ARRIVAL OF THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 6998, 22 April 1884, Page 5

ARRIVAL OF THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS.

The .Hon. E. Mitchelson arrived in town yesterday, .from .Wellington, rather unexpectedly. He was a passenger from Te Awamutd by the Waikato down train, which arrived in Auckland at eleven minutes to , fivo p.m. His present visit, however, is specially interesting, as be is on a tour of inspection of the proposed railway routes between . Auckland and Wellington, collecting information to .be laid before Parliament duriiig the next- session of the General Assembly. With this object in view, he travelled overland from Wellington to Te Awamutu, accompanied by Mr. Knorpp, civil engineer, and a guide with pack-horses. He.left Wellington on Monday, the 7th instant, and Martin's Station.on the same day. His route lay along Kocbfort'e "line," or, as is better known, the "central line" of railway. The route extends along by the head waters of. the Wanganui Biver. On Friday,, the 11th, the party reached Tuhurangi Station, whore they examined the bush country along the,western side of the Ruapehu. They travelled through the Murumotu and Kangihoa country, and reached Ta Kaanu on the night of the 12tb- From there the party proceeded to Kakaramea, and thence to Maungatapn on the western side of the burning mountain Maruhoe (conimonly; kDOwn as Tongariro). .It may be here stated that it is not alone the direction of character of the proposed line with which this inspection IK concerned. The Ron. the Minister for Public : Works took observations of the character of the country on cither side the line, the nature of the soil, its adaptability for settlement, and the advantages presented for special industries. From Maruhoe tho party proceeded to Waimarino, whence they could see right back to Tuhurangi and the Upper Wanganui country. They mounted to every accessible trig station, from which an extended view was to be obtained of the surrounding country. From Waimarino they proceeded to the trig station at Hahungatahi. Here the party entered the bush country and found the land for the most part very good. On the road from Waimarino to the trig, station known as Puketapu (a very high hill) they met the first of the King natives of the Wanganui County. The party slept at a settlement on the Pungapunga River on the night of Tuesday, the 15th inst. They were received with welcome, and kindly treated by the natives. On the morning of Wednesday, the. 16th, they reached Taumaranui. It was at this plaoe that the unfortunate Moffat was murdered. The party was received very kindlj by all the natives there; but they were " troubled" about one thing. They said they were annoyed by Europeans going into the Tuhua country to prospect for gold. They had heard that a man named Berry had been in the country for two or three weeks. They had sent out scouts to look for him, but failed to discover any trace of him. At the time that Mr. Mitchelson left the place they- had not succeeded in finding him. From Taumaranni they passed to Waimiha, where they were also welcomed and hospitably treated by the natives. They slept at the latter place on the 17th. From there they proceeded to Te Kuiti, in the Waikato "King Country." Here they were received in a manner even more friendly than by the Wanganui natives. From Tβ Kuiti they travelled to Kihikihi, which place they reached on Sunday last. So far as the " central line" itself is concerned Mr. Mitchelson speaks of it very favourably. He considers that Mr. Rochfort deservee great credit for laying it off, considering the country he had to go through. The grades are all easy, one in eighty being the steepest, is the party had to observe, the features of the country that lie along the route they were obliged to follow a somewhat zig-zag route. The distance they travelled was about 600 miles. As already stated, they ascended to every trig station that was at all accessible. He thinks it scarcely possible to obtain an easier line than Rochfort's, that is, one that can be constructed for £5000 a mile. The distance from Martin station, on the Wellington side, to Kibikihi, on the Auckland side, ia 200 miles. . If this line were constructed, the railway distance from Auckland rto Wellington, would be 420 miles. The Hon. Mr. Mitohelson next proceeds to inspect the Taranaki or westers, route. The proposed line from Napier is now out of the question. The above information must be regarded as somewhat in the nature of a birdseye view of the central line. Mr. Mitehelson has gathered a large mass of interesting information by the way. This information will be laid before Parliament in detail, and will be accessible to the public by the publication of the next Parliamentary blue-book.