OPENING OF THE DUNEDIN AND INVERCARGILL RAILWAY LINE.

Bruce Herald, Volume XI, Issue 1081, 24 January 1879, Page 7

OPENING OF THE DUNEDIN AND INVERCARGILL RAILWAY LINE.

[^yr;',)Morayjg;He r iald' Reporter.] > .>, \ -.;•)••>" -j -i-iut InyeeGargill, January, i22i \ ■■■ * The train, which started punctually from Dunedin, steadily lost time on the; way as far. as iGore, ,its w#s .Ibrought^to an unexpected standstill in a most unlooked for manner.' It afr^ed at invercargill at 6.30. There were fourteen 1 carriages, three 'break varis, ! i ! and two engines," which fit t wo; points, namely^ just before entering; the Caversham tunnel, and again at the; hill between Abbotsford and Mos«iel, Jbad all their work to, do, .'to keep the 7 train in motibhV '■.:,^ Stoppages' rwqre made at MUtbn,' Balcliitlia, Clinton, Gore, and Edendale. At the majority oftliese places the hotels in the" vicinity were fairly stormed; : ' On the way down a subscription was started for- the purpose -of presenting Mr Conyers with a memento of_ the through trip from Christchurjjh to, . Inyercargiil. ;, The pro» ceeds of the ocllection amounted to about i £40, and it was » iresolved to purchase a diamond pin in Inviercargill and present him with ie this evening. This proposal was not carried out, for : it is with sincere regret we, record that, an accident of a serious character occurred to Mr Conyers. As the triain was slackening speed within a half mile or so Of -Gore, accordinsr to one account^ Mr Conyers . was stepping fronr ■•< One • engine to the other when he missed his footing and fell on the line, inflicting on his. head a serious wound, which extended from" the right eye-brow to the ear. jsj Another and .more probable version is that Mr Cpnyersf§|linle looking towai-ds the end of the train with his head projecting from the engine, s'ruck it against a water tank erected close to the line. We noticed spots of blood lying on the ground from. the tank to the spot where Mr Conyers was picked up. Mr Grant, the General Manager, seeing a man fall from the train, caused the engine to be stopped, and at once, jumped off. The train was stopped within about fifty yards of the scene of the accident. Dr Smith, of Balclutha, Dr Murphy, of Dun. edin,. Qr ; Skae, of Wellington, and Professor Macgregor were at once upon the spo!^ and afforded every assistance in their power. A bed was proem-ed from a neighboring cottage, and Mr Conyers was lifted quite- insensible into one of the break vans, apd:broughfc on slowly to Gore, wherejijfcwas deemed advisable to remove him writhe hotel. Drs Skae and Smith, assisted bythe local medical man, Dr Macaffer, remained in attendance upon Trim. It is' needless to say that the accident cast the greatest gloom over the excursionists and the people of Invercargill, and damped the enjoyment of the afternoon's proceedings/ "At several of the townships along the line the schoa! child* ren were paraded tinder their teachers with flags flying, and they cheered most enthusiastically as the train passed along. The weather was. all that could be desired. At Invercargill, a right royal reception was given to the excursionists. The visitors paired from the Station through a pathway lined by Yoiuntjeers, with, bands playing, guvs firing, flags flying, and most enthusiastic cheering from high and low. : PREPABATIONS AT. IKVERCARGILL. *" The opening of this line has long been looked forward to by the Southland people as the means by which its rich plains and fertile valleys would become known to the northern! colonists. ; This; has become so impressed on the inhabitants of Invercargill that for the past two months the day of opening has been eagerly watched for, and some time since, in response to the invitation of the Municipal Council, the public, in meeting assembled, elected a representative Committee to take charge of • ;the demonstration. -This Committee has been meeting daily, and every minor detail has been well - prov ided ? for. This morning the weather gave promisftx>f being exceedingly fine, and during the oay flags were suspended? across the streets at every vantage point, whilst for; days .past the ; gass fitters i have been erecting handsome |gas devices on the public buildings; inerjcantile,; and other^eStablishments. '%i' 3.30 pbis afternoon,' tne Volunf eers assembled l and were marched to the Railway Station, forming aline from that point into: Dee street,^ ready to receive the visitors Jby the special train from Christchurch. !En« thusiasm reigned Jsupreine, and hundreds of people lined the block of land facing the Railway Station and the Crescent. The Artillery had planted there' cannon jready, £o , welcome ihe arrival of the ;irai.n, ; and nothing' remained to be done thatcould have been foreseen. At .this time, a telegram annouced the. sad accident . to Mr Conyers, Commissioner of Railways, who, haying been so long a resident in the town, was universally known. Never was greater sorrow' expressed at any public calamity, and the Telegraph Office was literally besieged with persons anxious to obtain exact particulars of the accident. The consequence was, to tome extent,*

