GENERAL MANAGER OF RAILWAYS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 9766, 3 April 1914, Page 5

GENERAL MANAGER OF RAILWAYS.

MR HILEY'S VISIT. \ IMPORTANT RAILWAY MATTERS SUBMITTED. Yesterday Mr E. H. Hilev. General ManJagcr of New Zealand Railways, in company I with Messrs Buxton (chief traffic manager. Wellington) Junes (district traffic engineer, Wellington), and Aimstrong (district traffic manajrrr. Wanganui), made his long-expected visit to Pahnerstoo, to go thoroughly into railway matters ia tho town. Imputations from * tbc Borough Council and Chamber of Commerce waited upon Mr Hilcy. Those present wero tho Mayor, C'rs. Nathan. Voss. Broad. Armstrong, Woon and Bennett (Borough Council): as president of the Chamber of Commerce, Mr Nathan also represented that body, and Cr. Broad and Messrs T. R, Hodder and M. ~\. Eliott were also present on behalf of tins Clamber. Mr R. S. Abraham, and Mr Oldham (Taihape Chamber of (.ommcrce) ah© waited upon Mr Hiley. INSPECTION PROPOSED. The Mayor expressed pleasure at the opportunities «f welcoming Mr Hiley and party to the town. Tho visit had been a long time coming, hut they knew that he had been baring a bony fc:ne visiting the oth<>r towns of the Dominion. Th<» Ma- or made reference to the matters which would be the subject of the deputations, and then suggested that Mr Hiley go 1o the railway station and look over the things which they desired to bring under his noiice. Mr Hiley thanked the Mavor for' his courteous welcome. He concurred with the idea of \ isiting the station. He afeo thanked the Mayor for mooting him at the Nation, when he previously passed through here. REBATE ON SCX)URED WOOL As Mr Eliott, had to have for Wellington during thr. afternoon, lie referred to the. matters he had to speak on. He said that he wished to bring forward the question of the rebate on wool sent inland for scouring purposes, and also the alteration of tliestatus of Palmerston North station now under the control of Wanganui. Mr Eliott dealt with tho wool qu<*tion first. Wool was sent from the ports into the countrv for scouring purposes. Thus the same wool often i.aid three freights on the railway*— down to the port, Iviek for «<ourin?. and finally down to the pert again. There were several reasons against scouring work? being at the big centres, one being the requirement for a large amount of'water, which was not easily obtainable at the seaside centres. It. was considered that there should be a rebate on tho freights ho paid, and he pointed out that •uch a concession, if granted, would not be open to abuse, as no on- would think of sending wool back except for scouring. The encouragement of wool-scouring in the Dominion would mean the employment of more labour, as wool would not be 6s-nt out of the country in a greasy condition. What, they suggested was a rebate of half the railaee one" wav. DISTRICT TRAFFIC OFFICE. Mr Eliott went on to urge that Palmerston should be made a separate railwzv district, or joined to Wellington. There wero * veral reasons for this. He instanced iho Napier express. For 87 miles (to Longbuni) it was under tie- control of Wellington; thence to Woodville under Wanganui; thence for the rest of the journev under Wellington. If under Wellington 'for the fuil distance it would facilitate matters. Tho supply of waggon* o iid alto be much letter regulated from Wellington than Ir n Wanganui. said Mr Eliott.' Mr Hiley: Why do vou say that? Mr E iott: They go to Wellington full and are returned empty. He understood tho supply could be better regulaied on tho return journey under the control of V elHngtou than under the control of Wanganui. The inspection was then made bv thoso present, after which the. party returned to the Council Chamber, and the deputations were heard. THE COUNCIL'S REQUESTS. The Ma^or said that there was not much" to add to what bad been explained to Mr Hikv when on his tour of inspection. In referring to the COOK STREET CROSSING, he said that there had been a good ha] of corrcsiwiidcnce between the Department and the Borough Council about this matter. The Council had found what they thought was a solution of the problem, but ratepayers at the southern end of the town had d that the matter be held over until Mr HUey's arrival in the Dominion. Thcso ratepayers would Ik- represented bv a deputation the same afternoon. The Mavor considered that, any privilege given the Department by tlto Council should be reciprocated. Many yeans ago, the Pitt si net crossing was closed and there had been a lawsuit in connection with it. The Council felt that the Cook street matter ought to he settled amicably. The Mayor said that the Council v,a* also desirous of knowing whether the number of lines would be increased at tlie West street crossing, if tho took street crossing was closed. He then, referred to the

