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Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 243, 26 September 1872, Page 1

AND GOLbfIELDS REPORTER AND ADVERTISER.

| THURSDAY MORNING

..31 ' . ' 1 ' .

(LAWRENCE: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1872.)

Otago

New Zealand

[Price 6d

X

I

genious contrivances, too, 1 for the cOuserva-. tion of the rights of persons owning property on the line, and the protection of human and animal lif«. . Where a private -road has been intoifir ilwitli another has been made, and we believe in every instance the change has been beneficial— bad roads have been replaced with good, and steep gradients with easy ones. We believe, notwithstanding this, there are grumblers ; but what will not such men grumble at ? Occasionally a district road crosses the railway on a level." In America this is considered of no mpmant, and no precautions are taken toavoid trespass on theline. We Britons do not consider such inducement to self-reliance advisable, -and accordingly gates are placed which are so arranged that when they bar the road the railway line is open, and when they prevent access to the railway tho road is open. It is a simple contrivance to guard against cattle straying. The only fear is that when so much is done to prevent damage to other people'sproperty they wm not take the trouble to do anything for themselves, but" will neglect the best safeguard— preventing their cattle wandering In one or two instances a novel plan has been adopted of 'what is termed -"a Yankee crossing." It simply consists of a wide trench containing watet' across the railway on each side of the district road._ The trains will pass over these on short girders, which no horse or cow would be mountebank enough to walk upon for the sake of gaining access to ground on which there is no food. Perhaps a cow might plant herself across the rails, and take her stand in defiance of an approaching train, when, as George Stephenson said, it would "be varry bad for the coo." Proceeding onwards, we came at length to a deep cutting through easilyworked sandstone, which continued until we reached the entrance to the tunnel. We here met one of the brothers Mackenzie, who have successfully prosecuted the work as sub-contractors under Mr J. Smyth. He politely placed an empty waggon at the disposal of the party ; but, prior to entering j the tunael, Mr Blair gave us a highly interesting detail of the plans adopted to secure the strictest accuracy in the direction of the tunnel. The necessity for this is obvious when it is considered that it is 946 yards in length, and that the work is carried on at both ends simultaneously. If, then, an error in the directien of only an eighth of an inch had been made at the beginning at one end, and continued to one half the distance, instead of meeting in the centre in a continuous line, one-half would diverge five feet from the direction of the other. The nicest accuracy is therefore required. We need not trouble our readers with anything beyond a general idea of the plans adopted. The difficulties in the Way of accuracy are manifold. JtOirsfc, there is a high hill between the two points of starting; secondly, when a series of standards were Bet up, determining an exactly straight line over the mountain, it is necessary that the tunnel should be made exactly in the same direction through it ; thirdly, the tunnel is dark, and it depends very much upon the state of the air within it whether an accurate series of observations can be made, for their truth depends upon whether a light can be seen suspended from the roof at it 3 centre. The plumb line within a hut, sheltered from the wind outside the tunnel, and a light suspended, as we have said, from the centre of the roof inside, are the simple means adopted. The level presents less difficulty a3 it can be determined by the usual appliances. Mounting a waggon, or rather we might say a couple of waggons, for an inch and a-half plank was placed lengthwise on two to form a seat, we made a start for the tunnel from the point at which the "spoil" is deposited. The sandstone rock towered high above our heads; presenting a smooth and even face, excepting at one nearly horizontal line, running almost the whole length of it. This line seemed to definitely mark a geological period. How many times ten thousand years must have elapsed since the huge mountain of indurated sand was laid upon those fossils, and how many thousands more have passed since it was lifted from its watery bed to its present lofty height, who can declare? But there they are— fossil trees, and if we remember rightly, fossil forms of animal life. The branches of buried trees crop out from their deep grave to tell us of the mighty changes that have taken place. For conveyance of' the spoil from the tunnel, two lines of rails have been laid, and leaving daylight, we were drawn along by a powerful horse towards some lights which, at the distance of nearly five hundred yards, appeared to be arranged in the form of an arch. The use of powder and the "rock render" manufactured at Port Chalmers, in blasting, renders a supply of fresh air necessary to the health arid comfort of the workmen. This is secured by a very effective but simple arrangement. At the mouth of the tunnel a wooden chimney is raised to a considerable height. This chimney i 3 connected with a ceiling of •well- caulked grooved and tongued boards, extending to a considerable distance within the tunnel. It is not carried completely up to the roof, a small space being left between bo as to form an air chamber. Two currents of air are induced by this process. The hot and foul air rises to the roof , passes into the chamber, and up the chimney ; while a current of cool, pure air replaces it below. It has not been found necessary te use means to rarefy the air at the mouth of the chimney, as the arrangement has been found sufficient for the distance. The journey up the tunnel was safely and even pleasantly effected, and we soon reached the lights seen at the mouth. There were a. number of candles so disposed. as to enable the men to prosecute the work of boring,- blasting, and filling the waggons jwith spoil. The work is continued by sets of men night and day, and every arrangement has been made to facilitate the process. We scrambled over j lumps of rock to the head of the tunnel, under the guidance of Mr M'Kenzie, who \ explained the arrangements made for carrying out the work. It was about dinner time. A fuse was ready for lighting, and after inspecting all that was interesting, by the aid of the arch of composite candles, we took our seats, and our horse once moretopk us in tow. When about half way to the mouth of the tunnel, the blase was fired, and the report followed us, deep-toned and prolonged, as it rolled along the sides and the arched roof above us. It was at first proposed to visit, the other end of the tunnel, but changing 'our minds, we directed our course along devious and difficult paths, through swamps, over creeks, along mountain sides, to the more distant part of the line. The tunnel is now nearly through, there "being only a distance of about two chains between the working parties, who' can distinctly hear each other working. At a distance of six miles from town — that is,' by cailway, though we should think it more than twice .six by the road — we reached the end of Mr Smyth's contract: A very short time will be required to put tbe line in working order when the tunnel is completed, and, so far as may be judged, Mr Smyth's portion of the' line has been constructed in a most satisfactory manner. Where Mr Smyth's contractends Mr Bregden's bsgins, and the work is being pushed by him with'extraordinary vigor. . All along the line are parties of men and horses, cutting or' forming embankments. ' We occasionally left the line to shorten our distance, and came upon it at a mere distant* point ; but throughout, a3 far as the second tunnel through the Chain Hills,, at which enr journey ended, the same activity waß obiervabk Tbii tunnel will be 484 yard*

long, and from the character, of thro-rock is' likely 'to "be a much more tedious job than tho first tunnel. Excavation has, however,' been commenced, Mr Brogden having already broken ground. From the summit of this hill we had a magnificent view of the Taieri plain, with its green fields and ploughed lands giving promise of plenty of produce for conveyance on the railway. On reachiug the road, our conveyance was in waiting, and we returned to town by the high road. The benefit to be derived from the construction of these works was evident as we went along. There was scarcely a wheelwright's or blacksmith s shop in which signs of the railway were not visible. There were dobbin carts or wheels for dobbin carts or earth waggons (we forgot their technical name), or some other vehicle, in course of construction or Tepair in almost every one. The line as far as Green Islanl is in such a state of forwardness that it might, without extraordinary effort, be in working order by Chriatmas. We hope whatever Ministry may be in power that an effort will be made to open it,, both for the sake of the regular traffic and the pleasant excursions that may be made.