these young people even carry gramophones with them, and wireless sets. That is not the way to enter into the spirit of the bush and gain the fellowship of the wilds.
The essence of bush-camping enjoyment, for a two or three days' jaunt, is to travel as lightly as possible. Most of the stuff so painfully packed can be done without. A party of half-a-dozen can do very well with just a couple of billies, one to fit into the other, for cooking purposes.
Tents are needless encumbrances in summer, if you are in the bush. It is a simple matter to run up a lean-to shelter with saplings, and a light calico fly, that will serve all bivouac purposes. All that each person needs is a blanket and a light waterproof ground-sheet. Oiled calico, in squares large enough to cover two or three people, is light to carry and easy to rig up in conjunction with the bush material. And let the morepork and the kaka and the tui have their say to you, instead of vulgarising the bush with gramophone crooning songs and jazz-steps.
In the summer time of the year in many a Maori settlement, and in quite a lot of pakeha gardens in the warmer parts of the North Island, you will see the fences covered with long hanks of tobacco leaf laid out to dry in the sun. Tupeka has been grown by the Maoris for some seventy years; in Governor Grey's time, in the late 'Sixties, a pamphlet of instructions in its cultivation and treatment was issued by the Government and translated into the native tongue by John White. The finished product is called torori, or raurau. Sometimes the Maori flavours it with molasses, which gives it a special tang of its own. I have known a pipeful of toroi to be likened to old socks on fire. That is perhaps a libel; nevertheless it takes a strong stomach to withstand the aroma of a hutful of the old folks with their pipes of torori in full blast.
We shall yet, I hope, have to give Her-rick's line, a new and popular rendering as above. That is, when our valuable and unappreciated phormium tenax plant comes into its own. There is some discussion at present of a revival of the flax-milling industry, and of a widening of the field of uses for the fibre. I often have thought that if our native flax grew in some other country, say in America, it would long ago have become perhaps a staple wealth-producing item. Here it has too long been regarded as a kind of weed, growing anywhere, and neglected because of its very abundance.
It has been established by experiment that flax is of use for many purposes besides ropes and cordage and binder-twine. A century ago it was discovered that it made excellent sail material for ships, in lieu of ordinary canvas. The Japanese have made paper out of it. But for one of its great uses in the future we shall have to take a lesson from the Maori. Clothing, both soft and warm, can be made from the flax. The korowai and kaitaka robes and shawls—miscalled mats—woven with primitive appliances by Maori dames from the hand-dressed fibre, are not only handsome and graceful but combine the qualities of cotton and wool.
Many years ago, a King Country correspondent lately mentioned, a bale of flax which was sent to Japan was converted into beautiful artificial silk, and the proprietor of the mill had a dress made for his wife from a piece of the woven material. This dress was worn and was greatly admired.
There should be more than a hint in that for some of our enterprising business men. The material is here, in every swamp. It grows quickly, it can be harvested indefinitely. May there not come a time when our women will be proud to display dresses and cloaks which have the merit of real originality. She could not but be graceful in a flaxen robe which can be dyed any colour, and which naturally falls into those easy lines of liquefaction that pleases the poet's eye.
A radio-auntie, reading out children's birthday greetings the other evening, came upon the Taranaki place-name Ketemarae, which she thought was a queer old name and so like “Kitty Maria.” That is exactly what the early settlers in that part of the country called it half a century or so ago. It was near enough for them, and everyone, even the Maoris, knew what was meant when Kitty-Maria was mentioned.
Perhaps a par of explanation may be welcome to those who know not Kete-marae's origin. It is Normanby now; the railway station of that name occupies the site of the village Matariki, which was one of the Ketemarae group of villages. There is still a Maori settlement called Ketemarae, about a mile from the Normanby station. In other days it was a rather famous meeting-place of the tribes, for several tracks of inland travel met here; one was the bush route to New Plymouth by the Whakaahurangi trail, passing a little inland of where Stratford town now stands. The meaning of the name holds a reference to the large gatherings and generous feastings of old. “Kete” is a basket of food; “marae” is the village square or parade ground.
(Continued.)
The Provincial Government of Canterbury found difficulty in raising capital by means of loans on the London market. The security offered did not appeal to investors. The General Government had first call on the principal sources of revenue, viz.: Lands and Customs, and the Provincial Government had, as expressed by Mr. Superintendent Moorhouse, merely a reversionary interest in a contingent remainder.
When the General Government was compelled to borrow money to pay for the suppression of native disturbances, not only did the Provincial revenue suffer, but there was competition in London for the loan money available. In 1864 the Provincial Government sought assistance by asking that the General Government of the Colony should guarantee the Provincial loans, but as both bodies continued to borrow from the banks on the security of the unsold debentures, and were subsequently forced to sell these debentures at much less than their face value, the guarantee was not of material assistance to Canterbury.
The English Agent of the Province (Mr. H. Selfe Selfe), in conjunction with the London Manager of the Union Bank of Australia, was able to sell four instalments, each nominally of £50,000, of the Lyttelton to Christchurch railway loan, but when in February 1867 the Bank of New Zealand, as financial agents for Canterbury (Mr. Selfe Selfe having resigned) offered for sale in London £300,000 of the Canterbury Loan (1862) at 95, only £3,900 was applied for at or above the minimum, and only £10,130 altogether. There was no scarcity of money at the time. The failure was due to the indisposition of the public to invest in New Zealand provincial securities.
On 3rd May, 1867, the Colonial Secretary (Mr. E. W. Stafford) advised the Superintendent that his Government intended, in view of the failure of the Provincial loan, to submit to the General Assembly a measure for converting the Provincial loans into Colonial Stock. The conversion was authorised by the Crown Debts Act, 1867, and further borrowing by the Provinces ceased. The balances of the then current loans of Canterbury Province were converted into General Government stock at £97 per £100.
In 1865 a valuable and extensive gold-field was opened on the West Coast of the Province, and it became necessary to establish machinery for the administration of local government and to provide means of communication. A survey of the Coast from the sea was made by the Provincial Port Officer (Captain F. D. Gibson) the small steamer Bruce (Captain Malcolm) being chartered for the purpose. Signal stations for the direction of shipping were established at Hokitika and Greymouth, but owing to the difficulties of navigation, and the consequent loss of ships, land communication was essential. The West Coast road from Christ-church to Hokitika was made, and a telegraph line was also erected. The cost of these, and of the local government establishment was a severe strain on the financial resources of the Province.
The contract for the South line of railway, from Christchurch to the Rakaia River provided that, if the financial condition of the Province required it, the work might be stopped completely at any stage, the contractors being paid for the work then done. In December, 1866, an arrangement was made with Messrs. Doyne and La Tonche terminating their agreement for the supervision of construction on the completion of the line to Selwyn, and the contractors were notified of the decision that construction would be halted in the meantime at that place.
