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Cable from Prime Minister to the Railway Staff
New Zealand Post Office Telegraphs.
I wish to extend to the whole staff my best wishes for the festive season, 1926–27. It marks the passing of another historical year in the working of the New Zealand Railways, and records further proof of the splendid response and co-operation of the staff in accomplishing the reconstruction of the Dominion's largest industry. Much remains to be done to complete the task, and I earnestly seek a continuation of the whole-hearted loyalty and sympathy displayed by you all in achieving the results already obtained.
To secure efficiency in management, organisation and service is the aim and duty of us all. Without it, progress, from every point of view, is impossible. We must march with the times if the railways are going to maintain their position as the Dominion's leading transport system. Whilst the past year's operations can be taken as exceedingly gratifying, difficulties have yet to be overcome. Many improvements are indispensable to enable the system to deal efficiently with the service now demanded.
I desire to express my appreciation of the splendid services rendered, and to say that I have entire faith in the unswerving loyalty of the staff to ably complete the task that has been so well begun.
(Signed) J. G. Coates,
Prime Minister.
Greetings! And a Merry Christmas to all! How the dear words knock at the portals of memory till the doors swing back exposing to view the kindly ghosts of many a Christmas past.
Not for us the old fashioned Christmas of the Homeland with its “holly, mistletoe, red berries, ivy, turkeys, geese, game, poultry, brawn, meat, pigs, sausages, oysters, pies, puddings, fruit and punch,” but the New Zealand Christmas. For our summer season restrains such concentration on the decorative and dietary sides of life. It leaves, however, to the average New Zealander, a period of feverish shopping, elbowing amongst crowds; a glut of entertainments; a rushing hither and thither for family and company reunions; gastronomic tests ranging from the lightest of delicacies to the heaviest of dough products—all deemed to be meet for hot weather nourishment. Then there is bathing, camping, fishing, hiking, sports of all sorts, and holiday junketing generally. The season is rich with the spirit of release; it is freedom triumphant, and means, to most, a superlatively good time.
To the railwayman, the word “Christmas” conjures up a deluge. It stands for an orgy of tidying up, cleaning, and polishing—that's the preparation. Then comes the performance. A rush of work, extra services, long hours, piles of luggage, heavy trains, anxiety, sheaves of instructions, and a sustained alertness to meet emergencies—all this in the course of a constant race against the flying enemy, Time.
The urge which ordinarily actuates the staff to give the best possible service develops out of a natural desire to experience the satisfaction which springs from all good workmanship. This is now reinforced by an underlying feeling of good fellowship induced through efficiently contributing, under exacting circumstances, to the happiness of others during the season of “peace on earth” and “goodwill toward men.”
In this work they look for reciprocity—and obtain it from a multitude.
The forward-looking and precise among the public see to it that their tickets are purchased well ahead, and that seats and sleeping berths are reserved in good time. They order the goose and forward their presents in ample time for safe delivery on due date. They legibly address and label everything, strong in the belief, which experience justifies, that a well labelled package seldom goes astray; and they realise the value of checking their
It is the last-minute travellers who supply the unknown factor, the variable quantity, the perplexing complex in the traffic anticipation problem that brings about overcrowding of trains, taxes the capacity of luggage vans, strains the larder of refreshment rooms and the good humour of staffs, and helps to create those innumerable fragmentary causes of delay which no preparation can fully anticipate, and which find their ultimate expression in a result, distasteful to railway and public alike,—late running.
But who is to blame these procrastinators? They may have decided to stay at home and have a quiet Christmas. Others have done it, why not they? That at least is their cool November attitude. But as the time approaches, the spirit of the season gets into their blood. Life is short—why miss the best that it can give? Away with sedentary melancholy! Pawn the family jewels, if need be; sell the pet lamb; but the trains are calling, the crowds are gathering, there's a world of enjoyment at journey's end: Puff,—puff, —we're off! This is the genesis and exodus of Christmas crowds. It is thus that the decorous monotony of every dull annum is broken.
The experienced railwayman knows his Christmas season and welcomes its advent as a test of his capacity and that of the whole system to deal with a maximum of business in a minimum of time. And, as he pulls the lever, waves the flag, opens the throttle, or loads the van, he puts an extra measure of goodwill into his work with a view to making as far as he can “A Merry Christmas for all.”
Where there is much desire to learn, there of necessity will be much arguing, much writing, many opinions; for opinion in good men is but knowledge in the making.—Milton.
With half the current financial year already past, figures bearing on the results of operations up to this stage furnish material for a general review, on broad lines, of the present position in regard to traffic, revenue, and expenditure. They also supply a measure whereby the approximate final results of the year's working may be gauged.
Up to 16th October, 1926, the number of passengers carried was considerably less than for the corresponding period last year. This decrease (occurring as it does in suburban traffic, where motor buses, on account of their greater mobility, are well placed for competing) may be regarded as part of the definite loss which all railway systems have suffered since the development of an alternative method of transit. Whilst recognising the convenience to the public which such services afford, the change increases the problem of making the railways pay, for it must not be forgotten that much of the capital expenditure upon railways is sunk in permanent-way, rolling stock and equipment specially designed for suburban traffic.
The diversion of a considerable portion of this traffic to the roads therefore makes some of our capital unproductive; whilst such a course as cutting the losses and discontinuing the services cannot be resorted to, for faith must be kept with the workers who have been induced to settle in suburban areas because of the low railway charges for conveying them to and from their work in the cities. On traffic of this kind, profit can only be made on a big turnover. When, therefore, the dependents of these workers—dependents whose occasional trips to town helped to balance the suburban traffic account—decided to desert the railway for a service more convenient to their purposes, the loss became definitely pronounced. The decrease of £41,000 in passenger revenue may be attributed to this cause.
The course which might have been pursued—and which is now being experimented with—of putting our own buses on the road, was not one which economic considerations would, in ordinary circumstances dictate, for, obviously, even if we collected all the passengers offering, seeing that we already have a service capable of dealing with the traffic of the suburbs, the net return after meeting the cost entailed in buying and working bus services could not make the double service equivalently remunerative.
One point worthy of note is that during the last two months the rate of decrease in passengers carried has slackened somewhat. This is a hopeful sign. Season tickets, which fell back early in the year have since held their position. Trip bearer tickets have maintained their popularity. In livestock a gratifying increase on a steadily ascending scale has been recorded each period this year. Good service and keenness on the part of the staff have contributed to this result. Timber has dropped, but the tonnage of other goods shows a healthy tendency to grow, being already over one hundred thousand tons greater than last year's total for a similar period.
With all revenue accounted for, the first half of this year shows a net operating gain of £50,000 compared with the similar term last year. This is, however, more than counterbalanced by the increase in interest charges, an increase which amounts to a sum greater by one hundred and nine thousand pounds than for the corresponding period last year, leaving the accounts “down” £59,000 in the present comparison.
The heavy increase in interest is chiefly due to the capital account being increased by the taking over of newly constructed lines from the Public Works Department—lines which cannot yet pay an operating return at all equivalent to the interest charges involved.
Recent interruptions to traffic through heavy floods in various parts of both Islands, while tending to reduce traffic, will still further add to the expenses of this year's work, whilst we have no Exhibition this year to add to the prosperity of our summer season.
In view of this position a policy of economy must be followed in administration, whilst every effort will require to be made to stimulate traffic during the remainder of the year. The Board would once more remind members that their individual interests are bound up in the financial results of the year's working, and that their united efforts are necessary to ensure that every opportunity for gaining additional passengers, parcels or goods traffic will be availed of. At the same time the Board feels that it must, in the course of management, follow those directions along which the best promise is given for improving the financial position of the service.
