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Auckland Railway Station, North Island, New Zealand.
The New Zealand Railways Magazine is on sale through the principal booksellers, or may be obtained post-free for 6/- per annum.
Employees of the Railway Department are invited to forward news items or articles bearing on railway affairs. The aim of contributors should be to supply interesting topical material tending generally towards the betterment of the service.
In all cases where the Administration makes announcements through the medium of this journal the fact will be clearly indicated.
The Department does not identify itself with any opinions which may be expressed in other portions of the publication, whether appearing over the author's name or under a nom de plume.
Contributions are accepted for Publication only upon the express condition that the contributor will indemnify the Publishers of the Magazine against all claims made by reason of anything in the contribution constituting an infringement of copyright or being defamatory.
Short stories, Poetry, pen-and ink sketches, etc., are invited from the general Public upon New Zealand subjects.
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All communications should be addressed to The Editor, New Zealand Railway Magazine, Wellington.
I hereby certify that Publisher's lists and other records disclose that the cerculation of the “New Zealand Railway Magazine” has not been less than 26,000 copies each issue since May, 1939.
Controller and Auditor-General.
10/7/39.
“The wind, a sightless labourer, whistles at his task.”
—Wordsworth.
In The Hurunui Valley, North Canterbury, South Island, New Zealand.
(Photo.: Neville R. Lewers)
Work hard and play plenty is a sound principle for the conduct of life. In practice, of course, points of difference arise regarding the kind and intensity of the work to be done and its proportion to the time of leisure and play.
Human progress is being greatly helped in modern times by machinery which tends to reduce the hours of work with an almost automatic increase in the hours of play.
He is fortunate who can start out in life with the kind of work for which he has some personal aptitude, although—such is the adaptability of the human animal —with good health, a generous spirit, application and determination, almost anyone can succeed in any kind of employment.
Part of the pleasure of work is in seeing the result, and part of the pleasure of play is the change it affords from work—and that applies to the hours of the day, the days of the week, high day, holidays and Sundays—to the years of youth before work becomes an obligation, and to the years of age, when the time of toil is past and an Indian summer of relaxation has been gained.
There was an old song which held popular favour for many years, and its refrain, “Knocking round the city, watching other people work—that will never upset me,” still finds a response in the hearts of most people —as can be attested by the crowds who gather to see any expert in any line of business do his work in a public place. And a good man usually has no objection to being watched at his job, because he takes pride in it and in his own proficiency.
To see a capable shunting gang at work cutting up or making up a train, is as good an example of skill and understanding—teamwork at its best—as any man could wish. Other interesting railway operations to watch are the quickness and fidelity of craftsmanship shown by a workshops machinist; the judgment of an enginedriver; the reliability of a guard's sheet: the sureness of a signalman: the cohesion of a loading, line or bridge gang; all these and a thousand other arts and crafts in the railways and in the world outside are seen and enjoyed by those who like to view the work of man's hands. It is when the interrelation of all these activities is considered that one realises the truth of the lines:—
Production and manufacture in our times are getting along famously and we might relapse into a condition of contentment with our lot—play more and take our ease more freely—were it not for salesmanship—that spur to human desires which makes life an ascending stairway of wants satisfied and new desires created.
So it is the part of wisdom to find a proper balance between enough and too much of either work or play for the fullest enjoyment of life.
To some a change of work is play, and others are like Kipling's “Tramp Royal” who, although he could “turn his hand to most, and turn it good,” said:
Every railwayman is naturally interested in the general effect on railway operations of any addition to existing lines; and because of the difficulties of all kinds which have beset its construction, and the favourable auspices which marked the official opening of the Napier-Wairoa-Waikokopu section of the Napier-Gisborne railway on the 1st July, we have a special interest in the extrusion northward from Napier.
By a fortunate combination of circumstances, the prospects for passenger and goods traffic were favourably and simultaneously affected by the inauguration of two major alterations in established railway practice.
The first was the provision of a complete and separate passenger rail-car service working shuttlewise between Napier and Wairoa on weekdays, with an extension from Wairoa to Wellington and back at weekends. One important result of this change is that, besides the substantial reduction in passenger transport costs consequent upon the opening of the line, travelling time is also considerably reduced.
The operation of rail-cars on this route thus means much both to the Public and to the Department as they provide a faster, cleaner and more comfortable service than the ordinary steam train, as well as effecting substantial economies in catering for the requirements of the travelling public with a more frequent service. The operation of the rail-cars also relieves the Department of the necessity to work “mixed” trains on this section of the line, which in turn means that the operation of the goods train services can be carried out more economically and efficiently and with greater convenience to the Public and the Department because of the greater freedom of action afforded by reason of the fact that the schedules of goods trains can be arranged without regard to the requirements of the passenger traffic.
This service by rail-car units commenced exactly twelve months after the introduction of a complete passenger service by electric multiple-units on the Wellington-Johnsonville suburban route; and judging by the great work done for travellers by the multiple-units on that line, and their popularity with the public after a year's experience of the outstanding comfort and convenience they afford, and also after some months' experience of the successful operation of a Standard rail-car service on the Wellington-New Plymouth run, I can confidently predict an equally favourable reaction to the complete passenger service by Standard rail-cars on the Wairoa route. In fact, the service is already being heavily patronised and its success is assured.
The second noteworthy improvement was the introduction of the Department's simplified tariff on the data of the opening of the Wairoa railway. This simplified tariff also applies to the whole of the Dominion's railways from the 1st July, and thus gives residents along the route of the new railway the benefit of the reduced scale of charges for general merchandise.
Earthquake and flood interfered seriously with the construction of this line, and I would like here to pay tribute to the excellent work of the engineers and workmen by whose efforts the obstacles so created were overcome and the line prepared for inclusion as a useful part of the main railway system. I also desire to express my personal appreciation and the appreciation of my executive officers for the assistance and ready co-operation at all times forthcoming from the Engineers and Staff of the Public Works Department, who are to be congratulated upon the consummation of their efforts in forging another link in the chain of the East Coast railway system.
General Manager.
Opening Of Wairoa Railway
(Rly. Publicity photos.)
Above: The rail-car, driven by the Hon. D. G. Sullivan, Minister of Railways, cuts the ribbon. Below: Portion of the crowd at the opening ceremony.
Wairoa went truly gay on Saturday, 1st July, when town and country gathered at the beflagged and decorated Wairoa station for the opening ceremony of the 97-mile Napier—Wairoa—Waikokopu portion of the Napier—Gisborne railway.
The waiting assemblage had much to interest them. Three trains arrived in rapid succession with a total of 1,500 passengers, from Hastings, Napier and way-stations.
