WELLINGTON ITEMS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6072, 8 January 1898, Page 6

WELLINGTON ITEMS.

- — ♦ . TFrom Our Correspondent." l WELLINGTON, Jan. 7. MIDLAND RAILWAY MATTERS. As a result, no doubt, of the representations, of.the large deputation of Canterbury members which waited on the Premier and Minister of Public Works on the' subject lastsession, Mr J. A. Wilson, late resident engineer at Wellington, who proceeds tomorrow to take charge: of the-works on .the Otira section of the .Midland Railway, has been instructed to. push the workr. vigorously; and to employ as many men as the works will possibly carry. A large quantity of rails and sleepers and one locomotive have beeu sont from Wellington to this section of the line. In connection with the legal proceedings to be taken by certain Midland Railway debenture-holders, it may be necessary to explain that such proceedings will*, in the first instance, be botween tho debentureholders and the company, and the Government will only appear in the matter should 1 the decision be in favour of the debentureholders. The notice of action served on the Government by the debenture-holders is that stipulated for in Section 16 of the Act of 1834, which declares that no deben-ture-holder can sell or apply for an order, to sell the railway unless he has first given the Governor notice, and unless the Governor fails within threo months of the giving- of such notice to give notice of his intention to purchase the line, Two. months of this period have elapsed, and th-3 case will,, mall probability, be heard, in March ; THE GOVERNMENT. AND THE MANAWATU; RAILWAY. Locally, a considerable amount of discussion has taken place respecting theaction of the Government in attempting to divert to.the recently-completed Wellington to Napier line much of the business of the Wellington-Manawatu Company's line, thereby decreasing its earningpower. So far the company's advocates have failed to show that the Government's methods are other than those which would have been adopted, say, by another company competing against the Manawatu Company. It has been contended that the action "of the Government in charging th© same rates ajs the Manawatu Compauy for the conveyance of goods a much longer distance is unfair competition. Thus, goads are conveyed from Feilding, via Wairarapa, a distance of some one hundred aud fifty miles, at the same rate as the Manawatu , Company would charge, though the distance via the west coast is only some hundred miles, bnt as no compulsion can be brought by the Government to compel people to sent* their goods via. Wairarapa it will be seen that matters will equalise themselves; and in tho case of conveyance of stock,' for instance, consignees wiil choose the most direct route, and the one that takes the shortest time. It should be stated that in the example above quoted a consignee sending via Wairarapa reaps the benefit of through rales. There is sometimes a large difference on this account, and the company, if it wishes to retain such business, must make a concession equal to the amount of the difference between through and transhipping rates. Although it is somewhat difficult to tell what. effect the Government's policy will have on the company, it may safely be predicted that the business for which the Manawatu line is the natural channel will remain with the company. . MINISTERIAL MOVEMENTS. TheHonsW. C. Walker and J. Carroll are at present the only Ministers at the seat of government, and the latter probably will leave for the north next week. The Premier is expected to.be at .least another week on the West Coast, and the Hon W. Hall - Jones, who is inspecting several public works in Otago and Southland, is not expected back for a fortnight. The Hon A. J. Cadman will not return for at least a month, but the Hon T. Thompson will be in Wellington in a week or ten days. It will probably be early in February before a fall Cabinet is held. FOG SIGNALS. Some considerable objections are expected to be raised by Wellingtonians in connection with the inauguration at Pencarrow Lighthouse of a new system of fog signals, which necessitate the explosion of four ounces of gun-cotton every quarter of an hour in foggy weather. As this discharge is intended to be heard at a great distance it will be no small nuisance. The Hinemoa leaves on Monday for Pencarrow Heads with the necessary apparatus, which will be put in position at once. On Tuesday the Hinemoa will leave on a visit to northern lighthouses and the Kermadec Islands. BUCKLING OF RAILWAY LINES. A competent railway , authority, with whom I have spoken on the question of the best means of preventing the recurrence of accidents similar to that which happened on the Kaipara line recently, and which almost caused a fearful catastrophe at the opening of the Wellington- Woodville Railway, expressed the opinion that possibly the only effective method of dealing with the matter would be the introduction of Westinghouse brakes. With the present brakes, though good and reliable, it takes some time to bring a train going at- top speed-, to., and' it _is also necessary * for a person to -he 'at ■ the .brake- 'on " each carriage; before, any^ appreciable effect can be produced. Tlie Westinghouse brake acts almost instantaneously, and can be worked by one man:,in the guard's van. The large expenditure which would be required to introduce these brakes on the New Zealand railways is the only obstacle to their adoption, but their introduction is a pressing necessity, and the necessary expenditure will have to be faced sooner or later. My informant was of opinion that the recent buckling of railway lines indicates that the heat has been more than exceptionally great.