Catlin's River Railway.

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 43, 6 May 1875, Page 6

Catlin's River Railway.

!;The Clutha Railway Gommittee, at its , last meetings had aiiilientie information .placed before itj that the saw milling (interest of Catlin's River represented j:an export trade in timber, equal to ;; 120,000 superficial feet per, week. The ! principal part .of this trade goes to Dunedin, the freight by sea .being- set down- at .'four shillings per 100 feet. ; According to ,that rate of calculation, | Ll2,4Bo~sterling is disbursed annually for carriage of this product alone. It is only; by comparing these figures jot traffic returns with others of a similar nature, that" we can arrive at a just estimate of the real extent of. their significance; The March returns for the. various railway lines at Work in, the province are^; now before vs 4 ' From these we gather that tjbe\ main 1 central station at Dunedin, earned during: the month L 3160,' or, taking* that sum as an estirtfafe:for: the year, the; amount will ibe L 37,920. During- the same period the Southland railways earned L 2996, or, taking the same :estimate for the year, the amount will be ,L3E>>9§2., ■ We i haye here then - one single commodity, i surrounded .by: all. the advantages ..of, being prepared in an outlandish and; little known locality, producing as ; carriage rates rather mpre^ than onethird of. the amounts earned by the; railways at work, and which have been! at work for years past* at our twoj principal centres of commerce. ; .It is! true. the. lines passing through Dunedin are not quite , -so ; lon,g as ; line of ..rail would-require to be for the purpose, jot .connecting Catlin's Riverji at =thie .same itr.is equal}yj jt^ue the jines, are only, a very little less th^n twiqe the' distance. Again, we haYe J to bear in mind that the timber trade of Catlin's as at present constituted; has vlery many disadvantages • to- contend, .with. -The entH.pce tbthe river) is. obstructed ;byj a, sunken 1 reef, J -tlie : darigeri arising ifrpm shipping casualties being soigreajt-tkat Insurance id either refused - altogether or else' restricted to> a 'Very : small.risk| If, with- these disadvantages,; the ..trade has ( develo.ped r ;ij;self' tqithis extent, are we, not. justified in assuming that the .traffic, .wrought _by_a_ branch railway^ would increase; at least ithreej fold, Iq other words, that this one branch of /thfeJCatlin's Rifer. tyaje/ would/ supply traffic to an amount equal to what is at present realised- at; the central station;, Dunedin.. : Further on in the comjmunicatiori placed before the committee ; the writer says.:) "Considering th£ " extensive, beds of super^oiv r pipe-clay "available" for the -manufacture qf " pottery ware,*and the extensive seams "of rich lime -and- iron ores which arjß "supposed to underlie, the.. -whole . disj- " trict, a traffic therefrom would in all "probability soon_sprihg up to make a "railway to jCatlin's paj, independent "of the timber. Further, as genuine "coal of Buperiorl quality cro.ps; ; to the "surface at .various parts, and from " other indications,* it may be concluded " that it existsin beds sufficiently thjck "to work; and if go found in closie ?•' proximity to , the irpnn ores, a lasting '-'. source of, wealth^ wopld be r opened up " to the colony, eclipsing m my opinion " Gtago's best gbldfi:eld's,; : eveii jin their " "palmy day^." With^".facts-like theJe before us, we sKoulcl 4hi'fak the Councjl can .have no reasonable excuse for refusing sucH • 'ia 1 concession las tlje .passing of # .Giiar^tise^ill,, so that tlie district may be placed in" a*p6sition to }get the. work ,un(lertaken_at as t earjy!a date as possible. We are jfle'asejd to learn nthat^Jthe::pxelimmaryi 5 survey, jis now;, practically speaking, begun, and *wedo hope no unnecessary impedinient ,\«rill Jje. t flr pwn in the way of getting it carried through 11 "- £i