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New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) SATURDAY, JANUARY 13, 1877.

Not long since a special correspondent of. this journal 'talked over the’ railway works from' the Upper Hutt to Featherston, and Resides'giving an account of the progress of construction of the line, made some remarks; v on rtho route ■ which had been chosen for it which have met with pretty general acceptance. The same correspondent is on a visit to the West Ooast of the’ 'Wellington ProvincialDistrict, and we have before us a communication from him 'which seems to us to demand that particular attention should be given to it. As out readers are aware, it is proposed at-present by. the Goverfamerit ultimately to connect the West Coast with- Wellington- by rail, by a line from Palmerston through the Manawatu Gorge to Woodville, . arid from thence through the Seventy-mile Bush to Mastertbn.’ Now,' ouf correspondent, who has been at some pains to go over the ground .he writes about, points out that there are numerous , objections to this route, and that an alternative one is open which would do much’ to develop a district of surpassing richness, yet almost at present, in consequence of difficulty of access,"a: 'terra incognita. On the whip hand, as one rides along the beach " from Waikanae to Foxton, lying inside the coast sand hills, is a belt of country af present splendidly timbered, suitable, when cleared, for agri- ■ cultural settlement of the most favorable character, embracing flat land as it approaches the sea, foot hills inside this, and between these and the main range of mountains magnificent valleys. Our correspondent notices one of these valleys in particular, lying a few miles inland from the Maori settlement at Otaki,’ which, he describes as having thousands upon thousands of acres of magnificent soil. This slip of land widens as it goes north from Waikanae until at between Foxton and. Palmerston it is some thirty miles across. Now, as things go at present, this land is, hermetically sealed to settlement. Very small craft can enter the Otaki and the Oban, which run through it, and can bring supplies to its fringe ; and a carrying trade is done between the scanty settlements- that' lie on its verge and Wellibgton by a.difficult route which crosses unbrldged ririd treacherous rivers, and climbs-the Paikakariki. ; : ' A road js contemplated running through it along the foot hills| which would certainly be an advantage, but which would only enable settlers to 'hold intercourse with Wellington by' rail, by a most roundabout route: they would ;have :to go north’ to : the 1 Palmerston s line, i. arid fhen'sorith by. the Gorge, Masterton, arid the' Rirnutaka. With the experience already .acquired by the construction of the line over the Rirnutaka, '.it is ,becoming painfully, apparent that a railway line through the‘ Manawatu Gorge will be ia work expensive and difficult in the extreme, and,, rip has; been pointed out, will after, all only put that portion of the West Coast which- lies north‘of the present Foxton and Feilding line in railway com'raunicatiori with Wellington. It may be said here that anyone who will- read this, article g uided by one of the rail way maps' issued by the Public Works department,' will be ’’at price'able'to notice that pur correspondent has written to us -what is 'rliterally, correct. ."Now,, as jhe points put;, the investigations of /the surveyors, employed by .the late Provincial Government of. Wellington have, shown that, in the first place, 1 no earthlyreaspn exists why the West 'Gorist railway line ffoni Palmerston shriuld "not he brOught down that coast to Wellington, passingthrough and opening up the land so fit for development between Waikanae arid Palirierston, rind avoiding the construction of a line through the Manawatu Gorge, for which, as he undertakes to show, there is no necessity, and with re-

’gard to the construction and working of which' his • visit to the Rimutaka has caused him tb entertain no inconsiderable dubiety. The Paikakariki, rearing its head from the beach in a slope only just removed from the perpendicular’, and ascended by a road second only in steepness, curvature, and danger to that oyer the Rimutaka, has been pointed out as presenting insuperable difficulties to the prolongation Of a line from Palmerston in the direction, of Wellington, via the West Coast, beyond Waikanae. But the surveys we mentioned have shown that an easy line of road or railway can be carried from Waikanae to Pahaytanui, at the land sideof the Paikakariki, and from Pahautanui to on the Hutt railway, there is already a road and a route, along which a railway could be taken. In no part of tlie line from Waikanae to Belmont would there be a gradient exceeding one in thirty, or a curve dangerous to pass around.. In. addition .to this, as our readers are aware, a most important line of road, and of consequent railway, has been surveyed, and is being cleared and formed in ;places, from the Upper Hutt to Waikanae, so that from the latter to the Hutt railway there are absolutely alternative routes for a. railway. Our’ correspondent, after practical inspection, pronounces in favor of that via Pahautanui to Belmont, as. placing the Small Farms settlement and a beautiful summer seaside resort in railway communication with the capital, and furthermore tending to develope the country between Pahavttahui and Belmont; The anticipated objection to all this is that its carrying out would leave the terminus of the Wairarapa Valley line at Masterton, which would not be placed in railway, communication with any district further north; but our correspondent points out that the true railway extension should leave the Manawatu Gorge, and altogether should run to Woodville through the Seventy-mile Bush and Scandinavian settlements, and thence to meet the Napier and Waipukurau railway at the latter place, thus practically opening up East and West Coast to Wellington. The saving in avoiding the Manawatu Gorge altogether would go a great way towards compensating for the extra - cost involved in the construction of the line via Waikanae and Pahautanui. We have said that our correspondent’s letter, which we have practically reproduced in full here, is well worthy of consideration, and it is with that view that, we have given (his arguments and deductions their present prominence.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTIM18770113.2.7

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4933, 13 January 1877, Page 2

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,042

New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) SATURDAY, JANUARY 13, 1877. New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4933, 13 January 1877, Page 2

New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) SATURDAY, JANUARY 13, 1877. New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4933, 13 January 1877, Page 2

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