SQUARE CROSSINGS, and asked that alarm beih be placed thcro to warn jteople of approaching trains. "Tho crossings," said the Mayor, '"'are decidedly dangerous. Continuing, ho referred to a. (=>*om of warning signals in rogue in, (. aliforma. and brought under the Council's nonce by Mr 11. Coles. The Mayor said he had been pleased to hear from Mr Hiley that he intends! to look into the svsura',, T , h » e M *y°. r also said ,!jal tl» Hon. W. 11. Hemes, Minister for Railways, had given instructions that trains were to avoid, t. iwssibk, passing each other at the crossings. Several narrow escapes from accidents, as a result of the trains a* mentioned, had been witnessed, ami it was highly desirable that llii* should be sto;>p■ d. He hoped Mr Hilev would endorse tho Ministers net ion and issue similar instructions. The Mayor next touched upon THE SHUNTING NUISANCE in the Square. Mr Hilev had seen'personally, he said, what he was nferring to >ut the stoppage in tliat case had been fairV « !' J ho *l ,( ' ak <' r - £ aid be had seen Ji© traHic held up for a s long as five minuter, at least. This was also a matter in which the Department siiould show a lutle consideration to the townspeople. The next subject broached by the Mavor was the

WHISTLING OF TRAINS in the Square. The whistling, he said was no doubt, necessary, but something might be done to lessen the nuisance. Tho noi-© made interrupted business, and tho »\.un< it had even been asked to take legal steps to prevent the whwling, but iiad not done anything of that nature as yet. The Council Was also desirous of knowing. SJ i ( j ,],,. Mayor, i; the Department intend", d making any alterations to

THE PRESENT RAILWAY STATION. itseif Mr Riley's attention was- also drawn by the Mayor to the matter of lighting the Terrace End railway station. The latter said that sometimes fullv twenty or thirty persons got off the night trains at that station, which served a big population. On a dark night they could liardlv 6C e their way, and many walked alona the rails to 1m crowing. There wa* a~lam!> ;. tho station ivA the trough had kept'it aliirhr. for a long tune, but the T mid! now did not feel disposed to d oso. 11. considered it a disgrace for rim Department n leave the stati.n without a light. f'OMI'LETIXG THE SQUARE PURFACE.

C r. Armstrong spoke with reference to the crossings in the Square, up to which it was desired to brim? the tarred macadam He sjwke of the excelled surfaces iriven by this material, but uufortunatelv, he said, the surface* were broken between the raik It would be a trifling thing to allow them, to complete the surface, and at the same time :i big advantage t- tho town as the dust nuisance created thero would be obviated. T RAM CROSSINGS. The Mayor asked Mr Hiley what the attitude of the Department would lie in tho event of the Train lines i.ein<r put down, when it became iieccs«arv for them to cross the railway lines. He stated thero would lie probably two crossing and some arrangement emrid be made |ierhap* :is to signalling when i!:« railway lines had to }>e crossed. THE GENERAL MANAGERS REPLY. Replying, Mr Ilil.y raid thai the Department had no intention of asking for flic closing; of West »tr«"t. The most tbn Department would ask would, be two running lines and one shunting line. Should the Department desire the closing of West street at a later date, the matter would bo referred back to the Council. The Mayor: You don't think of it new? Mr Hilev: No With regard t<» warnings at crocuogs in the Square, Mi Hilci said that t>t the

