ALFRED EGGLESTON, the foreman fitter at Mundaring, has been a long time in Western Australia compared to most of the officials employed on the public works of the State, as the majority do not date their arrival further back than the years which immediately succeeded the opening of the Coolgardie goldfields. He was born in Wiltshire. and after gaining experience with a number of engineering and foundry firms in England, came to Western Aus tralia for the Midland Railway Company, and was with them nine and a quarter years before taking up his present position at Mundaring, which he has held for nearly three years.

JOSEPH NEWMAN, foreman of Mundaring weir works, is a native of the Western District of Victoria, and since boyhood has been associated with the

construction of large public works of various kinds. In Victoria he worked for Millar Bros., railway contractors, and in New South Wales with the principal firms engaged in the same line of business. In Western Australia Mr. Newman has been connected with the construction of the Midland, Southwestern and Coolgardie railways, and was foreman on the Bunbury narbour works. He has been foreman of the works of the great dam across the Helena River since the commencement of the undertaking.

Railways.

What our railways mean to Perth and Fremantle is apparent when one considers that the port of Fremantle is the focus from which over 1,350 miles of railway, all in full running order, converge. In connection with this system there are nearly 180 miles of sidings to facilitate the traffic, and about 500 miles of privately owned railways and tramways.

Having regard to the smallness of the population, this is an extremely large railway mileage, and the conditions under which it is worked give rise to peculiar difficulties. Long stretches of desert where water is not only bad, but almost unobtainable, have to be traversed, and the working expenditure is necessarily high, as compared with the eastern States, particularly in wages, fuel, water, stores and material generally.

Then, again, it is part of the general policy of the State to encourage the development of the local coal and jarrah and karri industries by rates of carriage which land the carrying department in a loss. The result of the low rates charged is especially noticeable on looking at the working of the South-Western Railway, on which the principal traffic consists of timber and coal. The earnings in 1900 for the financial year were £75,042 from goods and £50,290 from coaching traffic, live stock and other sources. From this total of £125,332 has to be deducted £115,750, the cost of earning the amount, and a profit of £9,582 is shown. Against this £9,582 must be placed £32,420, the interest for the year on the loan capital of the railways. Notwithstanding this, however,

The cost of constructing railways in Western Australia has been kept at a very low figure, and it is claimed by the engineer-in-chief of the Public Works Department (Mr. C. Y. O'Connor) that the principle for which he contended in the construction of lines when he first came to Western Australia has been proved correct, namely, that cheaplyconstructed railways can be economically worked. The lengths of the several Government railway lines, which are all built on the 3ft. 6in. gauge, which is the standard gauge of the State, are as follows:

The total cost of the construction and equipment of the Government railways open for traffic is £6,856,363, made up of £6,472,722 from loan moneys, and £383,641 from other sources. The gross earnings for the year ending June 30, 1900, amounted to £1,259,512, made up of passenger fares, £342,469; goods, live stock, parcels and wharfage, £884,843; and miscellaneous sources, including rents, mails, etc., £32,200. The total expenditure for the year was £861,470, leaving a credit balance, after paying working expenses, of £398,042,

locomotives, 259 passenger carriages, and 4,778 waggons and brake vans, while it is estimated that in a short time there will be between 300 and 400 engines and 8,000 waggons, as against 20 carriages and about 200 trucks in 1890. The number of train miles run during the year was 4,216,161, while for the same period 6,225,068 passengers and 1,384,040 tons of goods were carried. During the year tests were made by the department of the coal produced at Collie, in this State. Extensive use of it commenced about September, 1899. For the year ending June 30, 1900, 103,747 tons of coal were used on the railways, made up of 43,599 tons of Newcastle (N.S.W.) and 60,148 tons of Collie coal. The Newcastle coal cost £43,741, or an average of 20s. 0.78d. per ton. The total amount paid for the Collie coal was £29,118, or an average of 9s. 8.18d. per ton. For the 4,216,161 train miles run during the year, the average consumption per mile wasof Newcastle coal, 23.17 lbs., and of Collie coal, 31.95 lbs., while the average

cost per train mile was for the former 2.49d. and for the latter 1.66d.

The cost of working and maintaining locomotives, carriages and waggons for the year amounted to £406,565; the expenditure per train mile being 1s. 11.15d. It represents £32.28 out of the £68.40 expended, per £100 earned, and no less than £47.19 for each £100 expended by the department. The general manager does not expect much improvement in this direction until greater workshop accommodation (now in course of construction) is available, and until less expensive water be procurable on the goldfields. The amount paid for 17,688,900 gallons of fresh water supplied to the department by private contractors for use in the Kalgoorlie district amounted to £16,127 11s. 1d., or .22d, for each gallon.