Experimenting with rail cars, feeder services, combined rail and motor bookings, motor services, etc., is being carried out as necessary in an endeavour to protect the business we now possess and build up new traffic. The outlook, however, is obscure and demands the closest attention by all concerned to make the best of the position.
By the time this message is circulated Christmas will be upon us, and the Board feels that it is appropriate to close with an expression of its gratitude for the fine sense of loyalty existing throughout the Service. It extends, with the season's greeting, its best wishes for the well-being and prosperity of all members, as well as of the people of New Zealand upon whose support and goodwill the success of the whole undertaking depends.
Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself.
Trout At Play
Fairy Spring. Rotorua (North Island)
According to figures recently issued by the Ministry of Transport, the chance of a passenger being injured through a mishap to trains, rolling stock, or permanent way on the railways of Great Britain in 1925 was 1 in 4,500,000, whilst for fatal accidents it was 1 in over 1,700,000. During 1925 not a single accident to passengers was entailed through the working of the London Underground trains. In all, 319,000,000 passengers were carried, and the trains ran an aggregate of 14,182,000 train miles. This result may be largely attributed to the efficacy of the electro-pneumatic system of signalling in use, which permits of intensive train operation (certain sections of the Underground have the highest frequency of service of any railway in the world) with an infinitesimal chance of mishap.
Do we recognise the great changes that have taken place in our social life in New Zealand during sixty years? Even if we cast our eyes or memories no further back than fifty years, what a revolution we must record in our surroundings! We are now a wealthy people. Then, we were comparatively poor. The deposits in our Savings Banks is one test of our well being. In 1925–26 there were about 48 millions of pounds to the credit of depositors in the Government Postal Savings Banks. In private Savings Banks depositors had £6,264,383. Then our mortgages of land transactions are numerous and large. For the twelve months ending September, 1926, mortgages securing £31,613,913 were discharged and new mortgages securing £43,269,759 were registered. Most of the mortgages were for monies lent by resident New Zealanders—either persons or companies.
Then there were in the same period £50,010,386 deposited in our Banks of Issue and £6,485,630 was the value of our Note issue. These figures are surely a big record of wealth for a community that numbers only 1,409,854 people! That money was not plentiful in olden days may be learned from the rate of interest paid for loans on mortgage. The rate in the early ‘sixties was as high as seventeen and a half per cent. It fell to fifteen per cent, about 1865 and 12 1/2 per cent, was a common rate in 1868; but not till the ‘seventies did it reach ten per cent, and now 6 1/2 and 7 per cent, are common.
If we consider the life our people now lead, their food, clothing, housing and amusements and how the residents of the ‘fifties and ‘sixties lived we will see a great change. In a statement made in 1865 our Colonial Treasurer said silk dresses were rare amongst our women folk. One for a life-time had, up to then, been deemed sufficient, but fashions were changing, and silk dresses were coming into vegue. Even since 1914, notwithstanding our great war with its consequent waste, and our restricted finance, the money spent in clothing and boots has increased from an index number of 687 to one of 1117. And amusements have not decreased. The cost of living is higher, housing is better, living in tents is almost unknown, and our accommodation for the lieges excels the dreams of the early settlers.
In our locomotion the change is perhaps greatest of all. Walking in the early days was the main means used in getting from place to place. Horses were few and “traps,” as horse conveyances were called, were rare. There were few metalled roads and no bridges of importance till the middle of the ‘sixties and even then the number could be counted on the fingers of one hand. When the Otago members of Parliament left their homes to attend the first session in 1854, they went first to Sydney in a small sailing vessel and from there by the same means reached Auckland! Now we have steamers every-where—from Europe, America, Australia, and Asia. The crossing of our rivers was so dangerous that drownings of travellers were common, one eminent politician saying in the ‘sixties that the most prevalent “disease”—he called it was that of drowning. But now we have “sealed” roads, even concrete roads, and bridges everywhere.
Can our youths of to-day realise what their fathers and grandfathers had to endure in moving about our country? May one or two instances of travel in the early ‘seventies be recalled?
I had to attend a Warden's Court at Marewhenua—a river that runs into the Waitaki. Marewhenua was a small mining township. You took a coach from Dunedin to Oamaru and from that “white city” you travelled on horseback or in a “buggy” to the mining township. I went
After breakfast the Court met and the Mining Dispute was heard by Warden Robinson, but the case was not concluded till about 9 p.m. After getting some refreshment I left alone for Oamaru. The rain had continued and progress was slow. The lights on the buggy went out after I had travelled a few miles and by taking a new-made road the buggy nearly came to grief. In places the water on the road was nearly up to the axle, and it was certainly the most uncomfortable drive I have ever experienced. I did not reach Oamaru till four a.m. I had not stopped at any place on the way as I was anxious to catch the coach leaving Oamaru at 6 a.m. At Oamaru the Star and Garter's front door was locked and I did not know of the back entrance. I ran the buggy up into a right-of-way and with a tarpaulin covered the horses and went in search of someone who could inform me where Patterson's stables were. I met a wayfarer and found the stables and after rousing the person in charge, I went back to the hotel got admission and breakfast and then proceeded to the coach which left at 6 a.m. The coach proceeded and followed a different road from that by which we entered and crossed the river by a bridge near the Boiling Down Works. We proceeded to the next crossing which was near where the “Skew” bridge now is. We found several “traps” waiting to cross, but not caring to risk doing so as the Otepopo River was high. We crossed, but nearly missed doing so as one of the leaders stumbled. We reached Dunedin about half past six in the evening. After tea I went to the Provincial Council that was then sitting and my fellow members asked how I had got there as they had been informed I was at Marewhenua Court.
I made in the early ‘seventies many journeys to Mining Courts at Naseby and elsewhere in Central Otago. In one journey two buggies left Dunedin with four travellers each, besides the driver. The first buggy stuck in crossing the Upper Taieri and it was with difficulty those on board the buggy were saved. Such journeys were often long and uncomfortable. One day I had been in the district Court at Naseby all day, the presiding judge being His Honour District Judge Wilson Gray. The Court finished about 11 p.m. and I left at midnight, one of the witnesses accompanying me. We had two changes of horses, one at Pigroot, and another at Palmerston. My fellow traveller left me at the junction opposite Mt. Cargill for Port Chalmers and I reached Dunedin at midnight.
Travelling in the North Island was more on horseback than in Otago. In 1885 I travelled on foot and horse from the northern end of Lake Taupo to Taumarunui, mainly through the bush. It took us six days. From Wellington to Wanganui was a common and an interesting journey. The drive on the sand from Paekaka-riki to Foxton was, when the tide was out, very delightful. One trip I had as companions amongst others Sir Walter Buller and Renata Kawepo, one of Hawke's Bay's most noted Maori chiefs. We had fine weather till we reached Waikanae. Then there came a thunder burst and rain continued with us till we reached Foxton. When we came near to the Manawatu we had to turn in towards the Ferry. The rain was heavy and our candles were done and it was pitch dark being then about 9 p.m. Sir Walter Buller and myself had to get out of the coach and walk ahead to show the way to the driver. This delayed us so much that we did not reach Foxton till about 11 p.m.—wet to the skin of course.
The first part of the journey was, however, very pleasant, for the Maori chief and Sir Walter Buller discussed the Maori names of the places from Wanganui to Wellington.
Regarding them, Renata had an explanation for most of these names. About some, however, all he could say was “Our fathers called it so.” There was in all this travelling in the old days little grumbling about roads and delays. To have thought that the time would soon come when we could go from Invercargill to Auckland in about two days would not have been believed. Now we can leave Invercargill at 6 a.m. on Monday and have breakfast at 8 a.m. on Wednesday in Auckland.
