Edendale—Toi-Tois Railway. TO THE EDITOR.

Otago Witness, Issue 1764, 12 September 1885, Page 14

Edendale— Toi-Tois Railway. TO THE EDITOR.

Sir, — I notice in the Hon. E. Richardbou's Public Works statement, in the part referring to railways in course of construction, the following re the Edendale-Toi-Tois branch : — " A vote will be proposed to cover the cost of platelaying over the four miles now formed, and the Government will ascertain whether a further extension of about two miles will command the traffic of the district ; if so, they will recommend the extension."

During the past few years I have made numerous trips by different ways through the ToiTois district to Fortrose, and know the country well, and from conversations I have had with, settlers, and my own observations, I have no hesitation in stating that to extend the line two miles will not command the traffic of the district, and further, to take a vote and expend it in platelaying over the four miles now formed would be a useless was>te of money, as the line ends at the commencement of a big tunnel, and in my opinion the railway will never be completed to Fortrose upon the present survey. The simple fact is the line should never have been taken in the direction it is, and knowing this Mr Blair has always been opposed, and I believe still is, to its further progress, and from the fact that he knows from survey that a railway could be taken to Fortrose by a route miles shorter, almost level, with no tunnel, or even cutting beyond a few side ones, and at a cost (branching off about two miles down the present four miles formed), little, if anything exceeding that of the cost of the two miles mentioned by the Government ; and what is still • more important to the district, and should be to the Government also, is that it " would command " the traffic, as on one side it would have a large extent of rich level agricultural land (no better in New Zealand), and on the other side would be the fine downs so well suited for sheep grazing, so that from one side the railway would be fed with farm products of all kinds, including stock and timber, and from the other with wool and stock.

The sooner the present line is stopped and directed to the other surveyed track the better it will be for the district, the Government, and the taxpayers generally. The present railway route is like the road to Fortrose, being taken the longest and most difficult way possible, and if ever completed will be very costly to work, and of very little use to a large and most valuable part of the district. It is the wonder of every traveller possessed of observation why the railway has been started upon its present track, and if they happen to be non-residents in New Zealand they laugh at the waste of money, while, if taxpayers, they groan under the unnecessary burden being placed upon them.

That the district is worthy of a railway there can be no doubt, as it is a question if there is another in all New Zealand having the same extent of good land.

I write as a taxpayer, as an owner of a farm near to Fortrose, and as one who would like to see a railway through the district, as I feel sure,' if taken the shortest way, the least expensive to make, the most central, and the easiest worked, that it would pay well and prove a much greater boon to the whole community than if carried on piecemeal in the present direction. — I am, &c, Tcn-Tois. September 6.

By a fire at Eyreton, Canterbury, several stacks containing 1200 bushels of beans, and a thresh-ing-mill, steam-engine, and dray, the property of Mr Beal, were destroyed. The loss is estimated at £500, and there was no insurance.