A TRIP TO THE COUNTRY

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1877, 26 June 1888, Page 2

A TRIP TO THE COUNTRY

» ■ — (By Mr Johnson.) 11 You don't Beem to be well, Johnson*" said the chief to me the other day. " Take a trip out, it will do you good." I was about to m« form him of the impecunious state of my purse, when he said: "How are you off for money?" "Well," I said, "If I can have three square meals a day, pay my rail fares, and have all my whiskies m for three and ninepence, I will have just fifteen pence left." The '-Bobs" laughed. He's not a badnatured man, and we then went into a littUi peouniary transaction, with whioh it is not necessary to trouble my readers, bat will ask them to piok me np at RAKAIA, a small township about 35 miles from town. I was not greatly impressed with Rakaia. At the first look it does not seem to be m a booming state ; m fact it looks as if it had a late "flop." It consists of the longest railway bridge m New Zealand (a mile and a quarter m length), of whioh the inhabitants are justly proud, guarded at eaoh end by a wooden-legged commander, the Bank of New Zealand, the largest and moßt prominent building m the place, two hotels, a railway station (of which more anon), an Anglioan Church, a policeman, several stores, the orosa tuaasaname town pump. •■-- —- THE RAILWAY HOTEL t where I had my tea and bed, described as the "Lounge of Comfort," is handy to the sta. tion, is a well kept hoßtelry, and presided over by a landlord who is courteous and obliging^ 1 and well qualified by experience to cater for the wants of the travelling public There is no town clock here, but a sauß3ge mill adjoins the hotel, and everyone appears regularly for breakfast. I was at a loss to know the reasen of the noise at this ungodly hour of six-thirty, until \ found out that the house, maid was sweet on the butoher, and invented this way of arousing the inmates THE RAILWAY STATION. How to get to the train without infringing by-law No. 87, section 182, etc., is one of those conundrums that even a railway offioial oannot solve. Between the hotel and station there are four lines of rail, and on the other side (the station is situate at the junotion of the Methven and main line) is the main line, and travellers are cautioned not to cross these lines under various pains and penalties. The danger to pedestrians m very great, and m no other plaoa but sleepy Rakaia would such a state of things be tolarated. There is no light to. guide travellers (unless a miserable lamp on the platform barely sufficient to make darkness visible, oan be termed a light), and the residents must not be annoyed if some fine morning they are not recognised by the Coroner. lam not given to croaking, and. always like to lodk on the bright side of things, but I here warn the powerslthat be that aomo fine day an aooident will take plaoa that will take some bread winner from hia family, and then the Government will wake up to a sense of duty and have the station altered. Here, as m many other plaoes, the Loan and Mercantile have firmly established themselves, but are olosely run by Mr Turner's grain store. Considerable quantities of wheat and other kinds of grain are sent from here. Adjoining the township are Beveral stations, viz., Holmslea, Rokeby, and others, the largest of which ie AOTON STATION one of the Land Company's estates, consist ing of some twenty thousand acres, and managed by Mr Allen. This estate pays just one-fif th of the vates m the distrtot, and gives employment to a number of men, who m no small measure adds to the prosperity of the distriot. A comfortable and well kept but rather small 3EMETERY adjoins the town, but now that a dootor has taken up a permanent residenoe here they are talking of enlarging it, to meet anticipated arrivals, and no doubt several monuments will shortly be erected to the dootor'u skill. — P.S. — I don't intend this as a frea ad. for the dootor. The train ia coming for ABhbnrfcon, bo I Did adieu to the city of Rakaia, and oan reoommend any one who has a touoh of miserables to take a look round there, but on no aooount go to the rink, whioh has just baen started there, unless he wishes to end his days m an asylum, for without a doubt tb.ey are all rinking mad, from the banker to to the bellman.