NORTHERN RAILWAY VIA MAHURANGI, V KAIPARA PORTAGE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume VII, Issue 2099, 17 October 1870, Page 3

NORTHERN RAILWAY VIA MAHURANGI, V KAIPARA PORTAGE.

SECOND AHTICr.K. To Ibe Editor of the lleiiald. Sh:, —In my former communication I p .luted on' some great advantages which t!ie ICiiji.iri and other st-ttli-s:icut ■« would derive 1V,.,., the const m-lion uf ii railway irom Mahm-angi t.i Port Albert instead uf o.te IVotsi Rivcrhead to Hclcnsville ; but lis the latteries hithi-rto been regarded as the only p...-siMe steam route between Auckland ni.il the Kninara, ami m lone, formed opinions are not easily changed, L propose now to show that, in addition to those I have already mentioned, the proposed H>.e p ises.-es several import nut advantages over the other. the cost of the coals consume I is the most important i'em in the expenses of running a steamer. Now, the distance that woual have to be travelled bv steamer, between Auckland and Paparoa, calling once only at Port Albert would be (bv the pres. Nt •. ourse of the lurigagation) by lb- Helousvillo ro.te ItiO miles, and by way of .Mahitranid 120 miles only. The eonsnmn'ion of coals woi'M therefore bo onefourth, less, the time occupied on the journey would be proportionately less, and consequently freight and pa-sage would be lower. L!.it the pro ~ned route, would also have (he advantage that each settlement would be visited both going and returning; whereas by the other route, either Port Albert could not eommumcate with the Otamatea and Paparoa, or they could not conimuni-atp with Port Albert. I'o call at; Port Albert going and returning, would increase the distance, via .lelensville. by 'J3 miles, m iking the dill'erence in favour of the new route <>■"> miles. liy tho proposed W'aikari cut the relative distance would be 10(1 miles against If;. - , miles steaming ; the distance by railway being about the same either way. Passengers and goods for Port Albert would only have to be shifted from steamer to rail, or vice versa, onee instead of twice, as would be the ease, via llelensville.

But by the proposed rout>\ *11 tlio settleiiU'nU, including those on the Wairoa, could be served by a single steamer on tin? Kaipara, iiS Well as by two from ilelensvillc ; *o that it could make iwo trips a week, while by the lalier route <►- Iy one could bo made. As I do not know how far up the Wairoa the eulters now go, I will imsmnc Tokatoka as tlie terminus. Thedistance to be steamed on thd Kiipara waters, calling at every station, both going and rc'urning, would bo in one ease US miles and in the oilier 220 miles by the y»resent course of navigation, or, giving the b.meiit of the Waikari cut, 100 miles by the former and 200 by the latter route. Against thi.* .saving in time and distance, tlie only set oil' is the difference in time that would be occupied in getting from Auckland to ileleusville or Mahurangi, which would be about two hours. By the existing arrangement, two cutters are employed, one going from JFelensville to the Wuiroa; the other to Port Albert and Paparoa, going first, sometimes to one place, sometimes to the other ; the place last called at has, therefore, no communication with the other, nor either of them with the Wairoa without going first to Helensvillo an J thence by the other cutter. A trip lrom Port Albert to the Wairoa and back, requires a fo; for iLs accomplishment : while by the proposed new route, the tiling may be done twice a week. Of course goods and cattle would have the same facility of conveyance. Letters from one settlement to another, instead of having as now to be sent first to Auckland, could be sent to their destination in a few hours, and u reply received in the course of as many dayt. as it now takes weeks, as a mail might be forvrarded each way twice a week between Auckland and each of the settlements, as well as from one settlement to another.

Another advantage of tin; new route is that steamers can enter mill leave l'orl Albert, at any shite of the tide, while lleleusviile is accessible for not more thai; half tide. The risks of the navigation wouiil also be less bv '.he former route, and much greater regularity could be observed in the hours of arrival anil departure.—I am, in., U.K.