CORRESPONDENCE.

Colonist, Volume XV, Issue 1502, 16 February 1872, Page 5

CORRESPONDENCE.

THE RAILWAY.

To the Editor of the Colonist. Sib —Should you think the following remarks of any public utility, you will perhaps give publicity to them in your usuully impartial columns. In common with nearly every person who has the interest of this Province at heart, I feel that Nelson has not had the justice done to her that she had a right to expect at the hands of the General Government, and that a much larger share of the loan ehould have been apportioned to this hitherto, literally non-borrowing Province, I feel quite sure that we nre not moved by feelings of envy at the progress of other places ; oo the contrary, we feel very proud of suclf Provinces as Canterbury, Auckland, and Otago, which are true wealth-producing districts. We also admife the enterprise of the Wellhgtonians, bub we decidedly protest, against our shara of the loan being used to aggrandize Wellington, which place having few natural resources cannot refund it, but will be constantly crying give, give, while a shilling remains in the cdffars. Shrewd fellows, they believe in artificial resources. The reverse of the case is, that Nelson is a Province abounding in natural advantages, but no money to work them j and, as far as I am able to judge, we have never had an even hand held out to us by any Government that hus been in offiud, up to the present time; Nelson bas been treated aa an outsida place, forming no part of the commonwealth (thanks to many of our representatives). Reported clever men have been, from time to time, sent to the Assembly, but, unfortunately, we have not even one solitary record of any special good done to this Province. In any ducussion relative to the apportionment of funds to the various Provinces, our representatives have been generally complimented for their oratorj, but alas! when it came to the " loaves and fishes," few fragments were left for poor Nelson; and in the matter of this loan there appear*, to me, no improvement. I have, however, strong faith that our many natural advantages will yet be worked to the benefit of New Zaaland, as well as Nelson. In the discoveries lately made at the Inangahua, an opportunity presents itself to the General Government to do this Province the justice whicu his been so long deferred; and in so doing, not onlj will no injustice be done to other places iv New Zealand, but all will iudiractiy partake of the increased wealth from this district, which promise* to ba tha richest goldfiald in New Zealand. I refer to the construction of a railway from Nelson to the Inaugab.ua, via Fox Hill; there is no doubt but that the work would be reproductive, and a large proportion of its cost wouldbt> obtained from the sale of land opened up. The doubt that exists of the Wellington and Mastertou railway paying is no criterion in ojr caia. Wellington farmers, who, unfortunately, lose a great portion of their crops from bad weather, will meet with strong competition from Canterbury; an,i I should not wouJer if the railway fails tj relieve them in that respect. The magic word " gold," attaches itself to the prospects yf the railway here. In addition to 38,003 acre-! of good flab Und at the Inangahua, the greater portion ot' the Hue would pa s t.irough a known auriferous region ; and no doubt the cost of our lin? would soon tie replaced in the coffers by the sale of land and traffic. Not only this, but the finest coalfield perhaps in the world would be tapped by tliis line, tiie quality of which is prouounued to be equal to the tiuest imported from England, and superior to Now cJouth Wales coal. Now, we have no wish for a line to be carried out on a large aud fcostly scale, but will be humbly content to get a start from the Government at the smallest passible cost, which we will earnestly economise, should the carrying out of the work bo left to the Province. You wilt parhaps pardon me, sir, if I presume to state what I conceive to ba the wishes of the luliabitanta. First than, and briefly. Speedy communication with cue district of Inangahua. Saondly. VVa wisli to limit our desires, so that we shall not unjustly deprive other Provinces of their fair su ire of tiia loan. Thirdly. We expaet to be liberally dealt with, as tuis Province has never bean a partite, nor in any way troublejooia to the Gjreramant of all New Zealand. Fourthly. Thj opportunity afforded us of opening up tue Pcjviuea, so tuat we may no longer ba the byword of itfew Zealand. Fifthly, and to tue pjint. We require, and ask as our rigiit, a railway, as bafore stated, iub ojstly, but aay a single .ma of 3t"c. Gin. guaga ; and, for the sake of expedition, we dasire tliat the line should ba surveyed at once as far as iPox Hill, oo ninanuing ab the Gainmareial Wnarf, passing round the cliffs, through Stake, Kiclinnud, and Wakea'ald. We should be glai if tue G-Jfenunant would buy the eleven miles uf railway now abjuo to be sold by tlia Duu Mountain Cxnpany, ten iniiaa of wliioh would be fouud very Ber/icaable, wjuU lasbnitny years, and would reach nearly to the Wairoa rivar; the remaining mile, iuureasad frjin the 3lt. gua*a, whidi it now is, to 3t't. 6in., sliouli be left to connect the town with tlu port, altdring at some of the crossings. My reason for naming the site below tue Cammercial Wtiart' as the termiuus is, that it would be inconvenient and dangerous far the locomotives to pass tue ends of the various wuirves, cutting, off ail coiUiiiunicaUon with them. The town rails of the sama guigd migut j Jin the trunk line with branches vju eacit wnarf, bub the trucks be drawn to town bj norse-pjwor. This Una suould be carried frum the wharvos to the town the wu le way on the seaward sida of tha roai, running up the nji'tu sida ot Bridge street; it would not then cross the road anywhere Should the Government aooade to our wishes, the drs& tdu mildj cauld ba laid, and if orders were sent for a ligac locomotive, and a few carriages aud trucks, tuis portion of tlia line miglit ba, at work in 1.872. A few years keaue, wiieu this end of the line is well worn, it ou.d be replaoai with new, whicu, .taving ti<e mjst tratlij, wjuU tUan last witli tne other portion of tua Uuj. Tiu ton milos no taton up could jo usad tar slurt braiioli line* into tlw busa, or ab tae otUar end to the pnuoipal olaiinj. tot uaittur at' •(•Uau« l w« abaalci bt oont«at«J

