The very latest tribute to the efficacy of light railways is from Mr Stanley, Engineer iu-Ohief to the Queensland Government, who returned to Sydney lust week after an extended tour of America, Kngland, and Kurope. The main ojbecfc of his visit was to inquire iuto the light lino problem on lit- half of his Government. Incidentally he replenished himself intellectually with the Ulest improvements in railway construction, ■with the most modern methods of contribut ing to tile convenience of passengers, and with the most scientific devices for hauling and handling goods. He saw the narrow gunge lines iv Ireland, and the cheaply con s' rueted and operated light railways in Belgium, France, and elsewhere. What impressed itself most vividly on Mr Stanley was the aueeusa that has been achieved in Belgium with the lines on the motre guage. These railways are particularly adapted lor conveyiug traffic uot only in spatscly but in thickly populated localities). The tracks are as tar as practicable run along the public roadß. The trains travel from eight to ten miles an hour. And they run into the heart of the districts to be served. They freight their produce not to a distant station, but. right into the markets right along the wharves, right iuto the business centres. In Brussels, for instance, he noticed two or three lines converging into the markets. The trains brought down produce, cattle, and so forth. They are something like the Sydney trama, says Mr Stanley, but more strongly built, and better adapted for the kind of traffic that is hauled over them. The cost is about £3000 a mile. Railways have been built iv the colonies at much less expense, but, then, in Kurope, there have been engineering difficulties to surmount which are not experienced in the back dis tricts of thesecolonies. luFrancehe inspected the Deconville system with its lines of 2ft and 2ft Gin. Il is said that these railways can bo built for £800 a mile, though Mr Stanley thinks it is coo liberal an estimate. Ho recognises the difficulty and incon venience of having breaks of gauge. But where districts have to be served, and where the lines are to act only as feeders to main Hues, he thinks the question of constructing narrow-gauge railways is worth considera tion. 