RAILWAY MATTERS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 762, 10 March 1910, Page 7

RAILWAY MATTERS.

DEPUTATIONS TO'THE MINISTER. ' SPASKS FEQM ENGINES. (By Telesrraph.—Bpecial Correspondent.) Palmerston North, March 9. The Hon. J. iA. Millar, Minister for Kailways, arrived here from Feilding by the Auckland express. Hβ was met at the station hy tiie Mayor (Mr. J. A. Nash), and droro to the Council Chambers, where he met deputations representing the Borough r Council, Chamber of Commerce, Auctioneers' ■ Association, and the New Zealand Flaxmillers' Association. ; His Worship the Mayor presided, and the deputations were introduced by Mr. D. Buick, "M.P! for Palmerston. ■' ■■" " . .' '

Mr. B. S. Abraham, representing the Auctioneers' Association, and farmers from both sides of the ranges, pointed out that the present railway time-table was not suitable for Wairarapa and Hawke's bay people desirous to attend the stock auctions in : Palmorston, as tho trains from both directions arrived too lato (1 p.m.), when , the bulk of the business at the sales .was already transacted.' Some seven or eight :years ago the Kailway Department hart been induced to put on a train from Mastertbn, arriving in Palmerston ; about.'ll a.m., which answered their .requirements admirably. The new Minister put on this train in fear and trepidation that it would not pay, but quite the contrary had happened, and it resulted: in a considerable increase of trade between the two districts. He asked, on ■■behalf of .those he represented, that train's : should: be arranged' to leave , Peatherston and Waipukurau to. junction at Wopdville, and arrive in'Palmerston about 11 a.m. Another question he wished to bring under the notice of the. Minister, was ..the, mat-, ter of stock trains this district and Waikato. A.'n enormous number of sheep and cattle were being railedi:from this district to-the-north,- and it was suggested that special : stock trains should be run. Under, the present arrangements it took four days tor stock to reach Auckland, which was palpably unreasonable. ' :

The Mayor endorsed ; all that had been said by Mr. -Abraham. He pointed out that trade had; fallen off considerably smeo the present time-table had' come into force; .Tho/trains 'arrived too' late nuil lelt again 'too' soon, not allovring sufficient/- time- for .people, to-do their business., , . , , ;,

.Mr. M A. khott, .representing", the Wool and Hides Buyers' Association, asked Mr. Millar/ to give 'them a rebate on treight on wool for scouring purposes Under present conditions, wool bought at the Wellington-sales, for- scouring had to be railed back, to the country, scouring works, and-then once more railed to Wellington, the Railway Department thus getting three freights on the same parcel ot w001..,; He thought there was good reason to.fallow, some, rebate on this, especially as. the scouring, worksgave employment' to; alarge nnmberof men, and was - an :■ industry-, that should be encouraged. Grass seed railed to cleaning works was treated much: more libera''y. .and he thought wool for scouring mi J*? placed on t!le samo' footing Ihe Mayor said it .had been intended to bring before the Minister the matter oi the inadequate accommodation at the railway station, but Mr. Millar had informed him that this question had already been dealt with, and'instructionsgiven to carry, out certain alterations. However, perhaps those who had been deputed to bring this matter forward would like to Sar-sc-methinK "• .Messrs. T. R,-Hodd«r and, H. Palmer drew attention to.the difficulty o£ doing business at the station, owing quate accommodation. The officials could not be.blamed; as: they had to do.their work under conditions that would bring' private employers into serious trouble '•

-■■ •; FLASMILLERS , GRIEVANCE.. ■ .The deputation of flasmillers, representing tho New Zealand,ilaxnifflers, were ■Messrs;-,R,. T. Bell '(president),., E.'- L. Broad, L. Seifert, and Jos:' Liggiis. Mr.. Bell, said the particular :trouble he had to bring before the Minister was the ; matter of sparks "from the' railwav engines firing their flax areas. In the vicinity of the' Jlanawatu railway line there were about 20,000 acres of flax.nrodumug some COOO tons of fibre' per annum, and giving employment to between ,500 and 600 men. The. land under flax :was valued at per acre, but-if the flax were burned its-value would be reduced to about .£5. 'The , railway .revenue from this.area was about ,£6OOO per annum. A single spark ,from a - railway engine.could fire the whole of this vast area. If the flax.Were .burned, it would take five , or six years to-recover. Very expensive.plank had been erected, anil great expense had been gone to in cultivating flax, in the way ,of draining, etc' Every day fires were; occurring between Shannon and Ldngburn, and were : put out by the millers. ■'.

Mr. Liggins said it -was not'only Miinawatu, but the whole of New .Zealand that suffered from this cause. \He had recently had his strippers and ■ shed destroyed .■ by: fir<v iwhich ho attributed to a spark from a railway/ engine. The Mahawatu Railway Company had put a man on to traverse theline in tho fflax. area after trains went along to put out the fires. But it was not.only sparks from' the railway engines" : that jeaused- them" trouble. Hot • ashesi he. considered, also were the means-of "starting'fires; 'He knew the "engines had; spark-arresters affixed to them, but ho could assure the Minister that those; were not efficient, :as he had personally seen ' sparks emitted from tho.funnels. The millers had done all they could for their protection by establishing a fire brigade and also erecting telephones.,. They; had also burnt all combustible materials as far as possible, but this was of. no "avail." unless the Enilway Department "assisted them by exercising the greatest care. The liability of loss in this direction all over New Zealand was immense.