At June 30, 1900, the department had a total of 4,016 miles of telephone line, made up of block lines 24 miles, double wire; staff lines, 562 miles, single wire; telephone and miscellaneous, 1,833 miles, single and double wire; telegraph (General Post-office) lines, 1,597 miles, single wire.

The Block and Electric Staff working have given satisfactory results. The provision of safety appliances has been continued, an increase being made in the number of places interlocked. The electric light installations at Perth, Fremantle and Midland Junction, the capital cost of which was £15,567, have resulted in a profit to the department. The system of lighting of carriages on the West Australian Railways is known as Stone's double battery system. It consists of a dynamo swung under the carriage and driven by a belt from a pulley on the axle. The pressure of the system is 16-volt, and the ordinary working

current 20 to 25 amperes. Compared with oil and gas Stone's system stands very high. The weight of the apparatus on a first-class carriage, providing ten 8candle power and five 5-candle power lamps, is, roughly speaking, a ton. The generation of the light requires the equivalent of about one horse power per coach. The general manager of the Western Australian Railways computes the cost of the respective systems of lighting as follows: Electricity, £19 12s. 11d. per coach per annum; gas, £35 4s. 2d. per coach per annum; and oil, £34 7s. 3d. per coach per annum. He states also that Stone's system gives a clear, steady light, free from flickering, and has, in addition, freedom from risk of fire.

In addition to the Government railways mentioned above, there are also the following private lines in the State:

The Midland Railway starts from the Midland Junction and runs northward to Walkaway, near Geraldton, a distance of 277 miles. It was constructed under a concession on the land grant system, the company receiving 12,000 acres for every mile of railway. It is most probable that this railway will shortly be bought by the Government.

Denmark Railway was built by Millar's Karri and Jarrah Forests, Limited, under a special concession on the land grant system. It starts from a point ten niles from Albany, on the Great Southern Railway, and runs to Torbay, a distance of twelve miles, and is continued on to Denmark Mills, 28 miles from In addition there are Torbay Junction. 16 miles of railway extending out into the bush over which the logs are brought to the mills.

Yarloop Railway, built by Millar's

Karri and Jarrah Forests, Limited, is 23 miles in length, and runs from Yarloop, on the South-Western Railway, a place 89 miles south of Perth, easterly over the Darling Ranges.

Upper Darling Range Railway is the property of the Canning Jarrah Timber Company (Western Australia) Limited. It joins the Government railway at Midland Junction and runs to various points

con

The Jarrahdale Railway was structed by the Jarrahdale Timber Company under a special timber concession agreement. It consists of a line from Rockingham to the company's head station, a distance of over 20 miles, continuing from Jarrahdale inland in different directions to the various mills. A total of 57 miles are laid down.

Quindalup Railway connects the mills of the Imperial Jarrah Wood Corporations Ltd. Timber Company with the port, ten miles west of Busselton.

The M. C. Davies Company Limited.-Under special timber concession this company has constructed lines from Hamelin Harbour to the mills at Karridale and Boyanup, with branches into the forest, a total distance of 35 miles.

The Ferguson River Railway belongs to the Canning Jarrah Timber Company Ltd., and starts from Dardanup, on the South-Western Railway. It runs up the Ferguson River Valley to the Wellington timber station, a distance of 15 miles.

There are in addition to the above, eight other short private lines in connection with forest timber mills, and also the Kurrawang private line near Kalgoorlie.

In the North there is a tramway eight miles in length, between Cossack and Roebourne, under the control of the Railway Department.

The Government Railways of Western Australia are under the control of the Minister for Railways. Formerly the Public Works and Railway Departments

were combined under one Ministerial head, but upon Mr. Leake becoming Premier, in 1901, he created a separate portfolio for Railways. The UnderSecretary of the Department is Mr. Alpin F. Thomson and the general manager of the system is Mr. John Davies, who has held that position since January, 1892. Up to June, 1896, the Public Works Department had sole charge of the construction of railways and additions to opened lines. Since the time mentioned, however, the control of the capital account, in so far as additions to opened railways were concerned (and also so far as the stations on new lines of railway were concerned) was placed in the hands of the Working Railways Department. The number of employes is now nearly 6,000, as compared with about 200 in 1890. The following return gives the numbers of salaried and wages staffs employed on June 30, 1900:

