54 Timehri. 
which they were once supposed to be. Mr. Calthorp in his paperon the Parsi 
Railway has proved that a narrow-gauge railway laid down say at one-fourth 
the cost of the standard, is sixteen times more efficient than a standard-gauge 
line costing the same. 
Mr. Hill has made a great deal—not to say too much—of the question 
of transhipment or “handling” as he terms it. There is no doubt that trans- 
shipment is a draw-back ; but transhipment must take place, and is taking 
place daily the world over, and even on British main lines without much notice 
being taken of the same. Is it not a fact that farm produce, fruit, etc., from 
Britanny and Normandy which have to go through between five and six 
distinct transhipments, 1s put on the London market in better condition and at 
a much cheaper rate than the farm produce of the Home counties? Clearly, 
it is not transhipment which prevents the English farmer from competing with 
his foreign competitors. Mr. Leslie Robinson, who accompanied the Com- 
mission appointed by the Cape Government to report on the Continental light 
railways, gives the cost of transhipment from canals and narrow-gauge lines 
at ld. to 1jd. per ton. In British Guiana, transhipment from a steamer or 
launch lying alongside a wharf where cranes and other appliances are erected, 
would not cost more than 2d. perton. I foundthe cost at Wismar where goods 
had to be transferred from steamer to railway cars without any appliances, 
at 3d. or 34d. a ton. At Rockstone, where there was no wharf, the cost was 
about 5d. a ton. There is one point in connection with transhipment which 
must not be lost sight of, and, that is, the very fact of the receipts per mile 
being too small to warrant an expenditure ina standard or even a narrow- 
gauge line shows that the traffic would be small and, therefore, the incon- 
venience (if any) of transhipment would not be worth much consideration. 
The question of opening up the hinterland by a main line connecting the 
Brazilian frontier to the coast, is, in my opinion, so very remote, that I will not 
follow the author of the paper, nor Mr. Dorman, as to the route which a railway 
to the interior would take beyond merely stating that so far as ome 
can judge at the present time of future development. Mr. Dorman’s scheme is the 
proper one both from an engineering and financial point of view. It is quite 
certain that outside capitalists will not be tempted by land concessions and 
mining rights only, however liberal they may be, and that nothing but a cash 
guarantee, which the colony is unable to afford, will secure the millions necessary 
for such a gigantic scheme. ‘The realisation of this scheme will depend to a 
great extent on the wealth of the diamond and gold-fields. Doubtless the re- 
sults obtained so far are very encouraging, and although the colony may not 
afford an extravagant expenditure, there is no reason why the Government 
should not, with the money at its disposal, make the means of transport to the 
fields easier than they are at present, and thus facilitate the development of 
these industries on which so much depends. To argue that because the colony 
is unable to spend millions on a main-line to the frontier, particular districts 
which might be developed with profit must wait for an indefinite period, is no 
argument atall. It is evident that money spent, whether on roads or railways, 
in connection with the diamond fields should be spent with a view of future 