present time they were making experiments as to a form of warning, and if this proved to be satisfactory the worst crossings in the Dominion would he dealt with. It would take some tunc before all tho dangerous level crossings were attended to, but certainly. the crossings at Palmerston would bo considered with the rest. He would not like to indicate until the matter had been gone into thoroughly what crossings would be considered, but they would bo done as time and money permitted. As to the Mayor's remarks concerning the concession regarding Cook street crossing, he was not aware that any concession had been given by the Council. However, ho thanked them" for the sympathy given in that matter. The matter was an - important one to Palmerston, and the plans of the Department shoild not be hampered • . , He thought the crossing of trains had Wen reduced to a minimum, but he would look into the matter again, and he hoped to have the needless crossing of train* stopped if that were still being done. When the station yard was improved, as provided by the plans of the Department, lie considered the shunting in the Square would be practically reduced to a minimum. Thus manv of their difficulties at this end would be reduced if the plans oi the Department matured. The point of trains waiting and whistling, said the General Manager, would be obviated if the vard were big enough. He would look into the matter, but he hoped they would recognise the necessity of trains having to whistle at times, though any needless whistling would be looked into. , .... With regard to the railway buildings, that was a point on which Mr Hiley said be would not like to pledge the Minister. As time went on. and the Palmerston station "row, the buildings would have to be increased. Referring to improvements which might be done, Mr Hiley said that the Minister would probably say they must not spend money on luxuries: these should wait He would look into the matter ol the lighting of the Terrace End railway station. He knew nothing about it at present, and would r«fer to it later by correspondence. . . With regard to the tramway question, ho would also look into that, but they could be sure that the department would be sympathetic in the matter, and somethmg which would cost as little as possible could be arranged between them. He was quite sympathetic in regard to what Lr. Armstrong had brought up. and some arrangement* could probably be made whereby They could co-operate and do the work; it was a small matter. , Referring to tho Palmerston railway station improvements, reply to a question hv the Mavor, Mr Hiley said that the matter was a'vrrv important one. and one ot the first that "would he gone on with, perhaps in a year's time. IMPROVING THE TIME-TABLE Mr Nathan brought under Mr Hiley s notice, on behalf of the Chamber of I ommerce. the matter of rearranging the tune-table between Wellington urn Palmerston. He said that the timetable in re-s-'.ect of the early morning train and the i;K one at night had remained unaltered ivy many wars. He urged the speeding up of the trams so as to give business men more time to spend in Wellington. lie also referred to the necessity to have the Wairavuna and Napier time-table rearranged. end Winced in this connection tho impossibility of a traveller being able to get say ifom 'Napier to New Plymouth on the "goods freights. '•\rhan also drew attention to the ■ > . time —often three days—which .< k to come up to Palmerston North : • .'eiiington. He also brought up the [uestion. and contended that sugar, :s!.i:ice. should be carried for the ,ier at the same rate as his cheese or hmter. Tin plate and other materials for factory use should be similarly treated. Mr Nathan said he could hot understand why certain factory lines should be soakTcura( ked. Mr Nathan next referred to the (litieD nee on freight on foreign ooal and New Zealand coal. Newcastle coal, lie said, produced more ga,s than New Zealand coal. ;«'k! why the. Department should charge more for the haulage of one than the other, he could net understand. It cost no more to haul a ton of Newcastle coal than a ton of New Zealand ooal. SHORTAGE OF STOCK TRICKS.

