THE MIDLAND RAILWAY. PROGRESS OF THE WORKS. CHRISTCHURCH, February 27.

Otago Witness, Issue 2817, 4 March 1908, Page 88

THE MIDLAND RAILWAY. PROGRESS OF THE WORKS. CHRISTCHURCH, February 27.

A start has been made with the erection' of the power-house at the termination ' of the Holt's Creek pipe line in connection, ; with the Midland railway tunnel. It will be a massive modern building, end will contain some of the most up-to-date machinery of its class to be found in the> Southern Hemisphere. Mr Murdoch M'Lean, who, it will be remembered, went Home some time ago in search of the necessary machinery and appliances, has secured in the Old Land! what is deemed the highest class plant.. Part of it will be coming to hand shortly, and the balance is due with Mr M'Lean, who leaves London for New Zealand on March 6. On the pipe line the timber and debrirf have been disposed of, and the work now-, in consequence of the amount of solid rock to be blasted, progresses much more slowly than formerly. It will be necessary on this, as on the Punoh Bowl supplyj route, to bore a small drive through.. Luckily it will be much shorter than on' the line from the Punch Bowl supply*. The hardness of the rook is making drilling a. protracted operation. M chain or two extra is not to be trifled) with. The survey of the «upply for the Bealey end ia practically completed, and it has been found that the drive here to bring tha water through will be 18 chains in length.. It is a matter for congratulation that this most dangerous work has been successfully accomplished with nothing worse than at sprained ankle, which Mr Staveley wu unfortunate enough to sustain in jumping down some 12ft to endeavour to save one of the staff who was in difficulties. The tunnel face changes little from day, to day. It still comprises large rocks and gravel, but time will work wonders. The first accident of any moment hap* pened last Saturday evening on the Holt's Creek pipe line. A large blast had been , fired, and the men were returning to work; and were climbing up the hillside fullj) 30ft away from the shot, when some tons of rocks that had become loosened by tha concussion tumbled down-, striking a lodge! of rock. The mass burst into a thousand! pieces, the fragment* flying in all directions among the men. A man named? Owen Kelly fared the worst, being struck on the head, back, and foot. His foot was rather severely crushed, and his head? badly out about.' He was attended to on. the ground by his mates, and was them carried down to the riverbed, where ho was conveyed in a. cart to the station andl on. to the Greymouth Hospital. Threa other men were more or less knocked about, but not seriously. "It seems almost a miracle," said one of the men in' the course of conversation, " that we were not ail killed, as the boulders fell likv leaves in autumn around us." The men are unanimous that it was one of those accidents that no one could foresee or endeavour to prevent. M'LeaJiville had >ts first fire last weelr, when one of the huts built to accommodate the workers was totally destroyed*, with its contents. Messrs Oliver and) Kennedy were its occupants, and they lost absolutely everything bar the working clothes they wore. The origin of the fire is a mystery. The Roads Department is erecting aj bridge over the Otira. River tro the gorge, the one now in use for general traffio having- passed beyond repair. It will ba qufte close to the present one, but will ba at an angle much easier to negotiate, especially by teams of five or six horse?. The first pile of the horse bridge lower; down stream is being driven to-day. The co-operative workers are busy witH the big bank at Government Creek. Several batches of men have been placed on the railway works between Seddon and) Flaxbourne lately, and the total number now employed is about 165. The camp is situated at Lake Grasemere, and presents quite imposing proportions.