IN THE WILDS
A VISIT TO WAINUI
PROGRESS OF THE SEMPLE CONTRACT
CITY COUNCILLORS SATISFIED
At the top of a gully two miles from the Morton Dam at Wainui-o-mata, eight huts, besides a kitchen and dining-room, are admirably sheltered in a clearing hewn out of thick native bush. Here fifteen men, the nucleus of a gang of between 40 and 60 which has undertaken with the City Council to pierce the Orongorongo Range, sleep and eat. The job is to be done on the co-operative principle, and the men have given their word of honour, to quote Mr. Semple, that the work will be pushed through vigorously, minus strikes and minus go-slow, and minus many of the other things which have greatly interfered with similar undertakings in the past.
“No forces on this God’s earth will stop us as far as that is concerned,” says Mr. Semple, and it is safe to say that no City Councillor doubts his sincerity.
What of the other side? Will the Council ultimately regret its bargain, or will it be persuaded that it has done something wrong in entering upon the present experiment? If there be any doubt upon these points, the Mayor (Mr. R. A. Wright, M.P.) put the position quite plainly. He said yesterday: “We are going to stand firmly behind these men. If the experiment is a success, it will be an object lesson for the whole Dominion.”
A MODEL CAMP
It was at the direct invitation of the co-operative workers now engaged at Wainui that members of the City Council paid a visit of inspection yesterday. Mr. Semple acted as guide, and he appeared to impart to everybody present his own enthusiasm.
“Semple is heart and soul in this job,” said one councillor, and others were only too willing to agree.
The camp itself is a model one, and the City Council must be given credit for housing the men so comfortably. Each hut is provided with an open fireplace, and sleeping accommodation for two men. Cleanliness is evidently the watchword. It is as though the touch of a woman’s hand has shared in the arrangements. The one woman in the camp is the cook, and yesterday’s visitors will vouch for the fact that she is an excellent cook.
They were agreeably surprised yesterday when they found that they could choose a meal from a menu which would read something like this: — Soup — vegetable; roasts — mutton and beef; vegetables — boiled potatoes, baked potatoes, baked parsnips, cauliflower; sweets — plum pudding, peach pie, apple pie.
It is on such fare as this that the men live day by day, and those who know the conditions under which they are working will begrudge them nothing of it. They have only one substantial meal each day.
THE FIRST CO-OPERATIVE JOB
The first job given to the co-operative contractors was the construction of a road from the Morton Dam to the camp. This was no simple task. The new road, the condition of which has greatly improved since the Council’s last visit in February, was cut through standing bush. Great trees had to be removed from the path and the road metalled, first of all with river-bed shingle and later from the metal taken out of the tunnel as the drive proceeded.
Now there is a good solid road despite the time of the year, the wet weather, and the fact that the sun never strikes it. The road was put through in excellent time, to the absolute satisfaction of the city officials. The big logs, and some of the smaller ones, which were taken out, were cut into suitable lengths and used for the timbering of the tunnel, for sleepers, and for numerous other things. There are still in hand many sleepers, waiting for the time when the tunnel will be proceeded with and the trucking distance lengthened.
PIERCING SOLID ROCK
It has already been explained in The Post that the tunnel has been bored a distance of 247 ft only. The work stopped for one reason only — the rock became too hard for the use of hand drills.
Mr. Semple showed how hard the rock really is. A pick made absolutely no impression upon it. Sparks flew in every direction but that was all. Three or four hard knocks and the point of the pick was gone. He tried a heavy sledgehammer. He struck a projecting piece of rock a dozen times. Still no impression.
Charges of dynamite correctly placed work wonders, but in order to insert the necessary charges a dozen holes must be drilled. Hand drills were tried — and found wanting. Forty steel drills were rendered blunt in the process of driving only one foot, and the operation occupied a whole shift — eight hours.
