EXIT SILVERSTREAM

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 136, 26 February 1918, Page 4

EXIT SILVERSTREAM

POST OFFICE MOVED TO HERETAUNGA

CLASHING OF OLD AND NEW

(By W.L.) The word "Silverstrearn" as tha name of a post office will disappear" very shortly from the post office list; and tho name of Heretaunga will take' its place.' This change will take effect from the date—about the end of this month—upon which the new post office at Heretaunga is opened and the present one at Silverstrearn closed.

Thero is a good deal of regret expressed by tho residents of' the Silver-' stream district at the removal of tho' 'post office to Heretaunga; and a veryj great deal of regret on the part of old) settlers that the old postal Silverstrearn, 1 district, which extended from Stokes' Valley, below the railway 'bridge, far along the "Whitemau Valley road and' northward almost to Trentham, should now be known ns Heretaunga. Silverstrearn is not tho only place inNew Zealand to bear this liquid-sound-' ing name. There is a Silverstrearn be-] yond Fairlie, on the way to MountCook, another in the hills behind Dunedhi, and another out of Dannevirke.But nono of these places is so accurately named, so truo to label, as the Silverstrearn in the Upper Hutt Valley, 16 miles from Wellington. There, whati is literally a silver-coloured stream of water bubbles up in the form of a huge spring, in Barton's Bush. It is a small river, bom full-sized, and its clear, stream rushes, along through green paddocks and beneath overhanging willows till- it joius tho Hutt River just above tho railway bridge. The bed of this stream is of silver sand, and this,, beneath an unreflecting, smooth, swift surface of water, gives to the water its brilliant greyness. It is one of the most beautiful streams of water imaginable, this silver stream which gushes out of the earth in tho same way as does the Hamurama Spring at Rotorua. _ It; would he a pity if the changes taking place in the district robbed the water of its sweet-sounding and appropriate name. Heretauuga is a pretty name, too, hut it is claimed that it is an importation from Hawke's Bay, while Silverutream is pHtro English, and there never \yas a more truly named place: Moreover, this, little river has its

source where Heretaunga proper now

is, and flows away past Silverstream" yropeiv— so tho lovers of the name, f.larni that it should still lie the name of the whole district, posta' and other*

wise. . ' _ ■ Heretaunga came into being Borne rears ago, with the formation of tho golf links there.. In addition to tho handsome golf house, there have Tieen. built many pretty country houses and bungalows, that are occupied- the whole year round. There is no doubt that the energy of the Heretaunga people has rosulted in substantial, improvements in the valley. But it is urged that all these improvements are of a purely local character, that they do not embrace an area any more extensive than that enclosed by the footpaths on the.main road and the sideroads which bound the Heretaunga'settlement. And these samo footpaths are the cause of-some resentment in Silverstream, For years the residents of the older'settlement have petitioned for footpaths on the main road, so that pedestrians would not suffer discomfort and danger from passing vehicle's. Tlmy have not succeeded yet. Isut Heretaunga' has. _ Perhaps it is another instance of united _ and disunited action, as it is an instance of the- clashing of the old and the new. The postal) authorities,- like the rail- 1 way authorities, must find the problem of iheso Upper Hutt settlements, a .perplexing one. 'Within four miles there aro five of them—Silverstream, llerctauuga, Trcntbam, Wallaccville, Upper Hutt. Years ago thero wera unly Silver Stream—the original spelling—AVallaceville, and Upper Hutt* Hut the racecourse went to Trentbam una the -golf course to Heretaunga, mid later on.the big camp was made ill Trentham. Around the two new stations has grown un a closely-settled district. In the whole, valley there has been steady growth, and all the lailway stations excopt_ Silverstream lire- in the centre of their settlement, Silverstream station stands aloof, and except for the few settlers who drive up from Stokes Valley and belov/ tho bridge its removal half a mile uj the' line would be a boon, And then Heretaunga flag-sta-. Hon . could have been wiped out—one station could have served the two. The Railway Department has considered .tho matter well, but it is understood that when the land for the station—five deeded to the Department, many years ago, a clause was inserted forbidding tho removal of the station or -the changing of its name. Moreover, a certain proportion of trains was to stop at Silverstream, So there is not much likelihood of Silverstream Station ever being moved, and this fact has been a handicap to Bilverstrcam.

The new post office at Heretaunga is close to the railway station, right in the heart of the settlement, next to the school reserve. It is said the Heretaunga folk object to a. school there. At any rate, the school has not been built. Instead, the little children travel bv train morning and afternoon to Upper Hutt. Tho people of Silver-, 6tream have no objection to a school being built in their midst. The children who have to travel come chiefly from Silvcrstream. But Trentham children would use the school, too, and Heretaunga, being midway between the two, ought to be the site for the sohool.-. In fact, it is held by Silverstream people that if Heretaunga wants to be the centre of a district and to imposo its name upon it, its people should push ,on with the school in the same way that ihey did with the station and post office and telephone exchange. Silverstream is scattered over many miles. Heretaunga is bunched up In a close formation.'- The fight, if there is one, seems unequal. J!iut out of any kind of battle, some good comes, and in this case, with the opening of the now post office, thero will be a daily delivery of letters over tho whole district—a decided improvement upon the practice of going to the post office for the mail. Moreover, the telephone exchange will bo removed from the golfhouso to the new post office._ And'it .will be an independent office in direct touch with 'Wellington. Altogether, it is an advance for'which the Postal Department deserves credit. Tho only fly in the ointment is tho changing of tho name. It, is difficult to imagine t'nt anyone who has seen that beautiful stream which gave the district its name should ever want to change that name—and there are the years of history interwoven with the namo to be considered, too.'