Irvine Express. — 1883-11-16 (Irvine, Strathclyde, Scotland)

NOTES BY THE WAY. 'Amongst the views of many mine." Borneo and Juliet, Act 1., Scene 11.  " Pleasures are like poppies spread— We seize the flower, the bloom is shed; Or, like the snowflake on the river, A moment seen, then gone for ever."  Sucil to my mind is about the extent of the pleasure afforded to those who have taken a part in promoting, and who desire to see, a branch of the Barrmill and Kilwinning Railway extended to Irvine. When cool reflection follows hasty action remorse not unfrequently comes, and so when the real position of affairs has been made plain, the hopes of having a connection with the Caledonian Railway have once more become those "hopes which maketh the heart sick." Had those who took part in the meeting for the promotion of the railway been allowed behind the scenes, or had they known as much before as after it, I question if they would have under'taken the parts they did. The railway which was proposed in Provost Brown's regium had really so many good points about it that it commended itself to the community. The great point aimed at in that project was the utilising of the north side of the harbour, with dock and other necessary accommodation, but in this new one no such thing is aimed at. lam well aware that there are those who say "a small loaf is better than none," and if once the railway is brought to the town it will be an easy matter to extend the harbour. As to all rules there are exceptions so to aphorisms, and certainly in this case "no loaf would be better than a small one." Let the promoters put into their programme that the destination of the railway is the harbour, and they will assuredly find a mine of opposition springing at their very door. Lordjglinton's interest centres not in Irvine, but flf Ardrossan, and his opposition alone is enough to "quench the feeble spark." The game of Railway Chess is a hazardous one to play, and with no other move on the board, but the extension of the town the certainty of a defeat is apparent. lam glad to hear that not a few of the Committee, and a great number of the inhabitants are of my mind, and the conclusion is rapidly being come to that the sooner the scheme receives its quietus, the better for all concerned. I hope when next a project is started for additional railway facilities it will embrace a terminus at the harbour, and be without the lines which guided the speaking at the late meeting thereby reducing well-intentioned enthusiasm to mechanical action.  by fling , After  I was asked the question lately if there was any reasonable prospect of the harbour ever being in the position of solvency, so as to pay the interest due to the Burgh. The question arose from one which was put by Mr Weir at the Second Ward meeting. I could only reply in general terms that if no extraordinary expenditure came in the way, and the management conducted as at present, there was every probability that it would be able to pay the interest annually borrowed from the Burgh. In course of conversation my friend suggested that it would be a wise act if the Town Council would write off the amount of accumulated interest due by the harbour and commence afresh, insisting that the interest be paid at the regular terms. As the prospects of paying the large sum of nearly £6OOO is nil, such a course would, I think, be very judicious. It might be well for the Council to consider this, because in view of , the heavy debt incurred by the Burgh, and the bound-to-be increased taxation, the common good should not be called upon longer to pay the interest on behalf of the harbour, thereby taking from the community that which they are certainly entitled to have. lam no believer in the theory so loudly put forth by some that the sum expended on the harbour might as well have been I thrown into the sea. The ignorance of those who hold such views is the only excuse for them —as had they seen the delapidated state of the harbour, with its breastwork about to take a step which would have resulted in the suicide of the harbour, with its occasional schooner of 100 tons visiting the port, in fact the whole would have formed a beautiful photograph of a haven of rest for fishing boats. I say had the former state been seen and compared with what it is now, no such expression could in fairness be said, but credit accorded to those gentlemen who so assiduously wrought for the harbour's redemption. They, no doubt, anticipated that long ere this it would have been in the position of paying its way, but circumstances—to be generous I will put it—over which they had no .contrOl have intervened and delayed the long-desired end. The same is desired by the present Trust, and I think it would help them greatly if an arrangement could be effected whereby the accumulated interest were wiped off, and a regular payment made hereafter.  The election of Magistrates on Friday was aa formal as the elections of Tuesday, and with as great unanimity, while the after meeting was no less a success, the speeches being in a more or less degree marked by great taste and refinement, brief, yet moderate in tone, and appropriate to the occasion. The discussion at the meeting of Magistrates has had the effect of securing a better church attendance, the only members absent on Sabbath being Councillors Samson and M'Cormick.  The little difficulty in the Sixth Ward, which I referred to last week, has been amicably settled by the three representatives leaving the arrangement of the order of their retiral in the hands of the Ward Committee, who voted by ballot with the following result—Mr Pipe, 12; Mr Armour, 11; Mr Hay, 6.