THE WAIKATO DISTRICT.

New Zealander, Volume 12, Issue 1029, 27 February 1856, Page 3

THE WAIKATO DISTRICT.

“ Report upon the means of Establishing n permanent Communication between the Manakuu Harbour and Waikato Rivers,'’ bp Messrs. Mason, Simpson, and O' Rafferty, July 6, 1355. To the Editor of the New-Zealaxder. Si hj, —When the above Report *' came out,” I was so engaged as to prevent my considering how f r the statements it contained were consistent with engineering truth. Lately I have done so, and if you consider the following remarks are worth publishing, you are quite at liberty to d ) so. The portion of this Report which refers to the present mode of navigation, appears to me to he copied from a memorial which I was requested to d aw up, anil which was presented by Mr. Newman (late M.P.C.) to the Provincial Council, Passing over, then, this description. I will take the objectionable passages, in the order in which they occur and r--ply to them acco ding to the information I have derived from actual residence upon the bunks of this river. Ist. In the second paragraph, those gentlemen (ate that, “on commencing our survey at the principal landing place, we were disappointed not to find the river we sought.’’ “Our Survey!’’—Where is “t)ur Survey?” The word Survey, as used in engineering, implies an examination of a country with chain, theodoli’e, &c. I ask, then, where are the r suits of this examination ? Where are the levels, the distances, the detailed estimates ? There arc none—not so much as a shadow of one ! There are no lines on the ground to indicate that those gentlemen have men-tired the length of the canal for which they have estimated ; and without this, how can they know the true cost ? The survey, then, that those gentleman have made, is not an engineering survey, and is not therefore applicable f o the present case ; nor indeed, is the whole report, for they w re direc ed to ieport upon the Awaroa and this, it appears from the above extract,“ they did not find ”at all. 2nd. “ The progress of canoes is impeded by fallen timber, evidently the remains ol an old forest and “ the natives construct dams of mud, flax, and b ushwood.’’ Furtlieron — 1 The banks and adjacent swamps consist of some two feet of vegetable matter resting on layers of sand and dec imposed pumice.” So that the forest grew in 1 1 vers of sand and decomposed pumice, —an important fact, no doubt, and one I take (he liberty of suggesting should lie communicated by the Provincial Secretary to the Royal Society, for the r guidance and information, 1 must, however, say that I could not perceive either sand or pumice on the Awaroa. or in the adjacent swamps, in such quantities as to enah e me to say witli truth that they were composed of those materials. 3rd. “ Previous to the present yea - , this section of country was known to few except natives,” —“ Europeans had no direct interest in it,” and “ were, in fact, utterly ignorant that any medium existed between conveying goods in a canoe or on th ir own shoulders.” The “ Present year ” alluded to is 185,=); now it is well known that the Europeans settled along the Waikato and Waipa Rivers numb'r.;d upwards of 100; that they have been there for about six years; that they have horses, carts, and bullock teams; that Messrs. R. and 1). Graham had a large cattle station at Waiuku ; that Mr. Constable built bis (must thereand It id carts and teams bringing goods from Purapura to Wauiku, four years ago; and that therefore not only was the district known, but also the natives had every opportunity ot observing the ‘’medium’’ between acmoe and their own shoulders. 4th. “ The character of the swamp through which the Awaroa flows is such as to preclude the possibility of a habitable terminus on any part ot it.” 'lbis statement is not correct, lor my camp was pitched there for nearly a month, and although there was a good dea of rain, I lived there very comfortably —and ran refer to the fad that there are no less than three plantations formerly made by the natives along its banks; also, .'hat on the Akaaka, which runs through the same Bwnii.'f.*V ie , ar^v parallel to the Aw uo.i, and about three quarters of a ( rom ' f > 1 ,lt . present a Maori settlement with cui;7PM K * gfoum s, ,iin that this very land, from its fertility, lias begoreservet bv the Maories when selling the Waiuku block' 1 Government. sth. *• I'he Awaroa valley is so destitute of the materials necessary to the construction and maintenance oi a canal ; that to exc ivato a channel 1 trge enough io admit a steamer fitreen feet beam, would cost upwards of jClOt) 0')0”—or, as it is stated, in the latter part of the report, .£132,810. In a former paragraph it is stated that Knikatea timber abou uls, but not one word P said about other timber which also P in suflicient quantities to construct anv works required for the canal, lint it is with the estimate 1 have most to do. The length of canal to cost the above sum is assumed as six miles, and £182,810 divided by six w mid give ,£00,4(J8 per mde. I might adduce many instance of canals in Go at Britain, or the United States and the Continent, in order to prove that no canal similarly situated ever cost such a sum ; but in order to save space, I will only refer t? the following—

Cost per mile. £ Scotland Ist.—The Forth and Clyde Canal sf> feet wide, 10 feet deep with 39 locks 12,899 England 2nd. —Ken nett and Avon Canal, 5d feet wide, 5 feet deep, with locks, 17,000 1' ranee 3rd.—Languedoc, 56 feet wide, 0 feet deep, 114 locks and an immense aqueduct a 0,770 United Slates4th.— New Yorkand Erie Canal 40 fet wide, 4 feet deep 120 locks, 4,940 Ireland sth.—Grand Canal, 40 feet wide, 0 feet deep, 192 locks, 12,195 Mean cost as per above statement, per mile 10,702 Jhe above are most unfavourable examples in proving how lar the estimate for the canal propos' d here is trmi the truth ; because the engineering difficulties in all those works were of the most important (and therelore most expensive) description ; the depth was twice to three times as great ; the width in a similar proportion; and ttie length of time since th se works Were made are a 1 arguments in favour of their ex pens?. Still the mean of all i. only £10,762 per mile, and this sum deducted from £"39,168 (the cost of the canal per mile, according to the report) gives a difference of £19,705 per mile, or £1118.23 C excess upon the whole, estimate, of the proposed Waiuku Canal above five of the most expensive works in the world.