In connection with, the drainage of the new workshops area in the Hutt Valley it was necessary to dig a trench through gravel and clay in boggy country for a distance of 1,800 feet. Mr. Pirie, the Foreman of Works, to whom the job was allocated, considered this would be a good opportunity for the use of a mechanical excavator, and under an arrangement with the Wellington City Council, their ditcher
Steam Excavator At Work
Ready to Bite
Digging up the Spoil
A Good Mouthful
The Discharge
The social question requires to-day, more than ever, to be examined on the side of human dignity.—Victor Hugo.
It is a strange fact that there has always existed on the part of the general public an attitude of antagonism towards railways which appears to have commenced with the first advent of the steam horse. Before the wonderful benefits of the railways were understood the people did not like them, and some of this dislike appears to have attached to railways wherever they have gone.
The town in which I was born in the West of England, an important stopping place for the stage coaches, strongly resisted the building of a railway through the town with the result that the main line was run about seven miles distant. The feeling was that the railway would kill the coach business. It did kill the coach business. This town ultimately had to connect with the railway system and is now on an insignificant branch line.
We are told that in the year 1818 the School Board of Lancaster, Ohio, being asked for the use of the schoolhouse in which to debate railroads and telegraphs, replied as follows: “You are welcome to the use of the schoolhouse to debate all proper questions in, but such things as railroads and telegraphs are impossible and rank infidelity. There is nothing in the Word of God about them. If God had designed that His intelligent creatures should travel at the frightful speed of fifteen miles an hour by steam, He would have clearly foretold it through His holy prophets. It is a device of Satan to lead immortal souls down to hell.”
Whether through fear of the railway ruining business or ruining souls, the fact remains that the general public did not love the railways, and counted it no sin to beat them either in the law courts or otherwise. But in spite of such lack of sympathy the railways developed rapidly, ultimately proving a necessity, and it is possible that, holding a monopoly, and reacting to the public feeling, railway officers involuntarily acquired an autocratic attitude.
Railway operating demands the utmost exactitude and rigid adherence to regulations, and a similar rigidity could scareely fail to creep into the officers' dealings with the public. Whether such was the case or not the public everywhere have attributed to railway officials a want of consideration and “come and go” in their business dealings. While the railways held a monopoly they could afford to ignore the attitude of the public, but with the coming of motor transport the position changed and the railways throughout the world have awakened to the necessity for obtaining the goodwill of the public. This is as it should be. Every business concern really exists for service to the community and such service can never be of the best unless goodwill exists between the parties concerned. In most railways special departments now exist solely for the purpose of securing this attitude of goodwill, and our railway department, led by an enthusiastie Minister, has followed suit in the inauguration of the Commercial Branch which, already, has done much to bring together the railways and the general public of this Dominion.
The Commercial Branch, however, cannot, and does not, do all the work in this direction. Every member of the service is a possible business agent and it is most gratifying to observe how the members have realised this and risen to the occasion so successfully. The “Personal Touch” is immeasurably the most effective means of securing the goodwill of our customers and combating the opposition that faces us.
A gentleman who had a grievance against the Department was telephoned by me with a view to making an appointment to discuss the complaint. He replied, “I do not wish to see you; you have my letter; the Government is fond of red tape and letters; I demand a letter in reply.” This was certainly an unusual attitude, and at an interview which was subsequently secured, the gentleman also was found to be unusual, one in ten thousand. He was the exception that makes the rule—everybody else prefers a personal talk to a cold official document.
Instances are repeatedly coming under notice of business obtained and the sense of grievance removed as a result of personal interviews. Business men have on several occasions made a point of expressing appreciation of the changed attitude of the staff generally towards the public. The words of one business man were, “A few years ago one did business with the railways only because it was necessary, now it is a distinct pleasure to do business with the railway staff.” Similar incidents to this are occurring frequently and it cannot be stressed too strongly that a courteous interview will do more to allay complaints and grievances than dozens of letters.
A farmers' union made certain requests and was waited on by the Traffic Manager. A couple of hours chat, agreeing to such requests as could be granted and explaining why others could not be agreed to, created a feeling of
‘Railway heads’ would take the trouble to see us and talk things over.” Not a complaint has since been made by this body.
There is no sphere where this personal touch cannot be resorted to with advantage. In the case of accidents or delays to trains the pessengers become prey to anxiety which could be relieved by a courteous explanation by the guard. To quote from a recent issue of the “Railway Age:”
The trainman ambitious to perfect himself must practise the art of pleasing persons; not that vague entity “the public,” but the individual passenger. Pick out one man (or woman) and tell him (or her) all about the delay to your train. Having clearly satisfied one passenger, then shout it out for the benefit of the rest! A public speaker is not a success unless he gets his words well into the ears of that part of the audience that sits in the back seats. The announcer in a passenger car is a public speaker. He should satisfy the timid woman or the inexperienced foreigner.
Twenty-Five Years Ago: The Chief Engineer And Staff, Wellington.
Front Row: E. G. H. Mainwaring (Railway Land Officer), J. Burnett (Inspecting Engineer), J. Coom (Chief Engineer), G. A. Troup (Office Engineer), J. Beasant (Chief Draughtsman).
Second Row: A. Alabaster, G. G. Wilson, C. T. Jeffreys, T. H. Wilson, E. Casey, W. B. O'Brien.
Third Row: J. A. F. Cundy, F. T. A. Williams, W. Wright Fry, E. S. Kelly, J. T. Ford, A. Howitt, E. D. Richards, V. W. W. Venimore, G. Parrell, W. B. Clark.
Fourth Row: E. Meek, A. S. Henderson, J. M. Robb, W. R. B. Bagge.
Fifth Row: H. W. Rowden, W. A. Mirams, F. W. Rowden, H. Jessup, W. R. Davidson,
In all our dealings with the public it is the human personal touch that will bring the desired result of better relations and more business.
I cannot close with a better illustration of the enthusiasm that is permeating all ranks than that of an enginedriver who threatened to remove his custom from the local groeer if the latter did not transfer his transport business from the motor lorry to the railway. He, evidently, believes with the Scots that “giff-gaff mak's guid friens!”
This would be a most unhappy world if it were not a working world.—Lord Balfour.
After a century of railway working all over the world, and despite the fact that we have almost said the last word in safety, both in protecting the millions who travel by train and the employees who work them, accidents still happen and sometimes with disastrous results. It is with a view to minimising them, so far as our own railways are concerned, that I would give a little sound advice to the younger members of the service, and I include all Departments, viz., Locomotive, Traffic and Maintenance.
From experience gained in the course of nearly twenty-five years in the Traffic Branch, I have come to the conclusion that it is the younger men of the service who really need advice on the question of safety.
There is an old saying “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” Take the locomotive Department first. If a knoek develops on an engine, the good old saying, “take no risk,” is at once apparent—you may come in contact with a bridge or other obstacle. Play safe, stop, and then look round for anything loose about the engine. The same remarks apply to the fireman. If he has to trim coal there is always the danger of striking an overhead bridge or telegraph wires crossing the line. Keep well down towards the front of the tender when engaged in this work. When an engine is slipping badly, and the sand pipes are blocked, great care requires to be exercised; if tapping pipes with hammer or other tools you are dangerously close to the motion, and a shattered arm is the result if you come into contact with same. Again I say, play safe, stop and adjust matters.
To my mind one of the most dangerous undertakings on our railways is performed by an employee who is called upon to run over any portion of the track with a velocipede or trolley. Here it is a question of being absolutely sure of your whereabouts and the time the train is due to pass, to say nothing of special trains. No chance must be taken here—it is all too perilous. Be certain your watch is correct time and that you have advice of specials running. Don't foolishly go ahead although you may be a little late, especially where curves or tunnels intervene. It is usually at curves where the long list of fatalities is added to. Again I say, “Don't risk it for the sake of a few minutes. It's not safe. Your life is worth more than a few minutes.”
