The Evening Mail. THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 1876.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 107, 24 August 1876, Page 2

The Evening Mail. THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 1876.

Some very wise man was, nt> doubt, the author of the motto, "IF, .it first, yon don't succeed, try, try again." Tt is just possible he intended the maxim to apply to jonrnattsts, as well as to any other aspecimens of humanity ; r.t any rate, one thing is quite certain, that, had the great writer lived in the present age of journalism, he would have candidly admitted that his advice applied quite as suitably to Pressmen as to any other individuals. We are induced to pen the above from the fact that it is exactly four months to-day since we alluded to a little matter in connection with the'Waitaki line, and which, up to the present moment, has not been attended to.- f>n the 21th April we drew attention to the. number of first and second class niUwrvy carriages which were standing at the Awauiofco .function, unprotected from the weather. It was pointed out that tin: necessity fnf a earmge-shed was most urgent. and nntt'.-is the carnages wore in some way j'-eTeent'd from the sun and rain they would very soon he rotten. Xn heed, however. appears to have been taken of the suggestion so forcibly thrown out, and as a consequence the carriages are now in a most dilapidated condition. There are iu>w standing at the Junction seventeen eomporitts, and on the sides facing the weather not a vestige of paint or varnish is to be seen ; in fact, they.ha.vc more the appearance, at a distance, of old unpatented weatherboard cottages. It is a .veil known fact that the Traffic Manager here has made repeated applications to Jtare.aome shed constructed for the rolb'ng stock on the Wnitaki lines, but his appeals are unheeded, and as a consequence plant *hieh has been shipped irom Home in great haste and at an .enoranoaJf'eost. is iw>«raTlowed to rot* nYJeisnreC' It will be recollected April the railway officers-were put to gfeKt*straitß to find

sufficient trucks to bring in grain and other produce, while the number of passenger cai-riages was actually six times in excess of the quantity required for the traffic on the line. - Tliis shows a reckless way of looking after the railway interests of the Colon}- on the part of the Government, which we really cannot understand. ! There is another matter to which it would, : perhaps, not be out of place here to refer, j and that is the necessity of having some ! short composite four-wheel carriages on I this line. At present a long six-wheel carriage h.->'•' to be sent up to Maorewhenua willi. perhaps, one passenger in it. Now, can anything be more ridiculous than tins? especially when it is considered that the engine which has to draw this load is not of the strongest. We do not say that the engine is a weak one, but still, it is weaker than it should be for the traffic it has to convey to the terminus. The wear and tear of these long carriages is very heavy, and should be avoided as much as possible, especially on light lines; and, independent of this, there is not at present suflicient traiiie to warrant using them. A couple of first and second class composite carnages would answer every purpose. We next come to grievance number three in connection with this line. It will hardly be credited by our readers when we state that an engineer of some repute lias constructed | a .siding at one of the stations where f trucks can only be shunted one way. To ! explain our meaning, we may instance a case in point which came under our notice the other day. At Richmond's crossing there were two trucks of grain waiting to be taken int.. town by the 4.30 train from W.ritaki. It may seem paradoxical, but to cJi'eet: this, these trucks had to be drawn sonic miles in the opposite direction before they could reach town, and left at the next station nearer Waitaki, when tliey were coupled on to the 4.30 up-train, and brought on to Oamaru. The natural question on reading an assertion as this will be, "Why is such a state of things necessary ='" Simply this. The siding at Richmond's is constructed in such an extraordinary way that only trucks bound for Waitaki can be taken out of it. and any for Oamaru must be taken on to Hilderthorpe and left there till the up-train passes to take them to town. Now, if there has not been some bungling here, we confess we don't know the meaning of the word. Why goods for the South should have to be taken some miles North before reaching their destination is beyond our ken ; but so it is. We think this points to a state of things quite as bad as recorded in another part of the Colony, where an old lady refused a proffered ride on* a train bvcau-,e she was in a hurry. ,But all joking aside, the matters we have briefly referred to require looking after, and that promptly. ___________