THE PROPOSED STRATFORD RAILWAY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11546, 4 December 1900, Page 6

THE PROPOSED STRATFORD RAILWAY.

VISIT OF THE MINISTER FOR PUBLIC WORKS. POSSIBILITIES OF THE COUNTRY. PROSPECTS OF THE LIGHT RAILWAY SCHEME. The account of the journey of the Minister for Public Works and party over the railway routes given in yesterday's Herald, dealt mainly with the North Island Main Trunk railway. Great interest attaches to the progress of the work on this line, but the journey extended over the route of the proposed light railway to Stratford, a scheme of great importance to Auokland and to the whole of the northern part of New Zelaand. This district has been surveyed for an ordinary 3ft 6in gauge railway, and for a time it was put forward as a rival to the Central route, as the Main Trunk line to Wellington. The last Publio Works Statement, however) put an end to controversy on this point, and in addition to the route of the Main Trunk line being absolutely fixed, a sum of £10,000 was placed on the Estimates, to enable the Public Works Department to commence the construction of a light railway or tramline of 2ft gauge from Stratford, connecting with the Main Trunk line at Kawakawa, now to be known as Ongaruhe. So far the practicability of light railways has not been tested in New Zealand, and the idea of the Minister for Publio Works is to make an experiment on this route, which, if successful, could be extended to other similarly situated districts in the colony. The proposal is, comparatively speaking, a new one, emanating from the Minister, and up to the present no detailed plans have been made by the Publio Works Department, allowing the possibilities of the scheme or the suitability of the ground for the proposed experiment, and it was with the view of making personal investigations on these points that the Minister undartook the journey over the route. The idea of the Minister is that the line should, as far as possible, be laid along the existing road (known as the Ohura Road), and accordingly the party, in making their inspection of the proposed route, followed the road closely, leaving the Main Trunk route on Wednesday forenoon and pushing on a distance of about 29 miles to Maungaroa. Up to this point a good road has been formed, and from the Stratford end over 50 miles of road have been made, leaving a blank of some 15 miles now under construction. The importance of the journey will be at once realised when it is stated that the question of the practicability of a light railway through this country has first to be definitely settled by the Minister before a beginning is made with the expenditure of the sum now at the disposal of the Department for the construction of a railway system connecting Auckland with Taranaki.

At the outset it may be stated that so far as the party went, there were abundant evidences that a railway through this country is an absolute necessity for the development of the colony, and the nature of the land clearly indicates that the land would in all likelihood be a valuable asset for the colony immediately after the construction. At the point where the Ohura Road junctions with the Main Trunk line the land is not of highclass quality, and for some 15 or 16 milee in it is much of the same character. About this point, however, the road passes out of the pumice country and strikes rich papa soil, and right on, almost without break, for the remainder of the distance covered by the Minister and party, there is rich grazing country, carrying an abundance of all kinds of vegetation, awaiting only the bush-feller or the more expeditious bush fire to change into a wealth-producing pastoral country. The country has altogether different features from that passed through along the Main Trunk line. For long strotohes it is heavily bushed right up to the roadside, so that the settler who goes to take up land in the district ha« tc realise that though a magnificent prospeot is before him, he has to first undertake a heavy and unremunerative work in bush clearing. The bush is wide in extent, but, unlike the timber areas on the Main Trunk route, the valuable classes of timber are in the minority, and in the circumstances it is unlikely that the timber industry, even with the railway brought to its door, would find a remunerative home here. Totara, inaati. rimu, kahikatea, and maire are freauontly seen along the road, but the cheaper timbers predominate, and it is doubtful whether at this distance from the timberconsuming centres the selection of the better classes would be payable. The future of the country lies in grazing and dairying, and for this purpose it will certainly, assuming the early construction of the railway, at no distant date add greatly to the colony's output of mutton, wool, beef, and dairy product?. The whole