PUBLIC WORKS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4483, 2 August 1875, Page 3

PUBLIC WORKS.

We have to chronicle' a circumstance that happened on July 27, corroborative of the fact that the Government are pushing forward the railway works between Foxton and Palmerston, namely, the shipping per Luna of two colonial made locomotive engines from our local firm, Mills and Co., of the Lion Foundry. These engines are constructed after the same model as those now in use on the Wellington and Masterton line. Their weight respectively is six tons, and their traction power is reckoned at twenty-horse power. They are capable of working up to lOOlbs. to the square inch, though at considerably under, this pressure a speed of fifteen miles per hour can be attained. The cost per engine is £6OO. A third engine is in process of construction, and is expected to be finished in a week's time. The last section of the Christchurch and Southbridge branch railway, fourteen miles in length, was formally opened on July 13. A public luncheon was given at Southbridge to commemorate the event. The Superintendent and all the members of the Executive were present. Southbridge is thirty-four miles from Christchurch. There are now about 180 miles of railway open in this province. The returns of traffic for the Auckland and Mercer Railway for the four weeks ending May 22nd, 1875, were—passengers and parcels, £443 18s. 10d.; goods, £2Ol 12s. lid.; making a total of £645 lis. 9d. For the Wellington and Masterton Railway, for the eleven days ending 30th June, 1875—passengers and parcels, £145 lis. 6d. ; goods, £l6 3s. 7d. ; total, £l6l 15s. Id. For the Napier and Waipukurau Railway, for the eleven days ending 30th June—passengers and parcels, £163 18s. 6A; goods, £IOB 4s. 2d.; total, £272 2s. Bd. The return of traffic on the Auckland and Mercer railway for the four weeks ending 19th June, is as follows :—Passengers, £1256 lis. Bd.; goods, £530 12s. 4d. ; total, £1784 7s. For eleven days ending 30th June—passengers, £378 lis. Sd.; goods, £230 7s. lid.; total, £6OB 19s. 7d. The North Otago Times of July Bth says : " During the last three days the contractors for the breakwater have been pushing vigorously on with another section of the work, no less than fifteen blocks having been laid during that time. Should the weather prove favorable for working, we may expect to see another eighteen feet of the wall finished probably by the end of this week, or the beginning of next." The same paper says:" Visitors on the wharf the last two days have been able to see a prompt style of discharging vessels, which we venture to say is unsurpassed in the colony. Heavy timber from the Chanticleer was being discharged at the wharf by cargo boats on Tuesday, not' in the old way, by one log at a time, but chains were put round the whole boat-load—probably four or five tons weight—and attached to the steam travelling crane, by which the timber was hoisted out in one lot. The crane was then run along the line to one of the trucks, and the boat-load of timber was deposited in it. At that rate it would not take long to discharge a large vessel, and put her cargo iu the trucks on the line of railway." A correspondent informs us that on the Mungaroa section of the railway works in this province there have been between 130 and 140 men employed during the past month. The tunnel. is now in one chain to the extreme length of the heading, and the heading is only a few yards in advance of the main opening. The masonry in two of the three culverts between the tunnel and the Upper Hutt railway station is finished, and that on the third is rapidly approaching completion. The various deep cuttings on the section are being pushed on with a will, and the quality of the work done is spoken very highly of. The large embankment near the top of the Mungaroa section is nearly finished. It is five chains in length, with a depth of 40ft., and a masonry culvert of 18in. The station and stationmaster's house in this locality are also finished, and will be taken over so soon as the metalling of the approach road shall have been completed. *

We hear that the dissatisfaction felt in Auckland as to the manner in which the railways in that province are managed, will be brought before Parliament by means of petitions which are nowin course of signature. Relative to a paragraph which appeared in the Times of Thursday, where a correspondent suggests that Tobin's method of ventilation should be adopted in the new hospital, we learn from Mr. Toxward, the architect, that the principle adopted in the new building is exactly similar to that of Tobin's, with this difference, that the tubes are built in the walls, and are provided with cast-iron bends, leading the fresh air into a straight tube, which can be shut off at pleasure. As the principle of ventilation is already included in the contract, no arrangement isf necessary to be made with the builders. We hear that Tobin's principle of ventilation was known in 1873, but has only lately come into use. Though experiencing the many hindrances which the inclemency of the season imposes upon all out-door work, Mr. O'Malley is making steady progress, in carrying out his contract for reclaiming the land. between the Lion foundry and the railway terminus. Several chains of the breastwork are already completed. The ground hitherto has been rather hard, increasing considerably the labor of driving the piles ; but this will be much lessened a few chains further along the line, where the ground is less tenacious. Between the portion of breastwork already completed and the engine sheds at the rear of the railway station, the new land is already formed, and appears to be settling down in a very solid and permanent manner. About forty-eight men are engaged in excavating the soil from the hill already mentioned. An engine and seven trucks take away the earth, leaving another seven behind, to be refilled in the meantime. At present the engine and trucks make about nineteen trips during the day. The contractor, however, hopes shortly to be able to secure some thirty trips a day, each bringing along fifteen trucks, as additional trucks have been ordered from Tasmania. It will, however, be apparent that the construction of the breastwork is the first point to be gained, or at least bo far as to be several chains in advance of the new land, bo as to protect it as much as possible from the wash of the sea. It may be added that the new land is made to advance in a line at right angles to the breastwork.