On Saturday, 13th October, 1866, an official trip was made from Christchurch to Rolleston, and the Superintendent and party were entertained at lunch, the return trip from Rolleston to Christchurch being made in thirty minutes. On the following Monday (15th October) the line was opened for public traffic. The timetable was:
Goods rates, Christchurch to Rolleston, were 10/- per ton, and Christchurch to Templeton 7/- per ton. A through rate of 11/- per bale of wool from Rolleston to Lyttelton via Ferrymead wharf was advertised, and the contractors also established a dray service from Rakaia Ferry to Rolleston.
On 7th October, 1867, a train service was commenced between Christchurch and the north bank of the Selwyn, passengers only being carried south of Rolleston. Three trains each way were run daily, leaving Christchurch at 6.30 a.m., 10.30 a.m., and 4.45 p.m., and returning from the north bank of the Selwyn at 8.30 a.m., 12.30 p.m., and 6 p.m.
In connection with the train service, L. G. Cole and Co. ran a line of Cobb's coaches from Selwyn to Rakaia, Ash-burton, Orari and Timaru. The coach left Timaru on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 6.0 a.m., and left Selwyn on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays after arrival of the 6.30 a.m. train from Christchurch.
The timetable operating from 16th December, 1867, showed trains running to Selwyn station, but the bridge was washed away by the very severe floods of 4th February, 1868. The bridge was originally constructed with stone and brickwork piers and abutments founded on a shingle bottom, but these were scoured out by the floods and were replaced by piles when the bridge was rebuilt.
The financial difficulties prevented the undertaking of the construction of the bridge over the Rakaia. A suggestion was made that a cheaper form of structure than that originally planned might be adopted, and a report on this suggestion was made by the Provincial engineer (Mr.
Mr. Dobson estimated the cost of operation of this ferry at about £3,000 a year, including the wages of one engine-driver, two cleaners, and two bridge-keepers. If a toll of 10/- per train were imposed, the possible revenue would be £6,240 per annum for forty trips per day. He was of opinion that contractors could be found to erect the bridge and take a lease of it for seven years in return for tolls at two-thirds of the then existing ferry rates by the punt. He stated that a substantial bridge to carry cart traffic and permit the driving of stock could be erected for about £32,000, exclusive of the approaches, which would cost about £6,450 more, but this bridge, which would be 22 feet wide, would be more liable to damage by floods than the railway bridge, and it would not be suitable for railway traffic.
The Secretary for Public Works, replying to this report, stated it was considered 22 feet was unnecessarily wide, and asked for an amended plan for a bridge 18 feet wide, suitable for carts and stock, and ultimately carrying a railway. In his reply, dated 7th June, 1867, Mr. Dobson stated that a bridge to carry road traffic and also a 24-ton locomotive would require a design of very much greater cost. He submitted an amended plan for a bridge for road traffic, estimated to cost £20,000. Trucks could be drawn across this bridge by horses, but it would not be suitable to carry an ordinary 24-ton locomotive.
In the course of the correspondence the Secretary for Public Works stated that looking at the financial prospects the Government could not entertain any intention to carry the railway any further than Selwyn for the present. The construction of the Rakaia bridge remained in abeyance.
“There is more real romance in modern business than in all the millions of feet of celluloid strip that ever were shipped out of Hollywood.”
—A. R. Zoccola
By now, land to us has come to symbolise scattered bits of paradise—dreamy isles drowsily happy with song and laughter and mellow sunshine.
Auckland changes that conception completely with a sudden return to bustling, metropolitan thoroughfares, mile upon mile of trim, red-topped, white-walled houses, impressive public buildings, and magnificent parks. Sailing across island-dotted Hauraki Gulf into the harbour of New Zealand's chief city is a succession of scenic thrills. Mingling with her busy, highly cultured, progressive people, is a delightful experience in courtesy and open-hearted friendliness… .
Geysers and boiling springs—glaciers and snow-capped peaks—forests and crystal lakes … jagged, storm-battered coasts, deep caves lit with glow-worms, and broad expanses of meadow land, green the entire year! New Zealand has everything to delight a visitor—scenic marvels and beauties in most startling contrasts, an inexhaustible mine of tradition and folk lore, a civic and economic life of fascinating interest.
Touring Auckland reveals a charming national characteristic—a devotion to flowers. The abundance of sunshine and the genial climate make it possible to grow them in profusion, and the people take advantage of it to the utmost degree. Auckland has fifteen public parks and reserves, adorned by a wealth of flowers. We make special note of Albert Park, for it rivals the fine parks of Europe in the beauty of its flowers and landscaping.
A point of fascinating interest is the War Memorial Museum, with its cenotaph erected to the fallen heroes of the World War, and housing magnificent collections of Maori buildings, canoes, art treasures, and war trophies.
Our visit to New Zealand merely serves to whet an appetite that will never be satisfied until we return for a much longer stay.—Peter B. Kyne, in the New York Saturday Evening Post.
In the March-April issue of the New Zealand Railways Magazine, 1931, appeared a brief description and an outline drawing of an interesting locomotive which is to be introduced on our State Railways in the near future.
The choice of such a modern type of high capacity locomotive, with the 4-8-4 wheel arrangement as based upon Whyte's Locomotive Classification System, indicates that our Designing Engineers have adopted the very latest trend of design in the locomotive world.
This new power unit marks the most important development of the orthodox type of steam locomotive designed and built by the Mechanical Engineers of the Department, and in view of the unique constructional features of the locomotive, the following facts concerning the overseas development and progress of machines of similar type, may no doubt be of interest to readers of our Magazine.
It is interesting to note that the locomotive is the first of its kind (carrying a separate tender) to be designed with four wheels under the firebox, i.e., four-wheel trailing truck, for service on New Zealand Railways.
The first locomotive to be built with a four wheel truck under the firebox and carrying a separate tender, was placed in service in 1910 by the Northern Railway Company of France. It was given the name of “Baltic” type and had a wheel arrangement of 4-6-4, representing the first real advance over the 4-6-2 “Pacific” type, the latter having a similar wheel arrangement to our A and Ab class locomotives.
Locomotives with the 4-6-4 wheel arrangement were confined to the European Railways until 1927—i.e., for seventeen years after this particular type was originally evolved.
The first railway locomotive building company outside those of Europe to utilise these machines was the American Locomotive Company of Schnectady, New York. The locomotive referred to was completed and put into service by the New York Central Lines on 14th February, 1927. It was designated the “Hudson” type, the idea of its introduction being that of maintaining with ease the exacting schedules as demanded by the operation of the New York Central's world famous New York-Chicago, 20th Century Limited.
The “Hudson” type represented at the time the greatest advance in high speed locomotive design in the United States, and so definite was its success in actual operation that some hundreds of these locomotives are now in service throughout the New York Central System.
