Mud and Muddle

Feilding Star, Volume VIII, Issue 37, 7 September 1886, Page 2

Mud and Muddle

Wjiex the slips occuired the other day on the railway line at Fordell and Matarawa, communication by train was interrupted as might be expected, and there was no cause for complaint because the northern mails were delayed for a time, but we are quite at a loss to understand why the Welling- I ton mails, which reached Palmerstou ! in the afternoon of Friday, were not forwarded here the same c veni ng. In on r issue of Saturday we made no comment on this, but since then we have learned from the Manawatu Daily Times there were two engines lying idle at Palnierst<m, and as that journal remarks, "No effort was made to serve the convenience of the peoplo on this side of the obstruction, and passengers from Palmerston to Wellington had to travel in traps to Longburn to patch the train on tho Company's line." It does not appear to nave entered into tho official mind < (whatever that may mean) that '

although there was a mishap on one part of! the line, yot people on parts of it which were unaffected might still desire to get their orvespoiiclence, or even to travel between stations such as Feilding and Talmerston, each large centres of population. We may suppose that the magnitude of the slip made it impossible for " the official mind" to grasp anything olse at the time, so the convenience of the public was lost sight of altogether as far as anything south of Eangitikei was concerned. AYe have had far worse mishaps on this line of railway, notably when the Eangitikei and Oroua bridges were carried away, but there was no stoppage of mails either way.