FERNHILL COAL COMPANY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 5347, 9 April 1879, Page 6

FERNHILL COAL COMPANY.

By the forenoon ooulbein ir«ia on Marca 21st, between 30 and 40 gentlemen proceeded trom town t) tho JFernhi'.l siding, beyond Abbotsfurd. The jaunt was undertaken, on the invitation of the Feinhill Coal Coinijaay, fjr the purpose of viewing the Company's work-", and principally tho airial tramway us;d tor tho conveyauce of coal from the pit to the railway line. Amongst the geut'omen were Mea.-rs J. Alves, H. Momitli, J. Logan, W. Lambert, and W. Mais (ilie principal sbardholJern in the Company), his Woisiip tLe Mayor, J. Smith (solicitor), C. S. Reeves, J. Hazletf, and others. Two carriages specially charteied were placed at the accommodation of tlio vMtD/s. The Company's siding wai reached Bhortly after noon. Heie tho working of the tramway was fully explained by Mr Alvds (-.vui> is co-partoer with Mr Henry Howortb), nnl ilia arrival and discharge of the buuk-ts watched with lnack interest. A few Wieksago wegava a detailed description ol the uieu.o 1 upc n which the tramway—or " aerial ra'lway " —worlcs. The Lucksts— comiug Irom the i&iue full anl retnrum* empty —travel upon au outfits wire rope, which uiatcej ou an average three journeys between the mine and tae siding per hour, the di-taaro being thrseqnar.era of a mile. Of co a-ia it depends upou the number of buckets used how inuth c ral can be conveyed. At present fix toijs au hour cjn ba filled into the railway trucks, and we believe this quantity repieaen s wha'; cau be taken out of the luiuo by the hands mg.ged. As the whiter adv.mces, a id the demaua increases, it ia confidtntly expected clo3e ui>un 100 touH a day will be brought acro.-s tin w.iej. i'rom tue te.minus t'ae visitors proceede 1 to the mine, following the course of ih^ line, which cro.-ses hil s uiid guUius that tied thu j "wind" of ioiLe of the city gentlemen lo a I considerable extent. The day «»< a very fioe on.-, aud tha " constitational" waj tbo.-ongaly enjoyed, ths sight of the bucket! on the wire rope overhead travelling with magical regularity lending an inte.est to the walk, while the view from s ime poi-.ti was a very due in». Arrived at the mine, a number ot gint'emen wjut tiirnigh tae uii'lergronud working-!, a d uiada a further examination of tie tramway. &c l<"<ir tlie rotura journey the c was a .-li .he i jel uition t j ti-avel in one of tha bucket* on the part of biiiiu of the stouter mimbeis of Ilia party, but nouo ventured ac ually to take this plan. Mr Shaw, llie mine m nagcr, Uownver, goc on boird one of ttem, and ia idcd at the siding amid cheers. The rneu frequently tra> el to and fr.j in this way. It may be stated that amongut the visitors were ova or two gentlemen largely interested in the Mydtown reef , and they were liberal in expre-siotia of sat sfaotion at the wu) king of tne tramway, and of belief iv its suitability for the development of reefs in the mouutainous in erior.

The Company had provided a g iod!y suoplv of refreslimeuts, aiid while the return traiu wjs waite i for at the siding a i v.lack was made upon these ; and tbii being i.ver,

His Worship the Maydu called upon the visit >rs to drink " S ;cje=s to 1 10 promoters of the Fernhili C'al Cmiiany.' He referred to the interest with wji..h t-.e woiking of the tramway had bean witnessed, and to the encouragement with whiuh such enterpris is should ba received, as tending to deyalop tha res mrces of the country. Aa an eridence of the imporpancs of the coil supply, he mentioned that daring tha past thr « yeara tho Dunodin Gasworks hid used 25,000 tons of coal; and if it was found gas could be manufactured from the lojal article, it would be ceen what a savin j might be effected. Th« Kaitaugata coil had bi«u very favourably tested, »id it might bo that other coali would show even better lesu'ts. Af :er a nne further remarks, he calloil o.di those piecnt to drink the to.sthehad proposed, cuupled with the name of Mr Henry Howorth.— (Applause.)

Mr Howortii, iv responding, thauked the

visitors for the cordial manner in which they had drunk the_ toaßt, aud also for their presence on the occasion. All new undertakings require! enconragement, and from what he hid heard expressed that day he believed the new Company would receive that in a large degree. They had a long lease of the 324 acres up Jn which th9mine was situate 1, while the seam of coal they were driving on was 19 feet in thickness, and the v'.Vtors had seen the complete and efficient plan by which the coal was brought to the railway. He therefore believed that the cost of production would be lower thin that of any oth?r coal-mininiy concern in the di-trct, and he firmly expected they would be able to hold their own in the of compstition. Tho visito's had not been invited, however, with the view of floating a company, nor of puffing the shares, for none had been put in the market. Bnt it had been desired to give an exhibition of the novel method and patent by which tb.3 coal was conveyed from the mine to the siding. Talking of encouragement, they had not much of that when first the plan was mooted. Mr Davidson, the engineer, etui, "If you em take it over th?sa hills you can take it anywhere." "Well, they had taken it ever the hills, and they were ready to take it anywhere. Some day, perhaps, they would even attach a st»t '-carriage, as had been suggested that day, and make it a passenger lino. —(Laughter) Ho believed he might any the patent was hatched by himself, and the primary object with which it was devised was the reclamation of tho harbour. He hoped in a w-iek or so to be abls to show them a working model of what wa» termed a ailt-lift-r, by which the material could be shifted and carried wliereever required. The Harbour Board had a dre.lge called the New Era, but there would really be no nsw era until the new silt-lifter was brought into use.—(Laughter.) He wished especially to mention Mr Alve3 in connection with the tramway, as oue to whose assistance he was much indebted, as Well as tbe other members of the Company, who had lent them every assistance. He thanked the visitors most heartily.—(Applause.)

The party returner! to town by the 3.30 p.m. train, after a very pleasant outing and most interesting trip.