appearance of the country indicates the richness of the soil and its suitability for pastoral pursuits, and the Government have made assurance doubly sure by clearing and sowing in grass a chain on either side of the public road. The grass is most luxuriant, even in its neglected state, and when the settler has put his hand to the work of levelling the bush and banishing tho undesirable undergrowth, tho traveller along tho Ohura Valley, whether by road or rail, will have lying on either side of him stretches of green pasture equalled by few district*, if indeed excelled by any, in New Zealand. Tho Toad from Kawak?;\va is well constructed, but at an early stage in the journey it became evident that to stick closely to tho road in laving a railroad or tramline would bo exceedingly difficult, if not impossible. It is a winding road, with innumerable steep grades and sharp curves, and presuming die possibility of the engineer's task in constructing and running such a railway, the result would be something in the nature of a switchback. The load skirts a great many deep gullies, and if the railway is to be attached at all to the road line, it will have at least to be carried over the majority of the gullies, which has the disadvantage of adding to the cost of construction, but providing a compensation in the shortening of the distance to b-s laid down in rails. The Minister was convinced, after covering the 29 miles to Maungaroa, that for about two-thirds of the distance tho road line would have to be abandoned, but he is yet hopeful that his scheme can be carried out, there being, to his mind, no insuperable difficulties on the northern end of the route, if the conditions are favourable on the southern end, which he intends visiting this week. Both the Minister and Mr. Vickerman, the district publio works engineer, are convinced that a railway through the district would be a profitable undertaking. The Minister regards the land 88 equal to any in Taranaki, and hopes to have to report in his next Public Works Statement that a good start has been made with the construction of the light railway encourage settlement in the country. The light railway scheme, however, is not favoured by Mr. Vickerman, who has formed so high an opinion of the district that he regards it as likely to produce traffio sufficient for a main railway of the ordinary gauge and weight adopted throughout the colony. The country for a railway of this kind presents no special difficulties, except that an unusual amount of tunnelling will have to be done before tho 100 miles lying between Kawakawa and Stratford are made part of the present railway system of the colony. The course which has to be followed by the railway lies across a series of watersheds, necessitating cutting through steep hills, the route, as surveyed, showing 31 tunnels, the majority of them between Maungaroa and Stratford. But whatever the nature of the railway which will eventually run through this district, it is to be hoped the decision on tho question will not be long t'elayed, so that the district may be early opened for settlement. At present the prospects seem bright for an early settlement of the doubtful part. The Minister is greatly impressed with the value of the district, and enthusiastic in his desire to make a successful experiment in the colony in cheap railway construction. He leaves Auckland tomorrow, and before reaching Wellington will inspect the greater part of the route from the Stratford end, and should, therefore, bo early in a position to decide as to whether his scheme for a light railway, of cheap and rapid construction, can be carried out. The trip of the party on Wednesday along this route was an exceedingly pleasant one. The accident which occurred on Wednesday morning caused some dolay in reaching the point of divergence, and it was at first doubtful if the party would be able to cover the whole of the distance to Maungaroa before sunset. Early in the forenoon, however, Mr. J. W. Ellis, who has already taken up land at Maungaroa, met the Minister, and impressed him with the importance of having the morning at his disposal to leisurely view the rich land at the Maungaroa end of the line. Accordingly the party pushed on, covering about 45 miles, before a halt was made for the night. There are a few Maori settlements on the road, and at Maungaroa Mr. Ellis and Mr. Ryan have taken up farms. Mr. Ellis has cleared over 800 acres of bush, and has already a magnificent farm stocked with as fine cattle as could be seen anywhere in the colony. The clearing gave the party an excellent opportunity of judging as to the extent of land available for settlement, and although it was seen that the stretch of tho flats had been over-estimated by previous explorers, and that the land was occasionally broken, it war yet evident that it will take a considerable rush for sections to bring the Jjsnd now. «». the hand*, o{ the Crows, «holly

