PROGRESS OF SOUTHLAND.

Southland Times, Volume 3, Issue 102, 17 October 1863, Page 3

PROGRESS OF SOUTHLAND.

I In 'our/laSti&tiWwe^^ I oil tb a * i P 3^ ! '9^^iit9n!9Kß;Bp.|e.b|((s.'t tUe > rt''.*ahff -of the rProvineial^ourieil^which i J.)ated l^ the^ s-jj^itice; we n^p^ispsse ; entering,more I into detailon the impOEtantimat||Hg r g therein -colft^^^^subj^ets^lvii^h Plill require :tiie':"nwst-Varheist/;ca'refuli I and patiehfc' ! c6nsid«atiori." ; ;Htis! Honbr i calls " t li.e!-. V ""^atfeii tidii" "?.cff '\ the? l\ 0 tlie r^por-t- '-bf a'tlie ; ; Prbvhicial I Kuqineer,;^pointing >; oiit ;th^Lt; iinlesis I the" variqi^;^iads' ;tb : ; the^diggings .In | t he immediate Vicinity^oftlietownj are \ metalled" tHis summer, . ilex f; winter \ will find them in mbad a^ state las' they \ were the last. v.^Weihavih riot before Ims the report/ alluded^to^'but; ; we, prei sume the Provincial Engineer, inirecbmI m ending that broken s. metal be used, i intends that the roads sKpvild first of- all \ jje W ell pitched,, before^ such metal is \ applied. This, of course,' necessitates a f much larger 'expenditure-; and, until ithe ■ railway to the;- Mokorooko 'is, completed, 1 boating stone •up;;£hfe' : :'W'aiiiopai ; ';for'the ) North, and the-Mnl;jCreek'fbr the East I Road, will notoni^be a slow, but a very ' -expensive process— jet, that something • the stone boated up' from the Mokot moko, the north and" east roads to i t |i e diggings be well pitched during the ! summer, as far as it is possible to be i done, we cao very well afford to wait '• till the Completion of the Tnvercar^ill I and Mekornoko -Railway will enable us to "-et, at -something like a cbeap rate, brol'cn meta-l to cover what we can pitch now. The adoption of such a course combines celerity and cheapness, and we shall be able t to make viable this summer three times i the length of road. On some parts of $!i3 road between the Mokomoko aud I Ciimpbelltown, the broken metal has '• been thrown on the surface of the clay, and, even with the trifling traffic which it has hitherto had on it, the metal has be^nn to sink,, out of sight, — it could not stand a fortnight's heavy usage. 1 The next object mentioned by his Hoiior is the construction of a wooden \ railway from Invercargill up the valley of the Oreti, to enable us to secure the Lake trade during the ensuing and in recommending it he has used very sound and cogent reasons for its ' adoption. We imagine every member of the Council will entirely concur in the advisability of constructing a railway for a -certain distance to the Lake, ' and any comment from us would be a 1 were recapitulation, at perhaps greater length, of the arguments which His Honor has condensed in a few lines. We will therefore confine ourselves to the particular description of railway proposed, — — that of wood, with the -engines and carriages patented by Mr J. It. Davies. Dr. Mayer says that "a new truth has f.o encounter three normal stage-s of op. position. In the first, it is denounced . as an imposture-; in the., second— that . is, when it is beginning* to force itself ; into notice, it is cursorily examined, , and plausibly explained away ; in the third, it is decried as useless, and host tile to religion." If a new truth has to encounter opposition, so has a new invention, more particularly if it simplifies and renders easier of accomplishment to the Tinihiated %hat whi.-la re- ■ quired previously a long professional education to effect. Mr. Davies' patent ■is not an exception to the rale. When it was first proposed in Victoria, the idea-. , of a wooden railway was ridiculed by all ; .legitimate engineers; the thing was ' ' too simple^ and by its adoption, • Othello's occupation would be gone;JJ a crusade against it was consequently ! 'I commenced $ a railway which would cost a few hundreds a mile, when the J Geelong and Ba'Marat line cost many ■ thousands, was out of the Question, ' and voted thoroughly illegitimate:. Mr Davies, however, made at his own ex- . pense, and worked fbr some time, a ; short line at the Green Hills,, which, ; ; from what we can gather, answered •well, and- refuted the mal-autici- . , pations of those who pronounced ■ against it. It was also proposed at one ■ time to construct a similar railway from ■ i Ballaarat to Sftiythe's ; a committee i was appointed to inquire into the feasib ility of' the project ; plans &c. were submitted, and met with favorable i consideration. 'j That it was never: 1 carried into execution, was owing to 1 the company finding that it had not \ I sufficient funds to construct any line of I railway between the two places. When f Messrs. Davies determined to bring the Engine over to Invercargill;; to get it \ Unto the carriage for conveyance down to \ Melbourne, two pieces of scantling 24 I feet long were fixed at an acute'aVgle; up which the engine steamedinto its pbsi- • tion, in the .presence of se-ve'fal persons ; nor was this all, to prove the singular bite it hadj it was- stopped half-way, and 'then steamedon again y- of this we are : informed by an eye witness who is a civil engineer. ; From all this it would L appear, that although the Governinentof Victo.ia would not eiitertain Mr Davies' ' proposition, sueh 1 trial as it'll s had in 1 that colony has provfd successful. 'Of its '■ «heapu<!ss and celerity of construction 1 there can be no question, the only one which can arise as regards this province '• is, whether in a moist climate like ours, • the wooden rails would stand? If, ias '\ we are credibly informed, wooden rails, ;-; made of far softer wood than blue gum, 1 stringy bark, or black pine, answered Jwell, and stood for 1 years -in England, fife do not see why rails constructed bf v?Biose woods would riot answer here ; f. Jor we believe that statistics have proved f that less rain falls lrere^than in England. |- And our informant; without having fver seen- Mr Davies' patent, or knowpng anything about' it, "■in explaining the peculiarities of the line adverted ' to above, as being in use in^ the part of I England he came from, stated , what ■ Mr Davies states also,' that the friction w the wheels on the rail deposits a

