OPENING OF THE DUNEDIN AND CHRISTCHURCH RAILWAY.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5446, 10 September 1878, Page 2

OPENING OF THE DUNEDIN AND CHRISTCHURCH RAILWAY.

THE JOURNEY BACK TO CHRISTCHURCH. (from our own correspondent.) ■Christchurch, Monday. Wo arrived at . twenty minutes to eight o’clock this’evening, more than an hour behind time. ■ The delay was caused by the wet rails. The train was longer than .on Friday. The weather has been very diasagreeable, and we have to-day passed through about two hundred: miles of rain and an enormous and incalculable quantity of “ unearned increment.” The plains looked very dreary, and at times the mist prevented anything being ssen at a distance of more than a couple of miles off. The immense fields of ploughed land in Canterbury and the vast areas cf ground with the young crop just springing up are astonishing to those who do not know the mode adopted for getting -the. land cropped with grain prior to having it laid in grass. The rain was greatly wanted in the Oamaru district, and in some parts of Timaru. The farmers now have plenty. Pass ing along the brink was more dangerous to-day, for the reason that the water was rushing down the hills, forming cascades, which threatened to bring down pieces of rock, roots of trtes, and big landslips. Should a slip occur while a train is parsing in all probability the carriages would fall over the precipice. 3ome of the passengers could not bear to look out, but as the train creeps along very slojyly the danger is not at all as great as some may think. A start was made from Dunedin at a quarter past 7, and Palmerston, forty-three miles distance, was reached at 10. Here' there was a short stoppage, and a great scramble was made for the hotel. At Oamaru there was a large attendance of spectators on the platform. This was the luncheon station, and those who got into the room found plenty of cold meat and sandwiches, with an unlimited supply of beer, wines, and spirits, provided by the local committee. At Timaru there was a general scramble for a meal, for which halca-crown was charged, but a good many thinking it was free left without paying. Owing to the cold weather eatables and drinkables were in great demand, and another rush took place at Ashburton. People took what they could get and were thankful. In the train there were two Pullman’s cars, one of which was used by the Governor and suite. The other was rushed the first thiug this morning, and those who got seats were well rewarded, for there is an absence of the jarring and noise that makes travelling in some of the cars so tiring and annoying. Riding in number 95 was comparatively a luxury. The train was within 120 miles of Christchurch at 2.16, eighty miles at twenty minutes past four. There was no fast running to-day daring any part of the journey. It is said that several excursionists have been left behind at some of the stations, but I cannot learn their names. A great many people came to the Dunedin station to sec the visitors off.

.All the excursionists are highly pleased with the hospitality both public and private which they received, and there is not one who will not look back with pleasure to his trip to Dunedin on the occasion of the opening of this large section of the grand trunk line. The Christchurch people have taken the matter much more coolly than the Duncdiaites, and Oamaru seems to have felt more interest in the event than did Timaru. A special train leaves for Lyttelton at halt-past ten, and the Taupo and Hinemoa will probably start for Wellington after eleven.