> with station! made of unwrought timber; i .■lightly.J»moT«d.lram.Jhfl..pprn)BPfinLs>n«Bi «.ad so , constructed that while at present they would serve I- as.office*, roughly fitted, •waiting'rooms,..and ohods, ; eventually they would do for goods'sheds alone. The [ cost of such, sheds and. platform." need not exceed P £100 each. i The same economy should be studied in the i matter of bridges. lam prepared to furnish plans of , bridge* which* should" be strong,' durable, and auit- - i able for traffic, and, if necessary, would construct ; them for the following prices:—2o to 30 feet long, £1 10a. per foot lineal; 30 to 40, £2; 41 to 50, I £2 10a.; 51 to 75, £3 ; 76 to 100, £3 10s.; 101 to 150, £4., two spans; 150 to 200, two spans, £5 ; 200 to 250, £6, two spans; 250 to 300, three spans, £7 ; 300 to 350, three span*, £8; 350 to 400, four spans, £9 j 400 to 450, £10. Exceptional circumstances would alter these rates both ways. We haw a fine bridge timber in black birch, if cut at the right time, and of such scantling as will admit of seasoning, avoiding the too common practice of crowding together large bulks of timber, which rot before they season, hastened, however, by neglected maintenance; little or no attention is paid until a horse to the belly, or a pedestrian to the armpits, gives note that something is wrong. The timber is immediately pronounced not durable, and money ia sent out of the country for less valuable timber, intrinsically, but which has, however, been cut at the right time, and attention has been paid to seasoning, and as a matter of course it is more durable. In an estimate (wbioh I have before me) of the cost of bridges along this line, it is uniformly named at £16 per foot. The prices, for such work now I can only say is less than half. From details which I, could furnish, I find the line could be carried through to the Inauguhau for £1500 per mile, including stations, and small bridges over creeks and ditches, clearing, excavations, dt aiding, and fencing, exclusive of large bridges (the names and lengths of which I take from Mr. Wrigg's report). I also take as base his calculation' of £1965 14s. per mile for a 3ft. 6in. gauge, and arrive at my result in the fallow* ing manner :— Bails per mile, by Mr. Wrigg's calculations, 421bs. per yard, and £11 per ton. Weight, 66 tons per mile, and cost, £726. My estimate with rails, at 30lbs. per yard, gives 41 tons per mile; add six tons per mile for sidings at stations, and say 50 tons per mile, the coat of rails would now be about £9, as I shall show, therefore, the . saying per mile on rails alone would be £275 ; on sleepers, £66 per mile; plate-taying, £17; feneiug, £112 per mile. In Mr. Wrigg's report it is provided j to fence the whole line on both sides, whereas not more than one-third of the whole would require it, thus reducing his amount of £168 per mile by twothirds, making the amount above stated, to daducb per mile on that item, and on clearing £20, the deductions amount to £490, which sum taken from £1965 145., leaves £1474 14*., so that £1500 per mile is near the mark. Now, as the Dun Mountain rails can ,be had at about one-third less than new price, a better margin will bis left for contingencies. The cost of the bridges on the line would be about the following sums : —