into use. In the early i part of i the journey the party only got occasional glimpses of the Ohura River, but later the road follows its course pretty closely. About 11 miles from Kawakawa the party struck the Otahu River, near which there is a small settlement, eight miles further on they came on the Taupiri stream, and passed several other tributaries of the Ohura before crossing the river itself on a splendid bridge. An excellent bridge has also just been erected at Maungaroa, but it appeared that a little beyond this point work on the road to Stratford has been almost suspended, only two or three men being employed. It was reported, however, that at the Stratford end a large staff of workmen are employed. The early part of the morning was spent in viewing the Maungaroa Valley, and when the party started on their journey tack to Kawakawa Mr. Ellis mustered his ea:tle for inspection. The farm was stocked pirtly from Taranaki and partly from the Wa'kato. About 60 head were on the farm, .he stock having been considerably reduced by recent sales of fattened cattle to the Auckland Freezing Company. Coming through the country in the morning, the party got even a better impress'ion of the country than on the previous night. Along vho aides of the road the Scotch thistle grows freely, and grasses of various kinds have attained to great heights on the narrow stretch of land which has been sown by th» Government. The journey back to Kawakawa was uneventful, and early in the evening Maramataha. was reached, where the night was spent, Mr. Fowlds, however, leaving on horseback for Poro-o-tarao, where he caught the train for Auckland in the morning. The party, without exception, were delighted with their visit to the district, and strongly impressed with the importance of railway construction to open this magnificent country, now practically locked up througti want of communication with the markets and seaports of the colony. It was also interesting to the members of the party to learn from Mr. Ellis that an outcrop of coal occurs near his farm at Maungaroa. INCIDENTS OF THE TRIP. The whole trip from Poro-o-tarao to Taumaranui and Maungaroa was a most enjoyable one, although there were some rough experiences en route. The majority of the party travelled in buggies, but a "few preferred to cover the ground on horseback. Supplies for the journey followed in a waggon, Mr. Charles Robinson having charge of the "commissariat," and making excellent provision for the company, while Mr. E. Horneman, the Minister's private secretary, proved himself an invaluable member of the party, assisting his fellow travellers out of the many tight corners which were experienced during the journey. The senior member for Auckland undertook tho journey, carrying a schlafsac, which was a mystery to most of the party, but one learns something even beyond the pale of civilisation, and Mr. Napier's bag of mystery turned out to be nothing more or less than an admirable arrangement used in the German army as a camp bed and mosquito protector. The others carried a humble blanket, trusting to providence and the hospitality of the King Country for tho rest. The travellers had to make shift with indifferent sleeping accommodation, and at Maungaroa had a severe taste of the mosquitoes, but the splendid weather experienced at the start followed the party throughout, and gave the members the opportunity of seeing the country at its best. It was a case of early rising with all. and four hard days' travelling brought the party, rather jaded but delighted with the outing, to To Awamutu on Friday evening. Tho roads passed over were mostly in good condition, but showing evidences in parts of the necessity of periodical attention. The only accident of consequence was that of Wednesday morning, when the Minister's buggy broke down, and Mr. Napier sustained a slight cut. On the previous day, however, the Hon. Thos. Thompson and Mr. C. Robinson found themselves in a rathor dangerous position while fording the Maramataha River. One wheel of the buggy sank deep into the bed of the river, and the passengers and their luggage hod to be carried to the bank beforo the horses could be got to pull tho buggy across. Mr. Horneman and a stray Maori came to the rescue, and tho passengers were safely landed and continued the journey. On Wednesday evening the Minister and those who travelled with him were placed in another awkward fix. Going down a steep decline to tho homestead of Mr. Ellis' farm at Maungaroa, the brake refused to work, and the buggy started off at breakneck speed, and all were preparing for a spring when tho necessary check was given by a felled tree. All landed safely at Mr. Ellis' homestead. The last day of the journey passed without mishap.