COMMUNICATION WITH THE GREENSTONE.

Grey River Argus, Volume VII, Issue 464, 5 January 1869, Page 2

COMMUNICATION WITH THE GREENSTONE.

The largest and most influentiallyattended public meeting ever held in Grey mouth, took place last night in Gil mer's large new hall, for the purpose of considering the beat means of establishing direct communication between Greymouth and the Greenstone diggings. E. Mastezs, Esq., Mayor, presided, and explained that he had called the meeting in consequence of a requisition which he had received, requesting him to do so. The object of the meeting was to consider the best means of directly communicating with, and supplying with goods a mining centre, which was within the boundaries of the Grey district, and which was now supplied from Hokitika. In order to afford some information on the subject, he would read a letter which he had received from the Acting Manager of the Rutherglen. Tramway :■=-■ Rutherglen, January 4, 1869. To His Worship E. Masters, Esq., Mayor of GreymotroK. A public meeting will be Held this evening, at Greynjouth, for the purpose of taking into, consideration the best mea^s to be adopted for insuring the Greenstone traffic to the Greymouth district. I, as the authorised manager of thj? Rutherglen Ti anyway, beg to state that the proprietors, fully aware of the importance of the increr.g 3d traffic toward* the Aew River and Greenstone districts, have applied for the extension of said tramway line to Card's Lower Stcre, New River. This extension will bring the tramway communication within five miles of the present centres, ami the intention of the proprietors is to pioceed vigorously with the work within at least a fortnight. I may here state that the proprietors' operations are based upon competent engineering advice showing this to be the shortest and most practicable way to reach the mining centres, and I bee therefore to proffer this information with thenope that it may be fouud of some real value to the subject to be discussed at the meeting. I have the honor to be, Your obedient servant, Wm. A. Heaton. The Mayor then called on Mr Harrison, t) move the first resolution. Mr Harrison said that he would very much rather that the duty imposed upon him had devolved upon some person better qualified than he was i to give the information that was necessary. He knew little of the country in question, but this he was fully aware: that at the present time the Greenstone diggings were perhaps the most important on the West Coast, and it was equally certain that they ought, as constituting a portion of the Grey district, to be brought within easy communication of Greymouth. As had been explained by the Chairman, the meeting had been caTei for the purpose of devising means for establishing this TJesire(}-e»H»munication. .There were two proposals which might suggest themselves : one was to Ltake advantage of the line of" communication already existing and continuing it to the Greenstone, and another was to make an entirely distinct and new route. In considering the question before them, they ana 1 ; If rk to what was most possible of accomplishment. It was probable that a line of. road, taken from the entrance, of the Omotomoto Creek, al^ng the easterh side of the Limestone Range, might open up a large •xtent of valuable anrifeioas country hitherto unkown ; but it was certain thai such a road would erst an amount of money that was not likely to be forthcoming, either from the pubic or the Go-. vernment. He might here state that the revenues of the County had, from various causes, fallen off very seriously, and he could not hold out much hope of any large sum of money beitig vote 1 for any single work for some time to come. His own opinion was, that the most feasible plan was to start from Card's lower store, up to which point the proprietors of the Saltwater and Riutberglen Tramway had expressed their willingness to continue their line. He had been informed that the country between Card's store and the Greenstone presented no special difficultiea in the way of a tramway or road, and the distance was only about six mi'es. It was a matter for discussion which was tha most useful and economical form of road ; but he was strongly of opinion that a tramway was preferable, because it cost little more than an ordinary road to construct, whilst it 3 cost for maintenance was infinitely less. He was aware that some misapprehension existed with regard to what had been done by the County Council with regard to making a road from the Greenstone to the beach, on the south side of the Teremakau. All that had been done was a resolution to the effect that a line of road as mentioned should be surveyed ; but he was n< t aware t lat any action had been taken in the matter. Certainly no road in that direction could he undertaken without the consent of "the County Council, and he should certainly oppose it, because he had reason to believe that, even supposing communication with the 1 each wrs n*c:ssary for the Greenstone diggings, this could more easily and cheaply be effected en the north bank of the river. He would, before moving the resoliition placed in his hands, read a portion of a report furnished by the County Engineer, on t! c best route for a road from Greymouth to the Greenstoone. The best line to connect the Gmnrtone wi h Greymouth would be by Rutre glen to Card's lower store on the New River, and from there up the Cock-eye, down one of the tributaries of the Blackwatcr to th 3 Blackwater, and from there over the terrace to tha Greenstone ; the distance this way from the south town belt to the Greersbone township would be about thirteen and a-half miles, and as Hamilton and Company are willing, I believe, to extend their line from Rutherglen to Card's lower store, goods would then* be carried seven and a-half miles of the distance by tramway, leaving only about six miles of road to make. The distance from Card's lower store to the Eight-mile township by Card's track up the New River and Eight-mile Creek is about eight and a-half miles. He then moved the following resolution : — "That in the opinion of this meeting it is desirable that steps should be taken by the inhabitants of Greymouth to secure direct communication between this town and the Greenstone." Mr E. B. Fox seconded the motion. Mi* J. Kilgour wished to ask Mr Harrison what term of lease would be granted to such a company by way of % guarantee ? The present tramway lines, with the exception of the Hokitika one, had tenure only from year to year. Mr Harrison said his presence them that night was a guarantee that he would,

endeavor in the Council to obtain for the company the most liberal terms possible, «ay seven or fourteen years' lease, but he would not bind himself to any definite proposal. The resolution was carried unanimously. In answer to a request froraMrKilgour, Mr Carrbras gave a description of the formation of the country over which the two proposed lines of route would pass, and the engineering difficulties which they would encounter. He concluded by strongly recommending the adoption ol the route proposed by Mr Harrison, and the carrying out of the scheme by the people of Greymouth alone, without making any appeal to the Government. Mr Kennedy ttpressed his entire approval of the tramway scheme, aa he believed it would be remunerative to the fthareholders, and would reduce the cost of carriage of goods to the Greenstone, from L2l to Uj per ton. Motions were moved by Mr J. Kilgour a.nd Mr W. H. Harrison, but afterwards withdrawn, naming a Committee to take the necessary steps for forming a tramway company, and asking the County Council to order the preliminary survey to be made. On these motions a conversation took place, which resulted in a motion being carried to the effect—" That a company ba formed, under the Limited Liability Act, for the purpose of conptructing a line of tramway from Card's Lower Store to the Greenstone Diggings ; the capital to be L 6900, in 600 shares of £10 each." Mr Kennedy seconded the motion, which was carried. Several gentlemen came forward and took up a considerable number of shares, but a number of objections were raised as to this mode of procedure, a,nd after a conversational discussion, Mr Kiloour moved—" That a subpcription list be opened for the purpose of making the preliminary survey of the proposed line ; and that the amount] so subscribed be considered part payment of ihe shares, taken up by the gentlemen so subscribing." Mr Thompson seconded the motion, which was carried. A list was at once opened, and LIOO subscribed in the room towards the cost of the preliminary survey, The town is to be canvassed, and a met ting of snbscribers called for the purpose of making the necessary arrangements, The meeting then ad(ou.rned,