A train speeding into the station at a fairly high rate of speed seems to have a fascination, and sometimes a fatal one, for the young and more athletic members of the staff, who, to save a walk of a few hundred yards, will deliberately risk their life by attempting to jump on the engine, wagons, or footboards of cars. They sometimes miss and—you know the result. This dangerous practice has unfortunately taken a heavy toll of members in the past. Think twice when you see a train running into the station and don't endanger your life in this way.
Sometimes work about the yard, such as cleaning points, etc., entails a member being engaged in close proximity to the rails. Always make it a practice to work at the side of the rails. You can do this work equally as well as by taking up a position in the centre of the track, and don't forget to keep a good lookout both in front and rear. Always keep in mind a rake of trucks or engine may come along.
When working in their repair siding or when circumstances arise where it is necessary to go under a car or wagon for any purpose, train examiners would be well advised to place (in addition to the discs put up to block the road) one or two detonators on the track a little distance from where their work is. Always remember, no shunter has an infallible memory. Protect yourself; it makes you doubly safe.
To all members I say never get into the bad habit of walking between buffers of wagons or cars at short distances apart. I think it is the worst fault any employee can have levelled against him. Far better to climb through wagons, if stationary, or walk around. You take a grave risk otherwise.
Never leave anything lying about between the paths where shunters have to run. There is a grave risk of serious accident to some member if you do. Gather up all tarpaulins and stanchions and put them clear.
To the younger members, providing they have had a little training and experience of shunting —and it is the practice now to bring them along gradually in the work—all I say is: keep cool and collected at all times. An excitable man in a shunting yard, be he stationmaster, foreman or shunter, is a menace to everyone working in conjunction with him. There is an old saying, “Shunters are born, not made.” This is true to a degree, but there is nothing to prevent the
Both by day and night give all your signals clearly and distinctly. Keep the driver well in view.
Take a good hold when riding on wagons and always be prepared for a sudden stop. The reason for this is obvious in a shunting yard.
If a hook jams against a buffer, watch your hands and on no account attempt to meddle with it or a shattered hand may result. Play safe, stop and right matters.
Always be careful when cutting off loaded “Ub” wagons, as there is a lot of play between buffers on this class of wagon and a crushed thigh might result if rounding a curve at the time of kicking off.
No doubt a lot more could be written about working on railways, but 1,000 words is the limit. The whole position summed up is: Keep cool and don't attempt anything rash whilst moving vehicles. Always be sure to pin brakes down on wagons left in a siding. Watch the older hands going about among vehicles, coupling up and cutting off. They take no risks, why should you?
Again to the younger members I would say, “Read the little book, ‘Shunting Risks,’ and heed them, together with the few remarks I have added about safety generally, and I feel sure you will go through your railway career safely.”
“Accidents will happen,” is an old adage that applies to the outside staff engaged in railway work perhaps more than to any other occupation. There is little doubt but that a large number of accidents occur when the victim is endeavouring to go a little faster than usual. The railway service contains as near the 100 per cent, of triers as any other service, and members will speed up when the work gets behind. Each driver will run to time if it is reasonably possible to do so. The same applies to the guard and every member connected with train running. But the member who is nearest the danger zone at all times is the one engaged in shunting. When orders come thick and fast, and trains are getting away late, the work worries him and risks are inevitable. Why should a man worry about his work when he knows in his own mind that he is doing his best? The old system of punishment is partly to blame. It has created a feeling of fear. Many men have been punished when it would have been better for the service and the men concerned, if they had been given encouragement to do better. Members of the service have taken risks in an endeavour to avoid delays with the resultant correspondence and perhaps punishment. The new merit system will go a long way to remedy this. The member who has a run of bad luck—and most men have a bad run at times—will have a chance to make good and wipe off his demerit marks.
To reduce accidents to a minimum it is necessary that all members should have a thorough knowledge of the rule book. Knowledge gives confidence, and the rules and regulations have been drafted by practical railwaymen after many years of experience. Many members hold the opinion that the regulations exist solely to victimise the staff, but on closer acquaintance it will be found that they have been drawn up for the protection and safety of the staff as well as in the interest of the Department.
Officers placed in charge of men engaged in dangerous work should be efficient, firm and humane. Discipline is necessary, but that does not mean that complaints and grievances should be treated with indifference or contempt. Many will be found to be frivolous or impracticable. Some are genuine. A member of the service had occasion some years ago to complain about the long hours of duty. In the course of the interview he told his superior officer that if some alterations were not made the men would drop. The officer, one of the old school, dismissed the subject by saying, “Well, drop!” Later on the officer retired and the conditions were soon improved and made safer for the men.
Concentration on the job in hand is necessary if it is to be accomplished smartly and without risk. A member engaged in shunting should be sure that the men on the engine understand what he intends to do before slipping or tail-roping wagons. Just calling out is not sufficient, because, if the injector or pump is working it is difficult for them to hear.
To lay down a hard and fast rule for the prevention of accidents is a difficult matter, owing to the fact that the circumstances leading up to accidents vary according to the nature of the
A shunter will lose his hold on a wagon or his foot will slip when in the act of lifting a hook. He will, no doubt, be an efficient shunter in every way, but owing to rush of work his mind is crowded and he fails to concentrate on the job in hand. Accidents of this nature are not due to carelessness or indifference.
On the other hand there is the surfaceman, who, without carefully reading the train advices for the day and consulting his watch, hauls his velocipede on to the line and sets off along the length. He carries his life in his hand. The writer has on more than one occasion noticed a surfaceman, with his back to an approaching train, pulling along the line oblivious of the fact that he was in danger.
On one occasion by slowly reducing speed a train got within fifty yards of a velocipede before the surfaceman heard the whistle which had been blowing for about three hundred yards. There was a touch of humour in the way he scrambled off the velocipede, pale and speechless, and tumbled it off the line, because—having been seen in time—he was never in danger of being run down. Members of the service using velocipedes should know the instructions laid down for their safety and, when riding alone, should look behind frequently. Time is valuable in railway work, but not more so than human life and limb. The necessity of trains making time is uppermost in the minds of all members. What is required is that time and safety shall be so closely associated that in thinking of one the other will always be present. Perhaps it would be a good idea to alter the wording of Rule 5 Rule 5 reads:—
The First And Most Important Duty Of Every Member Is To Provide For The Safety Of The Public.
This is also printed at the head of every page in the Rule Book.
—(Ed. “N.Z.R.M.”)
The better title for this subject would be “Safety First, Last, and all the Time.” Considerations of safety have results affecting more than the member concerned. Lack of proper precautions may result not only in temporary or total incapacitation to the person concerned, but following in its train are: possible injury to fellow employees, loss of working values to the Department, and financial loss and anxiety to the relatives of the delinquent.
How necessary it is for care to be exercised in seeing that all is clear before moving wagons, the long list of employees crushed between vehicles bears ample testimony. Especially is this so at night. The clearness with which signals are given contributes, in no small degree, to the safety of shunters, and their assistants. Handhold before foothold should be the maxim of all whose duties need them to board moving vehicles.
After an engine has been standing for some time, or is in running shed under repair, before moving the reverse lever, make a point of seeing that no one is likely to get caught in the motion. Missing fingers point (?) to the wisdom of this.
When shunting about goods sheds and restricted situations, don't put your head out at the side unless certain you are clear of all obstructions.
Failure to place danger signals when working under vehicles is a frequent cause of accident. In the case of locomotives, give the “Don't Move” board a prominent place.
