WHAKATANE.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume IV, Issue 412, 23 August 1876, Page 3

WHAKATANE.

(fbom our own correspondent )

15th August, 1876 STEAM COMMUNICATION.

Some weeks ago a form of petition to the Government was presented for signature here, as at other ports in the Bay of Plenty, praying that a mail subsidy should be paid to the steamer Staff a to enable her owners to beep her in this tri.de, that is to run weekly or oftener between Opotiki and Tauranga, touching at the various intermediate ports (Maketu, Matata, Whakatane, and Ohiwa). No doubt the Staffa is an advantage to Opotiki, as there the bulk of population lies, and she carries almost all the mails for that prosperous community on from Tauranga without any delay whatever, being a vast improvement on the old "orderly" system along the coast, by which, however, the mails for the intermediate ports are still carried. The steamer does not call here with any degree of regularity ; and as she has no agent here, and cannot therefore expect a boat to go off, except by special pre-arrangement ; the consequence is that she carries goods about foirw.eeks together, much to the inconvenience of our population. As for mails, she never brings us any at all, although why not is difficult to be seen. The fact that she pretends or professes to ■ do so is manifest by the solicitation of our support in trying to obtain the aforemeationed subsidy. Indeed by our supporting the steamer we give the cold shoulder to the sailing cutters, and thus place ourselves "between two stools." However, by supporting only a sailing vessel, we should be better served. The cutter Leah has made three trips to Auckland within the last month, and on one occasion brought us Auckland papers three days old. As cutters come up to our stores and discharge and embark goods and produce at leisure, we are much better served by the humbler mode* of conveyance. Of course as regards passengers the steam vessel must carry off the palm.