The development of such a locomotive was called for by present-day demands for higher speeds with increased train loads on long sustained runs. It was found, in practice, that the horse-power capacity of a locomotive of the 4-6-2 wheel arrangement was insufficient to meet the conditions of modern traffic, and that a more powerful locomotive was required. As the 4-6-4 type permitted the application of a larger boiler and firebox without any material increase in axle loading and also a lessened percentage of total weight on the drivers, its popularity throughout the United States was assured.
However, with all its efficiency, the ultimate capacity of the 4-6-4 machine proved to be inadequate to meet the special conditions experienced on many lines in the United States. The “Mountain” type, 4-8-2 (similar wheel arrangement to our Class X units) had, up to a point, given satisfactory results, but with the need for further increased boiler capacity an advance was made over the
With the exception of certain ten coupled and Mallet Articulated locomotives which are handling traffic over exceptionally difficult territory, it is recognised that the locomotive of the 4-8-4 wheel arrangement represents the highest capacity thus far attained in a steam locomotive.
In designing a locomotive of the 4-8-4 wheel arrangement for service in New Zealand, our Mechanical Engineering staff have followed, therefore, the most up-to-date practice overseas. Apart from the increased capacity of the new locomotives, their utilisation will result in a very marked improvement in operating efficiency.
The new locomotives are also notable in that provision is made for additional power, if required. This added power will be derived from a trailing truck booster, a further distinct departure in locomotive design so far as New Zealand is concerned. As the name implies, the locomotive booster is, in reality, a subsidiary 2-cylinder locomotive driving the rear truck of the machine. It is put in or out of operation at the will of the enginedriver, and in most locomotives it becomes inoperative after attaining a speed of fifteen miles per hour.
Many progressive railways abroad have applied boosters to their locomotives. The booster gives the power needed for starting and accelerating trains that the main engine can haul when working at its highest efficiency. It also assists in maintaining a fair speed on heavy grades, and because of its greater flexibility, fits into the present-day scheme of railway operating.
It is recognised that the unused adhesions of trailer or tender trucks have unused boiler capacity also, and with a drive on any of these wheels, greater results in the more prompt and smoother starting and greater uniformity of train speed are gained, as well as a lower tax on the main engine.
The principle of the booster is to make use of idle weight (hitherto unproductive) thus increasing appreciably the working efficiency of the locomotive.
The advance in locomotive wheel arrangement from the 4-6-2 to the 4-8-4 is clearly shown in the illustrations that accompany this article.
When a former General Manager of the New Zealand Railways, E. H. Hiley, Esq. (now Sir E. Haviland Hiley, K.B.E.), presented a Cup to stimulate miniature rifle shooting amongst members of the Head Office staff, he started a competition that has increased in popularity each succeeding year. Interesting particulars regarding the annual competition for the Cup are given below.
The Hiley Cup is competed for by teams of five from the various departments, the team winning two “shoots” to hold it.
Last year there were only three teams entered—Chief Accountant's A, Chief Accountant's B, and a team from the Chief Mechanical Engineer's Office—now designated Locomotive Superintendent's Office (the holders). In the first round the Chief Mechanical Engineer's team won by the narrow margin of five points. In the second round, however, they decided the issue with a comfortable win of 17 points.
It is interesting to note the names of the various members who have helped their department to win the cup in the eighteen “shoots” that have been held for it. The Chief Mechanical Engineer's Office tops the list, having held the Cup on nine different occasions; the Chief Engineer's Office are next, having held it four times; the Chief Accountant's Office and District Engineer's Office have each held it twice, and the General Manager's Office once, the competitors being as follows:—
1914—Chief Mechanical Engineer's: C. G. G. Berry, N. Ewart, S. H. Jenkinson, B. A. Marris, J. P. McKeown, H. Porteous.
1915—Chief Mechanical Engineer's: C. G. G. Berry, N. Ewart, S. H. Jenkinson, B. A. Marris, J. P. McKeown, H. Porteous.
1916—Chief Mechanical Engineer's: C. G. G. Berry, N. Ewart, S. H. Jenkinson, B. A. Marris, J. P. McKeown, H. Porteous.
1917—Chief Engineer's: V. W. Venimore, E. D. Richards, R. S. Kent, E. Meek, W. B. Lee.
1918—Chief Engineer's: R. S. Kent, C. W. Watson, H. M. Cook, A. Howitt, W. B. Lee.
1919—District Engineer's: E. D. Richards, C. W. R. Watson, R. S. Kent, D. Hooper, J. Dow.
1920—General Manager's: C. Robieson, W. Wellings, A. Levick, C. Cameron, H. Grant.
1921—District Engineer's: E. D. Richards, C. W. R. Watson, J. Dow, A. H. Murison, D. Hooper, J. G. Tandy.
1922—Chief Accountant's: J. W. Dayman, J. P. Treaky, A. W. Yates, F. G. Hall, J. A. Baine, K. D. Croft.
1923—Chief Engineer's: H. W. Cook, C. G. Wilson, A. Murieson, H. Hawk, R. Tullock, M. Sheehan.
1924—Chief Engineer's: C. G. Wilson, M. Sheehan, H. T. Hoskin, B. P. Dillon, H. W. Cook.
1925—Chief Mechanical Engineer's: A. Ainslie, C. G. G. Berry, N. Ewart, H. L. Fabian, T. G. L. Webster, G. R. Wilson.
1926—Chief Mechanical Engineer's: C. G. G. Berry, L. L. Corles, N. Ewart, H. L. Fabian, G. R. Wilson.
1927—Chief Mechanical Engineer's: A. Ainslie, R. H. Askew, L. L. Corles, H. L. Fabian, G. R. Wilson.
1928—Chief Mechanical Engineer's: R. H. Askew, L. L. Corles, T. G. L. Webster, G. R. Wilson, L. E. Wood.
1929—Chief Accountant's: Misses McCluggage, Goodwin, Banks, Minogue, Messrs. A. Scott, A. Anderson.
1930—Chief Mechanical Engineer's: R. C. H. Askew, L. L. Corles, G. R. Wilson, R. Skilton, L. E. Wood.
1931—Chief Mechanical Engineer's: G. R. Wilson, L. L. Corles, T. E. Olifent, R. C. H. Askew, L. E. Wood.
Information recently issued from Moscow gives the mileage of the Russian railways as 50,795. Employees are put at 1,040,084; locomotives, 17,810; passenger carriages 27,798; and goods wagons 525,000. Both coal and oil-burning engines are employed, and passenger locomotives are mainly of the 0-10-0 and 2-10-0 types. All the Russian railways are built to a gauge of 5ft. In their statistics of rolling-stock, the Moscow authorities speak with pride of a number of “parlour cars.” As a matter of fact, these vehicles are the property of the International Sleeping Car Company, of Brussels, and were confiscated by the Russian authorities during the Great War. No payment has ever been made the rightful owners of these vehicles, and all efforts to secure their return have failed.—From our London Correspondent.