And then, at precisely 2.30 p.m.—the hour fixed for the official ceremony to start—the Standard rail-car, driven by the Hon. D. G. Sullivan, Minister of Railways, arrived amidst cheers; and the Ministerial party, met by the Mayor of Wairoa, Mr. H. Harker, and representative people of the district, was escorted, with musical honours, from the band to the dais prepared for the occasion. The following report of the speeches is from the “Gisborne Herald”:
Addressing a welcome to the official party, Mr. H. L. Harker, Mayor of Wairoa, stated that it was with a full heart that the people of Wairoa greeted the gift of something they had waited for for many years.
One would need the oratorical gifts of the late Timi Kara (Sir James Car-roll) to do justice to that sentiment, Mr. Harker declared, and to express how thankful the people of Wairoa and of the whole East Coast felt concerning the completion of this link.
The benefits that would accrue from railway connection with the main centres were, he considered, illimitable, but at a glance it was possible to enumerate many that would be deeply appreciated. To those who had been instrumental in giving Wairoa its rail-way connection, he extended the most heartfelt gratitude.
Mr. A. T. Carroll, Chairman of the Wairoa County Council, joined with the Mayor in welcoming all the visitors who had come to do justice to a great and memorable occasion in Wairoa's history. It should be a day which all would remember during their time. He especially welcomed the Ministers and Members of Parliament, and Messrs. G. H. Mackley, General Manager of Railways, and J. Wood, Engineer-in-charge of the Public Works Department, and also those who had come from neighbouring districts to do honour to the occasion.
The district was most appreciative of the message sent by the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage, and of the confidence shown by the Government in its future in completing the Wairoa section of the East Coast Main Trunk line. He hoped that the whole line would be completed at a record early date.
The Hon. R. Semple and the officers and men of his Department deserved the greatest credit for the speed with which the link had been completed; to the Railways Department, in its turn, the public of the East Coast must extend its confidence and support in order to ensure the success of the line in operation.
Having had the privilege of travelling from Wellington in one of the rail-cars, he could speak in the highest terms of their comfort, speed, and convenience. The day of Wairoa's isolation was gone, and the time had come to look for enormous development in the early future, concluded Mr. Carroll. (Cheers and applause).
Dinner given by the Local Bodies of the Wairoa District to the Ministerial party.
Mr. E. L. Cullen, member for Hawke's Bay, also associated himself fully with the welcome offered to the Ministers, whom he thanked for sparing the time to visit the district. The celebration of the opening of the railway to Wairoa should be a memorable day for Wairoa and indeed the whole of Hawke's Bay.
In earlier days the river was the entrance to the Wairoa district, and many present could recall the years in which the suspension of shipping services completely isolated the district. The speaker paid a tribute to those who had worked for the initiation of the railway, and in this connection he mentioned particularly Mr. Thos. Lambert, one of those whose efforts were bearing fruit now.
Speaking as one who had played some part in the agitation to have the railway from Napier to Gisborne built, Mr. D. W. Coleman, M.P., Gisborne, expressed the keenest pleasure in joining in the congratulations to the Ministers, the Government and the people of Wairoa on the completion of the line to this stage. Wairoa was now linked with the rest of the Dominion by an
Sir Joseph Ward, when he put the work in hand in 1929, had said that he would undertake it so that no later Government would dare to stop it. Of course, added Mr. Coleman, a later Government had stopped construction but with the advent of the Labour Government, the resumption had been placed in the hands of the Hon. R. Semple, as Minister of Public Works. The people of Wairoa and the whole East Coast would express the greatest satisfaction in seeing this portion of the line finished and handed over to the Minister of Railways, the Hon. D. G. Sullivan.
The time had come, he said, to show that the line was appreciated, by the manner in which they supported it. Wairoa was starting with the most modern and up-to-date railway facilities in New Zealand, and it was up to the public to stand by the service and so fulfil the promise made when the district committees were agitating for the resumption of the work on the line.
The assertion that New Zealanders were too prone to under-value the talent in their midst, while accepting an outsider at his face value—particularly if he happened to have “letters after his name”—was made by the Hon. R. Semple.
Disclosing that the cost of building the line to Wairoa from Napier had been £2,595,000, the Minister stated that in the years since the Labour Government placed the control of public works in his hands, many records had been made in carrying out different types of work.
Several of these records were made between Napier and Wairoa, the Minister said, specifying the fabrication of the Mohaka viaduct as one job in which New Zealand engineering skill and New Zealand adaptability had proved equal to, if not better than, the best to be found elsewhere in the world.
The function in which they were taking part, said the Minister, was a memorable and historical one, memorable because it brought to fruition the dream of many of those alive today, and many of those who had passed on; and historical because it marked a milestone in the development of transportation in the Dominion.
One of the great difficulties in this country had been that settlement and pioneering effort had been forced to precede the means of communication. Consequently there were people who had gone far ahead of roads and railways, and who for years had lived cut off from other communities, without means of communication.
Throughout New Zealand there were 13,500 farmers and others struggling in the mud of the backblocks, without any access whatever, and one duty was to try to give these people decent communications—an object which he hoped would be well advanced by his five-year programme of backblocks road improvement.
Mr. Semple referred to his realisation, on his first visit to the district as a Minister, of the waste that was going on as a result of the abandonment of the East Coast line by a previous Government. There seemed to be nothing but rust and chaos on the route, he said, the previous Government having sold everything but the great girders which lay on the bank of the Mohaka River.
“The line was born to trouble, and it has had a hard passage all the way,” commented Mr. Semple. “It has had kicks and blows from man and from Nature. Earthquakes, floods and other troubles have delayed the work but it has survived all blows, and today we see it as a living reality. It represents the dreams of thousands come true at last.”
The necessity of reconstruction of work undertaken before the abandonment of the line had doubled the cost of some parts, the Minister continued. That applied to part of the £5,000 spent on the line to date. There were many interesting features to which attention might be directed, these including the Mohaka viaduct, which he believed on good authority, to be one of the highest of its type in the Southern Hemisphere, and one which had been erected in record time. It had a length of 905 ft., a height of 312 ft., and contained 1,900 tons of steel.
Rly. Publicity photo.)
One of the Standard Type Rail-cars for the Wairon line.
The engineering talent and workman-ship were almost entirely contributed by New Zealanders, said Mr. Semple, and many of the men had been trained on the job under Mr. Haskell, who had the engineering supervision of this great work. In addition, other features of the railway construction had established new records.
“I could have done nothing in my capacity as Minister of Public Works if I had not had with me engineers equal to any in the world, and men under them who can apply their hands and brains to any problem,” stated Mr. Semple.
“I have seen people look sidewise when I have made this statement, but I say that one of New Zealand's greatest faults is lack of confidence in her own people. Any man with a string of letters behind his name can get credit in this country, so long as he comes from abroad. I want to tell you that I have been under engineers in other countries, underground and on top of the ground, and I will say that the engineers in New Zealand measure up to the best of those in other countries. Your New Zealand workers also are equal to anything in the world, if you only give them encouragement.” (Applause.)