Hand drills, therefore, were out of the question. The piercing of the tunnel would take a dozen years. So the hand drills were discarded and the men are now waiting for the power necessary to operate compressed-air drills, such as those used in Courtenay Place and Lambton Quay when new tram rails were laid down.
A LONG ZIG-ZAG TRACK
Work for idle hands was soon found. It is proposed to bore the tunnel from the Orongorongo end and the Wainui end simultaneously. There was no track of any sort through the dense bush to the Orongorongo side, and such a track is necessary if the men working there are to be supplied with provisions, and in order to bring in an injured man in case of accident.
A contract for the formation of this track was let to the co-operative workers. When completed the track will be over three miles long. It has already been formed from the present camp to the top of the hill, 2500 ft above sea level, at which height there was on Tuesday a heavy fall of snow. The grade of the track averages 1 in 4, and it, too, has been cut zig-zag through dense virgin bush — heavy, rough work, well done, as those who climbed to the heights yesterday will be prepared to testify.
Walking steadily, it takes a fit man well over an hour to reach the top of the track from the camp, and nearly as long to come down the slippery surface. Is it any wonder that they have an appetite for substantial food? At this time of the year conditions in the bush are anything but pleasant, and it must be admitted that so far the men have done wonderfully well. The whole track, it is hoped, will be completed in about two months’ time. By then the power for the drills should be almost available.
HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER
The power station is being constructed just below the Morton Dam, in a line with the overflow. The water now going to waste is to be utilised to drive a turbine, which will generate electricity — 80 horse-power — to drive the compressing plant. It is calculated by the engineers that for seven months in the nine there will be sufficient water to drive the turbine.
An auxiliary steam plant will be installed in order to provide power during the summer months. The boiler has been taken to a spot some distance from the Lower Basin at Wainui, and is now supported on the side of the road. If the weather continues fine, it will be transported to the site of the powerhouse on Friday, and immediately set in place.
A bridge over which it must pass has been strengthened to receive a weight of 11 tons — 7½ tons for the boiler and the remainder for the lorry which will pull it. The turbine plant was ordered from Sweden, as no British manufacturer could guarantee delivery this year. As it is, the plant will reach Wellington in two months’ time.
It is not proposed to wait until the turbine plant arrives before power is generated. The steam plant will be put into operation as soon as possible. The compressed air will be conveyed to the tunnel for the purpose of driving the drills.
CONGRATULATIONS
Yesterday, after the visitors had seen all there was to be seen, the Mayor thanked Mr. Semple and his staff for the invitation, and the ladies for the way in which they had cooked and served the meals. The cleanliness of the camp “would do credit to any hotel in New Zealand.” As far as the actual work was concerned he expressed satisfaction at the good and solid nature of the progress already made.
He had crossed swords with Mr. Semple politically, but politics did not count in such a contract. It was a business transaction pure and simple, and he believed it was going to turn out well. The men seemed to be working solidly and well, without any “bother and nuisance.” If the men made more money at the job than they would make under more favourable conditions, they deserved it (hear, hear).
“I am glad I came today,” he said, “because I will be better able to answer the Council’s critics.” He congratulated Mr. Semple and added that Mr. Morton was never done talking about the satisfactory manner in which the work was proceeding.
The fallacy that we could live without working had been exploded. Somebody had to do the work, and a body of men who took on a contract such as that taken on by Mr. Semple and his men deserved every encouragement.
Councillor McKenzie endorsed Mr. Wright’s remarks. He was satisfied that the men at Wainui would earn every shilling they received. The best answer to the critics would be to take them out to see the conditions under which the men were working.
In his reply Mr. Semple reiterated his determination to push on in an endeavour to establish a record, and, incidentally, paid a tribute to the City Engineer, Mr. Morton, with whom, he said, he had had no difficulties. Sometimes Mr. Morton was hard, but when he said “no,” he meant it; when he said “yes,” he meant it; he was not a shuffler.
Cheers were given for the co-operative workers.