.Messrs. Seifert and Broad spoke of the difficulty of obtaining trucks and covers at Linton and Shannon, tho former stating he had fifty.tons of fibre lying about liable to get-wet because he could hot get covers, and Mr. Broad said they had to order cover's, .from: one place, and ■ trucks from another, which was certainly a nuisance. • .z.'."

THE MINISTER'S KEPLY. ' Mr. Millar said, in consequence of the agitation in Wairarapa; ,'and Napier, a train was arranged to leave Palinerston at 6.10 a-m., but this arrived at'Napior so late that it was of no use to : people from Waipukurau and Waipawa. What Napier now wanted' was a 'train to "leave Dannevirke at.7 a.m. and arrive.in Napier in time to allow'of business being done there. ■ The .same thing applied in,Wairarapa. What suited Masterton. would not suit the : whole of "Wairarapa, and what ■he -had to consider was what would suit the majority. For a train to come right through and arrive in Palmerston nt 11' a.m., would mean that it would. have to leave Cross Creek at i p.m.; and to do what Napier wanted would mean that the, present: train would have, to leave Palmerston at 5 a.m. ' Wonld that suit Palmerston?. What was'.really wanted was ah extra, train, but this would mean an expenditure of £11,000 per annum, while the return from it would probably not amount to more than; SIOOO, so that he certainly could not see his way. to grant that. However, he would go into the matter and try and suit all as much us possible, but he could not promise to suit one district at inconvenience to an-, other. What with agitations between Masterton, Napier, and Mimawatu, he was having a rather bad time of it. After April 1 the old time-table would be practically reverted to.. It wonld not be the same in every detail, but approximately it would be the same as existed before. Tho other important question mentioned by Jtr. Abraham, that*of"running night stock trains to Waikato," would receive his serious consideration. Ho would inquire carefully into the matter and.find out where the'groat"bulk of the stock ■vas being sent from, and probably establish a sort of stock centre. He would give his roply later. In reference to tj,iG rebate on scouring! wools asked for by the vice-president of tho Chamber of Commerce (Mr. Eliott), he would require to know what volume of wool of this description was roiled, and would then' go into the question of making a concession if it warranted it. With reference to the station buildings "-* Palmeistnn, it was disappointed to

hear Mr. Kodder's strictures, because lie thuught the Govcrumeti s t-.ratnio:'. a:;. 1 housing of its employee.-, i-mum-od io.ouraUy not only with private empowers bot_ any other Governments. Jiack of tne arguments for improvements at tbo stafaoa he codd see there was a feeling that they dmoid hase a new station, tat he stud the tune was not ripe for' this. However, he had already given instructions for additions and alterations to be carried out, which would greatly improve the facilities for doing business at the station. Ho suggestion had been made to him that the staff at the Palmerston station was short-handed, and he certainly was not going to put on men to cope with occasional rushes, and then have nothing to do the rest of the day. The public must put up with a little inconvenience at.times. ' i■; '

Keplying to the deputation from the flaxmillers, Mr. Millar said the sparkarresters on the engines were the best known. They also burnt. the best'coal obtainable, so as not to make more sparks' than could be helped. They conld do no more, and' could not accept any responsibility. The surfacemen had been instructed to do all possible, to prevent fires. He suggested that the owners' of land should plough several furrows insidr the railway fence, which would minimise the risk of fire. He did not know whether this could ba done along the flax swamps .In the' matter, of ordering trucks .and covers, there should be one centre -forthis purpose.- On his return to-Welling-ton .he- would inquire into this matter. Me could assure them that he would make it 'his business to meet the requirements and convenience of the public in all matters pertaining to the railwavs. Mr.Buick thanked the Minister for the courteous hearing he had given the deputations. . V

WANGANUI'S WANTS. . \ (By TclecraDn.-Press Asaociatloa.) ' Wanganui, March 9. The two local papers vigorously reph to tho statement of the. Minister for Eailwaysat.Feilding last night that ..Wanganui wanted special treatment against the rest of New Zealand in the m *L r ,St lon S-distance railway freight ■rates; - .Tho "Chronicle" says:—'TVanga-nui-never looked for any coddling from the Government, and if it did it wouldn't expect to get it from an essentially Sonth Island Ministry." The "Herald'', points out that long-distance rates affect Timaru, .Napier,- and other towns besides. liui, many of which raised strong protests, and tho matter is really a Dominion one. It.suggests that seemingly a former Labour member's (Mr. ' Millar) regard for the interests' of the'merchants and manufacturers in the four centres leads mm to fayonr an inequitable and antinational railway policy.:" '. ; . ; ■'■ _JAs a result of an interview' with th« Hon. J. A. Millar (Minister for Bailways), Mr. J, T. Hogan, M.P.for Wangamil, states that lie expects that under the new. time-table how being Arranged the north mail train from Vollingtor will arrive at. "Wanganui not later thai ■3,0 clock, and probably earlier. ' It i« probable that the new time-table will be very similar to the one in operation prior to December C ' ■','