“Some mention has been made of the other end of the line. I wish to say that we are speeding up construction as much as we can,” continued the Minister. “The tunnels are the big problem, of course, but now we have the right equipment and the men trained for their special tasks, we are driving underground faster than it has ever been done in this country. You cannot drive tunnels as fast as you like, of course, when you have only two faces to work on.
Rly. Publicity photos.)
Above: The Hon. D. G. Sullivan, Minister of Railways, declares the line open. Below: The official party, on arrival at Wairoa.
Rly. Publicity photo.)
Views of Wairoa's main street, beside the Wairoa River.
“No time is being lost on that job, I assure you, and I hope that I live to take part in the opening of the Wairoa-Gisborne section of the railway, and in handing it, too, over to the Hon. D. G. Sullivan to operate for your benefit and the benefit of the Dominion.”
The Hon. D. G. Sullivan, Minister of Railways, spoke under the handicap of approaching darkness, and he reduced his speech materially in order to ensure that the last of the day's functions, the unveiling of the memorial tablet to men who had lost their lives while working on the line, could be carried out while daylight still lingered. Mr. Sullivan spoke as follows:—
“It gives me very great pleasure to be here today on the occasion of the official opening of the Napier—Wairoa—Waikokopu portion of the Napier—Gisborne Railway.
“I regard this as an occasion of outstanding importance not only to Hawke's Bay but to the whole Dominion, because the direct benefits which the new line confers on the areas it serves cannot fail to have a stimulating effect upon the general trade and industry of the Dominion.
“It is a privilege to be present at a time when a whole Province rejoices, as Hawke's Bay is doing today, at the completion of a necessary work of major economic importance upon which high hopes have been placed through many long years; and I am particularly happy to be a member of the Government whose decisive action has resulted in the line being opened for traffic today—and not at some nebulous date in the dim and distant future, which seemed to be the destiny of the partly completed and partly destroyed railway prior to the present Government's accession to office.
“The settlers of this district know full well how long deferred the work has been. But it is useful to remember that although Napier and Hastings were connected by rail as early as 1874, forty-four years elapsed before the first tangible evidence of railroad construction from Napier toward Wairoa was seen in the completion of the West-shore railway bridge in 1918.
“The railway was opened to Eskdale in 1923, and Putorino (half-way between Napier and Wairoa) was reached in 1930. The line to Raupunga was taken over by the Railways Department in February of the present year, and now we celebrate the opening of the whole Napier—Wairoa section, and the taking-over by the Railways Department of the complete line of 97 miles from Napier to Waikokopu.
“I believe, and I am sure my colleague the Hon. R. Semple, Minister of Public Works, will agree with me, that the Napier—Wairoa railway has been built under difficulties unprecedented in the history of railroad construction in New Zealand—a land where engineering problems in railway construction have been extraordinarily plentiful.
“After the earthquakes in 1931 the Government of the day decided definitely to abandon the line—and did so. But the Labour Government, on coming into power in November, 1935, and in accordance with its belief in the necessity, in the public interest, of completing the principal railway lines of the Dominion, determined to rebuild this damaged and abandoned railway and to proceed with the work of further construction.
“All who had occasion to visit the locality after the resumption of this work will agree that the engineers and workmen tackled the job with rare energy and ingenuity; but there was a most disappointing setback when, in April, 1938, huge floods played havoc with their work. Undeterred, however, by this stroke of ill-fortune, the engineers and their staffs continued to push ahead with the job. They worked miracles in surmounting all the obstacles of the route, and today have the satisfaction of knowing that their epic of effort is rewarded, in the assurance which improved access gives of a brighter and more prosperous future for this important and rapidly developing district.
“As you know, the Public Works Department builds New Zealand's railways, and the Railways Department maintains and operates them. It is not too much to say that to the Public Works Department, Mr. Semple brought a new inspiration and a driving force and boldness of conception and execution unexampled in the history of Public Works administration in New Zealand. I say all honour to him, and to his Department and staff for the good job they have done in pushing through the construction of this line in the face of the severest handicaps. In this connection I need make special reference only to the completion of the Mohaka viaduct as an outstanding example of what New Zealand engineers and builders can do under the right leadership and when actuated by motives which place public welfare in the forefront.
Rly. Publicity photo)
Wairoa Station on opening day. 5Zb (Mobile Broadcasting Unit) on right.
“Now that the line is an accomplished fact, it is my responsibility, as Minister of Railways, to see that the purpose for which the work was undertaken is fully met by the provision of suitable and adequate services.
“And this reminds me that, just a year ago, I had the pleasure of presiding at the inaugural ceremony which marked the official change-over from steam to electric traction and the introduction of multiple-unit passenger trains on the Wellington—Johnsonville suburban line.
“That improvement was also the result of a decision made by the present Government, and has been an outstanding success in providing the most pleasing and satisfactory form of suburban passenger transport yet available in any part of the world.
“Emulating that great forward step in Dominion transport, from Monday next my Department will commence operating on the Napier—Wairoa line the very latest type of rail-cars, designed and built by our own engineers and craftsmen, to ensure rapid, clean, frequent and comfortable transport for travellers on this route.
“These rail-cars, of the ‘Aotea’ type, have already demonstrated their usefulness and popularity on the Wellington—Taranaki run, where the recently inaugurated thrice-weekly service is so well patronised that it appears an increase in the frequency of the service will soon become necessary.
“Here you are to have these highly-efficient and popular rail-cars running twice daily in each direction between Wairoa and Napier, and then, for good measure at the weekends, a complete rail-car run to Wellington and back. That is a passenger service superior, I think, to anything so far given to any new line in the Dominion and you may regard it as some recompense for the long time of waiting the district has endured before rail access was provided.
“There will be an adequate goods service to help the further development of your primary and secondary industries.
“One of the principal benefits the Railway confers on Wairoa and the intervening districts to Napier is the opportunity it affords for increasing both primary and secondary production throughout the area it serves. In this respect the railway makes easy the transport of goods and livestock to a degree not otherwise possible and at a cost below that of any other means. More productive land, greater settlement, the creation of new markets, a more extensive interchange of commodities and a general increase in the wealth of the whole community are among the blessings the Railways bring in their wake.
“That is the experience of other districts and that will be, to an outstanding degree, the experience of northern Hawke's Bay in the years upon which we are now entering. And I believe that, as the line proceeds to link up with Poverty Bay there will be a further increase in the importance of Wairoa as a productive and industrial centre.”
After giving a brief survey of what is being done on the Railways throughout New Zealand to show the people of Wairoa and the surrounding districts that they are being linked up with a railway organisation infinitely better served and equipped than that in operation when the present Government was handed the reins of office, Mr. Sullivan assured them that they would share fully in all the advantages which a liberal and far-seeing railway policy has placed in the service of the people of this country. He concluded:—
“For the carrying out of this policy I have had the willing co-operation and constant backing of the highly efficient railway organisation, and I want now to express my appreciation of the work of the General Manager, Mr. G. H. Mackley, his assistants and staff throughout the Dominion in their efforts to give a pleasing service to the public.