With twenty-five trains passing through every day, business is fairly brisk at Morrinsville Junction (on the Auckland-Rotorua Line). Twelve men comprise the station staff proper, in addition to which twelve surfacemen have their headquarters at Morrinsville.
During the past year over 21,000 tickets were sold at the ticket window at the station, an average of 70 each week day. From the station yard were despatched over 140,000 head of live stock and about 14,500 tons of goods. Trucks unloaded at the station brought 57,000 head of live stock, 33,000 tons of goods, including 10,000 tons of manure and 1,421,400 feet of timber.
A clerical staff of six men working various shifts attends to the office work at the station. A supply of trucks is always kept in the station yard for despatch to country stations on the Thames and Rotorua lines where trucks are needed. The inwards and outwards goods traffic of the station is also considerable.
A great deal of live stock is despatched to freezing works and saleyards from Morrinsville and the nearby flag stations of Kiwitahi, Walton and Tatuanui. Cattle and calves totalled 29,832, a good proportion, of course, being bobby calves. Only one other station in the North Island had a bigger total of cattle and calves, viz., Normanby, in Taranaki, which also serves an extensive dairying district. No other station in the Auckland province railed as many sheep and pigs as Morrinsville, which accounted for 112,000, mostly fat lambs and fat pigs. Nearly 50,000 sheep and pigs were unloaded at Morrinsville and nearby flag stations, representing the annual drafts of breeding ewes and other store sheep which are purchased by Morrinsville sheepfarmers.—From the Morrinsville Star.
A Creditor Debtor Entente—Al. Smith's Brainwave—P.N's. as Export Bonus—British Patience—A Super Swindle.
The obligations of debt-payment have ever played a big part in world-history, but never before was so big a strain put on them as in this fourth decade of the Twentieth Century. For one thing, the world never before witnessed so huge a total of public and private debt, including war debt. So much of revenue is ear-marked for debt service, that the funds for new enterprise are limited, and this fact in itself is a prime cause of lack of trade and lack of employment. A lending system that impoverishes the debtor to the point of stinting him of the necessaries of life—of bleeding him white—is a lending system in danger. No wise creditor is satisfied with such a position.
Mr. Al. Smith, a Democratic candidate for the United States Presidency, is asking his country to be a wise creditor. He would extend the Hoover Moratorium in a novel fashion, and would supplement it. He thinks that the United States Government should tell European Governments to forget for twenty years their Governmental debts to U.S.A. Further, the paper representing such debt should be handed back during the period as a percentage bonus on United States goods bought by the debtor country. Thus, if Italy (or Britain) bought a hundred million dollars worth of U.S.A. commodities, the Italian (or British) Government would be absolved of twenty-five million dollars worth of its American debt and interest thereon. Mr. Al. Smith confirms what Mr. Mellon said before becoming U.S. Ambassador to Britain—“Trade is better than debt.”
Concessions in capital and/or interest cause no disturbance when they originate with the creditor, in the manner willed by Americans like Messrs. Smith (Democrat) and Mellon (Republican). When they come as demands of the debtor, the whole moral position is altered. Coercion of creditors has occurred on innumerable occasions in the world's history (the list of defaulting Governments in itself is a considerable one), yet as a general thing the obligations of debtors have been respected and are the foundation of finance and of the confidence on which finance relies. This very delicate structure of credit is now being examined by almost every Government in the world to see what alterations can be made without impairing the machine. Experimentation of that kind will be one of the
Although the American creditor has hitherto been unbending in his capital claims, the attitude of some big Americans is important, because what the world most needs is not the defection of debtors, but creditor-debtor co-operation. We live to-day in a world in which men and women are saying, “Food must be bought before interest and rent are paid.” At least one Government is saying: “We will maintain our standard of living before we will pay interest on bonds;” and in Australia a Federal Government is actually seeking to intercept the revenue of a defaulting State Government—an event probably unique in the Federal system. Such a climax crystallises the debtor-creditor issue in its most destructive phase; and if that phase is to be avoided for the common good,. it is in creditor-debtor co-operation that the remedy lies.
It has again fallen on a former Liberal, in the person of Mr. Walter Runciman, as Chairman of the Board of Trade, to rejoice in Britain's industrial progress under a policy of 10 per cent. tariff and off-gold. He said:
“British industries had adapted themselves to the needs of the present time, and the work-people had shown a tranquillity and determination unrivalled in the world.”
British patience has certainly been marvellous. The general strike of some years ago is forgotten. All classes have suffered. To keep industry going, and to pay the American debt, workmen have endured privation and taxable interests have been super-taxed. But the country has avoided repudiation. Its credit is high. And since the Soviet Republic itself asks its workers to invest in bonds, it must be assumed, on this anti-capitalistic evidence that the virtue of credit still has a place in the modern world.
America, in her struggle against crime, scored a point when she gaoled Capone. That was a distinct triumph over the class that almost killed law in the United States by exploiting the law's delays. But so far, in the fight over the unfortunate Lindbergh baby, the criminals seem to be well ahead. It is said that, without exposing themselves, they have got hold of about £10,000 of Colonel Lindbergh's ransom funds, and have thereupon raised their price, proving that the law of ransom is as elastic as is honour among thieves. The whole transaction is black in itself, but still blacker for society is the general threat it implies. When this class of crime becomes widely organised, whose child will be safe? Will anyone be safe?
First Hatry, then Kylsant, now Kreuger! It is of social importance that the British Courts dealt unsparingly with Hatry's frauds, and later with Lord Kylsant's deceptions. The Swede, Kreuger, if it is true that he forged bonds and entered them as assets, will never come to justice, either in Sweden or elsewhere, as he ended his own life. But the charges now brought, and the statements of responsible newspapers, put a different colour on the Swedish match magnate to that painted of him by Mr. J. M. Keynes. International finance has presented no greater sensation. Keynes seems to have regarded him as a great internationalist. The press now says “common forger.”
Russia is credited with experimenting in various forms of State farming. In some cases the State is sole owner; in others there is partial ownership by private people, amounting to a kind of State-private partnership. One thing the cablegrams in April were fairly definite about—that farm stock was going back to private ownership. It is alleged that the neglect of State-owned farm animals proved ruinous and incurable. New Zealand, as a farm produce exporter, cannot be indifferent to what is happening in Russian farming. New Zealand's interest in Russian oil is less direct, but it is worth noting that the “Daily Express” predicts failure of the Soviet cheap oil and cheap wheat campaigns.
There was a time when the recent fighting in China would have claimed almost a monopoly of European newspaper space; when the prospect of Russo-Japanese war over Manchuria and Mongolia would have been a ruling topic; when the Hellenist outbreak in Cyprus, and the Italian outburst in Malta, and the renewed Anglophobia in Egypt and India would have provoked a new spasm of anxiety concerning the Empire's Mediterranean-Suez artery. But it is a changed world that reflects itself in newspapers to-day—a world striving first and foremost for economic recovery. The depression strikes too near home to stimulate public curiosity in adventure oversea. This quiescence does not mean that the diplomatic sky is cloudless. It only means bigger clouds confronting everybody in his own back-yard.
