OTAGO MEMBERS VISIT THE LINE OF ROUTE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2558, 25 March 1903, Page 26

OTAGO MEMBERS VISIT THE LINE OF ROUTE.

1 . (From Oub Special. Refokter.) ROXBURGH, March 17. During the past year or so there has been v *_ revival, in the agitation for the sp«edy (extension of the Lawrence-Roxburgh railway, and a determined attempt i£ now being made by business men and settlei's in the Tuapeka district to secure fche interest of Otago members of Parliament in the projcob in the hope that successful representations might be made to the Government in the matter. When the Hon. W. Hall- Jon©-, •Minister of Public Works,' was in Roxtnirgh in January last, the members of the Roxburgh Railway League presented their case in the strongest possible way, and are mow following this up by bringing it under the notice of members. -Acting conjointly with the Lawrence Rail|W»y League, invitations were sent to city and suburban members and the representatives of Waikouaiti, Chalmers, Taieri, and Bruce to visit the district. The invitation va3 accepted by Messrs James Allen, T. Mackenzie, and D. Reid, who were subse?|uently joined by Mr Bennet, -the member or Tuapeka. On arrival! at Lawrence, the parliamentarians were met by representatives of the Railway League, and arrangements completed for the expedition up the Molyneux" Valley this morning, the object Being to afford the party every opportunity of personally inspecting the surveyed- route fc>f • the proposed -extension. • It was about li>lf : past 8 before a, start- was made, when k. four-horse" brake, driven by ■ Mr, Hugh Craig ;. himself, left Lawrence, containing, in kddifcion to those mentioned,- the~following xe»fclemen,r' repreGenting. the Lawrence league:— Messrs G. Jeffery (acting-presi-dent), H. Cameron; A. Miller, W. M'Kinley, and Dr Newall. ■ The weather, .although chilly, was ■ fine, and promised well. The jpromise was borne out, and the party enjoyed a very pleasant drive up the Malymeux Valley. The first stoppage waa at Evan's Flat, where a local deputation, consisting of Messrs S. Henry. G. Brook, 0. Brook, jun., M. Hunt, T. Fahey, and John Brook, opened fire by advocating the. claims of the distriot to a railway. .Mr Henry, who takes pride in the fact tha,t he began life as a stockman on the «tation he now owns, acted as spokesman. He! pointed out that theirs was a very oldsettled district, and to his knowledge, whicli "went back to 1861, they had not received anything at the hands of the Government for their main road. The visitors would nave noted its condition as they came a Ion*?, but /they could scarcely imagine what it jwas like in winter. The railway to Roxburgh would open up a large -vrea. o£ land. They could only cc« the worst of it from the road line, where- some small patches had been cultivated and good results been obtained. One runholder in the 'distriot had 8000 or 9000 acres under cultivation, with splendid results. Ho hoped ifia members present would 00-operate with Mr Bennet to secure the railway. Mr. Allen asked to be excused from expressing an- opinion on the railway till a later stage in -their journey, and the local residents- readily conceded the reasonableness of the request. At Beaumont Mr Robert Woods wan added to the 'party, and *t Rae's Junction Mr Bennet "and Mr Kirkpatrick • were "Sicked up. ARRIVAL AT MILLER'? FLAT. Miller's Flat was reached without incident at about 1.30, and here the party met the representatives of tha Roxburgh R^Uyf&y

League — viz.. Messrs J. Bennetts (president), W. T. Scritngeour, H. Veale, M. Campbell, E. Hart, and W. P. Matthews (secretary). Introductions having becm exchanged, the ! viators adjourned to an excellent lunch. I Physical wajnts having been eatisfied, anj other deputation . of Miller's Flat residents continued the work commenced at Ei'an's Flat, and proceeded to talk railway extension. The deputation consisted of; Messrs J. Kerr, Sellars, H. Ferguson, E. Johns, D. AVilson, and P. C. Grant. Mr Kerr urged the necessity for direct conrannwewtion- with a seaport. Theirs was a grand country for the dairy farmer, the agriculturist, or the fruit-grower, and only needed a railway to savd it ahead. They had a very energetic moniber in Mr Ecnnot, and he hoped the members present would assist him in, obtaining the railway. They intended to follow up the present agitation with petition? to Parliament, which would represent the whole dutvi.pt. He himself did not believe in narrow gauge railways : they wanted the ordinary gauge, and he trusted tliey tfould gat it. Mr Grant laimed that the traffic would augment as soon as the railway was made There were 10 dredges on the river, using about 200 tons of coal a week. That alone would l>e a considerable factor in providing goods for the railway, apart from whait would result by opening up ,he country. Mr Kerr said that with railway communication Coal Creek coal could be delivered in Lawrence for 10s per ton. It was one of the best lignites in the country, and was there in inexhaustible quantities. Mr Allen, in reply, said that the members present, representing