The Oamaru Mail. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. THURSDAY DECEMBER 11, 1879.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1141, 11 December 1879, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. THURSDAY DECEMBER 11, 1879.

If t&ose entrnsteit -witFt the- managemenc of oar railways have performed any act that wiU h;vvs th.*.- etTect of causing them toi live in She memory of thw people of this (folotiy i« % tfett they have wmieteefM in (rtilisi-ng ti»W Zealan.! timf- ■ hey have overeome the inJttouaeii that htwt sprung Bp in eonn-t'c-tiOtt -with a I'arg<- enal trade with thw 6wob with- wincb the foreign artiele was vand; the antipathy that towards the pcoitnetiona of the mines' o£ the Colony. Tho- cage for *\merti;an timber has <iied away,, too substantial pvoofs having been realrsed that we have better here. Newcastle coat now fotfows ini it» wake, ntavtjr again to be reinstated, it woutlel appear, as fitet on our railways.. Tbns ace our money and natural resources being shephorded in a manner that is not only destrablii bat necessary in a new country. By nsmg the produetions of onr own timber milK we get a better arttele, the dnraMtity of which " wouttt have saved the I'oCony rnaivy tfeowsandsi of pnnnds haet it been oaed from- the first in the construction of our railways. Tin' Minister for l*nbi ■- Works, in making his statement, verified this wh n tic stilted that it has been found neceasar >■ to remove decayed Amenvan sleepers from certain iff the raitwtiys.. We do not profess that our eoat is better than that from Newcastle for railway purposes. F.nt Ve hear that it is a.? good, anil very mueh cheaper* have been aff* irdetl some in* formation on tlia subject, whit'ii witl prove interesting to our readers. Lately Shag Point coat has been exclusively used on the tender engine ot the half-past 9 a.m. goo.Ls train that runs between E'atmerston an«t Oamacu. the engine having, by means of some slight alterations, heen adapted to theuso o£ the new t'tXeL The consumption of Newcastfe eoat for a week waa ahocit tons and a half, at L- per ton. Kather mora •of the Sfiai* Point coal is consumed, but the •cost is onty 13s per ton. and a careful experiment made by the department proved that by tie anbatttntion oi Shag Point for Newcaatla coat a saving of LO ptr weefc on the expense of running the good* train iti ■((uestion has been effected. It has. therefore. been shown, that we have an alrnoat unlimited supply of that which forms a very important item, in the expense of conducting 'our railways, and it is satisfactory to know that the Government recognise this fact, and will consume nothing but Colonial coal on , the' railways on the expiration of the con- ' tracts at present existing for the supply of N«wcratr« coat. It wilt be a great «h»y for thw Colony when the coasting steamer proprietors follow the example of the teovernraj,at. Wer can anderstanet that it part ot thu; buainass of that steamers trading between here and AnstraKa to tcatEe in Newcastle -coat, that in J»«W Z"»£;«>d being tr*>* sn<tfi>P thojr purposes. But we h''pe tr.".t ]S6«"irsi»4 (k drawing near when their surplus wilt not tintl a market he-re. Ef tn» ever to- bu a wealthy country, we mnet h«t»ban<£ our ri.:stntrees.