THE LAWRENCH-ROXBURGH RAILWAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3102, 27 August 1913, Page 32

THE LAWRENCH-ROXBURGH RAILWAY.

Wo have received from Mr Moritzsou a copy of a report he lias received from Beaumont respecting the progress that is being made with the construction of the I aiwrence-Roxburgh railway. From it we make the following extracts: — The railway is getting on slowly. Most of the men are working on the Beaumont end of the line, where there are at present about 60 men employed. There has been a good deal of wet weather during the last month, and the men only worked about half time. The pays were all good, the highest being 10s 5d per sjay, and the lowest 8s 4d. but most of the gangs got about 9s. There is a good deal of horse work going on at present. Tracey Bros, have four drays and a four-horse team ploughing and scooping, also one horse in a cutting, and they ore buying more horses to start this week. They appear to have a monopoly of the line. They are =*»t present forming the Beaumont station. At the present rate it will take about six months to complete the formation, and another six to lay the rails and ballast the line. We expect to see the train running here about Christmas 12 months. Try and get the department to send along the sleepers and rails, as it will bo a considerable saving in the cost if they only had a few miles laid. The engineer in charge is refusing work to anybody about hero that applies for a job, and the men who come from Dunedin only stop until they get one pay, and they are off to town again. Some of the men that have been sent here lately are not the class of men to do much work with the shovel. On the contract which was lot to Ryan Bros, there hove been several slips lately, and they cannot work at them, as the formation is mostly pipeclay and too sticky for the drays, but 1 understand they are coming back to do them when it dries up a little.