districts adjoining Tuapeka, were more- or less interested in its development, as they were interested in tho development of their own districts. Anything he or his fellow members could legitimately do they wottld do, but they could not commit themselves at thk stage, • Those present would recognise that it was a very iifficult thing to serve) the whole of the eoiitrtry districts' with 'aill the lines they ought to have. These lines must be constructed whoro they were- most needed and whore they would serve the greatest number. If the people of Teviot could prova this fo apply' to their case, rliieir claim would be Bfcramount; while, if other districts had "better claims, they would have to come first. For his own part, ha Had alwaya urged that the railway should be constructed to Roxburgh — a light railway of the existing ■gauge. — (Hoir, hear.) It must necessarily be slow, and the people of .the district must tleny themselves "the luxuries incidentaJ to the main lin«s. Unless the country went in for cheap lino* it would never be opened up. In regard to the proposed line to Roxburgh, the district must be unanimous as to the route. If they were not of one mind on the subject, the chances w<*re they would not gvt any live at all. — (Hear, bear.) _Mr Mackenzie also emphasised the necessity for unanimity on the subject of route, and said it had been shown that a light railway could be constructed for about onethird or one-half the cost of an ordinary hne. He could not see why a district such as the Teviot could not be brought into touch with Dunedin by means of a light railway. It would do away largely with the cost of main roads. He could see that, as far as fruit-growing was concerned, there was a great future in front of the Te'viot district, and was sure that with proper means of communication it might no* only (supply Dunadin and Christchuroh, but also export it to the Old Country. Ho would only bo too happy to assist Mr Bennet in promoting anything that was in the interests of the district. Mr Bennet also made # a short speech, and said that in an ordinary fruit se-ason 1000 :ons of fruit were sent f?«ii the district, and this quantity was annually increasing. The licams of coal referred to at Coal Creek were from 100 ft to 200 ft thick, anil in some cases it ivas not known how far down theywent. As to a narrow-gauge railway, heknew that the Minister of Publio Worke would not be in favour a£ *. _2£t line. In.

Tasmania narrow-gauge i-ailways bad proved very suitable. The cost of changing goods from one line to another was only about 3d per ton. About 3 o'clock the journey was resximed, and the next break occurred in the; shape of A CALL AT TEVIOT STATION. At the Teviot Station Mr and Mrs Scrimgeour extenrie'd the heartiest of welcomes to the party, which now numbered 20 or more. A refreshing cup of afternoon tea. and a chat with Mr ana Mrs Scrimgeour ran- away with half an hour, and after a hurried' look round the delightful homestead, Arhich was bathed in the afternoon sun snd looked its very best, adieux were said, and the last stage of the trip was entered-. ARRIVAL AT ROXBURGH. RECEPTION GATHERING IN THE ATHENAEUM HALL. Roxburgh was re-ached about 5 o'clock, and after securing quarters at Mrs Heron's well-known hostelry the majority of the party set out to see for themselves the possibilities of the Teviot orchards. Visits to the orchards of Messrs Birch, Manuel, and Wayte speedily convinced all of the quality of the grapes, apricots, peaches, and plum's grown by the proprietors, and these takon freah from the tree must not be spoken of in the same breath with the fruit retailed in oity shops. The local residents laid themselves out to make the most of the occasion, and a hastily organised but very excellent reception social was carried out in the Atheiiisum Kail that evening. The interior of the building was decorated, and tables were- set out for the accommodation of about 100 ladies and gentlemen. Mr Jamas Bennetts, (chairman of the league) presided, and was supported by the parliamentarians of the party and by representatives of the Lawrence League. A fairly long programme of Roasts, etc,, was entered on, and the various speakers had enthusiastic and attentive auditors'. The Chairman, in some' preliminary i-e-niarko, said tKe advocates 'for the .construction of' the Lawrence-Roxburgh 'ailway were in a stronger pooition now than ev-cr. Ihe Roxburgh .League bad • amalgamated' with the league at Lawrence, and thoy Lad the support of all the places in between. In order" to bring pressure to bear on the authorities, they had invited tho mem!>f>vs of Parliament present to come and see for themselves the resources of the district, and he thought when they had dono to they would do their utmost to get the railway pushed on. Mr James Bonnet, M.H.R., in giving the toast "Railways," said that for some time there had been a division of opinion of the subject of the Lawrence-Roxburgh railway. 