A NOVEL PROPOSAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12317, 8 July 1903, Page 7

A NOVEL PROPOSAL.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—Will you please allow mo a littlo space in your paper to suggest a way by which the two harbours could be connected for shipping otherwise than : by a canal A canal would cost at least £500,000, find would 1 then'only permit voxels of riot more than 1500 tons to pass through, and expensive machinery would have to bo erected to work the locks at each end. My suggestion is that the two harbours should be connected by means of a cradle, which would carry the boats up to 1100 tons gross register bodily r across the intervening - land. v This cradle would run on six linos of rails, and at each end'of .the railway there would be a gradient of about one in 50. " This , would have to be 400 yds long at each' end. The cradle would' then" have a level run between the two harbours, and two extra heavy locomotives would. draw it along with its load at : the rate of about eight miles an hour. The advantages of this system would be its cheapness, as to buy up the' land l ,required, • making 'of railway, cost of cradle arid locomotives, and dredging channel at each end would not bo more than £80,000, whereas the otlior scheme would cost at least .6500.000. Again, a boat would take at least four hours to pass through the canal, whereas with the railway not more than one hour and a-half. I wrote to the Harbour Board giving .fuller details than I do here. This was three >weeks ago,,-and tlipy have not ' even thanked mo" for my letter; no 'doubt, this being quite a new suggestion, they are afraid to discuss it.—l am, etc., 5 June 22. Enginkeh.