The Southland Times. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1873.

Southland Times, Issue 1707, 25 February 1873, Page 2

The Southland Times. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1873.

Coal has been quoted in Wellington lately at £4 per ton. Tbis fact should have some interest for us, considering the position we occupy as the commercial centre of tbe largest coalfield in New Zealand. The geological researches of Dr Hector, Captain Hutton, and others have shown that the largest coal-bearing area yet known in tbe Colony is to be found in the district of Southland, stretching (rom the Takatimo mountains on the northwest, to Waikawa on the south-east, a distance of ninety miles. Of this vast field, covering many hundred square miles, the Bluff Harbor is tbe natural outlet, and the terminus of two lines of railway, both in process of construction, which intersect it. The coal has been tested, and though samples from various localities, or even from seams in the same locality, differ considerably in value, it bas been pronounced suitable for steam purposes. Tbis, of course, is the great commercial desideratum, qs regards quality. With regard to the quantity, tbere can be no doubt of there being enough to supply all the Australian colonies for a generation or two, which is as much as we need care for at present. Tbat mines will be opened ultimately in many places on this coalfield may be regarded as certain. The questions of immediate practical interest for us at present are where to make a commencement, and how long must necessarily elapse before that commencement can be made. From Captain Hutton's report on the Southland coalfields we learn tbat the eastern . slope of the Nightcap Hills, on tbe west bank of Jacob's River, is the spot nearest our present railway lines which offers the greatest advantages for the immediate opening of a coal mine. The coal bas actually been discovered on the western slope of these bills, the seam being. intersected by tbe cutting formed by a drain} and it is presumed tbat from 'indications which can be obtained . by '

observations at this point, the locality of the outcrop on the eastern slope can easily be ascertained. So long ago as 6th April last, Dr Hectob wrote to Mr Gibborwe, then Colonial Secretary, requesting authority to commence the necessary excavations and levelling, the cost of which he stated would not probably exceed £200. The authority, we believe, was granted, but what further steps hare been taken we are not in a position to say. Tbe question, one would think, might have been set at rest by this time, and considering its importance certainly ought to bave been. But in the delay which bas taken place we bave another illustration of the necessity of looking after our own affairs. The correspondence on tbe subject, which seems to have proceeded with some activity for a few weeks before tha opening of last session of Assembly, is now doubtless reposing in various pigeonboles in the Government offices, neatly docketed, and tied up with red tape. Had the attention of the Government been persistently called to tbe matter by local representations, something of a practical kind would probably have been done towards deciding tbe point ere now. To give an idea of the encouraging character of the indications in this locality, we may note in passing that while a seam of coal four feet in thickness will yield good commercial results, a seam ten feet thick has actually been opened out not many miles distant from the Nightcap, and in a precisely similar formation. Tbis seam is at tbe old Beaumont home station, and is marked on the geological maps as Beineckeb's ten feet seam. We may mention that should tbe exploration at the Nightcap prove unsuccessful, it would be as easy to connect this locality, where ten feet of coal is actually known to exist, with tbe Winton-Kingston line as tbe other. The branch line would be no longer, and the point of junction with the main line somewhat further to the northward. The Nightcap is however in erery respect a preferable locality to commence with, and it is to be hoped that steps will be taken without delay to ascertain exactly how a commencement may best be made. With regard to the quality of this coal, Captain Hutton, in a report dated 6th March, 1872, says :— " This coal, although inferior in heating power to the true black coals, will be found very useful for all household purposes, as well as for stationary engines. It is largely used by the steamers on tbe Waikato river, with satisfactory results, and I bave no doubt but that it would answer for locomotives also." This report is sufficiently favorable to justify considerable expenditure on the endeavor to open out the seam, but it is to be remembered that the speci mens examined were taken from the seam at a short distance from the surface, and it has been a matter of constant experience that as such seams are opened out the quality of the coal is found to improve after the excavation has proceeded for a certain distance. Samples from other portions of the Southland coal-field have been reported upon in even more favorable terms, although the thickness ef the seams from which they were obtained was not sufficient to afford a prospect of profit in working. We are emitled to assume then that Captain Hutton's description, favorable though it be, will be found to be witbin the truth, when the coal is really brought out in quantity. The importance of tbe subject to the inhabitants of this district is so obvious tbat we hardly think it necessary to enlarge upon that part of the question. The present high price of coal will not of course be permanently maintained, | but it is almost certain that it will, for J tbe future, range considerably above the average of past years. The advantages we bave to expect from the opening of I this coal deposit are the construction of a branch line, which, besides carrying the coil, will bring a large tract of fine country into communication with the p or t — increased traffic on the railway — and an addition to our export trade which cannot now be estimated, but which will certainly be very considerable. The necessity of utilising th» local coal deposits has already attracted public attention, and been pressed upon the Government by the communities of Wellington, Nelaon, and Christchurch. The public of Invercargill ought now to follow suit, seeing that they have not, as they might and ought to have done, taken the lead in a matter of so much importance not only to theinsel\ es but to the Colony ut large.