The Evening Star THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1873

Evening Star, Issue 3116, 13 February 1873, Page 2

The Evening Star THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1873

The idea of street tramways may bo somewhat novel to ns in New Zealand, but in America they are common enough, and in some towns of Great Britain they are used with great advantage to business, and security to persons traversing the streets. At first sight, the idea of tramways being laid down to forward the business of a city of twenty thousand inhabitants, seems almost too go-a-head. Many persons look upon them in the light of expensive luxuries rather than as aids to transit and cheap locomotion. Precisely the same contracted notions of their utility and enormous cost, prevail regarding them, as the Colony has had to battle with respecting the introduction of a railroad system. Perhaps the little experience Dunedin has had of the advantages of railway communication, as evinced in”thc certain success of the Port Chal.mers line,' may prepare the inhabitants of the City to consider whether or not a modification of the system adapted to City requirements may not result in equal advantages. A few stray thoughts respecting the means by which savings are effected by tramways, may assist us in tbe matter, and tend to show that Dunedin must either adopt a plan of that sort, or in a few years incur the enormous expense of widening tbe main street. In nothing has a greater mistake been made in laying out the streets of Dunedin than in the narrowness of the main thorough* fares. Perhaps no very serious inconvenience was felt in the early days of the City, when traffic was comparatively trifling; and it was somewhat novel to see more than one team in a street at the same moment. But the growing trade and importance of Dunedin are manifest to any who sees the number of vehicles meeting, following, and crossing each other’s tracks. The loading of a waggon at a store drawn up across the road causes an obstruction that renders careful driving absolutely necessary, and in many cases, latterly, little blocks hare occurred, reminding one that we are fast progressing towards the condition of some of the populous cities of Great Britain and America, in which trade has outgrown modes of transit. One great advantage of the tramroad system is that because of the rapidity with which ground is passed over, move traffic can be conducted in tbe same time, by a smaller number of vehicles, than by tbe ordinary roads, consequently thoroughfares are kept comparatively free, and dangers of accidents avoided, It is plain also tbe plant required for the transport of goods and passengers would bo less, au4 tpe capital invested in it, aud the labor employed, would be turned to better account. Then as to the cost of the road itself. Many mistakes are prevalent on this point. Because stone is abundant, and broken into fragments and laid on the surface of a road at comparatively less cost than an equal length of iron rails, it is assumed that it must ho cheaper to form roads of stones than of iron. But that is only a very partial view of the matter. The advantage of iron in the construction of roads is that on account of its hardness there is less friction, and consequently less wear and tear of the road itself and of the vehicles used, with a given amount of traffic. And this reduced friction has also the advantage of reducing the tractive power necessary. It is no uncommon thing for a powerful horse to draw with ease, on a level iron tramway, ten or fifteen tons, as any one may remember to have witnessed on the railways at Home, while shunting, or on the tramways laid down for transporting goods from the quay sides to the warehouses, in the neighborhood of the London Docks and the principal seaports of Great Britain, And whereas tp render a macadamised road useful, metal must ftp laid from one to two chains wide to render street traffic safe, two strips of iron, each a few inches in width, and throe or four feet apart, with the intervening space metalled, arc all that is needed for a tramway after the sleepers are properl) adjusted. Nor does the change involve the necessity of adapting existing vehicles to the new conditions. Street tramways offer no impediment to the barouclio, the cab, the buggy, the American waggon, or the clraj. They may be crossed aud rccrossed, or even travelled on, if tbe gauge fits, without derangement of exi sting forms of carriages. We apprehend therefore that, with so many advantages to recommend them, and so few drawbacks, the offer of Messrs O’Neill and Co. deserves, at any rate, favorable consideration. It is undoubtedly true that all parts of Dunedin capnot equally benefit by the tramroad system. Those who indulge in rural peeps and beautiful sea and hay views from elevated situations, must he content to reach their residences by weary climbs to their lofty homes. There is no help for them excepting when air balloons are taught to lift and place them at a bound at their door.sills. Street tram-* order to imitate guoh a feat, (

would need standing engines at every lull top, unless there were natural means at hand of overcoming the resistance of gravity; but all ratepayers would be participators in the lessened cost of keeping the main road in repair—no small consideration when the City rates are taken into account. Of course, there are those who will be ready to imagine their interests will suffer. We are not blind to that consideration, nor without sympathy for them, although the apprehension is to a great extent unfounded. But progress cannot be stopped because A. or B. has found it his interest to prosecute a particular calling adapted to certain social conditions. It is the common lot to meet new circumstances by yielding to their influences and shaping our course accordingly ; resistance to them can only end in loss.