1 he Roxburgh people wanted it to come one way. the Miller's Flat people v. anted it another, and the Lawrence people did not want it at all. Now they had combined their forces, and by doing so he had every nope they would accomplish their object — (Applause.) There had been a great deal of money ppent on railways in this colony but although that expenditure had been increasing, the private wealth of the colony had increased much faster. In his candid opinion the railway to Ranfurly would be one of the best-paying lines in the colony. They had everything that was required to feed a railway: there w«re five sheep stations in the district overy ono of which would send its wool by the Roxburgh railway; and they also had the fruit and coal. He thought the- other members would go away feeling satisfied that the construction of of the railway was a necessity, and he hoped their joint efforts would be- successful.— (Applause.) Mr James Allen, M.H.R., who was set down for the reply, laid he was very glad to visit Teviot and see what inducement the district had to offer to a member of Parliament to support the railway. Speaking generally to the subject, he said he looked upon the railways in New Zealand as th» arteri&B of the countiy, even more

so than the roads. The railways in man' instances were replacing the roads as th' proper means of communication.— (Ap plause.) He thought it could safely b said that the railway of modern days wa not the railway that many of them used h look upon. In a young country such a ours they could not afford to build rail ways with heavy metals, heavy bridges, an< heavy engines to run upon them. Thi main thing was to develop the country b 1 opening it up, and that , could only b' done by building railways on a / cheape scale than the existing lines. This was pos sible, either with the existing gauge or i narrower one. It was a very moot questioi whether the gauge should be altered. I was sufficient to say that railways could ~b> constructed, either on the existing gauge o a lesser one at half or one-third of th' present cost. They must not expect train running 40 miles an hour and "swell" railwa; stations. A great many of our " swell s stations might have been denied until mor had been done in the way of. opening uj the country. Many sacrifices might liavi been asked from those who now enjoye< communication in order that those who ha< it not mighfc get it. Then another questioi to be considered was the kind, of railway and it might yet be shown that they shouh adopt electricity. It was quite possibl ,that future developments might show tha a railway -worked by - electricity would h more economical _ than . the - existing "type He was very pleased to "learn that the dis tnci; was at one on the question.' He hac been led to believe in "the past that it wa divided, and while that -division existed i was not to be expected that their owi member or the members of adjoining dis triefcs could do very much.; The whole qu&s tion resolved it3elf into this: Whether the: could so represent the . case to Parjiamen and to Ministers as to show to them tha the lino was, owing to the area of lan< available for settlement, more necessary than lines in other districts. From wha he had seen," he was certain it was mor< justifiable than other lines he knew of. I the money markets of the world were oper to us freely he believed it would nay t< build nyiny more railways than we hac been building, but we could only get whai the money-lenders cared to give at a reason able rate. Our railways were beh>g con structcd on a principle that they weve tc yield 3 per cent, on the capital invested He thought they were costing us something more than 3 per cent,' and the money fchti had been invested in our railways cost ovej 4 per cent. There was a call on the genera taxpayer to. make up the difference, anc that- difference shoulcl certainly not be in creased. Wo therefore had to considei whether such railways as would yield 3 pei cent, should be constructed, and he believeci the Lawrence-Roxburgh line would yield 2 per cent, over working expenses. If Dunedir people only knew what it was to get fruit fresh off the tree-s they woul4 take a far greater interest is ~ie prosecution of this railway. So far as lie could honestly and justly urge the claims of the line he would be glad to assist their member by doing so. — (Applause.) •Mr, Andrews, in . a felicitous sneech, proposed the tbast of ' r The Visitors."" ~ Mr T. Mackenzie, M.H.R., in replying, said he had no hesitation in saying that via Lawrence was the- Tiest way for the .railway to come Roxburgh. The local league -had done all in their power to bring members .from . Dunedin, ;but had 'not got them. Everyone recognised that . Dunedin h»d one pet child, and that was the- Otago Central. One- knew that where there was only one -child in a family that child was not always a success. — (Laughter.) Ho hoped the Otago Central would be a success, but one had to consider the whole of the railways of the colony and their relative merits. There were other lines of oqual importance, and greater importance, than the Otago Central, and an instance could be found without leaving Otago. After touching on the jobbery which be contended had been associated^ with railway construction in