“All experience proves that the provision of a railway connection to fertile but isolated districts has a magic effect in bringing new prosperity to the communities concerned. This I feel sure will be, to quite an exceptional extent, the experience of Wairoa and the other localities brought into touch with the railway through the completion of this long-deferred line. You will reap the full benefit of the work of your early settlers, the pioneers who laid so well the foundations of the settlement and who fought so hard and through so many years for the advantage of railway access now at last brought to your district.
“I now have very much pleasure, as Minister of Railways, in taking over from my colleague, the Hon. Minister of Public Works, and on behalf of the people, this important addition to the main lines of New Zealand, and in wishing for the new railway and the public whom it serves the greatest possible happiness and good fortune.
“I now declare this railway open for traffic.”
The new departure in railway service represented by the rail-cars which were featured in the function in Wairoa naturally attracted comment from most of the speakers during the ceremony of handing over the line to the Railway Department. The cars themselves were much admired and the opportunity of making short rides in them was taken by a large number of Wairoa people late in the afternoon.
Sir Apirana Ngata expressed his thanks to Mr. G. H. Mackley, the General Manager of Railways, for the compliment he had paid the Maori people, in naming each of the modern rail-car units after one of the principal canoes of the race.
He suggested that when the department, in the course of its experiments, produced the perfect rail-car, it should be given the name Horouta, which, he explained, was the name of the canoe from which the Maoris of the northern East Coast claimed descent.
The Minister of Railways, the Hon. D. G. Sullivan, warmly acknowledged the comments of Sir Apirana Ngata and other speakers on the new developments made in rail-car construction. He claimed that in New Zealand they had produced something unique in the form of railway service, by the development of this type of vehicle.
The people of the Wairoa and East Coast districts were to have the immediate benefit of those experiments and their service would be the most modern to be found anywhere. Sleepers would be added as soon as they could be produced, he promised the gathering, and everything that the Government, the Minister, and the department could do to give good service, with speed and comfort and safety, would be done.
Rly. Publicity photo)
The Hon. D. G. Sullivan, Minister of Railways, besieged for autographs.
“I want to introduce to those of you who do not already know him, the General Manager of our Railways Department,” Mr. Sullivan added, calling forward on the dais Mr. G. H. Mackley. “He is the man who has done more than any other individual towards bringing the rail-car to its present stage of successful development in New Zealand.”
The credit given by the Minister to his principal executive officer was warmly endorsed, Mr. Mackley being the recipient of enthusiastic applause from the large audience.
(Rly. Publicity photos)
The prosaic title of this “Women's Overwear” covers the whole scenic region of hats, frocks, coats and the variegated landscape of feminine “odds and ends.” A well-stocked full-sized library would be needed to house all the good and bad jokes, the wise and foolish sayings, and the varied philosophies which have been based upon women's raiment. They date back to the misty times of Hammurabi, and no civilization of any age has been without them. The essential first principle of feminine wear is change, as a peep at any family photograph album will show.
Male attire in a group taken ten, twenty, or thirty years ago, may look a little odd, but the ladies' frocking will provoke crows of laughter.
I had a fascinating journey through various New Zealand establishments which are coping with the problem of providing our women with the means of looking smart or being fashionably gowned.
As far as is possible to the judgment of a mere male, our New Zealand units are making clothes which are, in every respect, identical with the latest New York, London, or Paris models. This article explains in some measure how this claim is justified. As usual, I had to make a random selection of typical establishments, and the six described here have numerous relations of equally high standard and production capacity.
Strangely enough, the sun has had a great deal to do with modern trends in women's frocks and hats. Beauty culturists have realised that their efforts are vain unless health rules are observed, and modern precepts insist on more and more access to fresh air and sunlight. The result is that the area, as it were, of the feminine form which has to be covered has grown beautifully less. The process has accelerated since the World War, aided by the great instalment of men's work handled by women in that dread time. Freedom of movement is now the watchword, and it is well to remember that this new requirement has increased the difficulty and complexity of the frock-making problem. The maker has now to get his effects with far less elbow room, but still has to deliver his freight of beauty and elegance. Millinery is, of course, in similar case. The hat only covers part of the feminine head, and the curls and waves of the modern coiffure must be allowed to show. The New Zealand executive of a millinery or gownmaking establishment is also
When I called on Fashions Ltd., for instance, I found that the Managing Director was on a trip to America and Europe. In the part of the gown world known as “ready to wear,” it would seem that the United States is in the lead. From the four corners of the earth they have gathered men and women of all nationalities to fill their serried ranks of designers, cutters, and ornament makers.
I was shown three New Zealand-made copies of “last word” American models. I made a conscientious effort and spent time on a close scrutiny to find a difference between original and copy, and could discern no difference whatever. Every thread and tracery, every tint in ornamentation and material, seemed to me to be exactly the same. Then the manager explained
The material was “schiffli,” a lovely fabric in which flowers are woven as an integral part. I was interested in the large show-room of Fashions Ltd., in the enormous variety of the flower and metal ornaments required to give the finishing touches to all sorts and types of gowns. Some of the flowers are made on the premises with modern embroidering machines, but the world is explored for original and exquisite novelties. In the words of the manager: “a distinctive ornament is often the key point of a dress design and simply makes the gown.”
By the way, one interesting difference between the actual model and the New Zealand facsimile was the price. The shortest way to put it is that the New Zealand woman gets her model gown in the shop at the same price as her American sister. Imported, it would cost three times as much.
The work in the two main floors of Fashions Ltd. is divided into two sections, the silk fabric manufacture, and the making of clothes from heavier materials. No cotton fabrics whatever are used in the whole place.
In the first division, I was introduced to one miracle-working machine after another, the “blind-stitcher,” one that did “tucking,” applique work and so on, and an elaborate apparatus with slender lines that did “shirring.” It was loaded with twelve reels at a time, and seemed to me to have enough intelligence to pass a standard. This machine is the very latest, and, in fact, was traced down after the experts here had wondered how its work was done.
The system of Fashions Ltd. is to train the employees in as wide a way as possible. Most of them are able at the finish of their training to manipulate any machine, however complicated. The great work-rooms are light and airy, and there is a dining-room on each floor.
There are over two hundred folk in this New Zealand concern, with a wide variety of occupations. Above the room where the woollens are fashioned there is a real surprise. Here in a gown-making establishment is a room with the mechanistic air of a precision plant. Here is a genuine die-press, making handsome buckles.
The die shapes themselves come
This last feature was just as prominent in the smaller, compact plant of Smartwear Ltd., which I called upon in Christchurch. This is a business now in the second generation of the founder family. Its product is widely different from Fashions Ltd., who confine their output to the highest quality gowns, while Smartwear Ltd. make cotton frocks, catering for another class of market altogether. Their objective is reasonable cost, but I have never understood that there could be such teeming variety and so many ranges of designs in cotton frockings. Over four hundred new samples are turned out here each year. Every hue of the rainbow is seen in these cotton and art silk fabrics, and they are invariably neat and “dressy.”
