The New Zealand Herald AUCKLAND, WEDNESDAY, JAN. 18, 1864.

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 52, 13 January 1864, Page 3

The New Zealand Herald

AUCKLAND, WEDNESDAY, JAN. 18, 1864.

t SIT.eTKMVIt AfiEXDO. " Give every man thine ear. but fuw t In- voice: T las alrivc all-To thine mviwir he trueAmi u must r How. as the iiKiit ihc ilav ' Tliou cun-t not then bu I'al.-o to any liui'ii "

| A kkw more remarks on tlio que.stion ol ; railways, mid tve shall take leave of the sub- | |ect tor t!ie present. I In donating this all iniporf :ml question. : we cannot but think that the speakers in the Provincial Council have made, two mistakes —firstlv. with regard to the time i'cquisik' I tor laying down a line, and secondly in j respect io the cost of ihe works. j ]i' we were to follow the evample of Great { Britain, and expend our me ins in the erection of beautiful station houses, with nuxilij ;try tvl're.s'imeiit rooms designed with all the j tloridity of architectural style, our monev | would go but a very short wav ; but if we j imitate the pattern set by America, and ! sink the ornamental in the rough and read v. : eschewing cutting;* and following the natural '■ track of the country as eloselv as possible. : we consider that a comparatively inexpeni sive ami speedily constructed line of avail- : able transit may be promplly established. Ol' the American railways, we have no j personal knowledge: but we have a perfect j recollection of ihe railways attached to ihe j coal mines in the vicinity of I-ldinhurgh, lout; j before the Liverpool and Manchester line | was projected; and even after the. opening I of that—the first of Falkland's iron arteries '--we have enjoyed tnanv a pleasant drive | between "l'ldiiiburgh and Dalkeith, a trip i which, like that from the wharf to the C'itv j of Nelson now. was I hen performed upon a single line of rails, and in a carriage drawn I by a single horse. J "We believe thai between Auckland and | Waikato. by making here and there a few I detours, no very extensive amount of cuttim I would be required, and that a thoroughh j practicable bush railway might soon be trot '■ in working- order. The necessity for such means of communication is •• immediate and urgent." and sure are we that from iiic facility it would at'brd for.mih'tary communication, to say not!iiiiLT ef ihe impetus ii would give to Auckhiiid's commercial relations, ;h t it would quickly return, and with usury too. all the cost of the original outlay. Wc shall place a;i almost parallel case before our fellow eolonis's. and leave them to draw their own conclusions:—Some time about the year !SdO. the Government ol' \en Piemen's Land came to the resolution of esta' lishing an extensive penal settlement at Port Arthur. Port Arthur, like our own W'aikaio. ;s siuavd at same little distance from the harbour of lio'nart Town : vesselsare required to go outside the river Dcrwent <o double the stormy promontory of' Capo Pillar, and then work into the splendid and bays which constitute l'mt Arthur. With sailing cra't this was frcotieuily a two or three days' task, and somelimes t'ose vtssels. charged with comic's and go'.ernniciit s'or, s, had to hear up through, stress of weather and seek sh.elte in the Derwent —just in tlie same wav thai our shipping is frequently weal Iter bound at Mamikau Heads. The loss and inconvenience of this long sea round was keenly felt by the Tasmanian Government of that day. as the loss ami the deitnlion certain lo ensue from the long sea round from Onc- \ huiiga to Waikato. liagbtn. and Kawhia. cannot tail ere long to be fell bv ours. A superintendent, however. -- Captain Boot li. 2lst Fusiliers.-—was placed in command at Port Arthur, who. looking at the character of the country that lay between Unbar: Town and the seat ot' his authority, determined to avoid the sea ami to substitute the rail, or rather a wooden tramwav. by which the inn-rconrse was to he rendered, not only certain and uninterrupted, but reduced from days to eight or twelve hours. As we are aware of no cases so closely akin in their characteristics as the communication beweeu llobari Town and Port Arthur, and thai which may almost as readily be established, and for an infinitely more important, eventful, purpose between Auckland and Waikato, -,v> cannot, we ihink.take a litter opportunity of describing the tramway ol' Captain Booth, which has more than realised all ihe expectations formed of it, and has been in advantageous use tiir upwards of live and twenty years— very possibly at the present time. There is a neck of land which separates the waters of Norfolk Bay on the Jlobart Town side from those of Long Bay on the Port Arihur side of ihe Isthmus! From liobart Town to the wharf at Norfolk- Bay, the passage may be made, under sail, in from eight to twelve hours. Captain Booth saw the importance of transit by the .Isthmus instead of by long sea. He, therefore resolved to lay down a tramway, formed of the hard wood of the country. Like many men of superior intellect, it was the fortune of Captain Booth to encounter ihe sneers of the common herd, and as he had determined to follow the rise and fall of the ground, which is frequent, and to avoid cuttings, the narrow-minded predicted naught but failure to his enterprise. Nothing daunted, and possessing the confidence of the Governor. Captain Booth toiled on till they that had come to jeer went back to admire. The tramway, as we have already said, unlike English railways, follows the nat ttinl levels of the ground",— the ascent of a hill being compensated in its opposite descent. No ox, no horse, no locomotive traversed its course. The waggons were propelled by felons.--!hree being allotted to do the work of each, which was capable of conveying half a ton of goods at each transit. Upon emergency, the same gang made three journeys "out and back, thirty miles a-day. 'conveying' thus half a ton per man either wav. 'Without tins tramway, which cost but a very moderate sum, the Port. Arthur settlement could never have been conducted with the great ediciency for which it was so remarkable, it brought Jlobart Town and that ramified and singular penal station into immediate contact with each other, whilst messages could be transmitted and answered by aeinaphnrcs, the direct, distance being fifty lriiltft, in an incredibly short space of time. *That which was accomplished by Captain .Booth a! Port Arthur may be achieved hy Auckland and Waikato; and to demonstrate the facility and the importance of the undcr-

taking, let us remind our fellow colonists | | that, in less than nine months, Southland. the youngest Province of New Zealand, lias I ■ laid down upwards of three and twenty j miles of railwav. ' ! * I