The Timaru Herald. SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 1910. THE RAILAGE OF FISH.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 14274, 13 August 1910, Page 4

The Timaru Herald. SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 1910. THE RAILAGE OF FISH.

The Hon. J. A. Millar is going the j right way to make himself unpopular in ] the country as Minister of Railways, | if his methods are everywhere the samo| as those, ho applies and threatens to ' apply to the railways in this district. : The inconvenience caused to settlers 'jv the manner in which the time-tables ' of the "mail" tnuns are drawn up has been explained again and again; the complaints of the Timaru fishermen have been put before the Minister , several times; and his replies remind] one of his brusque phrase regarding a : branch Pareora railway—that there ; was "Buckley's chance " of getting it. ! Mr Millar evidently did not take the J trouble to inquire into the nature of j the fishing industry at Timaru or! Oamaru. for it is clear that he knows j nothing about the conditions under which it has to be carried on. the most important of which are the habits the fish and the distance the fishermen '

li.iYu iii ;.j ,;oa to get them. Hi li;i.- worked ir out l"<ir him.-i-ii that th« i - their catch :m<! -set b:w-k in |M,rt in iia.e to ].i;]il it in'.u a Villi IVV ;| certain 1,1,11!-. s:l thai- it HVIV !»• son'. t<. C'liri--.-!ni:--'i by the Sir.-i express; and up,,,, ,!,; U . (~,-,,MfIUiS val••iiliiti.in. together uiiJ, ,] ie f ;l ,. t s ibt :i v.aunon 1::,; hern put <m the lii>l -expr.-ss ii,r the ;>;irp<i=e (meaning in reah-.y that- it is put <m when it is pin. <,ui. :! i„I thiit tJioy can now got their fish frozen. Mr Millar thinks illfishermen oi' Timaru are in a bettor position than those, of Oamaru. lie does not say that this position is satisfactory : bur does say that lie will not do anything to make it satisfactory. Mr Miliar was not responsible for adding a van to the first express, if required, it appears, for "on looking into the matter" he found that that' w : .s done. Who then was responsible for it ? Someone who knew nothmii () f the conditions of the fishing industry. The fishermen assure us that it is impossible for them to send the morning's catch to Christ-church by the first express, because however early they may start out in the morning—and they are out very early—they cannot catch a fish, till broad daylight: it ■ may take some hours to get a satisfactory haul; and then it takes two or three hours to reach port again. Mr Millar suggests that they can freeze the fish, and send theia on next day. There are two objections to this. The fish are not improved by freezing, and if sent by the first express they cannot marketed till the following day, as di-? sales are held early in the morning: consequently the fish will have beer, twice as long out of the water, and have suffered from freezing and thawing, while the fishermen must be out of pocket for the freezing and the extra carting. Mr Millar has a very imperfect knowledge of the running oi the expresses, surely. He sees no objection to the addition of a '- goods waggon" to the first express for the carriage of fish: but- if fish are taker, by the second express it means haulins '■a. bogie waggon'-" 100 miles each day. This means, we take it, that a "goods waggon" would not irave' safely as a vehicle in the second express. But why not ? The difference in speeds cannot make the difference between safety and its opposite/ for the difference in the time of the two traius between Timaru and Christchureb. is only 27 minutes, and the three certai: and five probable extra stoppages oi the first express on the way (which must be allowed for in the running, whether the stops are made or not) will account for most or all of that difference in time, making the speeds practically the same. " The former arrangement" did not involve the hauling of a bogie-waggon 100 miles each day, because, if we are not misinformed, an ordinary goods van served the purpose. It is a novel idea tc object to a railway freight that it involves the hauling of a vehicle to carry the goods. There seems to be no olv jection to adding horse-boxes to the second express, and these are not bogiewaggons, nor do they yield anything like the average freight of a car-load of fish. Mr Millar should be pressed to look into this matter again, and apply to it other than Circumlocution Office "How not to do it" principles.