NGARUAWAHIA AND MERCER RAILWAY.

Waikato Times, Volume VI, Issue 315, 21 May 1874, Page 2

NGARUAWAHIA AND MERCER RAILWAY.

We have avoided any reference to the work being performed by the Volunteer Engineer Militia in the construction of the railway between Ngaruawahia and Rangiriri, for the reason that until appreciable progress had been made any comment of ours would have been useless. We had not, however, lost sight of the matter, and now purpose giving some idea of the work performed, and from our point of observation, the manner in which the men work both as to quantity and quality. Nos 2 and 3 companies, respectively under the command of Captains Howell and Schofield, have been at work in the neighbourhood of Rangiriri. This party, which has averaged about 120, has so far as our reporter could ascertain, completed about two miles of roadway (ready for ballast and sleepers), much of it comprising heavy embankments and cuttings. They have also done nearly a mile of ditching, dug trenches for the embankment formation, and cleared about three miles of road, much of which was through bad swamp and heavy ti-tree. This party has also made a mile of coach road, 72 feet wide, through heavy ti-tree and fern, built stables and workshops and made culveits. They commenced road work about the middle of February, and our reporter, who is capab'e of forming an opinion, considers the men have worked well Tt must be remembered that much of the embankment is nearly fourteen feet high, and that the earth has had to be wheeled by manual labour. No. 1 company, under Cnptain Rowe, stationed at Taupiri, has cleared from the Maungawara Creek to the bmh opposite Ngaruawahia, and very nearly completed the formation of the railroad. On the Auckland side of the Creek this company has made a considerable length of tramway for the running of trucks with earth from the cuttings to the earthworks ; they have also made nearly a mile of roadway, and diverted and metalled the portion of the coach road destroyed by the railway works. This party had heavy work changing the course of a stream running into the Maungawara Creek. A detachment of this company has been stationed at Ngaruawabia, and lias felled s mile of bush opposite that township, a great portion of which is cleared of logs, and fhe side is now being prepnred in order to allow the lide ditches to be dug to communicate with the main drain. This detachment has supplied the wholo corps with timber for tramway rails, buildings, culverts, &c. The buth at the north road is full of heavy timber and is swampy — the roots are very difficult to extract. A stump extractor would greatly facilitate matters. It may perhaps be invidious to mention the names of any of the non-com-missioned officers as having been particularly attentive to their duties. Our cor respor dent, however, has taken notice of Sergeants Sands, No. 1, Faulkner, No. 3, also Sergeants Long and Small, who have had charge of the Ngarunwahia party. In all 350 men have belonged to the corps, bat a few over 200 has been the average. Some have left at their own roquest, but the majority have bren discharged for incompetence) or laziness. It is the hnbit, and probably not without cause, of the people of New Zealand to complain of work performed directly by the Government. Wo believe, however, that in the case of the Volunteer Engineers we are receiving fail* work for the amount of pny drawn.

A correspondent writes as follows to the Scientific American \ — Recently I fell in company with a gentleman with a peculiarity in one of his hnncK I requested permission to make an examination, when to my surprise I found that he had an extra finger hinged on to the metacarpal bone, at the back of the little finger and extending sideways from the back of the hand j it shut up, in the fist, but at right angles to tho other fingers. Four of his children have similar developments on each hand, while a fifth child has six fingers on bub one hand. Tho father and the children have eaoh six toes on each foot, and a nephew who accompanied them was similarly endowed. Many of their ancestors and some of their relntives had or hnv'e sexadigital limbs. It appears, from evidence adduced, that these peculiarities were derived from a family in which they have existed from time immemorinl. If by any means a family inheriting such peculiarities should becomo isolated, the consequence would probably be a soxadigitnl r.ice, which, according to the common rulos of classification, would constitute a new Bpecios."