One curious fact emerges about Aristide Briand. The late French statesman was “the architect of the United States of Europe”; he was, Sir Austen Chamberlain said, “the greatest European of us all”; he was the apostle of international trust. But his trust of national and international trade was such that he had half his estate in bank notes—a million francs of them. A Paris cablegram of April 17 remarks that, with all his statesmanship, he retained the hoarding instinct of the French peasantry. Whether or not the post-war world was safe for democracy, he evidently did not consider it safe for thrift. Europe not being ready for his tranquilising policy, European trade must go on minus a million francs. Europe's fault, not Briand's.
With the usual contempt for ages gone before, some superior person has witheringly remarked that Dryden wrote an ode to a woman's eyebrow. If Dryden had been alive to-day he would have been expected to write an epic about Phar Lap. One touch of Phar Lap made the whole of the people kin; and if only they would investigate the economic situation with the same united zeal as was displayed in Phar Lap's rise and fall upon the American turf, many things should be made plain. But in the presence of Phar Lap, the British surplus and the record American deficit leave people cold. Who can bother about them, when Phar Lap is dead of colic?
The spirit of the age, and all ages, stages and rages, is Optimism. Optimism is vitamin X, and X equals the core of the corpuscle, or the spirit of X-istence.
It is true that Optimism sometimes sleeps, but like a flea at the dog show or an onion in a Spanish garden, it is always there. On the other hand, there is no such vegetable as Pessimism, for Pessimism is the seed that doubts and never sprouts; it soils not, neither does it spinach.
So-called pessimists are Bluff oysters, who bluff that all shellfish are selfish and that an oyster can never royster, nor a winkle twinkle. But when their bluff is called with an oyster opener, it is discovered that they have been hiding their light under a boo-shell. Thence they suffer oystracism and die of shell-shock.
Optimism makes the world ‘op round, even if it does bump a bit on the bends. It is as impossible to support life without optimism as without oxygen. A fly in a treacle factory has as equally good a chance of buzzing off as a pessimist in a mud bath.
Life is largely a matter of waits and measures, and the waiter who waits generally gets full weight and measure of treasure and pleasure. In effect, as an effervescent effort:—
The Human Race is a wait-for-age. Age is the bigger bit of “sage,” and, like left-handed feet at a boot-legger's remnant sale, it has its advantages. Age is true proportional representation, when little things that used to count have forgotten their arithmetic, and only the big things matter but don't mutter. Ripe old age is the ideal fruit of the tree of life. Sung to apple peals, the core of the argument is:—
From ribstone pippins we naturally turn to the apple of Adam's eye, his rib-bone counter, or his Evesdropper. “Woman!” What a word to wangle! “Woo man,” “Whoa man,” likewise, “fee male,” “fie male,” and generally speaking, the last word in dictation.
But when everything is said and done—which of course it never is—what is the loss of a rib compared with the gain of a whole wife?
History has not done woman justice, mainly because historians are usually male-factors.
Certainly Helen of Troy got a write-up. If Helen were not Irish she should have been, for if I am not mistaken (which is improbable) it was Helen who rode a wooden horse through Cork, or a cork horse through the wood, singing:—
“If at first you don't succeed, Troy, troy again.”
There is also the Queen of Sheba, who is the only woman who has ever admitted the wisdom of Soloman; Lady Godiva who condemned the “barberous” bustercut, and invented the slogan, “wear more hair,” and Annie Laurie, for love of whom even Scotsmen were prepared to risk the expense of a funeral. Then we know of Little Miss Muffet and Nellie Bly in their famous recitation, “The Spider and the Fly;” also the Maid of Athens who invented the part-time kiss, and Bertha, The Sewing-machine Girl, who pedalled her own canoes and popularised the silent singer. Again, there are King Henry's eight wives who lost their heads over him, with the exception of the last, who trumped his ace with a queen.
No doubt there are many others who should have been in history if the fair sex had had a fair deal.
What we men owe on account of woman it is impossible to compute without a ready-reckoner. Woman's has always been the hand that locks the stable and “socks” the fable. She is the power behind the groan and the little thing that counts—our cash.
When a man marries he leads a double life—and both of them are his wife's. Truly, many a wife makes the billets that her husband gets shot into. But woman never boasts of her achievements; she realises more than man that speech was invented as a wind-screen to think behind.
If the truth about Noah were known, it was his wife who pushed him into the boat-building business; Caesar's* wife, no doubt, was behind his seizures. The fact is that no married man is the captain of his soul. His wife lets him do the speaking while she wields the spokes of the wheel. We know it, and they know we know it, but they never let us know that they know that we know that they know it.
What would the world be without woman? There would be a conspiracy of silence; we would have no homes to stay away from, no wives to tell bed-time stories to, no shirts for us to sew buttons on, no household jobs to dodge, no woman's hand to take our pay envelope, no pay envelope to take; in fact, no nothing nowhere. Consequently we reiterate the toast:—
New Zealand has often been written up at length but never in short. So let us take a pilgrimage in pill form. Meatly speaking, New Zealand is a singular “joint,” although plural to the third degree. She consists of the top-side or upper cut, the undercut, and the bit over. The upper cut, or North Island, consists, among other things, of the floating dock, the Blue Bath, and Auckland Harbour. The under cut, or South Island, contains (inter alia) both banks of the Avon and the bank of Scotland. The South Island is a dependency of Dunedin. Stewart Island, which is the bit that broke off, almost impinges on the pole, and sleeps by itself on a bed of oysters.
The whole is surrounded by water for as far as a ship can reach without getting wrecked. New Zealand is so singularly scenic that railway trains spend all their time running from one attraction to another. New Zealand, in addition to butter and wool, meat and cheese, produces in tourists an irresistible impulse to write to the papers about it. Tourists who previously thought that New Zealand was seal oil or a brand of cheese have been carried onto their ships prostrated with foot and mouth disease and writer's cramp through trying to express their reactions to our attractions. Some things are too utter to utter. And that, in short, is New Zealand in short.
An outstanding feature of the many representations made to the Government Railways Board in the course of its recent visit to Southland, was that warm tributes were paid by many of the speakers to the courteous and efficient service rendered to users of the railways by stationmasters and other officers in the districts through which the Board travelled. The Board expressed its keen satisfaction at the fine sentiment and goodwill prevailing between its officers and those whom they served.—“Southland News.”
Mrs. O'Brien (concluding argument): “Every time I look at you, Mrs. ‘Iggins, I feel I'm doing the Government out o’ entertainment tax.”—South African Railways and Harbours Magazine.
* * *
Pat: “That was a foine sintiment Casey got off at the banquet last night.”
Mike: “What was it?”
Pat: “He said that the swatest mimories in loife are the ricollictions of things forgotten.”
* * *
“They pulled their chairs to the table, lit a candle, and made a meal of it.”
