Bridge over the Matau.

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 15, 15 October 1874, Page 3

Bridge over the Matau.

NOTES FltOM A TRAVELLER.

On a recent visit to Inch ClutOa, among several matters that attracted pay attention was the rather unsatisfactory manner by which they have communication: with the main land. In existing circumstances it may suffice, but having passed a railway station in, course of erection close to the Island, it struck me very forcibly that soon the present system will be perfectly incompetent to meet the demands of an' increasing traffic, and therefore the settlers will have fo submit to a good deal of loss and many disadvantages in connection with the removal of their . produce that the. accommodation of a bridge can alone save and clear away. I can at once perceive and understand tbe urgency and justice of piich a claim. In taking a tour round this fertile spot, , with its winter- sown fields of wheat and ! oats so luxuriant aud rich, its grass y paddocks covered with a close green sward —-evident tokens of abundant summer herbage — and the various improvements, (such as ditching, fencing, and reclaiming of waste land) that are carried on, I was struck by tbe marked and advanced change which has taken place within a few years. While musing on the scene before me, I thought: What a contrast will this district present ten years hence ! If a few years in ' the past has done so much, wfiat may we | look for in the future, with the aid of I improved machinery and modern appliI ances, together with the near prospect of [ commanding speedy access to the Dunedin market ? Soon will the Island wastes be reclaimed and utilized, and send forth thousands of tons to maintain and support | the main southern line, and tbe most expeditious and only way to fjjnd access to the railway station is by the erection of a bridge ; and how is this point to be gained ? Only by the hearty and cordial co-opera-i tion of the settlers themselves. I would i Bay to them : Take firm and persevering [ action in the matter ; put your shoulders to the wheel and pull altogether, and you will succeed. The Government will assist yon. I have Seen ypujrr fine farms, your comfortable homesteads t farms that chiefly consist of alluvial deposit, the best, most durable, and productive of soils. You want a bridge to connect you with the main land and railway station. With such a position as you hold among the agricultural districts of Otago, the future prospects of advancing prosperity that spread before you, these ought to encourage and stimulate, to increased exertions in the matter ofa bridge, and if a fair and reasonable sum were raised for this purpose, J am confident the Government would supplement it so far. I should almost say the Government are rather intimately allied with the provision of a bridge for your traffic, ; for, without, a doubt, it would be a most reproductive work. I look upon your district, when its resources are more, maturely divulged, as destined to become the foremost in the Province as a feeder aad supporter of the. railway enterprise, and in a great measure this entitles you to' i Government aid. . Yet it is absolutely necessary that youdoßomethingyoursely.es —Hither districts outside will help you.; | There are a good many email holders in the district who could not "subscribe very largely, still such holders have to pay more or, less annually for crossing, which sum, ; in the course of three or four years, would : be .considerable. Supposing this amount was paid in one year in order to procure '. such a booD, would not that settler be well i compensated ? The ordinary and more extensive holders are looked to as the main stay from whence tlie support in connection with this movement should come. Though not very conversant with the settlors of the Island, yet from' what I know and hear of their persevering and. business-like habits, I must confess I. was rather surprised lihe matter .of a -bridge bad not received greater attention and more determined action thau it has, especially as the completion of the Southern Trunk is not very far .rjjstapt. , Your river navigation seems to have been most unsatisfactory: , for some time, and I am afraid the extraction of snags, so as to enable a, steamer to na igare in safety when the rive|" is lowas it-has. been during last winter-:- would be rather, a formidable undertaking*, vastly more expensive than a bridge. The deepi eoing of channels would be a never-ending business. Besides, your produce will al - ways have a safer and quicker transit to the centre of attraction; you will be. placed in a better position to cope with the; ■ fluctuations of , the market, especially aa regards fat stock, which occasionally, at the; meantime, you partially sacrifice. I. shall be, very happy tp see the matter taken up energetically by the settlers of Inch Clutha, and most rtadily will become a subscriber to the fund for the placing of a bridge op the-Matau Branch.