the past,* Mr Mackenzie went on to say that the present Lawrence lino should have been made up the valley of the CluMia River. The development that had taken place in the fruit industry at Teviot had been a revc-lation to him, and it was well that the representatives of the people should go about, and learn what was taking place in different; parts of the colony. He honed to see it create a much wider market than the colony afforded, and as soon as the Panama Canal was complete it could be sent to London in 19 days. There- need be no fear of competition with California, because their winter was our summer. The speaker here digressed to touch on what he termed the criminal misconduct on the part of the people of the colony who permitted the laying waste of gcod land, such as was going on at Island B^ock. Extreme cases required extreme, treatment, and under ordinary circumstances no one would have suggested that the Crown, should step in and introduce extreme legislation. ' It became the duty of the Crown, "however;- to' see that property which might maintain inhabitants for thousands of years was not destroyed for ihe paltry return of gold that it might yield. — (Applause.) No wrong or hardship should be inflicted on anyone, and, if necessary, compensation should bo paid. He intended to take the responsibility on himself of writing to Mr Seddon on the matter. Sir Mackenzie then reverted to the subject of railway construction, and expressed himself as in agreement with the views put forward by Mr Allen. Mr Blackmore, Government pomologist, who was present, also made a few re-marks, and said that the country from Island Block to Coal Creek Flat was one of the best fruit-growing districts to be found in New Zealand. The toast of " Local Industries " was proposed by Dr Mullin, and replied to by Mr D. Reid, M.H.R. Other toasts and musical items kept the proceedings going till about 11 o'clock, when " Auld lang syne " was fcung, and the gathering broke up. March 19. The Roxburgh Railway League made the best use of the short tim« 3at its disposal during the hurried visit of Mes«r« J. Allen, T. Mackenzie, J. Ben-net, and D. Reid, jun., M.H.R.'s, to make them acquainted with the resources of Teviot, and the whole of this morning (Thursday) was spent inspecting coal pits a.nd orchards. The local people wiealy took the visitors to the coal pits first, and had the order f>cen reversed it might have been difficult to induce- the party to quit the delights of the fruit garden for the more prosaic duly of going 'down coal pits and studying th© mineral wealth contained therein. It was quite a Jarj?e party that left the Commercial Hotel about 8 o'clock in the morning for Coal Creek, there being half a dozen small traps in addition to Mr Grain's brake. Under the guidance of Dr NcwaU, who is interested X>\ the* Coal Crsek site. ia

very profitable .hour was spent looking over the workings of two prte, where seams of) extraordinary^ thickness are being worked.' The coa3 ia a brown lignite, and is an excellent steam coal. Probably in no other place ia the colony can the coal be taken out so easily, and were the pits closer to large centres it couj/l bo worked with g^eat profit. Thfc second yiit visited was in the uidis of a hill,- where a drive about 6ft high ran ia^ for about l/lOyds. No haulage gear is re« quired, for the tramway is -on a slight in» oline, and the trollys practdoaMy run themselves out. At Mr Oraig'a pit, which was visited nc/xb, a small Pelton wheel does all the ha.ul/<je neeestjary, and has been very mgeaiioii/Jy sefc up. On tl/e way back to Roxburgh calls were macfe At the orchards of Messrs Tamblyn, Toms, and Bennetts, where the visitors wore heartily welcomed. Although tha apn-yot season is practically over, there were etaH a number on the trees. The peach crop, like all the others, has suffered on account of the weather, but there are large quantities on tlte' trees almost ready for picking. Although hampered for want o£ sasy communication with a large centre, the industry must be profitable, for on every ha.ud the orchards axe being extended; freabJ ground is being broken up and sturdy young fcre-ss put in.' Given a market, there is an anormoms area, of land, in the district that jould be turned into" orchards, "amd, eta. the ;•- authority of 'Mr Blackmore, the Gqvewia '^?' an . t :pomologist. it is\-unexcelled ju New 0 Zealand for fruit-growing. " Doubtless the * • future will- see fruit canning and fruit pre- * serving works in operation, and. with cheap °? al i a j nd cliea P w «*er power available, Teviofc ;__ should be able to compete with other coun. '' tries m this branch of the fruit industry.' . '. The visitors returned to Roxburgh for t lunch, amd «,t 1.30 left on the return journey , to Lawrence. Quite a number" of the local resictsnte turned out to see them off, and, afc t th<? call of Mr Ben.net (chairman of th« , league), they gave hearty cheers. The party f in tlie trap responded, then" settled down to ' t their 40-mile drive to Lawremoe. The route } taken \va« the opposite of that 'selecl'ad on 1 the up-journey, a.n,d .they drove