Housewife: “I haven't much to eat in the house, but would you like some cake?”
Tramp: “Yes.”
Housewife: “Yes, what?”
Tramp: “Yes, dear.”
* * *
The Yellow Peril means a banana skin left on the pavement.
Extravagance is wearing a tie when you have a beard.
Too much indulgence in sports gives us barrackers veins.
A sculptor is a man who makes faces and busts.
Sinister means a woman who hasn't married.
A fissure is a man who sells fish.
—Collected by Cecil Hunt.
A general and a colonel were walking down the street. They met many privates and each time the colonel would salute he would mutter: “The same to you.”
The general's curiosity got the better of him and he asked: “Why do you always say that?”
The colonel asserted: “I was once a private and I know what they are thinking.”
* * *
A certain young lady went to church with her new baby and told the minister his name was John Beasley Lang Mulligan. “That's a foine name, to be sure, and he surely looks a foine lad. What are you going to make of him?”
“Make of him?” she replied. “Oi ain't going to make nothin' of him. He's well provided for from his birth.”
“A beneficiary under a will?” questioned the minister.
“Not a bit of it. Oi got the bonus for ‘im when he was born; Oi'll git the endowment for ‘im till he's sixteen; the dole till he's sixty; and the old-age pension for the rest of his life.”
The other day I heard a “high-brow” friend denouncing vehemently the “regime” of the Talkie—not only were they thoroughly harmful to society and “lowering” to the intellect of the young generation—but according to her they were responsible for neglected homes, false ideas of right and wrong, and crime in general!
“The people of our country are being entertained with a petty form of amusement,” she said, “because their intellectual ability is regarded as not existing!”
I flippantly suggested that no doubt she would expect a woman, tired and depressed after a hard day of unromantic housework, to find relaxation and pleasure in a Greek tragedy.
Why do we go to the “Talkies?” Surely to escape for two hours from the often uninteresting routine of our daily lives—to live for a brief moment in, not necessarily an ideal world—but at least in a world which offers many joys impossible for us. Like Cinderella we can dance at the Ball, and twelve o'clock will strike all too soon. And the effect is hardly one of dissatisfaction with our lot—most of us are philosophical enough to accept our pleasures for what they are worth to us. Seldom do we muse in misery on what we have seen and heard at the “Talkies”—we laugh, we criticize, we weep—and we forget.
Most women pick up a book for the same reason—to escape. For always in the human race is this tendency to dwell in the realms of romance, from the days when the young knights of King Arthur went off in search of the Holy Grail. We are still looking for it—and if our search leads us into the cheap seats of a “Talkie,” it is nevertheless health-giving and harmless.
If you have to live in a tiny house—replica of hundreds of others in a row, if you have to do the washing every Monday, iron, cook, mend and bring up a noisy, lovable family—why should you not be dazzled by the lights of “Broadway,” see the old Thames gliding under the Tower Bridge where once your grandfather played, and be ravished by “creations” from Paris? And is this harmful to your morals and “lowering” to your intellect? Most emphatically not!
Think of all the “Talkies” represent in this year of grace, 1932! It is as if we had borrowed the Magic Carpet of our childhood days and can sail away to unknown lands. How many people have never been to London, the heart of the world? Yet now, for one and sixpence, they can stand (and not in imagination)
and hear things as they actually are.
We smile at the “Film Fan” who is an absolute authority on Norma Shearer's eyebrows or Ronald Coleman's personal taste in ties; we sometimes deplore the Yankee slang which is creeping into the language of our six-year-old son, who answers “O.K. big boy” to his father—but any moderate person must admit that “losses on the round-a-bouts mean gains upon the swings.”
Out here in this tiny island, swept about by the Great Pacific, we are far from the pulsing life of the Continent, but a whisper comes to us from the “Talkies.” We cannot often hear great pianists nor be present at “first night” appearances of London's geniuses, but we would be foolish indeed if we were to scorn the opportunity of laughing with Ralph Lynne, of suffering with Ruth Chatterton—if we were “above” the absurdities of Marie Dressler and unimpressed by the realism of Gerald du Maurier. Therefore—“Long Live the Talkies,” and may they long continue to offer us their gifts!
All of us who are worth anything spend our manhood in unlearning the follies, or expiating the mistakes of our youth—Shelley.
Have you ever listened in amusement to your grandmother describing “her young days”—how she tied her exquisitely worded love-letters with blue ribbon —how she thrilled with the excitement of a new dress—how she was made to walk for hours with a book on her demure little head to secure a “graceful carriage”—how she sat in a straight-backed chair and never lounged gracelessly against the mantel piece, for all the world like a dashing young man? You smiled at their efforts to gain that indefinable poise, but you had to admire the grace with which they sailed into a ballroom—the confidence with which they descended the stairs or charmingly dominated a drawing-room.
It has been the fashion lately to cultivate a careless slouch—and many a young twentieth century Diana has deliberately slouched her straight little back in an effort to acquire the necessary boyish swagger and air of reckless defiance demanded by Fashion. And now—with the advent of curls, and frills, and muffs and femininity she is finding it tremendously difficult to be graceful. It is absurd, she knows, to stride blithely whistling in a semi-crinoline, to cross one leg carelessly over her knee, to perch jauntily on tables or lounge indolently in armchairs. She must have “poise.” And how to gain it —that is the question! Being adaptable, and a natural actress, she will cultivate grace with all the enthusiasm with which she once courted a deliberate gaucherie.
A pretty face is not even half the battle now-a-days—and many people quite ignore the charm which lies in posture—how you walk, how you stand, how you sit—so seemingly trivial, yet so indescribably fascinating. There are some people whose every movement you love to watch, even if they are ironing, making a cake, or executing any mundane little task—for they have a natural beauty of movement.
Hundreds of men will tell you how an attitude will impress itself indelibly upon the mind—you standing by the window, you walking down the stairs to meet him, you sitting by a dreamy fire, you stooping to pick a flower, or reaching up to hang clothes on the line. This poise, this grace of movement can be yours with little trouble—think of it constantly in every thing you do—and “the poetry of motion” will become a habit.
—S.G.M
A flip is excellent. Just mix two tablespoons of cold milk in a cup with two teaspoons Ovaltine and eat it with a spoon. Ovaltine is delicious this way, and one does not tire of it. Children love it in place of sweets. For an eggnog, fill a glass with hot or cold milk, whisk one egg and pour into the milk, add two teaspoons Ovaltine, and stir until dissolved.
A little sprinkled over helpings of bread pudding makes the latter much more attractive and improves the flavour at the same time.
—S.G.M.
A quick, easy way to remove the rough, red traces of dish-washing from your hands, leaving them soft and smooth, is to rub in Sydal Hand Emollient. This makes the reddest and roughest hands beautiful, soft and white. Women who do their own housework find Sydal a wonderful boon. 1/-, 2/- and 7/6 jar.
