The Envercargill Times TUESDAY, JULY 21, 1863.

Southland Times, Volume 2, Issue 74, 21 July 1863, Page 2

The Envercargill Times TUESDAY, JULY 21, 1863.

In a formev issue we noticed the • r i ■ of Mr Davies, (of ih»* firm of D-ivi. sad Clark), the patrn X's of tiiG wnon-i. railway, whoy we undcrsiafH). is prepared, and anxious to lay down ;i sufficient length of line to thoroughly test the scheme-; at. the same time we expressed a hope that, the Government would afford him the opportunity, even though by so doing some expense mi«hi be incurred. Tnis we would ur^c most strongly before acion be taken in the matter by the Provincial Council. The scheme we : re led to believe has been tested in Australia and found to succeed, but to be perfectly certain of its doing so iv a country so dissimilar in climate, and with such different wood f< r material, nothing short of testing n oupht to suffice. It is true that Australian timber could be imported for the rails, but this would render, the expense of construction considerably greater than would be the case were the timber along the line of road used ; this consists principally of red pine — whether it would answer is a moot question. We have noticed that the old wooden sleepers of the jetty tramway, composed of this wood have rotted in numerous places under the iron rail, aud this is more likely to occur, of course, where the wood is covered by a substance, and quick evaporation cannot take place ; but it is possible that even when exposed to the full influence of sun and air, the red pine rails will warp or strip. We understn 1 that the greatest danger to he feared is the slipping of the wheel's on the rails. Should this be considerable the break will have to be applied severely, and if ro, the stripping of the wot.den rail will ensue ; all these matters can only be satisfactorily determined by a trial of at least some months — besides which, the line ought to be laid down in some place where the traffic is considerable. The place which offers the greatest advantages, in our opinion, not only to test the practicability of the scheme, but, should it prove successful, to be of permanent benefit to the town, is along the batiks of the New River Kstuarv, from the head of the jetty northwards, crossing the Puni Creek, aud ending in the reserve at present fenced in for the survey pad docks at the back of the Court-house. There are several reasons why we think this would be the best line by far to experiment on. First, the line ought to be laid down in some place where, should it prove all that is hoped, it need not be taken up again, but remain a permanent reproductive Work. Sej condly, it should b of a certain length — not too long, as it would cost too much should it prove a failure, but sufficiently so to give it a fair trial. Thirdly, tbe amount of traffic in the shape of heavy goods ought to he very considerable, to enable the Government to judge its practicability in so short ! a time as must re^essarily be allowed, if we are to be bunefitted a3 regards the up-country traffic before the end of the winter. The distance along the line we propose is not quite half- a- mile, so that it could be speedily constructed, and at no great cost. Along this line almost all the present traffic of the Province woul f l be centred. Lay it in any other direction, along the North Road or the East Road and the traffic is divided. Here it is concentrated, whatever the imports or exports of the Province, this is the gate through which, at any rate for some time to come, they must pass. That it would prove a benefit to the majority of the merchants in the town, should it by its success become a permanent work, there can be but one opinion ; while as to its being reproductive no one who reads the Customs returns, or witnesses the numberof drays struggling up Clyde and Tweed streets, can doubt ; in fact, it will be the most reproductive work in the Province — while, at the same time, by reducing the price of carriage from the jetty to the heads of Tay I and Dee-streets, which during this winter has been enormous, it, will benefit all classes of the community. The expense of making and then keeping in repair the two streets leading from the jetty to the Puni Creek will be no trifle, and though unquestionably these streets must be made, whether the railway be there or not, yet, should the latter be constructed, the greater part of the heavy traffic would be completely diverted from them, and thus in the first place they would not require so expensive a coating of metal or so constant and thorough repair. This is of itself a serious consideration, which would in reality tend to lessen the expense of constructing the railway, at the same time the Government would obtain thereby a large revenue, which would not only speedily repay the cost of construction and keeping in repair, but would cause a handsome addition to the ordinary revenue. Under pi'esent arrangements it is nothing but' spending money month after month without any adequate return being obtained. "We trust sincerely that the Government will at once adopt measures for the speedy construction of this short line, aud thus practically assure itself prior to coming beiore the

Council, that the Scheme is not a failure? not only is it desirable fcfr.lhe sake of the Council, but should it be determined to carry it out to, say, fifteen miles inland, the General Government will be more likely to sanction a limn for that object when assured that it has proved a suc- ' cess, than if* it were only an experiment I to be tried, and one likely to prove costly.