M- R. S. Abraham brought under the General Manager's notice the shortage of trucks. He said that the position «a$ perhaps more through want of thought thc'ii anything else. This was illustrated by the fact that trucks could be obtained at one station ami not at another, even when they were only a few miles apart. The Department seemed to oveilook the fact that one district had gone ahead and another gone back in the matter of stock production. He read a letter from Dalgety 4nd Co.. Ltd.. which gave an instance of trucks not coining to hand in time even when ordered 14 days beforehand., The result was. he said, that ihe stock'had to bo kept moving and wasted away in condition considerably by the time trucks had arrived. Lambs in particular lost in quality through delay. Mr Abraham said ho hoped Mr Hiley would give the matter his full consideration'. lie said. also, that he had been informed that the matter really was not a shortage of the rolling stock, bur a shortage of hauling power. He gave an instance of the increase oi sheep-farming along the Main Trunk line within the last few years. Mr Abraham also brought before Mr Hiley the question of delaying the Feilding stock train a little, because, dealers found the present hour too early for shipping. The I-eildinrr people had also referred the speaker to the brakes on the sheep trucks, whi-h were* considered not quite strong eiion-h. with the result that tf>.e sheep were knocked about considerably REBATE ON WET FLAX. Mr h. L. Broad spoke on the shortage ol covers f ol . trucks. At Rangiotu for instance, he said, a good deal of fibre was loaded, but the trucks came minds covers very often. Sometimes the covers were KVn U "' !ibl '° * ot vm - H<i asked tnat the Department consider the matter of carrying'back free for. drying purposes, all flax tha had got wet through the faulty covers oi the Department. A TAIHAPE MATTER. •Mr Oldham, president of the Taihapc » namber of ( ommerce. endorsed Mr \brainms remarks as to the shortage of trucks. Since the section between Martoi, am iauinarunui had been under the control of the manager at Ohakune, the shortage had been accentuated. He did not wish to reflect on that district manager who had said that the trucks were not nxailal.le. He pointed out the necessity- of IWMUg <riven two days' notice of the acceptance of trucks, .nstead of a few hours. -«lr Uldiiam also made reference to the trucking of stock, and gave an instance of how sheep had been delayed over a Sunday through a stationmaster not •riving"the matter proper consideration. Mr Oldham then brought up the matter of trains running l*t\veen Taihape and Marton. The first train to reach Taihape was at 12.35 p.m., Hiid this only gave people three hours in Taihape, whereat if the train were speeded up, and the evening train delayed three-quarters of an hour, the matter could be overcome. . MERCHANTS' COMPLAINTS. Mr Dodder also made reference to the supply of produce o 'trucks. He stated that r oal merchants had been considerably in- ■•■'. ienced through the lack of trucks r. With regard to grain and proie Taranaki district, only a short ■.■'• i c they had been advised that there •) trucks available for a week for ■•Ycyanee of grain to Taranaki. Mr !.'■•• ...■!• stressed the loss through this . It also meant that trade was divert- . say. to Blenheim and other places, which could be served by boats. Mr Haiti cr gave an instance of the shortage of trucks which had occurred to his firm that morning, so that Mr Hiley could understand the ii.eonvenience and loss clients at the other end were suffering through this cause. Mr Hodder also agreed with MiBroad as to the necessity of providing adequate covers and ropes. He then went on to allude to the difficulties merchants were under in communication with Pahiatua. Here they only had communication three days a week, and Wellington—a long distance away—had a daily service. The merchants of Palmerston desired this remedied, and'he sincerely hoped that it would be done. GENERAL MANAGERS VIEWS. Replying. Mr Hiley said that, he would look into the timetable question, and if he -could adopt any of Mr Nathan's suggestions, Jie would do so. The tariff question was a big one. Manv thought that if anoanalies were removed by the rcrision of the tariff, the latter would go down; in his opinion it would go up. No tariff he revised would «'o down; ho would not be a business man if

he did so, and, as far as he could sea, no no tariffs in New" Zealand were going down. Since he had been in New Zealand they had passed through a very troublous industrial upheaval, and trade had been harmed and revenue lost at the erpe'nse of 4he Department. At 4k> same time improvements had been made, which bad increased'the cost of ! running. Their next revenue, he went on 'to say. would be a disappointment, when compared with the year just passed, and he | threw out a warning that in removing | anomalies, freights would go tip. Some of ! the points raised by Mr Nathan were no doubt logical, and could be considered when ' they were revising the tariff, probably with--1 out. loss to the Department. He had. however, noted the points, and he would look into them. The other alternative to anomalies was class rates, and. Mr Nathan would' know what the result- would be if the railway freights wero fixed on rigid claes rates. The Department was quite prepared to adi in it that they did not have enough rolling jitock, and they were now building as hard as they could, and would continue in this direction. Although short of waggons, they wore far short of haulage power, and hoi was in lonr-li with the Minister on this point, to increase their haulage capacity. Me was glad that the speakers had not cast any reflections on their station officers, who had had a very busy time of late. The carrying of sheep this year had been heavier than in former years, and this had accentuated the shortage of trucks. In conclusion, Mr Hiley Said that the ouestion of the scarcity of tarpaulins had boon under consideration, and they were now turning out a lot more. He would consider Mr Broad's point as to the freight on wet flax. The question opened up a wide matter as to who was responsible for the condition of the flax. The interview then ended with the thanks of the deputations to Mr Hiley for bis attention. THE COOK STREET CROSSING. At the conclusion of the above deputations, Mr Hilev was waited upon privately by Messrs W. Park. C. Dunk. F. E. Watson. S. Jickell and C. Pickering, who represented the ratepayers generally at iho southern end of tho town, in respect of the Cook street crossing. They urged, if tho Cook streej crossing was going to bo closed, the Department provide adequate means, either by means of a bridge or subway, for vehicular traffic between Main and Church streets. In reply. Mr Hiley stated that he could not see his way clear to grant the request.