b'th. “ An undertaking of this magnitude could no be accomplished in less than four years.”

roar years for a canal four miles long ! If this he true, the above mentioned eana's are not made yet. I

have actually btvn deceiving myself as to their I'xistence, and I have travelled over] them in imagination instead of (nearly all 1 in reality. Further, the absence of anyth ng like a plan hinders my knowing the size of the proposed work ; hut, supposing the mean breadth to be five yards, the mean depth to be on > yard, and the length to he four miles, or 70,507 yards' then 7040 x 5 x 1 = 35,2 >0 yards. Now suppose one man to move only five cubic yards per day, then 35 200 -f- 5 = 7040 for one man, and supposing there were 100 men employed instead of one, then 7040 •- 100 = say to 70S days, which it would take to finish the excavation ol this canal at a very low estimate.

Then say that the remainder of the wor'< occupied five times as long as the principal part, then the whole canal could he finished in 7‘»i xs SO days, if 10 > men were employed upon it, or in thirty-live days if 1000 men were so engaged. So much for the practicability, expense, and time, according to this report, of making a canal between Purapura and the Waikdo River. I now turn to the project of making a tramway :

7Ch. Speaking of crossing the swamp the Report says hard to sustain piles, wlrch ttie woods on each s.de conlam in abundance. We do not apprehend the surmounting of this difficulty would materially enhance the cost of the whole work.”

Why, sir, the timber along this line, which is in such great “ abundance ’’ is tli ■ same kind of limber vvh ch covers the banks of the Awaroa, and, which in that case appears to he so bad that it cannot be used for the canal—but in this is so good, and the line so favourable, notwithstanding its crossing the swamps, as “ nut to materially enhance the cost of this work.” ’ S:h. 11 Line No. 1 passing through the middle of the VVaiuku block, would confer immediate benefit on ‘J(i 000 acres of land.”

Granted all, but allow me to enquire when the Provincial Council will grant a snra of money to make this tramway, and to remark that until the money is actually granted, and ibe work actually performed, no value sh mid be attached to the laud adjacent thereto on that account.

( 3tb “The length of No. lis W\ miles. Estimated cost £ Li,400.”

Here is a bul l assertion. The length of No 1 line of Tramway, which is proposed to confer such inestimable benefit upon Waiuku block, is eleven and a quarter miles, —and yet, Sir, would you believe it, those gentlemen neve) hud out or measured this line previous to making this assertion, and even to tins moment (l-Vb. dti, 18 )6’,) the line is not laid out. Hut, Sir, even this is excelled bv its estimated cost—sixteen thousand four hundred pounds no shillings end no pence for the construction of a tramway eleven And a quar er miles lung ! At some trouble 1 have made out the following list of the cost of several railwavs in various countries, in order that, your readers may compare it with the sum stated in (his report as the cost of a tramway. And here lot me remaik that the difference between a railway and a tramway is, that the latter has a rail o/VOlbs. to the yard, and the former from :> L> to [)llbs. ; also, that the piacice of making tramways is completely ex plodod, from the great cost of keeping them in repair, nnd the" fearful accidents 1 hat hj ive occurred in consequence of the llu-bar rail ‘ curling’’ at the en Is, going over (instead of und-r) the wheel of the cars, running up into the carriage, “ snagging” the train, a id even impaling some of the unfortunate passengers.

RAILWAYS, England (Great Western) £55,3:10 per mile. London and Birmingham 51 7KO ~ Dublin and Kingstown (Ireland)... 56,660 ~ Ulster ' 13,800 Glasgow aud Ayr (Scotland) .... 21,720” ~ Du nine and Aibroaib 6,600 ~ New York and Erie (United Suites) 11,11)5 ~ Do mid Haarlem ~ B,OIU ~ Cumberland Val ey ~ 4.404 ~ Detroit and Pontiac ~ 2.41)0 ~ Mean cost of the last four 6,7,52 ~ If this tramway wore estimated at this rate per mile, (and if you putcolonial difficulties of obtaining material against the weight of the rail, you will be very near the truth,) it would cost £75,960 instead of .£16,400 ; so that the canal ins been oyer estimated £] 18,230, and the railway (or tramway) lias been under estimated £s9,s6o—that is, judging from he mean cost of similar works in the countries to which 1 have al tid ’d. Those facts have really surprised me; but there is an additional otic which I bad forgotten, viz., the cost of railways constructed in Imli >, particularly as one of the gentlemen vvh > framed that report has had so much experience there. The cost of Indian railways as estimated by one of tbs ablest engineers in India (Lieut. Col, Kennedy, R. K ), previous to the appointment ol the Civil Engineering Staff of (lie Honourable East India Company, is £5,000 per mile. Ij it not, therefore, str.inge, that a gentleman who came directly from tbe/ice, should attach bis signature (0 an estimate which mak-s the cost of ibis tramway only £1460 per mile, and does not mention one word about the cost of ears, horses (or engines), stations, landing-places, &c., & without which this tramway would be absolutely use ess. I might allude to o‘lier statements in this report, but as tb**y are deductions ('torn non-existent facts, J sb ill conclude by Imping that before the people of Wa ukn aio wronged out of tb t to which they are justly entitled (the main line of cotnnnin cation passing diem), and the Province impoverished by expending money without a shadow o( foundation, the Provincial Council will pause and consider the above facts, which I have the honour to submit for their perusal. 1 am, Sir, Your obedient servant, Arthur S. Oumshv.