THere is a well-known aphorism—“you cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear!” Such maxims may be applicable to mankind and his endeavours : not to wondrous Nature! She is a miracle worker who takes a hideous looking life-atom, puts it to sleep, waves her magic wand, and lo!—another life-atom of infinite and delicate beauty is evolved!
“Myrmeleon” is a Greek word that sounds euphoniously; translated into every-day English the phonetic resonance and charm vanishes, and “Ant-lion” remains to us!
Occasionally the “pit” or “trap” of “Myrmeleon” may be seen in sandy parts of our Islands. Mr. A. S. Atkinson writes: “These are not uncommon around Nelson.” However, the insect does not appear to be of widespread and frequent distribution through New Zealand, though more common in the North than South Island.
“Myrmeleon” belongs to the “Neuroptera,” which embraces also “Lace-wings” and “Caddis flies,” all of which are carnivorous during the larval period. Two of these may be briefly touched upon at present, viz:—
“Oxyethvia Albiceps”—the wonderful “Flask-insect”—unknown to any other part of the world; and “Chauliodes,” appearing from December to March, flying slowly over water, during the dusk, in large numbers. The larva of “Chauliodes” is not only carnivorous but cannibalistic; of violent and aggressive temperament, biting readily, and—considering its size—severely, if interfered with. These larvae lurk underneath stones in running streams, and devour enormous numbers of “Mayfly” larvae. The growth is slow, occupying twelve months; the chrysalid period embracing six to seven weeks, in an oval cell formed in the mud. The “perfect” insect retains its brown body, has pinkish-brown beautifully veined and marked guazy wings, with a spread of three inches.
Bearing a close relationship to “Neuroptera”—often so classified—are the “Dragon” and “Mayflies” of the order “Orthoptera.” The general observer may be easily forgiven for confusing these two orders, so very greatly are they similar in many respects.
“Orthoptera” embraces some of our largest and brightest insects; in fact, from the size and vivid colouration, one is reminded of tropical varieties, especially where “Dragonflies” are considered.
Our largest “Dragonfly”—uropetala—is quite common in all swamp lands during January and February, when it may be seen dashing about, preying on small insects, an object of dazzling beauty, resplendent in chocolate brown and gold, with gauzy opalescent wings. Two smaller and beautiful forms are “Lestes colensonis,” of irridescent metallic-blue, and “Telebasis Zealandica,” a burnished-crimson, darting flame. However, to return to “Myrmeleon!”
The larva of this insect is not at all “caterpillar” or “grub”-like; rather, it is more like a “perfect” insect in itself, and, no doubt, this peculiarity earned the name of “Ant-lion,” or “Myrmeleon.” As soon as the egg—laid in dry, loose sand—hatches out, the larva sets to work and constructs a “pit” or “trap,” shaped like an inverted cone. With an instinctive knowledge, the locality picked upon is near an “ant citadel,” or a distinct “antroute” for preference.
Here again we are compelled to admire the design of Nature. The body of the larva is shaped to facilitate the “pit” formation; thick through centrally, and tapering to a point at each end; that which represents the head being armed with long, formidable, saw-toothed, boring mandibles. When shaping the pit, the insect whirls swiftly round and round till a suitable depth and circumference has been obtained; the larger sand-grains either butted or thrown clear of the rimedge. Now the “Ant-lion” ceases its labours, ambushes in the sand at the cone-point and awaits the coming of the “bill-of-fare.”
Presently, along comes a foraging ant, approaches the edge of the “pit” … it turns away and retreats … a premonition of lurking danger has been received! It returns, for ants are inquisitive … the phenomenon of the “pit” needs investigation …. it has reached the crumbling edge, and—death!
The ants approach has been telegraphed to “Myrmeleon” … hungry, waiting, alert for opportunity. The danger zone is reached … “Myrmeleon” sends up a veritable bombardment of sand molecules.
What is the object? Not, as may be thought, to disable or bring the prey down … not to confuse nor to terrify. What is it then? Let us watch and see!
With—shall we put it?—a scientific knowledge of engineering principles, this is being done to cut away the sand beneath the ant's foothold and produce a miniature landslide! The unfortunate victim to curiosity slithers down to inevitable doom … frantically it strives to recover foothold, to turn and flee … it is inexorably slipping down, down, down, a sand glissade!
A pair of long, horny, formidable mandibles flash upwards from the sand gulf … the prey seized and threshed violently into immobility …drawn within the cone centre … the ghoulish meal commenced! After the victim has been sucked dry, the empty chitin shell is thrown clear of the “pit,” and —“Myrmeleon,” the voracious, is again in ambush!
Now, it must not be thought the ant surrenders life tamely; they are courageous and pugnacious creatures … it puts up a strong fight, a fight to which there can be only one end! Savagely it attempts to bite in retaliation … to bring its spray of deadly formic acid into play … to use its sharp sting, if of that variety. There is no hope, the horny mandibles are impervious to bite, spray and sting alike, the vulnerable parts of “Myrmeleon” are not only remote but armoured in dry sand. The larva has one strange peculiarity; the legs are so placed to the trunk—the two longer front pairs forwards, the hind pair backwards—that the insect walks with a retrograde movement.
Our best known variety has been named “Myrmeleon Acutus” and strongly resembles the “Dragonfly” in slenderness of body—some forms are shorter and more squat bodied—and gauzy wing texture. Though of fairly graceful flight it has neither the “elan” nor dash of the other. Many insects diffuse a certain perfume; the “ghost-moth” that of pure apple, and so on. The perfume of “Myrmeleon” is of roses.
“Myrmeleon Acutus” has a wing expanse of from 2 1/2 inches in the “male” to 3 inches in the “female.” The body is grayish, lined in black; the head yellow, as are the legs, and that is also the predominant colour in the wing and other ornamentation. The antennae are absent, the body 1 1/4 inches in length. This insect—appears—as does our “Dragonfly,” uropetala—in January and February. It is seldom seen flying “free” during the day, more often specimens are obtained that have entered rooms, attracted by the glare of electric or other lights.
With France rests the distinction of possessing the largest and most beautiful variety, “Myrmeleon Libellulidae,” a boldly and splendidly marked object with a wing-spread of 4 1/2 inches and body over two inches long. The larva of “M.L.” does not form “pits” to snare its food, nor is it obliged to walk backwards.
A good deal of attention has of late been devoted to the potentialities of the pneumatic tyre for railcar wheels, and in France extensive trials have been conducted with a patent pneumatic-tyred flanged wheel, the invention of the Michelin Company. In its essentials, the wheel comprises an ordinary road motor truck wheel, to which is attached on the inside a steel flange. The tyre, with a tread projecting somewhat to the outside, is fitted to the rim of the wheel in the conventional manner, and is inflated to a pressure of 851bs. per sq. in. The life of the tyre is put at about 18,000 miles. The car equipped with the patent pneumatic tyres operated by the French State Railways has a chassis supported on two trucks—six-wheeled in front and four-wheel in the rear. The engine is a 6-cylinder Panhard, rated at 24 h.p., with a four-speed gearbox. Gross weight is 6 1/2 tons, normal speed on level 56 m.p.h., maximum speed 62 m.p.h., petrol consumption 14 m.p.g., and cost approximately £1,500. The advantages claimed for the car are more rapid acceleration; more rapid braking; greater travel comfort; and reduction in noise.
