Railway Wants.

Southland Times, Issue 4323, 18 May 1882, Page 2

Railway Wants.

MEETING WITn MR HANNAY. Yesterday forenoon advantage wastakon of the presence, in this district, of jMr Hannay, Traffic Superintendent of Railways, to bring under his notico the various grievances and hindrances connected with the district railways. The gentlemen forming the deputations were — Messrs lurnbull (President of the Chamber of Commerce), Mitchell, Paisley, Nichol, C. Basstian, junr., Handyside (Nightcaps Coal Company), A. Tapper, for the sawmillors' interest, and Hodgkinson for that of the brickmakers. Mr Turnbull opened the proceedings by reference to the great scarcity of waggons in this district at present. Having exhausted all the arguments that have found expressions in the newspapers ofjthe district, Mr Turnbull said tbat it was hoped that the question would receive every consideration, as the district was suffering serious injury in all departments of industrial work, not only in the grain trade, which was perhaps exceptional^ but also in tlie highly important and growing coal and timber trades. The coram unity, know full »vetl that the Department had difficulties to contend with in endeavoring to make the rolling stock. overtake the work ; but, if the wants of the district could be met in no other way, trucks must be built to satisfy reasonable requirements. Mr Paisley spoke of the insufficiency of the goods shed at Invercargill. This, Mr Hannay said, was not a matter for Mb department. Mr Handyside said jthat. having been already in comraunrcation with Mr Hannay on the subject of waggons, it was unnecessary to take up that gentleman's time. He would merely point out thq.t what was wanted for' lbe tpade he represented was a permanent and not a spasmodic supply of waggons, which threw aU calculations out and disturbed business arrangements. Mr Turnbull said that if he might venture to suggest it, it seemed to him thatthe Department should look strictly after parties who ordered trucks and did not utilise them immediately, aa by tliefr neglect tbe use of rolling-stock waa lost to some extent. Mr Hannay said that that was done now, but was not so effective as might be supposed. Jn sijch cf,sos the use of waggons was always lost for bne, and it might be two, days. Mr Mitchell said that if the number of trucks here and elsewhere was insufficient the Department should represent the n f atfer to the Ministry, so that steps luigftt he taken to build v^ggqns. To continue to work the railway's with insufficient rolling-stock was suicidal policy. They were there to represent not only specific industries, but the community at large, aud ho maiotuino.l that the Government was not doing all that it could for the pubic, nor taking all that it could out of ths ljncs. If was the plain duty of thp Government to supply more trucks ; on selfish grounds alone they should do so. I

— . Mr Hodgkinson spoke strongly of another phase of the matter, viz. : the disappointments of purchasers, and unavoidable breaking of promises. This was particularly hard wh«re s«ttlers came long distances on certain days, only to find. that their goods bad not arrived. This sort of thing was a loss by which no one gninej. Then these people did not como when their orders did arrive, and the Department lost tho use of the loaded waggons'fof a ongcr or shorter period. Mr Tapper, while admitting Ithat for some tune after Mr l lannay's previous visit, the sawmills were fairly supplied with trucks, said that during the past month matters had returned to their former conditions. He al so explained that in addition to bolster" trucks, the trade reqmred a per centage of tira ordiuary build for small orders. Mr Hannay, replying to Mr Paisley, said that the stationmaster at Invercargill had power to run special trains and to take snd i steps as he thought necessary for the efficient working of the section. Mr Handysidesaid that this was a matter that required clearing up, as, not only in the matter of running specials, but also in others affecting the expediting of tTaffic, the public were generally informed that these things could not be done without permission from Dunedin. Mr Hannay, replying on the waggon question, reminded tlie deputation that this was the busiest season of the year, Canterbury and North Otago not having quite finished harvesting operations, wbile those of Southland had commenced. He hoped they would recognise that it was unavoidable that there should be a difficulty in supplying all demands for conveyance for two or three weeks at this time. Of course, if it was shown that the hindrance to traffic was chronic, the matter must be remedied. He was hopeful that the arrangements which he was about to make would get over the difficulty and enable the railways to overtake their work. One thing he felt entitled to say— that was tbat there did not exist in the district that recipocity between commercial men andthe Department that was essential to the efficient working of the railways. This was Bhown:in Hie' tendency that existed to order more waggons than were required ; ordering them too soon ; and keeping thsm an treasonable time under load. Of course tho Department could fall back on demurrage, but that was ulways unsatisfactory. , Although he did not know it personally/lns believed that a block now existed at tbe Bluff ; a large number of waggons of &r«in being there, for which there was no storT age. lt had been suggested by one of the local papers that morning that the Departs- ; ment should not take grain to the Bluff while the block existed. That view of tbo question was untenable. The Department could not refuse to take on loaded waggons to their destination merely because there was a possibility that the* would not be discharged at the end of the journey. What would ticrvc the purpose better would lie that consignees should take delivery on arrival, or instruct-con-signors not to forward. This was the first real grain season the department bad had to provide for : the quantity being about double the usual shipments. He intendfcil to remain a few days, and would give the 6 subject his attention. Referring to the running of special trains, Mr Hannay sai4 tl.ut !iI K o hud been attended to,, three having been out on the previous night. Hie troad cf the district, was increasing with immense strides ; and be could assure >the deputations that lie recognised tbe necessity for keeping pace with it. ' rJ > Mr Turnbull thanktd Mr Hannay foY nis explanations. Mr Hannay, replying to Mr Nichol, said that in order to facilitate matters attho Bluff he had given instructions that in the meantime an engine should go down tdj shunt there every forenoon, taking toi. extra rnn to Thornbury in the afternoons, and so split the traffic over the light rails of Riverton line. He recognised that it was one of thetir.st duties of the Department ta supply steadily waggons to industries like the Nightcaps colliery, where a number of men were employed and depended on getting rid of their produce. It was only lately that he had become aware that company had been short supplied, and ho had made arrangements to obviate that in future. Mr Turnbull next introduced the subject of measurement charges on goods-carried-by rail from Bluff to Invercargill. These were felt to be a great hardship to importers, and handicapped them unfairly. He felt sure thatjif the department looked to its own interests it would change these measurement charges^ the ordinury inland rates by weights;'.' Mr Turnbull asked if there was no.. chance of a special rate being Adopted be? tween the port and town? -' Mr Hannay said that there were special rates: The difficulty he supposed was that these were not low enough. Mr Nichol gave as an instance of the ' unfairness of tho present tariff that aT threshing-mill recently landed was charged as 28 tons and cost £14 to carry seventeen miles. It weighed 3to 4 tons, and could have been brought by road for less money. He admitted that that was an extreme case, but they graduated down to ordinary rates, according to the bulk of the goods. He held that the Department should make all ports alike, aad that tbe task of hading the ' weight of goods was not so difficult as the Department might suppose, merchandise being usually put up in recognised weights and measures. Mr Paisley also pointed out that no'difficulty would exist as to the weight of goods as all invoices bore these as well as the measurement. Mr Hannay said that, as the deputationwere aware, this matter had been under consideration. He would, however, again represent it to the proper authorities. '< Replying to Mr flandyside on the B\lb- ! ject of painting tares oo waggons, Mr Hannay pointed out that the Department's tares could not be relied pn .for commercial purposes. Elsewhere, coalmasters always satisfied themselves as ta proper tares. Replying to Mr Basstian, Mr Hanhay said that the crane on the goods platform at Invercargill was about to be repiabisd. He would also see that tbe yard was gravelled. " The deputation having thanked Mr Hannay for his patient hearing, then withdrew.