THE FERNHILL RAILWAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 1602, 5 August 1882, Page 14

THE FERNHILL RAILWAY.

Notwithstanding the unusual inclemency of the winter, tho Fernhill railway has made greater progress than could have been expected under the circumstances. The contractor, Mr William Meade, who possesses much perseverance, has taken advantage of every fair day to push on the work, although he did so in many instances to his own disadvantage, more especially in the employment of horse labour under serious difficulties. There is, however, a considerable area formed and nearly ready for the laying on of plates, but in the excavation of deep cuttings the work has boon greatly retarded by tho inclemency of the weather. The materials for building a bridge over the Deep Creole are being rapidly laid upon the ground, excellent stone for the building having been foitunately found in close proximity to tho line. To judgo from tho number of men employed and the activity displayed by the contractor there is every probability the worls

will be completed at the specified time. The Fernhill line, when finished, will tap an extensive and valuable coal area. The line, which joins the Main Southern within 200 yards of Abbotsford station, passes through a vast area of coal in Mr Freeman's property, who intends opening a pit contiguous to the line, to be wrought by the most approved machinery: then the Allandale Coal-mine, where it is designed to have a siding into 1 ernhill, where there are hundreds of acres of coal deposit 3 known to exist, apart from tho works now' being- wrought. Moreover, experienced miners affirm that there are indications ot a stratum of superior coal underneath, which may rival Westport or Greymouth. In addition to these valuable coal deposits, the 1< emhill Company possess extensive sand quarries, and, what is still more valuable, a superior quality of building stone, which, on the completion of the line, can be conveyed into the city at a reasonable price— indeed, at a rate sufficiently low to compete with the stone, brick, and concrete now used. The Fernhill Company deserve the greatest credit for their pluck and perseverance in surmounting obstacles which would have daunted many others in opening a most prolific mineral district.