In addition to the State Railways' experiments, the Eastern Railway of France has put thirty 24-seater petrol railcars with pneumatic tyres into branch-line service.
More than a century has passed since England welcomed its first railway, while few are alive to-day to remember the opening of New Zealand's pioneer railway linking Lyttelton with Christchurch. In spite of these facts, there is one country in the world—Bermuda—which only recently has received its first introduction to the “Iron Way.” Bermuda is a great playground for the wealthy British and American tourist, and the new Bermuda Railway, when completed, will be 21 1/2 miles in length, running almost for the full length of the island. The section just opened is that between Hamilton and Somerset, a distance of 11 miles. The railway is of 4ft. 8 1/2in. gauge, and single-tracked throughout. Rails are flat-bottomed, spiked to timber sleepers, and weighing 67.5lbs. per yard. Passing loops are provided at intervals along the route, and the most important engineering work is the 1,004ft. bridge of steel, having an electrically-operated swing-span of 135ft., crossing a sea-inlet at Ferry Point.
Six Drewry petrol railcars and six trailer cars have been acquired for passenger movement over the Bermuda Railway. Goods traffic is handled by means of two power-operated 10-ton covered steel trucks, two 10-ton covered trailer trucks, and one spare power bogie. The motor railcars are 42ft. long, 9ft. wide and 11ft.6in. high. They weigh about 20 tons and accommodate 42 passengers. A feature is the patent five-speed gearbox, giving all five speeds in both forward and reverse directions.
Railway trains that actually go to sea are not uncommon in Europe, thanks to the utilisation that is made of the oceangoing train-ferry in maintaining rail connections between various Continental lands. The success of the Harwich-Zee-brugge train-ferry has been most conspicuous, and soon another train-ferry will link Britain with the Continent, this time having Harwich and Calais as its terminals.
Europe's first train-ferry was opened in 1872, across the Little Belt Channel at the entrance to the Baltic Sea. Since then seven other train-ferries have been opened between Denmark and the neighbouring
The Gjedser-Warnemunde ferry service employs a most interesting type of ferry-steamer, 348 feet long and 59 feet wide. The propelling machinery consists of two sets of four-cylinder triple-expansion engines, and a maximum speed of 15 knots is maintained. Eighteen goods wagons or seven passenger carriages are accommodated on two sets of tracks on an almost totally enclosed deck. Access to this deck is secured by the novel arrangement of a moveable forecastle. The bows of the vessel are hinged in such a manner as to enable them to be lifted right back to form an archway through which the railway vehicles travel. The ferry gives accommodation for 800 passengers.
One of the most useful devices ever invented for railway use was the water pick-up gear for locomotives, enabling engines to pick up water for boiler use while travelling at speed. This apparatus was invented in 1857 by John Rams-bottom, then locomotive engineer on the London and North Western Railway. It gave railways the power to operate really long non-stop runs, and obviated the provision of tenders with very large capacity tanks, involving haulage of much dead weight and an increase in locomotive building costs. To-day almost all the main-line engines of the Home railways are equipped with the apparatus, and as an example of present-day working it may be stated that the “Royal Scot” locomotives, hauling the heaviest Anglo-Scottish passenger trains between London and Carlisle, have a water capacity of only 3,500 gallons, water being picked up en route from nine track troughs spaced about thirty miles apart.
Lake Tekapo, situated in the Mt. Cook region of the Southern Alps, may be reached after a short motor journey from the railhead at Fairlie. By reason of its special setting in the heart of the mountain country, Lake Tekapo has special claims to recognition as one of the most beautiful of our New Zealand lakes. The lake, which is 2,320ft. above sea level, is fed by streams from the Godley and Glassen glaciers, and is surrounded by storm-beaten hills sloping gently down to the water's edge. Beyond the hills are the snow-capped Alps with their towering, glistening peaks—a background which lends enchantment to the scene. The waters of the lake have a colour which only the proximity of snow can give—a green-blue tint, which almost matches the sky.
In the lake region, Mt. Cook, of course, is the dominating feature of the landscape. The best view of the mountain is obtained a few miles beyond the accommodation house at Lake Tekapo. Here, the great mountain may be seen in all its grandeur—its summit completely covered with snow.
As has been mentioned, Lake Tekapo is set in beautiful surroundings. All too few people, however, are acquainted with the picturesque scenes around the lake itself and with the facilities provided for the tourist and the sportsman. At the head of the lake is a comfortable accommodation house, adjacent to which are tennis courts and golf links. Angling, too, is a favourite sport at Lake Tekapo, as also is hare shooting in the hills close by.
Access to Tekapo is made through Burke's Pass, which is 2,200ft. above sea level. At the top of the pass stands a monument which arrests the attention of the traveller. The monument is dedicated to Michael John Burke, and has the following inscription:—
“To put on record that Michael John Burke, graduate of Dublin University, and first occupier of Raincliff Station, entered this pass, known to the Maoris as Te Kopi Opihi, in 1855.
O ye who enter the portals of the MacKenzie to found homes, take the word of a child of the misty gorges, and plant forest-trees for your lives. So shall your mountain facings and river flats be preserved to your children's children and for evermore.
1917.
This pass is 2,200ft. above sea level.”
“Big Jake” was more than a first rate foreman. He was a guide, philosopher and friend to the men who had the pleasure to work under his supervision. His capacity was phenomenal and “Paddy” summed “Jake” up when he said, “the Boss is just a river of information and a mountain of helpfulness.”
“Jake” always appeared at his best when engaged in teaching “the young idea how to shoot” and his methods inspired and encouraged the boys to think hard and work diligently.
“You observed,” said “Jake,” to young “Laddie,” “the bent piston-rod that was taken from the light repair job this morning. Can you explain the cause of the bending?” “Yes,” said “Laddie,” “the stress was so great on the rod that the point was reached where the material became ‘permanently set,’ thereby failing to return to its original dimensions.”
“Said like a book” returned “Jake,” “but the old way of describing the cause appears to me the better way: the working load was exceeded, the factor of safety passed and the strain forced the rod beyond the ‘Elastic Limit.’ The moduli vary greatly, especially in steel. As with steel so with men, no matter whether their methods be elaborate, spectacular or just simple, all have their ‘Elastic Limit.’
“It is a grand thing to know the ‘working load’ and to bear it willingly day by day. No man ever sank under the burden of the day, it is only when to-morrow's load is added that man reaches the ‘Elastic Limit.’”