Walking in the centre of the track courts disaster. “Keep off the grass” is not applicable to the well kept roadbeds of the New Zealand Railways, but “Keep to the side” is good safe advice. On the velocipede take nothing for granted. Never let up on eternal vigilance. Make it a habit. Shovels left with the blade edge uppermost will trap the unwary. If unable to stand them upright, lay them down with blade or points (in case of forks) facing downwards.
Wheelbarrows and other impedimenta should never be left in passageways. If you have barked your shins against the handles at any time, you will understand why. In carrying a bar of material, elevate the front end as high
How usual to see an employee go to an emery wheel, and jerk the belt on to the tight pulley with one movement! Perhaps the belt breaks, perhaps it does not. The risk is there all the same, and the need for “safety first.” It is a bad example to younger men. Because emery wheels are better made than formerly, is no reason to neglect a safety first habit, and grind on the side. Too large a gap between wheel and rest has often meant another kind of rest to the careless workman. Never clear the cuttings away from a moving tool, or job, with the finger. It is often painful. The homely grindstone has potentialities for harm if the tool to be ground is incorrectly used. There is a safe side for grinding. Do not poke the chisel at an upward angle, with the stone revolving towards the point; grinding from the back is safer.
When turning, machining, or chipping, guard against flying particles. Someone's eye or ear will run less risk of injury. Handhold before foothold is equally applicable when moving amongst belting or shafting. If both hands are needed to manipulate a belt, first secure your balance. Loose, or ragged clothing is a menace to “safety,” when amongst machinery. A stitch in time will save months in the hospital; perhaps a coffin. Using a file without a handle to smooth a revolving piece of work, may skewer the hand with the sharp unprotected fang. Always use a handle. “Stand from under” when a lift is in progress, tends to safety. A falling weight moves fast, and slings are uncertain contrivances. If you wish to know whether two holes are in line, use a podger, not your finger. The former is the more easily replaced. Avoid setscrews which stand out from
Locomotive Development In New Zealand
Fifty Years Of Progress
Modern “A” Class Locomotive. Old “A” Class Locomotive (1873)
Stop for a moment and think what you would do if your mate met with certain injuries, a broken leg, or a severed artery. First aid promptly rendered may be the difference between the doctor and the undertaker. First aid is first cousin to safety first.
Should you be working with molten lead, be sure there is no moisture in the cavity to be filled.
Goggles may not look pretty, but they save pretty eyes; whether from grit, or when working contiguous to a brilliant light, as at a moulder's cupola, or when performing acetone and electric welding. Remember, there are rays of light invisible to ordinary vision, but which are dangerous to eyesight. Suitable goggles protect against injury from this source.
A serious accident caused by neglect of “safety first” principles, reacts on the nerves of one's fellow workmates, and may contribute to further mishaps.
Let this thought be latent in your mind: “Are my actions, or operations, safe, either for myself, or others?”
Finally, exercise all care at all times, in all operations you may be engaged in. Let up for not one single moment. Enlarge the slogan of “Safety First” to “Safety First, Last, and all the Time.”
Health, strength, skill, “quick to act,” good eyesight and good hearing are the principal elements of the physical man on his positive side, while disease, weakness, clumsiness, awkwardness, laziness and poor eyesight constitute his major negative characteristics.
A circular letter sent out by the Right Hon. the Minister of Railways to public bodies, business houses, traders and others interested in transportation, suggesting the establishment of District Advisory Boards, has met with an excellent reception. Already public bodies are moving in the matter of setting up committees to study and report on the question, and there is a general feeling that much good can be accomplished for the whole community by the interchange of information and advice which the establishment of such boards will make possible.
The following is the text of the letter, which is accompanied by an outline of the proposed constitution and rules:—
Dear Sir,—
As outlined in the Annual Railway Statement, the Government has decided to encourage the establishment of District Advisory Boards on Railway matters, in order to form a common meeting-ground between the users of the Railway and the Railway Department for the better understanding of Railway problems, and to engender a spirit of co-operation and mutual assistance.
The undermentioned are suggested as some of the conditions of establishment:—
The Advisory Boards to deal with transportation problems, and all matters of mutual concern to the user and to the Railway Department.
Business Agents and other selected Railway officers to be in attendance at meetings to impart information or collect material for reports to management, the conclusions reached by the Boards to be placed before the Department through the Divisional Superintendent and Commercial Manager of Railways.
The associations to be voluntary. The organisation to be dependent upon public opinion supporting its activities.
Complaints and suggestions to receive immediate attention, and to be adjusted to the satisfaction of the public, or substantial reasons given as to why such course is not possible.
The Department to give freely information of public interest on Railway matters, to acknowledge frankly any disabilities, and to advise what is being done to adjust them.
It is suggested that two District Advisory Boards be established in each Island, to embrace the territories indicated:—
Auckland: All territory from Ohakune northwards, including Gisborne.
Wellington: All territory from Ohakune southwards, and including Nelson and Picton districts.
Christchurch: All territory from Glenavy and north thereof, including West Coast.
Dunedin: All territory from south of Glenavy.
The Boards should consist of representatives of the various interests and public bodies, and representatives from Committees set up at other towns within the jurisdiction of the Board.
Probably a satisfactory arrangement would be for the secretarial duties of the Advisory Board to be in the hands of the Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce at Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin respectively.
It was also suggested that Committees be appointed at other important centres to work in conjunction with the District Advisory Boards on matters of common interest. On questions of purely local interest these Committees should function in a similar manner to the Boards. They should be set up in a similar manner to the District Advisory Boards, and appoint representatives thereto. The Boards would decide as to the localities where such Committees are to be established.
Advice of the date and place of all Board and Committee meetings, with a copy of the agenda paper, should be sent to the Divisional Superintendent of Railways, Auckland or Christchurch, and the Commercial Manager, Railways, Wellington, in order that arrangements may be made for the Department to be represented. The Railway Department's representative would, whenever possible, deal finally with matters introduced at the meetings; but if this cannot be done he would arrange for the representations to be conveyed to the proper quarter.
It is expected that Boards will communicate with each other upon matters of common interest.
It is suggested that a meeting of interested persons be called in each locality by the Chamber of Commerce or like body, with a view to the establishment of the scheme. I
It is considered that more detailed matters such as mentioned below might be brought before the Boards when the latter have commenced to function:—
Estimating and forecasting the probable demand for wagons for seasonal or fluctuating traffic.
Regulating despatch of consignments to stores and ships in order to avoid congestion and the holding up of wagons that should be available for traders.
Speeding up loading and unloading and obtaining maximum loading of wagons.
Clearance of inward goods from Railway sheds.
Arranging preference to specially urgent traffic.
Despatch of goods to Railway sheds during the day to avoid congestion at close of day.
Organising and regulating despatch of live-stock, farm-produce, and farmers' requisites.
Co-ordinating the Department's efforts with the requirements of the user, and so eliminating misunderstandings.
Generally, to assist transportation by cooperative organisation tending towards the general welfare of both the Department and its clients.
Let me emphasise, in conclusion, that we aim at not only a passive acquiescence on the part of the public in our doings, but their active co-operation and assistance to make our services better and better; and I am satisfied that it is only by taking our customers fully into our confidence and placing all the cards upon the table that we can hope to arouse in them the fullest measure of active co-operation. It cannot be gainsaid that the Railways are the greatest economic factor in the welfare of the Dominion, and that the prosperity of the Railways and of the community is interdependent. I am hopeful that the scheme set out herein will be taken up with enthusiasm, and that the organisation will produce a spirit of toleration and confidence tending towards harmonious working and the common welfare.
Yours faithfully,
Coates
Minister of Railways.
