THE MIDLAND RAILWAY

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 12851, 9 July 1907, Page 7

THE MIDLAND RAILWAY

COMPARATIVE FREIGHTS BY

RAIL AND -SEA

Mr H. Quane, who, as chairman of the Midland Railway Committee of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce, has been taking » great interest in matters connected with tlie construction of that line, was interviewed yesterday by a representative of ••The Press." Though extremely busy, having only returned from the North on the previous day, he managed to find time to talk a littlo about tho Midland Railway. __,

"I was very pleased," said Mr Quane, "to read the encouraging reply given by tho Premier to tho deputation of members of Parliament. It is cheering to know that a tender from England for the Arthur's Pass tunnel is likely to b© accepted, although if"tho difference in cost was not too great, we should all, I am sure, have preferred to sco the work undertaken by a colonial firm. Tho Premier met tho deputation in a thoroughly businesslike way, and his reply gives ground for a very strong hopo that wo shall shortly aec tho construction of tlhcl tunnel begun. It is satisfactory to find that the Premier recognises tho enormous possibilities of development of tho coal and timber resources of the West Coast, and expresses the belief that tho railway will be able to compete profitably with steamers in tho carriage of coal and timber." To emphasise this last point, Mr Quano produced some figures, which ho gave in an address from the presidential chair of the Chamber of Commerco a couple of years ago, showing the comparative froiglit charges on coal and timber from the West Coast to Canterbury by rail and by sea, at the rates then ruling. lie mentioned that the rates had not materially changed in tho last two years. COAI/. Rate per Steamer. Unto per Railway. Per Ton. Per Ton. - c. d. s. d. Brunner coal— Brunner to - Railage, load- Christchurch, ing at Grey- 140 miles .. 11 6 mouth and freight 9 • Railage Lyttelton to Christchurch 3 8 Insurance .. 0 OJ Kxtra handling .. 3 0 15 61 11 6 Blackball coal— Blackball to Cd per ton Christchurch, more ..16 2J 150 miles .. 11 10 TIMBER. Rates per steamer per 100 superficial feet— Average railage to Grcymouth, Is Id; freight, (jreymoulh to Lyttelton, 2s 9d; huurance, Jd; Lyttelton to Christchurch, ls 2£d; total, 5s Id. Per rail—Average from different mills, 3s cd. Charges of the extra handling not inc'uded. Mr Quano pointed out that those figures showed a substantial advantage in favour of railway carriage in regard to cost. He added that there would be a further saving to consignees in inland parts of the province, inasmuch as, in tho abovo table, Christchurch was taken as the destination, whereas goods for a number of stations would not havo to bo carried via Christchurch, though such was the case with all goods coining by sea. In regard to tho deterioration ot coal through being handled threo times extra when brought by steamer, Mr Quane said that all tho coal experts and local coal merchants who gave evidence before tho Midland Railway Commission agreed that the coal lost fully a shilling a ton in value through each handling.