This place had its distinctive atmosphere. The workroom manager told me that quite a problem was created by the visits of former employees who come back regularly to see their aforetime confreres, and that every time there was a farewell to a girl going off to marry, “there was a crying match all round.”
I learned that the average “life” of a feminine employee before leaving to set up house, was eight years.
This is a one-floor factory with a nicely arranged “learners' room,” and the “flow” of the making processes is easy and steady. There is no moving about, and 500 frocks are cut in one “lay” and distributed for making up with an apparently effortless system. By the way, here I learned that there is a wide difference between the figures of New Zealand women and those of the northern hemisphere. There is even a difference between Invercargill and Auckland. On the whole, the New Zealand form is sturdier. Smartwear Ltd. is well worth a visit. Summer frocking and every day household wear are made in this Christchurch establishment which is at least of world parity.
It is no reflection on the other sex to point out that the checking is done by men of long service who can “spot” a defect at long range.
My next visit was to the fine premises in Auckland, where Flamingo frocks are made.
This temple is dedicated to fashion and I suspect that many of its models are quoted by proud wearers as having the prize distinction of being “imported.” There is a designing studio where two accomplished artists work out new ideas and modifications of the latest overseas creations. There is no valid reason, by the way, why a New Zealand dress-designer should not do work of the same artistic standard as anyone overseas. The literature of pattern books, design catalogues, and technical methods, is enormous. When, for instance, a great Paris dress-designer evolves something new, the world has it in facsimile in very little time. Thereafter it is a matter of faithfulness of craftsmanship.
Flamingo Frocks, also, owe much to their “gadgets.” Rows and rows of boxes contain these jewels of work-manship and artistry, for incorporation into the line and flow of some lovely garment. In a high-grade fashion plant, of course, the number of each design is much smaller than in the mass production type of unit, and the
Blue smocks are worn by the workers in the fine main workroom, where there are batteries of the latest types of machines. It would be idle to enumerate the names of the various fabrics I met here. I only know that they were one and all lovely to look at. We had a leisurely cup of tea in the well-appointed lunch-room over-looking Auckland Harbour.
The founder of this institution is himself an artist, and very quietly and effectively, he demolished the super-stition that there is any reason to import a fashion frock.
Three-fourths of all the clothes-jokes of the world have been about hats —feminine head-gear. The little milliner has been the heroine of more than half the Cinderella stories of the world.
The problem for the maker of feminine hats would seem to be almost insoluble. To find another woman with a frock that is similar is barely supportable, but it can and often must be put up with. A modern emporium can risk a window display of gowns that have family resemblances. Hats are far different. As nearly as possible, a modern millinery unit has to aim at making no two hats alike. The feminine objective calls for a hat which no other woman can possibly possess. To find an exact replica on the head of a best friend may have given rise to the expression, “the last straw.”
I was astonished to find the extent and magnitude of the establishments
My first visit was paid to Prestige Ltd. The name is familiar, for these folks have their own shops in a score of New Zealand towns. The factory is a modern plant full of surprises.
The foundation of the modern hat is the “hood.” These come from various parts of the world, some of them actually woven by hand under
I found that the crux of the problem in the fashioning of a smart hat is the ornamentation. A severe blue simple straw, suddenly springs into an elegant art object from the addition of a graceful metal sprig, spear, pin or whatnot, designed in Paris, Chicago, or Padua. Our millinery experts need a free hand to get the world's best in this particular arena. It is a liberal education to go through the trays of hat ornaments in a modern New Zealand factory. The fertility of invention, the prodigal ingenuity of design, and the diverse beauty of each gemlike article, are beyond the range of the usual adjectives.
Prestige hats are art creations, the work of artists who are guided by world standards of fashion.
At the M.K. Factory, in Great South Road, Auckland, I found a huge modern building, recently erected and equipped to meet New Zealand needs. The main workroom floor takes a tone of green from the tasteful smocks and is the largest I have seen. Here I paid special attention to the polishing processes for felt hats. These machines were in use in all the three places I visited, and one of the principal polishing mediums is baby shark-skin. So when one of our best dressers at the races is wearing
The M.K. plant is a triumph of modernity. Everything in it is the last word, and the world has been ransacked for the best.
My next call was at Ross & Glendining's imposing building which over-looks the green beauty of Myers Park. This great old firm is one of the pioneers of New Zealand industry, and, of course, has many other branches of activity outside millinery. However, their hat-making plant was a revelation. First I saw the battery of hydraulic presses dealing just as any die press does with the various “hoods.” Blocking, lacquering, drying, stiffening and other processes, reduce the amorphous material to the foundation of a modern hat. Here I saw a range of modern machines which emboss and stitch edge to edge. I also saw the process of evolving a straw from a thin ribbon of plait, done skilfully by a “round and round” machine, and invisible stitching.
I saw lilac georgette turning into a hat under skilful fingers, and wiring being done with gauzy materials.
Perhaps, however, I found the most fascination in the room where the “in-dividual” hats were being fashioned. “You have to be born a milliner,” said my guide, and I quite believed him, as I saw these feminine artists at work.
I imagine that the designing of one of these lovely things is like painting a variegated sunset.
They are veritable “things of beauty” in themselves, and their range of form, complexity, ornamentation, simplicity and tint, seems endless.
Photo., Thelma R. Kent.)
Looking up the Dart Valley towards Mt. Earnslaw, South Island.
The simple truth is that, if art is the creation of beauty, all these differing types of manufacture of women's apparel are, in actuality, manifestations of good art.
In all these half-dozen New Zealand institutions that I visited, I found genuine artistic fervour; I found the creative impulse; I found high talent in design; I found a worship of colour and line and originality coupled with an admiration for good ideas from overseas.
There was the general objective to equal the world's best and a world search for materials and methods. It is a pity, therefore, that many of these folk have to disguise the fact that their goods are “made in New Zealand.” It was borne upon me forcibly that thousands of New Zealand women who fondly imagine they are wearing an imported gown or hat are unwittingly helping New Zealand industry. There is absolutely no foundation for the belief that any “ready to wear” gown of whatever standard of smartness, cannot be as well cut and faithfully made in New Zealand as anywhere else.
I asked a distinguished New Zealander, holding an important London post, what struck him most on his return visit here, and he said: “The general smartness of the women's frocking. This lounge has as many pretty gowns as you would see in this sort of place in London.” I know now that he was looking at a number of frocks and hats made by New Zealanders in New Zealand factories. And, after all, why not?
August Bank Holiday sees passenger movement on the Home railways at its height. For some weeks past, business has been much brisker on both the passenger and freight sides, and one and all are now looking forward to a return of the old-time prosperity. This optimistic outlook is given further strength thanks to the recent favourable report of the ‘Transport Advisory Council on the railways’ claim for a “square deal.”