I have always had a deeply rooted affection for railway trains, dating from the days when, as a very small child in the south of England, I used to watch the gaily painted carriages—the red, green and yellow, indicating the different classes—flash past glinting in the sunlight. And the engines refulgent in their brass bands and burnished steel were in my eyes things of beauty as completely beggaring description as the water snakes seen by the Ancient Mariner. When, still as a child, I came to this country I really believe that what I most missed was the trains, for much as I loved horses, the coach and five we used to journey to town in seemed a poor substitute for the glorious string of Aladdin's Palaces that had carried us in the Old Land.
So it was not so greatly to be wondered at when the first railway was opened in the north, I, a child of eight or nine, walked in company with sundry other children eight miles each way to see a train again—with the others it was to see their first. But I shall never forget the disillusion of the memories of my youth when a sober looking row of carriages drew into the station. Where was all their glory gone? To be sure the engine made up for it a little. She was dark green, with a big brass dome and her name was painted in large white letters “Lady of the Lake.” I never forgot that name, for when I told my father in the evening he got down a book I soon learned to know and love, and read me the stirring description of the combat between James Fitz James and Rhoderic Dhu.
But to get on with my story. What I wish to tell about is the winning of the first railway sleepers in New Zealand—or perhaps I had better say the first puriri sleepers, for I am not quite sure which year of the sixties saw the Christchurch-Lyttelton line constructed. But this I do know that the Waikato War had scarcely come to a close in 1864 than the authorities began to busy themselves with a project to connect the Waitemata and the Manukau by a railway line from Auckland to Onehunga. It came to pass that puriri sleepers, for which Franklin was soon to become famous, and to the sale of which many of the early pioneers owed their first real start in life, were for the first time hewn.
Behind our land there stretched for miles a solid mass of bush in which puriri was the principal timber. Just outside our boundary fence on the north lay a large block of brown land and through this in a half circle ran a narrow cart road leading to one of the long southern arms of the Manukau Harbour. My father and I explored this track at an early stage of our residence, and often visited it afterwards, for it made a beautiful walk, the scars of the timber-getting of ten years before having been healed over by the gracious after-growth. For two or three chains on either side of the track were the stumps and heads of great puriri trees, and here and there a few sleepers, probably rejects, were lying. They were 9 feet long—the railway was to have had a 5 ft. 6 in. gauge—about ten inches wide and five thick, dressed roughly on the two flat sides, but untouched on the edges. Only the finest and straightest of the trees had been used, and so clear in the grain were they that the sleepers had in many cases split out as true almost as if they had been sawn. So durable are they that I know where two of them are still, after seventy-one years, doing duty as straining posts.
Bit by bit, as I grew older, I heard the story. A contract for the supply of many thousands of sleepers had been let to a well known settler in the district, one who became a friend of my own in his later years. This man had calmly gone on to brown land and annexed what timber he wanted—bush-robbing was a very venial piccadillo in those days. He had a gang of men splitting the sleepers and carted them himself with a long string of bullocks to the salt water, where they were loaded on dumpy little cutters that used to ply upon the Manukau in those days, and taken to Onehunga. This was in 1865 and 1866.
About 1888 the land was sold, and shortly after, walking along the road now grown almost indiscernable from the way the forest growth had invaded it, I came across a whare built of nikau fronds, the home of three or four men engaged in turning the rest of the timber into sleepers—the orthodox modern size this time seven feet long and eight inches by five. It came on to rain at the time and I was invited in to wait till it was over. They made me some very good tea in a billy and some toast which was slightly flavoured by the smoke of the green tawa wood over which it was browned. One of them, an elderly man, had been one of the original sleeper-splitters twenty-four years before. The Maoris in the Waikato had never settled down, and the settlers at any time expected an attack, consequently each man carried a loaded rifle to his work, and at night four dogs were tied up at the four cardinal points of the compass a hundred yards from the camp to give notice of any one's approach. Twice during the progress of the job they had been called to arms—they were all members of the local volunteer corps—but each time it was a false alarm. And, what gave them more concern than living enemies, they imagined the bush to be haunted by the spirit of a young man who had been shot nearby by the natives two years before, for they heard his blood-curdling cries high up above their heads at night. I have heard this eerie and mysterious sound from the upper regions of the air myself now and then, and though I may be wrong, have always set it down to some sea bird tempted inland in the hours of darkness. It always has a most uncanny sound, and I am not surprised that it caused alarm to these lonely dwellers in the forest.
P. Cleary, Photo
View of Otira (South Island, New Zealand) under snow
Except for a few ragged clumps the forest is now gone and well tilled dairy farms have taken its place. Here and there one may still see the stumps of the original puriri trees, too big and solid to make the labour of their removal worth while, and showing wonderfully little decay from the wear and tear of seventy years.
Planning ahead is an essential function of management. It will be interesting, therefore, to explain the plan of production of the new Otahuhu car and wagon shops. These are specially designed to expedite repairs of carriages and wagons, and the building of all new carriages and wagons required for the North Island.
A glance at the plan reveals the workshops grouped on each side of what is called the “midway.” This midway is the central avenue of distribution of materials received either by wagons or lorries. An electric overhead gantry crane traverses the entire length of the midway thus facilitating loading and unloading operations. One end of each building abuts on the midway, and the other end of each building may be extended in length as required without cramping or disturbing the system of doing the work.
The buildings comprise three groups. The car shops, the wagon shops, and the supply group, constituting the stores, machine shop, blacksmith shop, mill and structural steel shop. These shops manufacture parts for the car shops and the wagon shops, and are located on the midway, as close as possible to the point of the greatest material requirements.
The car shops are in what is known as a transverse building. The two main departments are placed one on each side of a power traverser and pit and only one car goes on each pit or track in these shops. By this arrangement any one car can be put in, or taken out, without disturbing any other car. The plan of operation is as follows:—
A car due for repairs arrives at Otahuhu; after inspection to determine what repairs are necessary the car is placed on the classified track. When space is available for it in the shop, the car is shunted between the lifting jacks adjacent to transfer, table, and raised off its bogies. The bogies are run out and across traverser directly into bogie repair shop. When repairs are finished they are placed on the short tracks between the pits outside the shop until required.
The car on the jacks is lowered on to shop bogie trucks, pulled on to the traverser, and carried to the pit or track to be repaired and painted. If the car requires washing down it will be put into the “wash section” first and afterwards placed on shop pit. Once on the pit or track inside the shop, the car is jacked up, and then lowered on to four special trestles, the temporary bogies having been removed.
When the car is stripped all parts are distributed by electric trucks to the different departmental shops for individual attention.
The carpenters first do their work on the body of the car, then the painters, as under the present schedule plans. Painting completed, the process of assembling is started and the bogies are again placed in position. Final trimming and cleaning is done on the track inside the shop.
All subsidiary departments are housed separately from the main car shops, so that dirt, dust, etc., are kept away from the cars under painting operations.
A certain number of tracks in one shop are definitely assigned to new work, so that materials for erecting passenger cars can be conveniently stored. Steel structural work will be fabricated in the structural shop and underframes will be brought into position in the shop on their own bogies via tracks and traverser.
Wagons are not handled individually like cars but in rakes the complete length of the shop.
Wagons in the yard are sorted into “lights,” “mediums,” and “heavies,” making up a track length string of each class, on the basis that the whole track is to be cleared and reloaded with repairs that will all take the same number of days. One track for three day's job, one for four, and so on. On completion of repairs the whole track is cleared and a new string pushed in, leaving the string of wagons “just out” in the paint shed, for the final coat of paint and stencilling. After this they go to the “pass out” road. It will be noted that the shop is fed by pushing wagons in at one end and emptied by taking them out at the other.