;metjUl.ig ; - coj&ing,^rendertng i? tlte* t^jropd i injfact harder-: than Hi Utii^&VGtiiti : j rjfc; i-aii; sUrfece'presentedto"^ wheels • jany raiLvbegin to (i^ayj itrcanvbeiimmedi^t|)^; •hriusfrbe^dbn 1^ 'likti, ■ , t^e^t jl]T(y- ' of-jmetalling a road Tiwithout pitthiiigt lit ; -"a 1 -thing? is;^iife\r|r^ ■areaijit;Qf!s^liere^ ? Jjndeecl, so'niiich sq *is.!this -the'iease., thatwin' some cf \ thej J best Jiistri^ts-- ii subh : as ; the rifunds- at the 'disposal of the Road Boards are/ not 5 -ye'r-y' r gfeat, and the natural r ( oads, quite as^bad in win ter as they are.here^ it hd^jbreeh* wisely deter^i mined that ;irwould';'He Jtiettjsr tpj pitch, well as. large an extent lOf road as their, funds will permit, and wait ; until they j can afford to metal it, than, to do 1 thoroughly — i.e. pitch and metal— at! once a smaller extent. Thus if they have not as comfortable and smooth a road to travel on as might be desired, they have, at any rate, a long extent of. road which will carry heavy traffic. This course we would recommend the attention of the Council. If, with : remedied at a very trifling cost ; looking at it, however, in the most unfavorable light, and supposing it will last only two years, our object will be effected. The Lake trade will be secured, and then, if it be found necessary an iron rail can be fixed on the wooden ones when we can better afford both the time such a railway would take to construct, and the expense of construction. We have not before us the preliminary report of the Chief -Surveyor, mentioned in His Honor's speech-; but v/e believe it will ''be found to coincide with us in bur opinion, and from the care, caution, ability, and elaboration of detail which distinguishes all Mr Heales' reports, we doubt not. that it will carry . very great weight with the "Council, in. determining a matter of such grave imp>rtance to the welfare of the "Province. In determining on the construction of a ; railway, the Council will also have the I satisfaction of knowing, that they are making a highway, not merely to a gold ■ field, which in the ordinary course of events will be worked out, but in all probability, as stated in His Honor's speech, to rich copper and tin mines, ! not to mention the splendid agricultural iand it will open up. We must post^ pone the consideration ofother matters ; mentioned in His Hono^s'tiSpegchi.tptai future opportunity. <■ lh-?i yv?.- -;?' *••> -\ -■ ■.