EARLY CANTERBURY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVI, Issue 14191, 13 October 1906, Page 12

EARLY CANTERBURY.

COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE PORT AND THE PLAINS. (By JOHANNES C. ANDERSEN.)’ 111. Tile second article of this scries dealt •with the efforts made to secure improv- ' cd communication between the city and the sea, up to the passing by the Canterbury Provincial Council of an Act authorising the Superintendent to proceed with the work of piercing the hill between Christchurch and Lytelton. This, the concluding article, will continue the story to the opening of the , tunnel. i Whilst Mr Fitzgerald, who was in 1 England, favoured the Sumner route, he did all in his power to get the contract for the direct route accepted. It was ultimately taken by Messrs Smith and Knight, conditionally; but they threw up tile contract later, on finding they could not complete the work for | the price stipulated. The Provincial Council at once took up and carried on the work, whilst the indefatigable Superintendent, Mr Moorhouse, went to Melbourne to find a willing contractor. He was successful, returning on April 29, 1861, with Mr Holmes, of Messrs Holmes, Richardson and Co., who undertook the completion of the railway, signing an agreement to execute a contract to construct the works for £240,500 within five years, under a penalty of £20,000. ,

In. the meantime, the track for the rails was prepared, the first sod being turned on July 17, 1861. Although the day was rainy, Christchurch, in a jovial way of enjoying itself it then had, turned out in procession. The early colonists, perhaps because of the arduous daily routine, seemed, ever ready for Sport, that wrinkled care derides, And Laughter holding both his aides. The procession formed at the Ferry, and moved on to Heathcote, inspired by the music of the Christchurch and Foresters’ Bands. There were between 1600 and 2000 people present, and Mr Richardson, representing the contracting firm of Uplines and Co., made the first speech, ending by requesting his Honor to turn the first sod. This Mr Moorhous© did amid cheering, and after his speech adjournment was made to a tent, where tile contractors had provided refreshments. Those who oonld not find accommodation in the tent were treated outside; but some malcontents marred the festivities by spoilihg the provisions and storming the teat. The proceedings were terminated by a ball, bold in the evening, in the Town Hall.

The first stone in the tunnel arch at Heathcote was laid on ■ September 29, 1862, by which time 400yds at each end of the tunnel had been completed. Progress made from week to week was reported; the manuscript reports have been unearthed. It could hardly be supposed that the long-standing and at times fierce friction between the two parties, the tunneliets and the rntitunnelists, could be without its eventual spark; and on May 25, 1861, that spark buret into a flame that has burned steadily, if sometimes luridly, ever since.

July 30, 1863, saw 1067 yards of the tunnel completed, and on May 6 the first locomotive, named “Pilgrim,” had been landed at the railway wharf, Ferrymead ; two hundred tons of iron rails arriving later. The line from Christchurch to Ferrymead was ready for the permanent way, and late in the year the railway station and carriage shod were in course of erection; two first and one second-class carriages were ready for use, also twenty waggons, another second-class carriage and twenty more waggons being on their way in the Fair Tasmania.

It might be mentioned, by the way, that on May 5 of this year the Christchurch Gaslight. Coal and Coke, Company was established, gas-lights being first used on December 24, 1864. . On December 3 the railway, the first in New Zealand, was opened; and whereas the first sod was turned on a rainy day, the first train was run in a nor’-wester. The engine was fifty horse-power; there were two first, two second-class passenger carriages and about thirty waggons. His Honor and party left Christchurch at two o’clock, and in ton minutes were at Ferrymead. The train returned, an invited party was taken over the line, and thereafter’ the public were given free rides. The train plied backwards and forwards until eight o’clock, carrying, it is estimated, 3500 passengers during th© day. Traffic was regulated by the Ferrymead Railway and Wharf Tolls Ordinance, 1863, the schedules appended to which form, unlike niost of their kind, interesting reading. Some of the charges fixed were; “Goods, by dead weight or measurement, per ton, not exceeding 12s 6d. Passengers, each, 3s. Horses, each, se. Horned or neat cattle, 3s. Sheep, pigs, goats, Is. Anchors, per cwt, 2d. Barley, wheat,. etc., per bag, Id. Beer or cider, per ’hhd, 4cl. Beef or pork, per barrel, 2d. Cannons, each, 3s. Drays, each, 2s. Drapery, per bale, 9d. Earthenware, glass, per crate, Is; per cask, 6d. Flour, per 2001 b, Id. Gunpowder, per barrel, 3d. Potatoes or vegetables, per ton, Is. Shingles, per 1000, 3d. Timber, per 100 ft, 2d. Wool, per halo, 3d.” The second locomotive was landed on the railway wharf on April 18, 1864. On this day, too, the swing bridge over the Heathcote at the ferry was opened, tolls being paid at the following rates: —Every foot passenger, horse, ass or mule, 3d (invidious classification!); horned cattle, 2d; vehicle drawn by a horse or other animal, fid; every additional'horse or other animal, 3d; every sheep, lamb, goat or pig in one drove not exceeding 100. Jd ; every additional sheep, etc., Jd; double rates before 6 a.m. or after 9 p.m. Evidence given in 1860 before a committee inquiring into the proposals for tho Christchurch-Lyttelt-o-n railway showed that in 1858, when the ferry oould only be crossed by punt, the passenger traffic was 9000 persons for the year at 3d, the traffic of goods and carts across the ferry bringing £IBO per annum. The tunnel, illuminated by 3000 candles, was opened for public inspection on December 26, 1864, but not until December 9, 1867, was the first passenger train drawn through from Christchurch to Lyttelton. On October 7 of that year, too; the Great South Railway was opened as far as the Selwyn.

An idea of the amount of traffic carried on by moans of the Heathcote River is obtained by reading tHo evidence, already referred to, taken in 1860, when a wharfinger at the Union Wharf; stated, among other things l , that in 1859 twenty-five vessels were unloaded at his wharf in ten days. Ho considered that even the making of a railway would not do away with tho river traffic; goods such as timber would always come by river in preference to rail. Whilst the bar was at timers impassable, it was said that the winds which made it so also' made it

impossible for vessels to lie alongside the wharf at Lyttelton. That was before Lyttelton was tho snug little harbour as known to-day; and now its security and the security of the railway are threatened by Canalites 1 Not yet is the question of communication, between the port and the plains* a thing of the past. -