THE WOUND RAILWAY.

Colonist, Volume LI, Issue 12461, 10 February 1909, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE WOUND RAILWAY.

(From " The Colonist," Feb. 8.) Thb party who accompanied the Hon Mr McKenzie, Minister of Public Works, on his visit of inspection to the railway works at Manu on Inday, were much impressed by the energy with which the extension of the line is now being pushed on. It -was seen by the amount of clearing and other preliminary^ work accomplished, that by the time the Ma«. section is ready for traffic the next one to the Hope Junction will be -Mil under way. The railway is now getting into the more difficult stages of its "construction. The country so far traversed has presented few Acuities to impede rapid progress. A new phase of the work is now being entered upon, however, and one that is vastly more interesting from the point of view of the engineer and the casual observer. The rails have now to be carried- across gullies and streams, and through tolerable hills. One of the worst samples of theater was seen at the Hope river, where a cutting which will be forty-six feet deep by twenty-two chains in length, has been commenced. . This cutting vill be the key to the position as far as this point, for its completion mil mean the virtual completion of the line to the end of the Hope section, the works of formation and rail laying being pushed on apace meanwhile It is anticipated that the cutting will consume another eighteen months, and trains should therefore be running to the Hope in something under two years. There is nbw a larger number of men employed on the line than has been employed previously, and further drafts are being despatched to the rail head as opportunity offers, so that it is evident that the Department is sincere in its desire to facilitate the construction as far as possible. It is in regard to railway matters more than anything else probably, that Nelson can find cause for congratulation in the appointment of Mr McKenzie to the principal portfolio he holds in the Cabinet. His particular qualifications for the office bave been so often detailed; and are so obvious to those acquainted with him, that it is unnecessary to refer again to them. But more important even than his intimate' knowledge of railway construction is to those to -whom the progress of the Nelson railway is a matter of vital importance, is his knowledge of the absolute necessity -that calls for the rapid construction of the line, and his profound belief in the productivity of the country it traverses, once given adequate means of communication. These are considerations which auger that whatever has been the case in the past, there will in the future be no unnecessary delay in lightening the load of the settlers by the advent of expeditious, cheap, arid reliable facilities for the conveyance of their produce to a port of shipment, and of stock and stores to their holdings. Ever since the commencement of the line it has been clearly realised that until it was constructed as far as the Hope Junction its benefits must be limited to the district through which it passed, on account of the lack of a good road for general traffic connecting it with the country further back. Splendid land in the Murchison district has been awaiting the extension of the railway to add not only to the prosperity of that district, but to "the general prosperity of the. whole community. In a petition to the Government some years ago, many of the local bodies of the province urged, besides its vital necessity in the expansion of the agricultural and pastoral industries and the settlement of large areas, that not only -the land was to he considered, "for there is wealth in the forests and there is wealth beneath the surface. Gold is found over a wide area in this district, and other metals also exist. The TJpper and Central Buller districts are described as large bituminous coal fields, and samples of coal from the Owen, from Longford and Glenroy, taken from outcrops have been analysed,at the request of the Nelson Chamber of Commerce, and have been -proved to be of high class quality. With the existence of bituminous coal within eighty miles of Nelson, and alongside where the line must run, there is no question but profitable employment will be found for the railway in the carriage of that coal alone ;' but in addition to that there must be considerable work in the railage of timber, if the line is built before the bush is destroyed, while the needs of a large local agricultural population and their exportation of produce will alone give profitable work for the railway, to say nothing of through passengers and through freights." It was further represented that- dairy factories would be established at once in the Central Buller district but for the cost and difficulties incidental to marketing ; but with railway extension a smiling country, eminently suitable in many places for close settlement, would soon be profitably occupied by men and women, who would help to lighten the -burdens of State, and render material aid in advancing the prosperity of New Zealand. These anticipations are now within the possibility of early realisation, and there is already . evidence that the prospect* of improved communication with the city has caused the launching of various enterprises at Murchison, notable among them being the establishment of a dairy factory. We are sure that the settlers there are fully justified in the sanguine view they are taking, and that no effort will now be spared to redeem as speedily as possible the pledge given to Nelson long years ago.