RAILWAYS.
Steps are being taken for the construe-, tioa of the fvaitangata railway—" Already two miles of the formation have been con tracted for at a rate favourable to the Company. The work will be carried out by Chinese labour, and it is intended to push it on as speedily as possible before the winter weather sets in," so that the formation through the swamp may be consolidated and ready to receive the per manent way early next summer. The Com pany has certainly entrusted the work to proper hands when they appointed Mr A. J. Smyth with full powers, and he on his part has secured an energetic represen tative on the ground in the person of Mr Reginald Macdonald. With such men at the~ head~ of affairs the result cannot be otherwise than satisfactory. i The railway bridge over the Taieri River near the Reliance Hotel is now; about finished. There is also a strong gang of men at work at the bridge over the river running from the Waihola Lake into the Taieri ; and the contractors say that this bridge will be finished in the course of four or five weeks, when the whole line will be quite open and available for a clear, run through of engines", waggonsj &c., all the way from Mosgiel to the Olutha.
The railway works between Tokomai riro and Tuapeka are now being proceeded with vigorously. Mr A. J. Smvth is pushing on the work of the Manuka Creek tunnel, and;" the,b'.oring operations —judging from the debris being deposited outside —must be proceeding in a, very satisfactory manner. Morrison and Co. sure busy with &c earthworks, a large number of men being employed between the Round Hill and Lawrence.
