The Otago Central and Thomson's Gorge Road.

Otago Witness, Issue 2565, 13 May 1903, Page 14

The Ot ago Central and Thomson's Gorge Road.

1 TO THE EDITOR. Sib, — Some time back Mr Fowlds^ M.H.R., travelled through Otago Central, and his report in your columns utterly condemned the railway and the country it. was to open up. Lately your "special," with Mr Burnett, travelled over the same ground, and in his anxiety to efface Mr Fowlds he painted his picture in such glowing colours that to any unprejudiced mind he> haa gone to the other extreme. Undoubtedly there exists a large portion of Central Otago that will grow vast quantities of grain and fruit if irrigated ; bufe there is the rub. Reservoirs to held tho immense quantity of water running to waste in our creeks and rivers will cost an enormous sum, and must bo constructed by the Government; and I fancy the wisest ooursei to be pursued would be to have the irrigation scheme carried out first, so that the railway would be certain to have some freight to carry, which would ensure the> interest on the outlay of its construction. Your "special" draws attention several times to the wonderful fertility of the various patches of land under irrigation, and tacitly admits that outside of these fche country is a desert. As I have been dwelling in various parts of Central Otago on and off for 40 rears I have had ample opportunity of judging to what extent it will benefit the settlers and farmers,, who are tho backbone of any country, and my experience among them has been that the adrenfc of the railway as far as it has reached has not been the great blessing they expected, for although their produce(when they have any to rail) reaches Dunedin quicker and cheaper than by waggon, oats, straw, and chaff have been, and are still, railed from the Taieri Plain and sold here at far lower rates than what tho farmers got in the local markets before the railway reached them. I have it on the best authority that one of the largest consume.ra in Central Otago has paid £4 per load for straw grown at Ida Valley, and has been asked £6 a ton for chaff, and 50 tons at that, grown locally. Can anyone deny that if even the railway stops at Ophir, straw, chaff, and oats would be railed up from the Taieri Plain and delivered here by waggon from Ophir at a great reduction from the price 3 quoted above? As from Ophir to Clyde, the line will go through very easy cutting country, and will cost but very little per mile. I feel pretty certain that, once at Clyde, it will meet the requirements of the population for many years to come, if the Thomson's Gorge road is pushed on with vigour, as it should be, in spite of its many detractors. It is very easy to talk so glibly about insisting; that the Otago Central be carried on to Hawea ; but has the enormous cost ever been taken into consideration? On© constantly hears that the Government must stop borrowing ; but how can they when such a vast expenditure would be forced on them? Take- the Clyde-Cromwell Gorge for instance. Its length is 14 miles, and anybody that has gone through it can imagine what those 14 miles of railway would cost. To take it along the opposite side of the Molyneux would necessitate twoenormous and expensive bridges, and there would bo five miles of rocky country to go through before reaching Cromwell. Several contributors have poured the> vials of their wrath on Mr Herdman's head for advocating the terminus at Lauder and finishing the Thomson's Gorge road, and to enforce their views have not scrupled to distort facts anent this road — and f notice that your " special " has listened to some fairy tales from some of its opponents. Mr Iverson also states that the road would be impassable in the winter through snow. Another party dwelt on the fact that it go«s over a mountain 3000 ft high. Both these statements are fallacies. I have been through tho gorge several times, and know the line of the road. It will, from the Lindis, be on the sunny side, and on crossing the Saddle will follow the line of the races into Tinkers, on the. sunny side also. The only dark place will be a short stretch near the Tinkers side of the Saddle. One would imagine by these people that the hill was 3000ffc perpendicular, whereas I am sure it is not that height from sea level. The road will not be nearly tho elevation of tho Crown Range Saddle, and yet Craig's coachos go from Arrowtown to Pembroke, and vice versa, regularly through the winter ; and as for waggons being stuck in the snow, how did they manage in the early j sixties to go from Eunedin to Clyde along j the old Dunstan road, when such ranges as Maungatua, Rock and Pillar, and Rough and Raggedy Ric'.gos had to be crossed? Why, some of the old waggoners laugh afc such a statement. There are se-veral passages in your "special's" readable, reports of the trip that betray the fact that he has jumped Ito conclusions too quickly. One is that the sand on the Alexandra and Cromwell Flats was the result of tho dredging. The idea is absurd. I have a vivid re-collection of crossing the Alexandra Flat with a heavy swas; in '63, and the sand was there then, as it was on the Cromwell Flat. Certainly the '78 flood made the latter worse. 1 What alxnjt the terracea of sand at Sandy Nook, about half a mile this side of Gentle Annie Creek; or Sandy Point, on the Clutha, between Tarras and Hawea? Both thess terraces are 100 ft above the river, and have been there before the advent of a white man, much less of a dredge. I also noticed that Mr Macgeorgc is quoted as an authority as to the advisability of stopping the Thomson's Gorge road. I know for a. fact that he norer surveyed the road, and I doubt if he was ever through it. I have always sc-en that gentleman driving comfortably along good roads in the district. When Mr John Henderson, of tho Tarras (now dead), drew up the petition for the> construction of the Thomson's Gorge road every settler and farmer on the Tarras, Hawoa, and Wanaka signed it willingly; and they want the road gone on with and finished.— l am, etc., An Old Mixes. The Clyde Football Club has been resuscitated. The South Canterbury Acclimatisation Society have a credit balance of £667 8s 7d. The Timaru No-license League display their energies in various directions. They propose to hold a debate on the question "Should Bachelors be Taxed?" The connection between this problem and no-lic&nsS seems remote. Every dog will have his day, And life its ups and downs, The face may wear a smile to-day : To-morrow perhaps a frown ; When things run smooth we little gucel What we may yet endure, A 9 coughs and colds, 'tis then we bles' Woods' Gkeat Peppermint Cceb.