Opening of the Tuapeka Railway Line.

Bruce Herald, Volume IX, Issue 895, 6 April 1877, Page 7

Opening of the Tuapeka Railway Line.

The Millon aud Lawrence line of railway wm formally opened for traffic on Monday last— a day long to be remembered in th«history of the^jatter' enterprising township. During the day, large numbers of people dressed in holiday attire streamed into the town, which it need hardly be said had never on any previous occasion looked so gay. The -buildings were decorated with evergreens, ahd a row of flags representing the British Colonic, was suspended across Boss Place from the Town Hall to Hay's auction rooms. A special train lef. Dunedin at 9 a.m., ar.d on its arrival at Milton, Mr W. 3. Dyer, Mt»yor of Milton,, and a few ladies were accommodated with seats. Departing from MUton at;il 5 a.m., the train of seven carriages arrived at Lawrence station at 17*45 p.m.^ and on drawing npto the platform a band of 400 children, under the charge ofMr E. Towsey, struck up the New Zealand Anthem, composed by Mr Bracken. On the conclusion of the Anthem, the ohildren were rewarded for their efforts by a round of applause j and Mr Bastings, at the request of Mr Conyers, stepped into the engine and declared *fl» Milton and Lawrence line of railway formally opened for traffic. He had to regret that Mr J. C. Brown was not present to fulfil the duty owing to an accident which had befallen him at Oamaru. However, he was willing to do this, as he always was anything which would be for the good of the district. He had no further remarks to make, save that the next business would be to adjourn to the Town Hall, where luncheon was provided. The speeches on the occasion were all ef a common place character, with the exceptior of that of Mr W. N. Blair, Provincial Engineer, which we consider alone worthy of record. Mr Blair, on rising to respond, was loudly applauded. He said— Mr Chairman and Gentlemen— This toast has been responded to so often during the past few years throughout the Colony that it is difficult for me to say anything that has not been said already. If I were a public man I would throw aside the subject altogether and discourse on " men and manners " in a form tbat best suited my fancy, from the affairs of Bulgaria to the pernicious effects of Leicester mutton. But as I only appear in this character on all occasions of this kind, I must stick to my text, and nolens, volens,. drive the hackneyed steed another stage In the first place I must congratulate the district on having at such an early period of its history acquired what is universally admitted to be the most powerful weapon in the hands of progress. In 1861 the site of this flourishing little town was a wilderness, known only to those true pioneers of civilisation, sheep, shepherds, and surveyors. The main road was not opened right through till 1863, and now, early in 1877, hills and gullies re-echo with the discordant yet welcome shriek of the iron horse,— (Hear hear.) What a contrast our trip this morning is to riding on the box seat of the coach with Langley in 1862, or even with Pope ia 1872 Xhe only time I forfeited that much-coveted seat of honor was one snowy morning on Round Hill. As testified by Anthony Trollope, Til back that same spot to produce as bitter s> Mast, as can be produced anywhere in Otago. (Laughter.) Engineers are frequently twitted, if not abused, about curves and gradients. On the Lawrence Railway the C ry is " Make straight our path." I confess it is rather tortuous and steep, and I believe the Shade of Brunei would never pronounce it fit for public traffic. If the present state ef that worthy spirit has not changed materially since he battled with the material universe, 1 am sure it would be disgusted at the degeneracy of its professional followers, ■^to^presume to call this one hone track a railway.— (Laughter.) There is one answer that meets the request for an easier line. Give us the. money. But where is it to come from ? All the gold that Gabriel's Gully and the Blue Spur have produced or can produce would not make a railway to Lawrence according to the old standard. And after all, the question » to * &*** extent a matter of ©pinion. Undoubtedly flat curves and gradients ara desiderata anywhere, but the price at which they are obtained ia the true test of their suitability. Railways of this kind are found to answer in other countries where traffic is much heavier than we may exsect here for many years, so I think we 8t hould be satisfied.— (Applause.) I am a strong believer in the principle of having light, cheap *&**?* to every settlement rather than a &* expensive ones between large towns. It is better that all the membow of one family shou.* .*• P'«*ly on mutton »net damper than that one or two should fare sumptuously on the choicest viands, while the rest are starving.— (Hear, hear.V If We had followed the example of our Victoriian cousins in the matter of rail way construction, instead of having a line running to Clutha and Lawrence, the present opening would be at the Reliance, 20 miles from Dunedin: Perhaps there has been no other work in New Zealand about which so much has beeh written and said as thi* railway. Eerily, the sfiortwmin^of the engineers have not been winked at. What waswbisperedintbedepths of the Wound Hill Tunnel they published in" the newspaper. Neither did we W_i_»t for "counsel eweet and " lengthened *agb advices. They came upon, us in-a regf-lur strea__!; *° *•«*** w | need not have erred ; the way ihat we should Sr, was clearly pointed' ont. But' engineers aye from time immemorial been a stubborn and stiff-necked generation, following their <fwn !' devices'* rather thau the "advice" of t-Jd'e who ; know' better. * Hore the • craft is not o-*<enerato ia this respect, o^herwiseit - is just po^'Me we^ might-Still be fkunderuw. jn Round £& funnel, following tbe

example of the old man with the donkey by trying the thousand and one schemes that were propounded for carrying it through. In (Base anybody may be under the impression tbat a lot of public money has been expended uselessly in this work- T may state that hotwithstanding the roughness of the country, the cost of making g>od anything that was found insufficient, and in providing for contingencies that could or might have been forseen, did not amount to 8 per cent, on the total cost of the line. There are few such extensive works in our country of which the same can be said. In acknowledging the ihe compliments that have been, paid the engineers, 1 must transfer the largest share of the credit to Mr Dartnell, who has had immediate charge of the works, and his Inspectors, Messrs M'Millan and Hunter Without the inspection of these gentleman, any general supervision of mine wou'd be of little avail — I am sure the Government has no more zealous and trustworthy officers, and with their assistance I would not be afraid to tackle any work. — (Applause.) I must also say a word for the contractors. Many of my professional brethren will consider me traitor to the cause in admitting the possibility of anything good emanating from that quarter— (laughter) — but this is not my experience of them. I believe that even eon tractors are occasionally influenced by what philosophers call " Impetration*of conscience." We have had no less than twenty on this railway, and I must say that they all seemed to be doing their best for the promotion of a common.object — the completion.of the work. I would like to make special reference to my friend and co-respondent Mr A. J. Smyth. He and I have been associated on public works for six years. He had the first contract on the Clutha' railway, and the last on this one. We have frequently discussed metaphysics — I understand that is a scientific way of saying that we had warm argument j— but they were always strictly official, consequently they left no Bting behind. I believe Mr Smyth contemplates leaving the Cobny altogether. Tf he does so lam sure he will carry away the warmest wishes of all with whom he came in contact. — (Cheers.) In again thanking you for the hearty way in which you have drunk this toast, I shall, for your sake as well as my own, express the hope that this is not the last time it will be responded to in Otago.