14 HENKY DEANE. 



Ground has been provided for a further extension up to 20,000 

 H.P. The feeder cables are being laid in bitumen casings of the 

 Callender- Webber type. The overhead wiring will be carried on 

 solid drawn steel poles of the Mannesmann type, with ornamental 

 wrought and cast iron brackets and mountings. These will for 

 the most part stand in the centre of the roadway between the tracks. 

 It is interesting to note that the Central London Electric Rail- 

 way now under construction is being furnished with engines and 

 generators of the same make and character as those already 

 adopted here, and further that the Engineers have decided to 

 use the Edison-Brown plastic bond for the rails. 



High Carbon Rails. — Considerable trouble having been experi- 

 enced owing to the softness of some of the tramway rails supplied 

 a few years ago, I made an endeavour in 1896 to obtain from 

 England a supply of rails in which the proportion of carbon was 

 similar to what had actually been used in the United States, but 

 I was not successful. On the advice of Sir John Fowler, a modified 

 specification was agreed upon to which the rails were ordered. 



Last year in consequence of the breaking up of the rail-pool, a 

 favourable offer was received to supply American rails to a new 

 specification prepared by me, and this was accepted. 



The Railway Commissioners and the Public Works Department 

 ordered 2,000 tons of 80 lbs. and 2,000 tons of 60 lbs. rails respec- 

 tively. Since then English rails have been tendered for to the 

 same specification. The proportion of carbon, etc. in the rails 

 supplied has been as follows : — 



Manganese. ^1^^ 



1896 -45 --55, 83 lbs. -10 --06 -95- -85 -08 -08 

 1897/50--60, 80JbB.J . 1Q _. 15 ^-IW -08 -08 



•40 - -50, 60 lbs. 



Harbours and Rivers Branch. — Mr. C. W. Darley, Engineer- 

 in-Chief for Public Works, has furnished me with the following 

 information : — A wharf wall is now being constructed round 

 Darling Island of large concrete blocks. Hitherto all our wharves 

 in Sydney have been built of either iron or timber, but seeing 