It is the view of the Council that a material relaxation of the present statutory control is necessary to assist the railways in overcoming their difficulties. The main concession recommended is that, subject to certain safe-guards, the railways shall be entitled to make such reasonable conveyance rates as they think fit. The existing cumbersome rating system is to be discarded, and a much more elastic and business-like arrangement instituted in its place. It is understood that the Government accept in principle the Council's recommendations, and specific changes in the law involved having received due consideration, suitable legislation will be introduced as soon as possible. The new arrangements will probably be of a temporary character, to cover a transitional period of not more than five years, or such shorter period as may be necessary to establish a degree of co-ordination which will avoid over-lapping of services and uneconomic competition.
Gay scenes, indeed, are presented at the big London passenger stations these days, as train load after train load of eager holiday-makers leave for the coast. The metropolis possesses many fine passenger termini, set in a ring around the city proper, and most of these stations are household words throughout the five continents. Who has not heard of King's Cross, Euston, Waterloo or Paddington? Actually, scores of remote stations in all corners of the globe have been named after these “old-timers”; and from China to Peru, King's Cross always is associated with Scottish Expresses, Euston with Irish Mails, Waterloo with Atlantic Coast Expresses, and Paddington with West Country Flyers! Just now, Euston terminus of the L. M. & S. Company, is undergoing remodelling, and the problem of the hour is what shall be done with Hardwick's famous Doric Arch that stands sentinel-like outside the station. The remodelling plans do not allow of the retention of this historic landmark, but it is hoped to transfer the arch to some other suitable site, where it may remain for all time a tribute to our transportation pioneers.
According to Professor Richardson, of London University, the finest London station is the King's Cross terminus of the L. & N. E. Company. At this station—the headquarters of our second largest group system—large schemes of alterations and improvements have recently reached fruition. Platforms have been widened, lighting and trainindicating arrangements improved, new telegraph and inquiry offices installed, and a fine new Georgian restaurant opened for the benefit of travellers.
Statistics show that quite fifty per cent, of passenger journeys in Britain
vice versa.
Eighty years ago a new link between the counties of Devon and Cornwall was effected by the opening of the Royal Albert Bridge, Saltash, carrying the Great Western Railway over the estuary of the River Tamar. The Saltash Bridge is one of the most remarkable engineering structures on the Home lines, and it was designed by the G. W. Company's famous first engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The bridge is 2,220 feet in length, and in addition to the two main spans of 455 feet each, there are seventeen land spans varying from 70 to 90 feet each which, on the Cornish side, are on a sharp curve. The height of the central pier is 240 feet from the foundation, and the railway is 110 feet above high-water level. Brunel's original scheme provided for a structure with a main span of 255 feet and six others each of 105 feet. Unfortunately, however, the Admiralty stepped in, and insisted on a headway of 100 feet above high water. After toying with a novel plan for a bridge with a single main span of 850 feet, Brunel at last evolved the design of the bridge as we know it today. Because of a thick bed of mud beneath 70 ft. of water in the centre of the river, it took two years to construct the central pier. The two main trusses were built up on the Devonshire shore, and erected in position in 1857 and 1858. Each truss consists of an arch-shaped wroughtiron tube, of oval section, 16 ft. 9 in. wide and 12 ft. 3 in. high, the ends being connected by a suspension chain of link plates. The arch and chain are connected at eleven points in the truss by verticals, themselves braced together by means of diagonal bars. From these verticals there hang girders supporting the roadway. Each truss is 56 ft. high at centre, and weighs 1,060 tons. Comparatively little alteration or strengthening of the Saltash Bridge has been called for throughout its eighty years of service, and it is fitting that the genius of its designer should be marked by an inscription in raised letters on the landspan archways: “I. K. Brunel, Engineer, 1859,” this latter being the year of his death.
Devon and Cornwall are two of our most beautiful counties, and during the summer months the Great Western reap a rich harvest from holiday traffic in this area. Incidentally, it was in Cornwall that the Paddington authorities, many years ago, instituted the first road motor service to be operated by a British railway. Today, the G. W., like the other group systems, operates large fleets of motor vehicles for the collection and delivery of goods, and also has financial interests in many pass
Photo, courtesy French Railway Collection
Central Signal-box, Nord Station, Paris.
The Spanish railway authorities, who in normal times work in close association with the French authorities in the through services between Madrid and Paris, and other points, are now making a determined attempt to set their house in order. Damage to way and works is being made good, and the four big frontier exchanges are being resumed. These are respectively the Hendaye-Irun exchange, in the west; the Perpignan-Portbou exchange, in the east; and the two intermediate exchanges, Forges d'Abel-Canfranc and La Tour de Carol-Puigcarda. Spanish railway workers, like those of Germany —where the events of the past months have seriously hampered repairs and renewals and thrown tremendous burdens on one and all—eagerly look forward to a long period of peace, and it is sincerely to be hoped that in this wish, shared by railwaymen the world over, they may not be disappointed.
(From the biography of Edgar Wallace, by Margaret Lane.)
One of the earliest settlers in the province of Wellington, arriving in the ship Thomas Sparks in 1842, was James Henry Marriott, a man already in his forties and full of worldly experience. Marriott was by profession a maker of scientific and optical instruments; but he had also artistic tastes, and moved for many years in theatrical circles in London. He was a fine Shakespearian scholar and appeared, with some success, in a number of Shakespearian plays. He dabbled in art also, with pen and ink and brush, and he could turn his pen to verse, with a flair for topical doggerel which came in handy during the noisy politics of early Wellington.
Before he had been here long Marriott, with his friend Rowland Davis, took the lead in providing entertainment for the colonists. They erected the Britannia saloon and the Aurora tavern (which afterwards became the Lyceum Theatre), and in 1844 Marriott helped to design and build the Olympic Theatre. He carried out the decorations and scenery, and even manufactured from whale oil the gas for lighting the theatre. Later he was one of the founders of the Oddfellows' lodge and hall, also in company with Davis.
When provincial politics dominated the Colony, and every man was a villain or a paragon according to his political party, Marriott played his part well enough by writing verse on behalf of the Settlers' Constitutional Association. His “Constitutional Budget,” published in 1858, contained a good deal of this doggerel, some of it of quite high quality in its own field. Against the ruthless battle which Edward Jerningham Wakefield waged, with any weapon to his hand, against the high-minded Featherston, Marriott deserved well of the party he supported. So well that a few months later he was appointed by the Superintendent (Featherston) to be sergeant-at-arms to the Wellington Provincial Council.
From “Early Wellington.”)
Reform Banquet held in the Theatre, Wellington, N.Z., 1849.
(From a copper plate engraving by Mr. J. H. Marriott, which appeared in the “Illustrated London News” of the period.)