A general classification of the service is being undertaken by the department. At present engine-drivers are divided into five classes, and are paid 15s., 14s., 13s., 12s., and 11s. per day according to the class in which they are placed. Firemen receive 10s., 9s. or 8s. per day in accordance with their class. There are 243 drivers, 201 firemen, 225 cleaners, 48 youth cleaners and 9 wash-out men in the service. They are represented by an association which is registered under the provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act of the State. Should the men ask for an increase on the above rates, they have the option of referring to the Board of Arbitration established by the Act mentioned. In addition to the union named, there is also the Western Australian Government Railways Association, which is recognised by the Department, and which has a membership of about 3,600 in the various grades of the service. The permanent way is attended to by 667 repairers and 207 gangers. The latter are graded at 8s.. 8s. 6d., and 9s. per day with an extra 1s. per day on the goldfields' lines. The repairers receive in the Coastal Districts 8s. per day, and on the goldfields 9s. per day. In every case allowance is made for overtime and Sunday work.

In the building of the Northam-Goomalling line, the Government introduced the "butty-gang" system of construction. Under this system the various works along the line, including clearing, earthworks, fencing, construction of culverts and bridges, platelaying, etc., are let to various gangs or bodies of men at fixed rates or by tender. The Government is

this State into closer connection with the eastern side of the continent, and that this would result in furthering the commercial and social interests of Western Australia in particular and of Australia in general, and would prove of great national value for defence purposes. It would induce increased settlement, pastoral as well as mining, in the country passed through, would save time in the carriage of mails and passengers, and would reduce prices on food and goods upon the goldfields of the State. The proposed route is from Kalgoorlie, in this State, to Port Augusta, in South Australia. A party sent out to examine the country on the West Australian side has reported that no engineering difficulties would offer in the construction of the line. The belt that would be traversed in this State contains a very large area of good pastoral land, the great drawback, so far as our present knowledge extends, being the want of an adequate supply of surface water. The South Australian Government have also sent out a party to report on the country lying on their side of the border. A report, dated May 1, 1901, furnished by Mr. C. Y. O'Connor, C.M.G., the engineer-in-chief of this State, has been laid on the table of the Federal House of Representatives. Mr. O'Connor estimates that a railway of a gauge of 4 feet 8 inches could be built from Kalgoorlie to Port Augusta, a distance of 1,100 miles, at the rate of £4,000 per mile, including the cost of necessary rolling-stock for the line. To this there would need to be added interest and charges on loans. He estimates the earnings of the railway on the basis of an annual passenger traffic of 40,000the average number travelling yearly for the past three years between Fremantle and the eastern States. He claims that the cost of travelling by the overland route will be less than by the ocean liners. He considers that many

Railways. Mr. Thomson's connection with the public service in Western Australia dates back further than the introduction of responsible institutions, and In view of the important position which Mr. Thomson has filled for so many years a review of his career may not be deemed out of place here. Though of English descent, Mr. Thomson is by birth a native of France, having been born in the town of Avranches in that country. After an educational course at the College of St. Sevran and afterwards at a private school in England, Mr. Thomson came to Western Australia in 1877, and in the same year was appointed secretary to the commission to which was delegated the task of inquiring into the administration of certain departments of the public service. In 1879 he was promoted to the position of accountant in the Works and Railways branch, and later on secretary to the Commission in connection with the Colonial and Indian Exhibition, being eventually appointed Assistant Commissioner. In 1887 he was selected as act

passengers going to and coming from Europe would use the railway, and that a large proportion of the stock consumed on the Western Australian goldfields would be carried on the line. Mr. O'Connor estimates that in after years the probable receipts per annum would be £330,000, and the probable yearly Working expenses £220,000, leaving a profit of £110,000. Against this profit on working there would be the interest on cost, amounting to about £138,000, leaving an estimated loss to the Commonwealth of about £28,000 per annum.

A. F. THOMSON, Under-Secretary.

ing resident magistrate, York, and in the following year was appointed first Warden of the Yilgarn goldfield. He resigned that position a year later, and in 1891 he received the appointment of Under-Secretary for Railways and Public Works under Hon. H. W. Venn, the first Minister for Railways under responsible government. On the division of the offices in 1895 Mr. Thomson retained the post of Under-Secretary for Railways.

[Since the foregoing has been in type, Mr. Thomson has retired on a pension.]

JOHN DAVIES, General Manager of Western Australian Railways, is a native of Llanfyllin, Montgomeryshire, Wales. He was born in 1858, and received his education in the Morley House Grammar School. He began life in connection with the Cambrian Railway Com