59

C—l

Lake Te Anau Jetty. —The Wallace County was authorised to spend £100 on a jetty, to be erected near the hotel at that place, for the convenience of tourists and others, and I fixed on the ■site and approved plans and specifications, but the work has not yet commenced. Riverton-Oreimki Road. —A grant of £250 was made to the Wallace County for clearing and forming a road leading from Pahi Village, parallel to the railway, as far as Section 26, Block IV., Longwood District, a distance of about two miles. A contract for this work has been let, but it will not be completed before the end of May. Otautau Bridge. —A subsidy of £250 was granted to the Wallace County for erecting a bridge ■over Jacob's Biver, at the Bed Bluff, near Otautau, and a contract has been entered into for a bridge of 320 ft. span, at a cost of £634. This work will probably be completed before the end of July. Wrey's Bridge. —£l,ooo was granted to the Wallace County for this work, and tenders have been let for a bridge of 520 ft. span over Jacob's Eiver, at about a mile below Wrey's Bush, at a cost of £940 9s. Bd. The work is expected to be finished about the middle of next October. Waimatuhu Bush. —A grant of £100 has been made to the Southland County to complete one mile of gravelling and formation of road through the bush, but, as the authority for expenditure has only lately been received, it will be some weeks before the work is done. Blocks 11. and 111., Campbelltown. —A grant of £100 has been made to the Southland County for expenditure on the road through these blocks, but the money has not yet been expended. Waikaiva Road. —Three miles of this road, between the townships of Niagara and Waikawa, have recently been completed under supervision of Mr. C. H. Howarth, Engineer to the Southland ■County. The formation is 20ft. wide, and substantial stone and earthenware culverts have been laid. The bush portion has been felled 1 chain wide and cleared 33ft. in centre ; 35 chains of sidedrains have been cut in swampy places. The embankment along the shore of the Waikawa Harbour, for a distance of 17 chains, has been faced with rubble, to protect it from the tide-wash during easterly weather. The cost to date is £1,644, but to complete the work it will be absolutely necessary to gravel the remaining 107 chains, in order that the jetty and goods-shed may be used and full advantage taken of the large sum already expended, for without this the road is impassable for wheel-traffic during all but the finest weather. Waikawa Jetty and Goods-shed. —This work has been completed about three months, and is used by small craft and steamers, there being 7ft. of water during the lowest tides, with a rise of from 6ft. to Bft. The jetty is 225 ft. long, having a T 40ft. x 20ft., and is provided with an iron tramway and trolly for conveying goods to the shed, with which it is connected. The shed is 50ft. x 30ft., well built, and painted with haematite. The contractors, Messrs. Kennedy, carried out the work in a very creditable manner. The cost was £914. Waikawa-Gatlin' s Road. —The first mile of this road was handed over to the Southland County to construct, and was completed a few weeks ago. The work comprised a bridge over Waikawa Eiver of two spans of 40ft. each, resting on masonry piers, 40 chains of formation, 80 chains of tussocking, ten log culverts, and 15-j- chains of side-drains, at a cost of £407. During last winter tenders were invited for clearing and logging-up eighteen additional sections of this road, each about one mile in length. This work was arranged on exceptionally easy terms so far as the conditions went, in order that persons out of regular employment might avail themselves of it; but, as a matter of fact, no persons representing what are commonly called the unemployed actually carried out any of these contracts; and, although the work should all have been finished before the close of last year, only seven miles out of eighteen have been finished. It was found necessary to engage an inspector to see that the work was properly done, and to measure up the portions completed when progress-payments were made. The cost to date has been £562 45., including inspection. Orepuki-Wairaurahiri Road. —Three miles and 13 chains of this road (including a branch of about one mile in length to the mouth of Waiau Eiver) have been cleared and formed at a total cost of £924 9s. Id. This amount, however, includes an engineering survey of 5-J miles, for which tenders have been accepted for felling and logging-up, at a cost of £374. This work is expected to be completed about the end of next October, and will open the road up to the bridge site chosen at the Waiau river. Some 15,000 acres will be rendered more accessible by this road. Stewart Island. —No new roadworks have been undertaken this year, but arrangements have been made for effecting some trifling repairs on the track constructed round Half-moon Bay, and the unexpended balance of the vote, about £140, will be kept in hand to assist in clearing roads to lands now under survey for settlement. Clifton to Seaward Bush. —£200 was granted to the Borough of South Invercargill for works as follow : 46 chains outfall drain for Tramway Eoad, 43-| chains bush-felling, and 32 chains corduroying on Bloxall Eoad, and the balance to be expended on extending gravelling on Scott Street and Engineer's commission. As these works were undertaken for the special benefit of the surrounding small settlers, they were invited to tender at half the actual value of the works, giving their labour as an equivalent for prospective benefits ; but this arrangement has, as might have been expected, led to considerable trouble, and two persons have abandoned the works, consequently these are still unfinished. In addition to the above, £20 was authorised to be spent in opening a few chains of road through Sections 9 and 12, Block IV., Seaward Bush, but the work has not yet been carried out. Waikaiva to Wyndham Valley Road.- —£soo has been authorised for expenditure on this road, but hitherto I have not seen my way to lay out the money, as the line has only been located a short distance up the valley. It is, however, proposed to put a bridge over the Waikawa Eiver, and to form a section of about one mile in length in the neighbourhood of Scrubby Hill; and Mr. Howarth. has been instructed to prepare the necessary specifications. This road will give access to some 5,000 acres of Crown land, besides 7,000 acres of education endowments.