-tvloctj for communication could net be «ade with., Gore. up til ehorlly after five Wh6n ftwas announced that the train bad beeu .despatched from the to art*rphip^r leaving ]Mt:v Conyers there uudpr tho care ; ioif D» Skae, who was . accompany ing the ( party to Invercargill. Precisely at a quarter past six, the train reached the Station, and its presence was annoUDced by salvos from the Artillery; jTh^Mayor, Chairman of County Councilivand the members of the Demonstration Committee met the visitors on the platform, and welcomed them, exchanging congratulations on the connection of the- towns of Cbristchurch and Invercargillj but expressing sincere regret at t^sad accident which had marred the j day'stprpceedingsir The-visitors/pitecieded by the Garrison Band, walked to Dee street, where the band' continued playing popular airs, the- visitors being ? ftcccmf panied to the hotels engaged for them. I j THE BAXQUET. c.i-/ train being two hourjs/ late delayed the' banquet. Indeedi ? it? c , l Vas discussed by the Committee, whether it should proceed, but it was decided that it could not be well postponed. The banquet was held in the new theatre, Dee street. The upper portion of the house was filled by well dressed ladies,- and the space- at the tables was occupied by about 300! guests. The chair^was taken by the May ory who was supported on his iight;bythe Hon. Mr Ballanceand the Mayor ;.of Dunedin, and upon his left? by r the Mayor of Christchurch After . the usual loyal and patriotic toasts, in the course of which Colodol Brett indulged in some " Patriotic sentiments re the Russian Czar," the ' toasts of " Success to the New Zealand Railways" was proposed by the Chairman. -He referred to Canterbury and Southland as being in the happy position of at length; joining hands. He referred in flattering ; terra§,toMr Mpprhouse and Dr Menzies,j and regretted that the JTajtes had in years gone by against Soutmand. • The Hon. Mr ' Reynold- replied in the absence of the Hon. Mr jMacanxirew. Jjje said that while Mr Moorhouse andi||J| Menzies were connected with railwa|||||j§ Canterbury and In vercargili, yet to Sir X; Yogel belonged the credit of having in-; itiated the line from Christchurch to Dunediu.—(Applause.) - The Chairman annpunced that since the ; train had arrived a telegram had been forwarded to to Sir J. r Yogel congratulating him upon the completion of the Southland Rsil way line. " The Parliament of New Zealand " was proposed by Mr Cuthbertson. The Hon. Mr Reynolds^ in responding i for the Council, said that whatever its i ■"constitution might be; the Council was absolutely essential, as it often interposed to prevent what might be disastrous results, j Mr George M'Lean, M H.R., in re- j sponding for the House of Represerita- :■ tives, said that he believed that the j members were conscientious in their' actions. He asked the constituencies to trust their representatives, and not to de- i grade them to the level of delegates. j Mr Wakefield, M. H.R., expressed regret that so few ; Canterbury members were present. He. excused them on the ground that they were busy harvesting and shearing. He said that" the great want of membei's was that they did not know the wants of the various parts of the colony. It would have been a good thing had all the members been there. Mr Mitchell proposed " The. Ministry." j The Hon. Mr Ballance, in responding, j stated that the Hon. Mr Macandrew very J much regretted his inability to take part ' in the demonstration. He assured them ! that it had given him great, indeed un- 1 bounded pleasure to be present on that ; occasion. It was his first visit to South- \ land, and he wus therefore in a position, perhaps, to judge impartia ! ly of its j appearance and resources. He saw on j every side elements that would raise that j part of New Zealand to greatness. He ' had bern a close observer of the .country ; throughout, and. the result far j his expectations, great though, these expectations were, from v hat he had heard of their district, he understood, too, ~ that .the rich agricultural laud ' the railway j passed through was no exceptional district; j but simply a type of the whole of (he j southern portion of CKago. He felt, how« j lever, that they required population more , than any other accessory. It was sad to j = see such expanses of perhaps the finest i land in the Colony almost houseless — • simply grazing land for sheep and cattle. :It was necessary in order to secure the greatness of New Zealand they all desired, to see, that these lands should be settled, ] ■and to witness the rising of a great and i prosperous yeomanry. He; thought all j honor was due to Sir Julius Yogel for the j conception of the public works scheme, j and for the courageous, stand, he took in ||he face of the great opposition thereto. fifis colleagues intend to pursue that policy until the New Zealand railways extended "throughout the length and breadth of the Colony.