THE MAIN SOUTH ROAD.

Evening Star, Issue 3274, 18 August 1873, Page 3

THE MAIN SOUTH ROAD.

To the Editor.

Sir, — Either the old adage, verhum sat. aapienti, is not true, or the inhabitants of the Caversham district do not come under its limits. Some time ago, I, as the representative of the sufferers, addressed an epistle to you, in which our grievances as regards the state of the public road from Dunedin to Caversham were Stated but not magnified ; and although that has been done, no improvement has been effected thereon, save that for a few days bygone a Mr Frost has done more for the comfort of the traveller than any engineering that has been performed thereon for a long time, whether that may have been of a civil or military character. But this same gentleman, Mr Frost, is just like the rest who have attempted any improvement upon this road—his visits and theirs are just like those of the angels, “ few and far between.” But it is not only to the inhabitants of Caversham that the above adage is inapplicable ; but likewise to our local as well as general government; for, while tbe Apostle James teaches that “ Patience should have her perfect work,” there is, without doubt, a limit thereto, and then Lot d Byron’s teaching will most assuredly apply— The veriest jade will wince whose harness ■wrings So much into the raw as quite to wrong her Beyond the rules of posting,-—and the mob At last fall sick of imitating Job. At first it grumbles, then it swears, and then, Like David, flings smooth pebbles ’gainst a giant; At last it takes to weapons such as men Snatch when despair makes human hearts less pliant— Then comes the “tug of war.” 1 have myself ever been a man of peace, and that, I presume, is one reason why 1 have been so frequently imposed on. In ray voyage out there was a fellow-passenger, and but for him our passage would have been paradisiacal—happy in the extreme. With a view to terminate my almost uninterrupted annoyance from this miscreant, I inquired one morning, in his hearing, at the chief officer of our ship, “Who was the strongest lawyer in Dunedin ?” He gave me the name, but remarked “ perhaps you mean the ablest.” To my mind, it was a distinction without a difference. Be that as it may, if our local Government will not do something to alleviate our grievance, hut give a large portion of the public road into hands that pay small attention thereto, I, as a first stop, would advise our Road Board and the inhabitants of thedistrict to employ the Stoutest lawyer they can find, either to have the road rendered, at least, an approximation to passable ; and if that cannot bo accomplished, to have the toll-gate abolished, and leave the aggrieved the compensation for having no passable road, that they might feel the funds in their own pockets, rather than in a contractor’s, where, in any other shape, they never become visible to the public. Now, I make this my second appeal, and if it be unproductive of redress, I pledge myself to use my best endeavors to get up a meeting, where the aggrieved may have an opportunity of expressing their opinions, and I myself of laying aside my native modesty, and of expressing my indignation in the most appropriate terms I can devise.—l am, &c., Pedestrian. Caversham, August 16.