On each side of the wagon shop are material storage facilities, as any method of expediting wagon repairs is bound up with having a proper supply of spare parts always at hand.
Electric capstans are provided so that, in the absence of the shunter, shops may draw tracks should occasion require it.
New wagon frames and all structural steel, will be delivered out of the midway end of the structural shop and lifted by midway crane and placed on track ready to enter construction shop, as they are delivered complete out at the other end. This method allows bogies and frames to be fabricated and stored ahead of erection.
The suggestions listed below are those which were dealt with by the Suggestions and Inventions Committee during October. The suggestions cover almost all phases of railway operations, and it is specially interesting to note the number dealing with the same subject—in one case as many as 40—which were submitted by members of the Staff and public.
(Note.—The figures in brackets indicate the number of suggestions dealing with the same subject which were submitted to the Committee.)
Suggestions in connection with:—The Department manufacturing its own ink. The use of a long iron or hardwood arm to facilitate handling of sheep and timber wagons. Electrical equipment at Otira power house. Spaces on back of L6, L14 and L14a tickets being used for advertising purposes (2). The Department advertising the railways on the back of passenger tickets (2). Curtailment of number of copies taken of outward correspondence. Display of a diagram of the “Spiral” in Main Trunk cars. Economising by using roller blinds on record cabinets instead of roller shutters. Drawbar roller bearer. Alteration to Accounts Instruction 101a, Clause 7. Lengthening the life of railway sleepers (4). Methods of increasing goods traffic. Alteration to train service between Green Island and Dunedin to combat motor competition by City Corporation. Collecting newspapers from carriages and using them for wrapping nails, bolts, etc., when forwarded from Stores. Self-adjusting folding table in passenger cars (2). Alteration in construction of side and tail lamps (9). The Coburn type of crane being used in fitting shops and foundries. Advertising on railway tarpaulins (2). Circuitous route to level crossings by means of a “duck-egg” shaped obstruction in road approach (11). “Q” wagons being fitted with Westinghouse brake and used for coal traffic. Lamp for crossing-keepers (2). Alteration to timber consignment notes. Spring clip being substituted for the present strap and buckle on tablet exchanger slings (3). Unentered Goods and Parcels traffic (2). G39 undercharges on Goods. Improved air vent pipe casting for “Wg” and “Ww” class locomotives. Method of lining up small end cotters. Number indications on Frankton Junction platform, and notices exhibited showing section of platform from which each train leaves. Method of bending blower pipes for locomotives. Expansion brackets for “Wf,” “Wg” and “Ww” engines. Alteration to workshops machinery. Cleaning of railway carriages (2). Use of dual purpose road-rail vehicles for combating motor competition. Device for holding up hand brake levers on wagons (10). Support for hoses of water tanks when engine taking in water (2). Departmental motor lorry being used for the purpose of removing furniture of members on transfer. Level crossing warning devices—automatic bells, lights and danger signs (40). Use of condemned rails in place of angle iron on ends of wagons. Turn tables being made from discarded tyres of rolling stock. Provisions of Regulation 140 being carried out in their entirety. Method of cleaning locomotives. Ambulance being provided for emergency use. Special type of headlight (2). Automatic gates, booms and barriers for level crossings (22). Alterations to bearing spring lines and carrying roller bar. Standardising supply of stores to stations (2). Oil groove for little end brasses of locomotives. Uncleaned runners being packed in suitable air-tight containers when forwarded by rail. Plate glass square in dog boxes of guard's vans (2). Station number being shown opposite station name in future issue of Distance Tables (2). Small circular speaking hole in glass of ticket windows. Summer coats being issued every two years instead of annually as at present. Coal lifting tackle. Old rails being laid at level crossings to eliminate excessive bumping to road vehicles when passing over such crossings (2). The Railways Magazine. Mandrel and double tool holder for turning locomotive axle-box crown brasses. Economising in sand at the locomotive depots in the North Island. Stations that are equipped with Woods patent lock being supplied with one key only to fit north and south main line points and semaphores. Re-arrangement of machine workshop. Method of strengthening buffers. Alteration to standard bridle. Correspondence boxes at flag stations being made round with a glass pane in front. Improved friction plate for “La” wagons. Warning device for slips and landslides (14). Method of cancelling freight stamps (8). Official credit note. Transfer forms. Combined Attendance and W.G.S.-1 special books for Division 2, Traffic Branch. Improvement to brake blocks. Guard's van equipment (4). The number of instruction books
During the winter months Christchurch members took advantage of the facilities provided by the Worker's Educational Association for our intellectual development.
Mr. A. H. Tocker, M.A., of Canterbury College, acted as tutor and leader of the class. Through his wide range of knowledge and ready wit, the lecturer held our attention as he led up step by step through the various stages of social and industrial development; each lecture being profusely illustrated from historical and contemporary facts. Of the series of twenty-four lectures the first fourteen were devoted to the “Economic Development of New Zealand,” and the remaining ten to “The Economics of Transportation.”
The last ten lectures were of vital interest to railwaymen, e.g., (a) four lectures were devoted to the “Fay-Raven” Commission's Report, under the heading “Management,” “Shops Organisation,” “Bate fixing,” “Statistics”; (b) The 1926 D-2 “Railway Statement” was analysed during four lectures (1) the Reports of the Minister and Railway Board; (2) the Railway Accounts, (3) Road Competition, (4) Policy.
The final lecture, Wednesday, September 29th, was devoted to a resume of the session's work, and those present will long remember the masterly summing up of the History of Transportation and of its effect on social welfare to which we were treated.
When the discussion concluded several members expressed their appreciation of the benefits received through attending the class. Mr. T. Lawless (District Engineer's Office) voiced the wishes of all the members when he said that “Mr. Tocker must consider himself detailed for the next year's session.” On behalf of the class Mr. Lawless presented the lecturer with a fountain pen as a token of their appreciation. When returning thanks Mr. Tocker explained the history and functions of the W.E.A., making an eloquent appeal to members to use their influence in any organisation of which they are members on behalf of the organisation which made the class possible.
We have to thank (1) the W.E.A. for the loan of a fine selection of books; (2) the Department for providing us with a meeting room and book cupboard; (3) the Railway Board for supplying copies of the Fay-Raven report; (4) those administrative officers who, by attending and taking part in the discussions, assisted us to appreciate some aspects of problems which might otherwise have been overlooked.
Arrangements have been made for Administrative officers to take the lead in a series of discussions, of which more anon.
At the annual general meeting of the New Zealand Society of Accountants held in Christ-church recently, Mr. Reginald Davis, President, said:—
The momentous economic questions of to-day call for expert knowledge. Take as an example the Shipping question. Does it not seem economically unsound, that produce ships, should travel round our coasts picking up cargoes and wasting time and money, when in most instances the produce could be railed to one of the four centres for shipment, and dispatched in quick time. This fact would put our Railways on a better footing and get so many more trips in per annum by the steamers, to use an expression that we are all so familiar with, “Reduce Overhead Expenses.” It is merely a question of costing in the interest of those concerned and the saving of wastage. We of course are not a political body, but as individuals and citizens of this Dominion should we not get into these arguments. We are doing it every day for our clients, why not for the nation. Representing a country district and being in close touch with many primary producers, country practitioners find these questions, in consultations with their clients, come before them continuously.
It is the man who can stick to the disagreeable job, do it with energy and strength, the man who can force himself to do good work when he does not feel like doing it—in other words, the man who is master of himself, who has a great purpose, and who holds himself to his aim, whether it is agreeable or disagreeable, whether he feels like it or does not feel like it—that wins.