Should, however, any of the bridges require a loss number of spans, (lie prices would be, in most cases, be 20 per cent, more ; and I feul «uro tUofc;tho~L*rg»~ bridges, if tendered for, would be done for less than the above sums; they are all calculated for a breadth of twelve feet. A few words on getting the rails from England and I am done. My opinion is that the olass of vessels that Messrs. Shaw, Savilie, and Co. send to NeUon would not bring, on an average, more than about 100 tons each. Their average tonnage is 450 tons, and the proportion of dead weight they would carry is about one* third register, or 150 tons; but as there would be always some dead weight paving a better freight than rails (and taa objections.of the merchants to the . vessels being too deeply laden operating as a cheek), the average will be about what I have seated. The total quantity we should require is 9000 tons, and can easily be brought here in ten ships of. moderate tonnage, direct from Wales; plenty of vessels may be had of about 600 or 700 tons register, st about 403. per register Yon, which would carry once and a-half their register of rails. I have now beside me a British price current of recent date, with rails quoted at £5 15*. to £7 per ton, in Wales; add freight and commission, and they will still be under £9 per ton; with the benefit of light freight aud roiling stock, at very low r.ites, by leaving out a tew tons of rails, and, chartering, another vessel of 700 or 800 tons, to lessen the number of tons in each ship. The total cost of the line, and probable receipt! within one year after completion, may be thus summarised :— CostTo 120 miles railway, at £1500 £137,500 „12 large bridges (various prices}... 16,030 „ Rolling stock 10,000 „ Terminus at Nelson, £500; filling earthenwork, £1000; small jatty, £500; stone sea wall, £500:..... 2,503 „ Purchase of land, surveys, and contingencies 20,000 Total estimated oosb £233,000 Seceipis— ■ ■ i , By stle of 15 townships, each 103 sections, £5 . £7,503 By sale of Inan*ahua town ... 10,033 „ „ 15,003 aer<ss, at £i 45,000 „ „ 10,000 „at £110 15,033 „ „ 20,033 „ at£L... 23,033 „ „ 1i),033 „ 10*. ... 5,030 „ „ Suburban to fifteoa townships, at £403 3,000 . By profit Irjm tralfio on earlier finished pjrtioaj ofliao ... 4,500 By probable receipts / for ons year after completion £35,033 Leas working expenses , 25,033 Profit Ist year 10,003 Total probable reoeipts ..,..,..,....„.„ £123,030 £116,000 Less money voted 83,033 £36,000 To which would be added the cost of surveys o' totTnsiiips&j.—unless done by Provincial Government. There would still remain for sale good land, within a reasjnable distance of the line, of the value of £250,033, so that there would be every probability that that would repay the whole loan within llyoars from the sale of lands and, with Provincial fuudi and income fiom line, extend the liae to Cot den. Apologising for the length of this loiter, I am, &c, ' ■ : William Akebsteu.

The Greymoutli Jockey Club offor some £600 or i £700 us prizes to be run for tikis Tear. Tub Colonial prize firing it fixed at Curiatohurcli on April 2 ami following days. SPLKNJHD YIBLDS *HOH AUSTBiHAN M.INE3.—• Otbb Firrr Ounces tj thb £os.— The G^dsioao Ooiapiiiiy, iSlijaroi, Victoria, ba* hai agooi crushing, 80 Una iiono giving 335jzi. Bi*t. gold. At a crush' iug whioli too< pUoa a, Walton »a 4 fif Jhnw.i'u oiuiui, X*iDb*roora, N«vr Soatb Walm, 80 tool of itoat 7i«ldt4l7ooe««,foid,

Locality. Feet. Per foot. Totals. I £ s. £ Wairoa.... 450 10 0 4500 Eiahty-Eight.. 80 3 10 230 Wai-iii 200 6 10 1300 Kerr's 40 2 0 80 Hope 80 3 10 280 Gbanite 40 2 0 80 O*en ....;. 120 4 0 430 Matiri .; .300 8 0 2400 Newton ;. 120 4 0 480 Buller ..... ... 300 8 0 2400 Dee 100 4 0 400 Inangahua ...200 6 10 1203 Total large bridges £13,980 Contingences and supervision 2,020 Spans. 3 1 3 1 1 1 2 3 2 3 1 3 > i £16,000