Page 4 Advertisements Column 1

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 4032, 30 November 1881, Page 4

mHAMES VAIiLEY AND ROTO 1 RUA RAILWAY COMPANY (LIMITED). Nominal Capital, £400,000, in 400,000 .shabes of £1 bach. pbotißionail .dlbectobs : Hon. James Williamson, Chairman. , J. L. Campbell, Ee,q.,^ T ■■/ '. ■';:•;■ M.D. ■''-' F.D. Riclii'Esq. .Wm.Crushpaldy.Esql .E. F.-Roche, Esq. Jas.McCosh Clark, Esq. Thos. Peacock, Esq. Robert Graham, Esq. K. B. Walker, Esq. , Ja^nes Dilwortib,, s Eeq. .Wm. Aitken, EBq., ) George iHoldship, Epq.' NgaiHuriihurn Joseph Howard, Esq.' Fetera Puk'uatua John Wilson, Esq. .' Heiiere Pukuatua Thos. Morrin, Esq. Rotohiko Haupapa. Wm. Innes Taylor, Esq. W. Maihi Te Rangikaheke O. J. Stone, Esq. Arekater-a T.e Wpa A.W.F.Halcombe.Esq.Era Pairhoi r . B -, .• •.; ;.-■ v v..^Bask^bs.{(- 5 /:'■'".'-'::'■■' • '• Bank of New Zealand. SOUOITOBS: Messrs Jackson and Russell, Fort street,; Auckland. 'EKGINBEB: J. Stewart, Esq., M. lust. G.E.,,late District Engineer. \l' !i *l " ISTEBIM SSCBETABY. : Jaß.''Stewart, EBq., CE. The proposed railway will be about seventyfour miles in length, and commences at a point on the Hamilton : Thameß Railway, near the town of Morrinsville. ,From this point it iiins southward through the centre of the great valley of the Upper Thames, by a very easy route, for a distance of tbirty-five miles j it then mountß to the wooded, plateau which 'divides the Upper' Thames and Tauranga districts; from.thw/it^deßcendß, by an easy route, to its terminus at tbe town of Ohine-; mutu; making a farther distance of thirtynine miles. This completes an unbroken chain of railway communication between the city of Auckland and the Hot Lake district, which is the central point of attraction for • touristajto'.New Zealand. •;.... ' :,-' The cost'bf the lice has been. estimate— after exploration—by Jas. Stewart, Esq., late District Engineer, to be £2000 per mile for the first, aection of thirty-five miles ;of the remainder,' twenty-four miles will cost £3000 per mile, and the remaining fifteen miles, about £4500 per mile;; making a total cost for construction (of the class of the Government railways, and exclusive of rolling" stock> of £209,600. The cost of buildings and rolling-* yatbek is estimated at £38,000, making a total cost ef £247,500. It is proposed to construct the Railway in two sections; the first section of thirty-eight miles under.the provisions of "The District ' Railway* Act-, 1877," by which, on approval by the Government, the Colonial revenue is security for interest on the cost of construction and equipment, not exceeding 2 per cent., and the neighbouring lands (rated in proportion to the benefits derivable from the construction of tLe line) are liable for interest ' not exceeding a further five per: cent., thus giving a'certain interest of, 7 per cent, on the investment, even if the line itself only pays working expenses. The majority; of landholders abutting on this section; have' expressed; their -willingness that, their properties 'shall be brought under the operation o|M*The DistrieC'RaUwßys Act, and the Amendment Act, 1878.", For,,the construction of the second, section,, passing, as it .does mainly through native lands, w|,ich.it is not possible to bring under "The District Railways Acts," it is proposed to work, if posiible, under the " Railways Construction and Land Act, 1881." By this Act, 7 the Colonial Gpyernmeut is empowered to contract with .a Company for the' construction of this Railway, among others, and to grant such lands as. are available ;' as* an endowment. In , this cage only 28,000 acres' are available, situated, in the Patletere Country. 1' This :would : not ; be a sufficient endowment, without rating powers, to warrant the construction of this section of the line, but the native proprietors have, in addition,- agreed to give a considerable area of land to the Company. It.is also,proposed that the Company should * acquire; by purchase, a further portion ■ of native lands adjacent to the line, which may be expected to be largely increased in value by its construction ; and with this view, the Capital of the Company has been fixed at a sum sufficient to include such purchases. By this means, it is hoped the construction of the second section' may be undertaken almost simultaneously with the first. The prospects of immediate "and very;,conliderabie, traffic on, the line- are as good, or better, than can be Bhown on any new line in. Ntw Zealand.' The rapid strides made during; the last few years in -the Upper Thamps arid Waikato districts show that the country haß a power of production and of supporting a large population in proportion to its arca-^-eqiial to almost any other.part of tt c colony.- The prrjected railway will open up an area of from 1500.000 io 2,000,000 of acres of available land, a large portion ready for immediate occupation, but at present wholly unoccupied, owing partly to the want of means of commuriication, and partly to' thti fact that a portion of tnis 1 territory has but recently been acquired from the native ow,ners. The settle ment of this extensive area must necessarily, for some yars to come, create a very large import traffics, and year by year, as Betflement progresses, the export traffic of- grain, stock, and other produce must alto increase to very, large dimensions. But, independently of the ordinary s urces of supply towards a railway traffic which agricultural and pastoral settlement of the country affords, there are special reasons which justify the expectation of an unusually rapid development of a varied, extensive, and paying business on this line. It is now generally known that the purchasers of the lands known as the Patetere District are taking, active steps io wards the immediate colonisation, by comparatively small holders, of the whole of the lands they have acquired, or are acquiring, through the agency of a powerful company, in England. The importations consequent on the introduction of a large population cannot fail to be Tery considerable ('during the firat-years of their settlement. Again, the line in its course to Obinemutu,taps;a valuable forest of magnificent timber, from which—as soon as the liiae is completed so far—the whole of the "Upper Thames and Waikato districts will undoubtedly draw their supplies of timber for house building, fencing, and fuel; and last, but certainly not least, the. large and ever increasing stream of tourists visiting New Zealand from all parts of the world; attracted by the wonders of Obinemutu and Rotomahana, will certainly prefer to use this line of railway, which will convey them easily in one short day from the City of Auckland to the Hot Springs, by an easy and most interesting route, thus giving to the line the exceptional advantage of a large'passenger traffic at once, quite irrespective of the ordinary passenger traffic of the country. ; t. a It may also be pointed out that for a distance of fully forty miles the line proposed must, at a future and no far distant date, form part of the main line .connecting Auckland with. Napier and Wellington, thiough the interior of the: island." ; '..'*'■'. Regarding the traffic iwbioh inay'-be expected, comparison may be made with the existing line, in Auckland. Seeing that on tbew, lines there are miny miles of unproduc*