The Dominion's classic livestock Show, the Royal Show of 1926, is now a thing of the past. For three days, 16th to 18th November inclusive, there was gathered at Auckland such a collection of the Dominion's stock as had never been assembled before. In honour of the occasion, the week ending 20th November was declared in Auckland to be “Carnival Week” and a special feature was made in the shops of New Zealand made goods. Owing to the geographical situation of Auckland, some apprehension had existed as to the advisability of holding the Royal Show in Auckland, but distance proved no deterrent to the farmer who could exhibit an animal of Royal championship class, and exhibitors from the South Island successfully competed with Northern breeders. It was authoritatively stated by Mr. Perry, President of the Royal Agricultural Society of New Zealand, that the dairy cattle exhibit was the finest yet seen in New Zealand and probably the finest ever seen in the Southern Hemisphere.
With regard to dairy stock, the total number of entries was 476, comprising 166 Jerseys, 157 Freisians, 81 Shorthorns, and 72 Ayrshires. The animals were judged on type and the butterfat record of any particular animal was not taken into account, thus a Jersey cow, which holds the Dominion record of 1,056 1/2 lbs. of butter-fat for 365 days, was not placed.
Waikato breeders are to be congratulated on their success in dairy stock.
The sheep section caused the judges a strenuous time, some of the classes being exceptionally fine. The name of the Canterbury Agricultural College figures very prominently in the list of prize winners.
The winners in the “pig” section were mostly far ahead of others in their class.
A feature of the Show was the section devoted to dogs; the exhibit proved a tremendous attraction, notably the Alsatian Wolfhounds.
The judging of the “penned” animals was practically completed on Tuesday, but ring events and competitions were reserved as attractions. People's Day, Wednesday, was declared a half holiday and the attendance at the Show was over 30,000, the gate receipts being £1,989 14s. This demonstrated that at least one advantage obtains in holding a classic event in the greatest centre of population. Vast crowds from the city were catered for by the Tramways, whilst trains conveying rural visitors were packed. Shortly after lunch, His Excellency the Governor-General decorated with Royal championship ribbons the stock which had received the judge's approval, after which the grand parade was held. This was truly a magnificent spectacle.
Then followed the jumping events, physical drill, and games by girls from the Auckland Inter-house Girls' Sports Association, an exhibition by Cadets from H.M.S. Philomel, trotting exhibition and other equestrian events.
The special features of the third day's show were the finish of the Hamilton-Auckland cycle road race and the sales of cattle and sheep.
For some days prior to the Show Remuera station was the scene of unusual animation. Practically all the exhibits were handled there. The reception of the exhibits, however, was nothing compared with the dispatch of the returned exhibits. This presented a difficult task largely owing to the fact that the destination of a great number of animals was unknown till after the sale at the Show Grounds. Thus preliminary arrangements were of little avail. The trucking of the animals started about 2 p.m. on Thursday, and at 4.30 p.m. the first special train with returned exhibits was despatched, taking stock as far north as Kaukapakapa.
A special train with stock for the Waiuku Branch left at 6.20, and a third with stock for intermediate stations to Papakura left at 7 p.m.
The Waikato stock was returned by a special train leaving Remuera at 9.30 p.m., 59 truck loads being forwarded, whilst, at 5 a.m. on Friday, a special train conveying 53 wagons of stock for Wanganui, Wairarapa, and Wellington was despatched.
The whole of the train arrangements worked smoothly and elicited the encomiums of the Press, Show authorities, and the Exhibitors.
Meanwhile the fog and darkness thickened so, that people ran about with flaring links, proffering their services to go before horses in carriages and conduct them on their way. The ancient tower of a church, whose gruff old bell was always peeping slyly down at Scrooge out of a Gothic window in the wall, became invisible, and struck the hours and quarters in the clouds, with tremulous vibrations afterwards, as if its teeth were chattering in its frozen head up there. The cold became intense. In the main street, at the corner of the court, some labourers were repairing the gas-pipes, and had lighted a great fire in a brazier, round which a party of ragged men and boys were gathered, warming their hands, and winking their eyes before the blaze in rapture. The water-plug being left in solitude, its overflowings sullenly congealed, and turned to misanthropic ice. The brightness of the shops where holly sprigs and berries crackled in the lamp-heat of the windows, made pale faces ruddy as they passed. Poulterers' and grocers' trades became a splendid joke—a glorious pageant, with which it was next to impossible to believe that such dull principles as bargain and sale has anything to do. The Lord Mayor, in the stronghold of the mighty Mansion House, gave orders to his fifty cooks and butlers to keep Christmas as a Lord Mayor's household should; and even the little-tailor, whom he had fined five shillings on the previous Monday for being drunk and blood-thirsty in the streets, stirred up to-morrow's pudding in his garret, while his lean wife and baby sallied out to buy the beef.
Clear away! There was nothing they wouldn't have cleared away, or couldn't have cleared away, with old Fezziwig looking on. It was done in a minute. Every moveable was packed off, as if it were dismissed from public life for evermore; the floor was swept and watered, the lamps were trimmed, fuel was heaped upon the fire, and the warehouse was as snug, and warm, and dry, and bright a ball-room as you would desire to see upon a winter's night.
In came a fiddler with a music-book, and went up to the lofty desk and made an orchestra of it, and tuned like fifty stomach-aches. In came Mrs. Fezziwig, one vast substantial smile. In came the three Miss Fezziwigs, beaming and lovable. In came the six young followers whose hearts they broke. In came all the young men and women employed in the business. In came the housemaid with her cousin, the baker. In came the cook, with her brother's particular friend, the milkman. In came the boy from over the way, who was suspected of not having board enough from his master; trying to hide himself behind the girl from next door but one, who was proved to have had her ears pulled by her mistress. In they all came, one after another; some shyly, some boldly, some gracefully some awkwardly, some pushing, some pulling; in they all came, anyhow and everyhow. Away they all went, twenty couple at once, hands half round, and back again the other way; down the middle, and up again; round and round in various stages of affectionate grouping; old top couple always turning up in the wrong place; new top couple starting off again, as soon as they got there; all top couples at last, and not a bottom one to help them. When this result was brought about, old Fezziwig, clapping his hands to stop the dance, cried out, “Well done!” and the fiddler plunged his hot face into a pot of porter, especially provided for that purpose. But scorning rest upon his reappearance, he instantly began again, though there were no dancers yet, as if the other fiddler had been carried home, exhausted, on a shutter, and he was a bran-new man resolved to beat him out of sight, or perish.
There were more dances, and there were forfeits, and more dances; and there was cake, and there was negus, and there was a great piece of cold roast, and there was a great piece of cold boiled, and there were mince pies, and plenty of beer.
The father came home attended by a man laden with Christmas toys and presents. Then the shouting and the struggling and the onslaught that was made on the defenceless porter. Then scaling him, with chairs for ladders, to dive into his pockets, despoil him of brown-paper parcels, hold on tight by his cravat, hug him round the neck, pommel his back, and kick his legs in irrespressible affection! The shouts of wonder and delight with which the development of every package was received! The terrible announcement that the baby had been taken in the act of putting a doll's frying-pan into his mouth, and was more than suspected of having swallowed a fictitious turkey glued on a wooden platter! The immense relief of finding this a false alarm! The joy, and gratitude, and ecstasy! They are all indescribably alike. It is enough that by degrees the children and their
The poulterers' shops were still half open, and the fruiterers' were radiant in their glory. There were great, round, pot-bellied baskets of chestnuts, shaped like the waistcoats of jolly old gentlemen, lolling at the doors, and tumbling out into the street in their apoplectic opulence. There were ruddy, brown-faced, broad-girthed Spanish onions, shining in the fatness of their growth like Spanish Friars, and winking from their shelves in w