Marriott continued to be a leader in the theatrical and social life of the province. At most public dinners he was employed in arranging the entertainment and decorating the hall. He even made sketches of such events. The Illustrated London News contains a number of his pictures, notably of the public dinners in Wellington, and the laying of the foundation stone of the provincial hall. I often wondered whether the public halls of Wellington really looked so substantial and seemly
Illustrated London News. It is said also that he made some of the blocks himself. That would, of course, be in his line as an instrument maker. In later life he was an inspector of weights and measures. Marriott died in 1886.
(From the biography of Edgar Wallace, by Margaret Lane.)
In gathering for the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, these few facts about the life of this interesting early settler, I several times came across a statement that he was the father of the famous English actress, Alice Marriott. When he had been ten years in New Zealand he paid a visit to the Old Country, and amongst those whom he met on that occasion was his daughter Mrs. Robert Edgar, then proprietor of the Sadler's Wells Theatre. A few years later Robert Edgar died, and his death notice in the Wellington papers fully identified him as the son-in-law of James Henry Marriott. He was a useless creature whom Alice dignified with the title of manager. In fact she did everything about the theatre, even to counting out the salaries on Saturdays.
Alice Marriott was quite an institution on the English stage in the middle of the nineteenth century. A rather masculine woman, with a fine presence and considerable talent, a beautiful voice and a phenomenal memory, she was playing for over forty years, and she had an enormous repertoire of long and difficult parts. She had dramatic intensity to a degree, and as an emotional actress had a high reputation. Alice had a fondness for masculine doublet and hose, and for playing masculine parts, which not infrequently were entrusted to women in those inexplicable Victorian days. Her Hamlet was famous. She could do as she liked, since she had her own company, and was even for some years lessee of several theatres, including the Sadler's Wells and the Standard at Shoreditch. She played also in the provinces, and even took her own Hamlet to America in the ‘seventies.
There is no need to labour the talent of this daughter of James Henry Marriott, except to add that she made a great deal of money and would have been wealthy had she not married Robert Edgar, who was convinced that he knew the best way to invest it. He had a mania for buying up shop property at high prices and selling, generally, at a loss.
Like many successful actresses, Alice was as good-hearted as she was clever. Only one instance of this matters to this story. When she was playing at Liverpool once, she met a small-part actress and dancer, Mary Jane Blair, whose stage name was Polly Richards. Born in 1843, she was a ballet dancer in her early twenties, when she married a merchant service skipper. He died of an obscure malady on his next voyage and left her unprovided for and soon to have a child. Polly went back to the boards to support herself and the child. She had touched the depths of
Entertainment to Maori Chiefs at the Pipitea Street Hospital, Wellington, in 1849, to celebrate the receipt from Earl Grey of a framed portrait of Her Majesty Queen Victoria.
(Reproduced from the original copper plate engraved by Mr. J. H. Marriott and used by the “Illustrated London News” in 1849.
(From the biography of Edgar Wallace, by Margaret Lane.)
And so life went on. Polly Richards
In 1874 a tragedy fell upon her. While playing at the Old Greenwich Theatre in London Street she stayed at rather shabby lodgings in Ashburnham Grove. One night in December, 1874, “she let herself out and walked home to the lodging house to await—with little enough enthusiasm—the birth of her second child.” During recent months Polly Richards had assisted her employer to find a wife for her way-ward son, and she was the means of finding Richard a very satisfactory wife, a charming young actress named Jenny Taylor. With extraordinary loyalty and reserve, Polly did not even allow Alice Marriott to know of her own trouble. Alice died (in 1900) unaware that Polly had had a son, and therefore unaware of the existence of her own first grandchild. Polly does not even seem to have told the impeccable Richard what had happened. She hid her shame, had her child in secret and provided for it by the best means she could devise, without allowing the woman to whom she owed everything
One of the new “J” class (4–8–2) locomotives being built for service on the New Zealand Railways. The overall length of these locomotives is 66ft. 9 in.; total weight in working order, 108 1/4 tons; tractive effort, 24,960 lbs.; water capacity of tender, 4,000 gallons; fuel capacity, 6 tons.
He was taken to a Catholic priest for baptism, and the name that Polly Richards gave to him was Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace. She gave the fictitious name of “Wallace Wallace, comedian,” as that of the father, and thus saved Richard Edgar and his mother any embarrassment.
When I read Margaret Lane's biography of the great novelist Edgar Wallace, I found myself putting two and two together from fragments of biographical information which had come to me in the compilation of the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Here was the first confirmation of the statement which had appeared in some of our old Wellington newspapers that James Henry Marriott was the father of Alice Marriott, the Sadler's Wells actress.
The whole story appears in Miss Lane's fine biography. To which I might add that no doubt Edgar Wallace, the colourful author of our own time, drew some of his inspiration in letters and artistry from his great grandfather, just as he did some of his speculative tendencies from his unknown grand-father Robert Edgar.
Contests for smokers are all the go in Belgium just now. Pipe Clubs, as they are called, have been established in connection with many of the Cafes, and a prize is awarded to the man who keeps his pipe going the longest. In one such contest sixteen of the contestants smoked steadily for upwards of an hour, without “striking a light” a second time, this being one of the rules of the game. But the champion kept his clay in full blast for an hour thirty-seven minutes! He deserved his win! —and if he had smoked “toasted” he'd have doubtless done better still, because this beautiful tobacco being virtually free from nicotine (eliminated by toasting) can be smoked for almost any length of time without a break. There's no “bite” in toasted; And the quality is simply unequalled! There's nothing quite so good! Flavour and bouquet are glorious!—hence the popularity of the five genuine toasted brands: Cut Plug No. 10 (Bullshead), Navy Cut No. 3 (Bulldog), Cavendish, Riverhead Gold and Desert Gold.*
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In the past Westport has been one of the most isolated places in New Zealand. Communication with the outside world was limited to sea or land routes, taking valuable time to traverse. The overland road to Nelson was nearly two hundred miles long, and hilly for the greater part of the way, thus making the cost of transport high. Communication with Canterbury, also, was any-thing but easy.
The opening up of the Lewis Pass road as a main highway was one of the factors which was to see the isolation of the northern towns of the West Coast slowly melt away.
There are three milestones which have made or will shortly make history in the development and progress of this part of the Coast. The first is the Lewis Pass route which is a quick out-let to Canterbury from the towns of Westport and Reefton. The second is the extension of air services for passengers and mails so that all the main parts of the Coast are connected and have speedy and regular access to the outside world. The third factor will be the completion of the Buller Gorge railway which is already well advanced towards Inangahua and which will carry heavy traffic when finished. It is expected that a railcar service will operate between Westport and Christ-church—a service which is bound to be popular judging by the regular passenger complement that the Greymouth-Christchurch railcar carries.
The Lewis Pass route was surveyed by Tarrant in the early 'eighties, and it does not take a great deal of imagination, even from the comfortable interior of a modern car, to realise the hard-ships of the surveyors who risked all kinds of privations in order to open up and map the country.
