C.—l

74

Martin's Boad. —This is a branch road of the Hutt-Waikanae Eoad, for which the Hutt County Council was granted £50, to be expended to the satisfaction of this department. This has been done in the following work : 36 chains of dray-road 12 ft. wide has been formed, 16 chains metalled 9 ft. wide, 7 chains of drains cut, and four culverts, each 14 ft. in length, have been laid. A considerable amount of work has been done on this road by an adjoining settler, and the Government grant, with assistance from the County Council, has satisfactorily completed it. Whiteman's Valley Boad. —This road passes through open country, and is nearly all sideling formation. A sum of £200 was granted to the Hutt County Council, which has been expended satisfactorily in widening a 6 ft. track to 12 ft., and metalling about 12 chains 9 ft. wide. Several timber culverts and pipe drains have also been laid. One mile of this road is at present under construction, which, when completed, will still leave 57 chains of road to be formed to connect the Upper with the Lower Whiteman's Valley. This work is required to be done for the purpose of giving access to some education reserves. Paekakariki-Waikanae-Hadfield Boad. —This road forms a portion of the main north-western line, commencing at a point north of Paekakariki, and extending to Hadfield. The Hutt County Council received a grant of £500, and the Horowhenua County Council £453 7s. lid., to aid in the construction, which has been carried out subject to the supervising inspection of this department. In consequence of a difficulty about the route, and also a crossing over the Wellington and Manawatu Eailway, the Hutt County Council has been compelled to suspend expenditure for some time. Satisfactory arrangements, however, have been made by which all additional crossings will be avoided, and the formation is consequently being proceeded with. The only work done by this local body before the termination of the year has been the cutting of an outlet-drain 32 chains in length, which, with the private drains already in existence, has perfected a system of drainage for the whole swamp. The Horowhenua County Council have displayed considerable activity on their portion of the road north of Waikanae. The line passes through a swamp, thereby necessitating considerable expenditure on drainage. The following work has been done by this local body : 2 miles 2 chains of road-line has been felled and cleared of scrub, 2 miles 32 chains formed 16 ft. wide, 30 chains metalled 13i ft. wide; two large culverts of a total length of 44 ft. have been laid ; and two miles and a half of drains cut, in which is included the laying of 110 ft. of 18 in. and 400 ft. of 8 in. pipes. This Council maintains eight miles and a half of this road. Moonshine Boad. —A grant of £100 was expended by the Hutt County Council through this, department upon the construction of 50 chains of this road, 30 chains of which has been metalled to a width of 9 ft. The local body is pushing the work on this road with energy, having already formed another 30 chains, and intend extending it still further. Land foe Settlements. Aurora Boad (Paparangi Estate). —Since the engineering survey was completed work has been pushed forward with energy on this settlement. A good dray-road, 16 ft. wide, has been constructed from Johnsonville Township to the Horokiwi Eoad, which not only gives access to the sections lately taken up, but will be greatly used by Horokiwi settlers to get to the Johnsonville Eailway-station. The following are the details of work done : 1 mile 77 chains of road engineered, 8 chains of road-line felled and cleared of scrub, If miles formed, 758 cubic yards of rock excavated, I chain of drains cut, and 15J chains of footpaths formed and kerbed. One single-span bridge, 14 ft. long, has been erected; one 24 in. by 24 in. culvert and one 48 in. by 48 in. have been laid, and 245 ft. of 9in. pipes and 240 ft. of 18in. pipes have been inserted. General . During the Easter floods, and also during the recent fires which desolated the country, the Inspectors, Eoad Overseers, foremen, and workmen worked with unselfish zeal, saving the bridges and other public property in many cases at the risk of their lives. In several instances the men lost their sight for a time ; and many settlers, including their wives and families, have occasion to remember the conflagration, likewise the noble manner in which the co-operative workmen battled for them, in order that their farmhouses, fences, crops, orchards, cattle, sheep, &c, might escape the devouring elements. The floods above referred to were remarkable on account of the waters rising to an abnormal height; in many instances trees which had existed for more than a hundred and fifty years, also hundreds of acres of valuable bush, were carried away by the raging torrents. None of the bridges, with one exception—viz., the Mangawharariki Bridge—was destroyed, and this may easily be understood when it is stated that the water rose in the Mangawharariki Stream 33 ft. above ordinary level in a few hours. A great deal of timber, sawn and ready for use in constructing bridges, culverts, &c, was lost. The total damage amounted to £5,344. The number of contracts let and completed amounted to 325, and there were also sixty-eight in various stages of completion. 9 miles 29 chains of dray-road and 45 miles 18 chains of bridletrack were constructed; 8 miles 45 chains of dray-road and 45 chains of horse-road were widened; II miles 79 chains of dray-road and 31 chains of horse-road were metalled ; 45,319 cubic yards of rock were excavated, and 151,410 cubic yards of slips were removed; 103 miles 63 chains of drayroad and 130 miles 66 chains of horse-road was maintained; 79 miles 32 chains of roads were engineered; 47 miles 10 chains of bush was felled and cleared; and 632 culverts, of a total length of 10,477 ft., were constructed. In addition to this vast amount of work, mention might be made of the scrub-clearing, tunnelling, opening of side drains, fencing, road-grassing, &c, which had to be undertaken. The average number of men at work per week during the past period amounted to 308, and the average number of men off work per week or those taking off time was 338. The lowest rate