down the j "pt bank of the river as Jar as Millar's • . *la>t, oncl then crossed the bridge and-con-- . tuuted down to Beaumont oiv the left side' , of the river, along which it. is proposed to construct the railway. Beaumont was . reached about 6 o'clook. and Lawrence about : 8o clock,. Here good-byes were exchanged with the members of the Lawremoe Leaaue who them separated to their homes, while tho parhamentairvins put up at" Montgo-" * mcry s Hotel, liavuig arranged to leave" for town by the r, a ,rlr morning train. As to the line itself, the proposed extension is about 39 miles in length, and, while some heavy work will require to be done in places, it should not be a difficult line .to construct. A tunnel 22 chains in length i .n. n . ecessaT y get through the hills about midway between Lawrence and Beaumont, and the worst grade on the whole of the route 1S 1 in 50. After- reaching Jieaumont the proposed line sTdrts theMolyneux, along the left bank all- the way to Koxburgh, and the worst half of the' section , would, of course; -be thVSrW run- > ning .up past Island Block. JHsra a certain ' - amount of voct cutting would he necessary " -but it might bo possibleito^utilise to acerltarn extent that which has 'Wready been ' done ior the present road. Alternative " plans, provide for orossing to the other side ' ' Si)? c - i ri^S r (1) H't h& resent .Millex.'s Flat / baffic biudge, and (2) by » new. bridge at Ettnck. Probably the" Miller's Flat bridge, substantial as. it is, would require to be * strengthened before it would bear trains * running across it. On the other hand, if . it is necessary to erect a now bridge and ci-oss the river at all, some of the localpeople suggest that it should be at the lower end ot Island Block, as on the rigl^-hand " side of tho river the road is pretty level all the way from the bediming of Tsland Block to Roxburgh. As to tho probablp eo3t of tho extension, we understand that an officer of. the Public Works Department has givMi a rough estimate of £6000' per mile, which would amount to £234-.000. In view of the fact that so many districts are clamouring for railways, it is problematical how far the peoplo of the district will succeed in convincing the Government of the necessity of spending tin's stim on 'fcho work Mr T. Mackenzie stated at Roxburgh that a liijht railway could be constructed for one-half or one-third -of, the ordinary cost, and these gums on the above estimate would amount to £117,000 and £78,000 respectively. It is also open to a good deal of question how long tho district would remain content ■with a light line, especially if <- neighbouring districts subsequently secured an extension of the ordiuary type a few years later. ' Thcro is still another suggestion which . may yet be taken into serious consideration in opening up the Toviot district by quicker ' communication with Dunedin,- and that is i the> possibility of constructing an eleetrio - railway. . instead of. extending the Lawrence ', line. Our reporter .found during his visit " that Mr Hugh Craig, who probably know* ' the whole route better' than 'any -man in. '• tho colony, liad given the subject a good ' deal of thought, and was strongly-of opinion. ' that an electric line was most suitable under the circumstances. Mr Craig, -during his recent trip through America, saw 'lines - running over much longer distances than from Lawrence to Roxburgh, and in every way a success. He sees no reason why the 6yst«m should not he introduced in the present instance when a cheap water power is available, combined with the fact that the grades, where they do occur, are nofc difficult. Certain water rights, if not actually in the market, could be acquired, and the small annual charge for up-keep mi glib enable an electric lino to be. run at a profit ivhoro an ordinary^ railway could not pay the 3 per cent, demanded of it under our present railway regime. At present the chief items which would feed such a railway, in addition to the ordinary passenger and poods traffic, v/ould be tho wool from five sh<Mjp stations; from 10,000 to 15,000 tons (annually) of Coal Creek coal* which ' is distributed amongst tho dredges between Roxburgh and Beaumont; and about 1000 tons of fruit, which, in an ordinary season, is sent away from the Teviot orchards. This . last item will, of course, be an ever-increas- ' ing one, as each year sees a larger area '• placed under fruit culture. The grain . crops of the district are pretty well all consumed locally, but with railway communica- ." tion and closer settlement in the district farming would also be carried out. on a ' larger scale. There can be no gainsaying the fact that . settlers are labouring under great disadvan- , tages at the present time, especially as the roads forming the only outlet to the district are little better than quagmires in wet weather and almost impassable. The importanco of the question to Dunedin lies in the fact that if the Lawrence line is not exteuded thwra is a possibility, fii the trad«

of the' district being diverted to Invercargill, via ttie Heriot line, after the latter is open, to Edie's.