It is said that, when the gold rushes commenced on the Coast, the diggers traversing the ranges from Canterbury used the Lewis Pass, but this is only partially correct.
Travelling up the Waiau River to the West Coast the diggers used two main routes. If their destination were the goldfields in the Grey Valley or Hokitika, they proceeded up the Boyle and came over the Amuri or Haupiri. If, however, they were bound for the
In 1884 a contract was let to Connington and Seawright (names still known on the Coast) for a six foot track from the site of the present accommodation house at the Maruia Springs to the summit. Since then this has been used as a stock route between Canterbury and Westland. From the time of the opening of the track a regular pack service was maintained by a man named Otto Walker. As the tracks were improved this transport service developed through the various modes of vehicular conveyance. The pack horse gave place to the spring cart, and that in turn was ousted by the five-horse express wagon, and later still by motor transport.
There were camps to be provisioned from the West. From Reefton, goods would be taken by spring cart seven miles up the valley to Ross's. Early in the morning, before the sun had come over the crest of the hill, Otto Walker would place the packs on his horse team
Early reports of the development of communications between these remote places are most interesting. The survey reports of 1881–1882 speak of the road under construction from Hampden (the present Murchison) to Maruia.
The back country about the Maruia district is one which takes some knowing, and even today it behoves a deer stalker to know his geography before he ventures too far into the back hills. Being so close to the divide between Canterbury and Westland the direction of flow of the rivers is apt to be most disconcerting.
Although Maoris are very rare on the Coast today, they travelled in this area in former times, when travelling from Nelson or Canterbury to the West Coast. In this connection it is interesting to note that settlers in the Maruia have ploughed up Maori axes and found the remains of old Maori camps.
The present fine highway from Westport, through the Buller Gorge to Reefton and Maruia Springs, and through the Lewis Pass, is one that can be fascinating from many points of view. Nor is one trip over this route sufficient to enable one to fully appreciate the country. It is unbelievably different by day and by night, and in summer and winter.
The road, when it is really completed and consolidated will be a fast one. It is well-graded and presents, as it were, a cross section of the South Island. In parts, such as the stretch to the west of Maruia Springs, the road reminds one strongly of the increasingly popular Eglinton Valley with its tall trees and well-surfaced wide track. The Lewis Pass road is a tribute to the modern pioneer of New Zealand—the roadman. One cannot but take note of him and realise the Herculean size of his job. What his thoughts are as the fast cars whizz by over that bit of road that he has helped to make, would make interesting conversation. All along the way one sees the isolated road camps, or places where they have recently been; perhaps a solitary hut or two on the bank of a mountain stream, or one by the roadside with its exterior kept neat and tidy and a heroic garden struggling to shoot forth bright coloured flowers in the rigours of a mountain climate. Here and there a tall tree doing service as a wireless mast is a strong symbol of isolation which these men put up with in order that the country may develop and march forward as a nation.
The first trip I ever had to make over this route had, of necessity, to be made at night, in mid-winter. The first part of the journey was uneventful and it was not until the road neared the Rahu Saddle that things became very
(Photo., Thelma R. Kent.)
An early morning scene at the head of Lake Hawea, South Island.
Farther on, over the Pass itself, a veritable fairyland presented itself. We had been warned that there was snow on the top, but were quite unprepared for the sight that was unfolded. Snow can cast a white mantle over everything and practically obliterate the landscape, but here the trees were just peppered lightly so that they looked as one imagines a Christmas tree to be like. The peaks of the mountains were covered in white, thrown up vividly by a background of deep blue sky, and rising over the whole scene, masses of billowy cloud and a crystal clear moon.
On the road itself snow-ploughs had been used so that there was a clear track of dark grey road lined by the snow on either side. It was possible with the greatest of ease to cruise for mile after mile, simply by the light of the moon and drink in the beauty of a snow scene which would be impossible to beat anywhere in New Zealand. The moonbeams were caught and reflected like a myriad diamonds from the lightly snow-spattered trees making the stars themselves, although set in such a crisp sky, look pale.
Winter has its delights, but autumn is equally beautiful. The Buller Gorge may be swollen by flooded, muddy waters, but all along the road which skirts it, the green of the bush is brightened by the brilliant red of the karaka berries. The settled farming areas from Inangahua Junction to Reef-ton are a blaze of autumn tints on the many poplar trees. The bright yellow of their leaves against the clear blue of the mountain sky makes a most colourful sight. On through the mountainous areas the poplars near Glen Wye and on far towards Hurunui make an equally beautiful sight. To the photographer it comes as a great delight that colour films are available in New Zealand and that the wonderful tints can now be recorded in all their faith-fulness of colour instead of having to pass them by as would have been the case a few years ago. This autumn, several photographers, fully equipped for colour shots, have been attracted by these areas.
As one rises on the Canterbury side of the mountains, towards the Lewis Pass, the road passes vast areas covered with toi-toi. Seen in the late afternoon, with the sunlight lighting them from behind, their plumed heads take on a honey-coloured delicacy that invites one to feel their soft texture.
A summer evening drive up the Buller Gorge amply rewards the visitor. To be really effective the moon needs to be high. Its light is reflected from the surface of the deep waters, and out-lined against it rise massive trunks of bushland trees. Gleaming eyes picked up by the headlights of the car may prove to belong to an opossum, or one may even surprise a deer which clatters away in alarm and leaps up the high banks skirting the road, to be followed by receding crashes in the undergrowth as it flees up the mountainside. Past Tiriroa, about twelve miles up the Gorge, where is situated a constructional camp, glow-worms gleam beside the road.
Youth—enthusiastic, critical, but at all times optimistic—this was the keynote of the Young Maori Conference which was held recently at the Auckland University College. Intelligent young Maoris from all parts of the North Island—men of college and university education, teachers, Training College students and ministers-gathered together to discuss at the round table the problems which so vitally concern the welfare of the native race. In the background, but constantly guiding and suggesting, were the elders under the leadership of Sir Apirana Ngara. Native Department officials, health officers and expert educationists gave the benefit of their specialised knowledge and training in the most outstanding attempt yet made to find a solution to questions which should be the vital concern of every New Zealander.
No diffidence was shown by these young Maoris in getting down to bed-rock. They spared no feelings. They were ever ready to admit their own racial weaknesses. Best of all, and most heartening to Maori elders and pakeha observers alike, was the firmly expressed intention to preserve, for all time, the character of their race, to carry on all that is best and noblest in Maori tradition—to wipe away the blemishes and to make some really tangible effort “to build a nation of New Zealand.”
Little wonder then that with the delegates entering into the discussions with such enthusiasm and with such responsibility to the future, the conference should have concluded with such a distinct atmosphere of achievement. Dr. H. Belshaw, Professor of Economics at Auckland University College, who probably more than any