A COUNTRY WALK.

Hutt News, Volume 1, Issue 18, 27 September 1928, Page 7

A COUNTRY WALK.

(By "Romer.") After weeks of cyclones and unpleasant conditions which always follow in their wake, a day like this beautiful 10th September lures one out to see what it's like '' round the corner.'' Turning into the Bell Block from an off-street of Leighton Avenue, one admires the sweep and curves of the new road. As yet our beautiful song birds in the vicinity have not discovered man, or that awful velvet creature which the children call '' Kitty dear." to be their enemies, and are sitting to give their concerts on the very house fences without fear. Perhaps the journey from the old home was thought to be too much for "Tom' 7 or "Tiddlums," so our birds may still make, life so much pleasanter for us. Proceeding further up the Wainui Hill towards Graeefield Road, one pauses to take in the beauty of the fields and winding stream below. A new road is being form ed to make a riverside walk, but oh, why those horrid angles sharp and unlovely, when curves, to the lay mind, seem just as easy, and infinitely more in keeping with the scenery. On we go, to meet more kindred souls seeking and finding, < signs of spring in the hedges, in the tender gum tips, quivering with the joy of finding themselves in so beautiful a world. The gorse, being warm again, breathed out its gentle, scented sighs, thinking perhaps, of their ruthlessly murdered parents of last year, and longing for the - fulfilment of the prophecy, '' They shall r.ot burn any green thing in all my Holy places v '' One comes upon a cottage, empty, and wonders why, and is told that during the recent floods, thousands of tons of stone from a quarry dump above were washed down, to pile up eventually to almost the roof of the house at the back, and even to ci'oss the road, rushing down to houses and fields beloAV. The oncn green and pretty hillock at the back is now an ugly stone yard. On again and we see yet more of our feathered friends, and we* are much flattered that they do not fly away from us, but just move sufficiently/ that we shall not tread on them. We hope that the boys will feel more pride in the fact that the birds do not fly from them, than in the paltry achievement of being able to get down a nest and kill the helpless young, a tiling a poor afflicted person utterly devoid of moral sense could do. We turn a corner quickly, just able to save ourselves a nasty fall over a pair of juttingout railway lines. No signs of spring here, but an oozy layer of fallen earth, feet deep in places. We wonder how the children who attend Waiwhetu School get there from the other side of this morass? A plank is shown which we are told is there '' sometimes,'' not always, evsn so, my fear of such footholds kept me

from crossing and the thought came to my mind, "what about the women who he.ye to cross, because they live the other side of it." I am told that some of them cannot, so make a detour out to the Eastbourne Road, up Band wick Road, to White's Line, Waiwhetu, Lower Hutt, etc I understand the tradesmen do that also, as the danger to life and limb —besides '' Lizzies, Chevy's and Rolls Js & —is to great ' to contemplate with eqanimity. Surely even if thousands of tons of this stuff are eventually to be got from this hillside, a road can be made; it is unthinkable that women and children shall be exposed to tliis very real danger for any length of time. A man of vigour could hop and scramble perhaps if he were not too fussy about

his shoes and clothes, but I saw dozens of children's footprints 8 to 10 inches deep, where the little ones had hopped out of the way of ears and lorries. It is bad enough to hop when there is something to hop on to solid, but when it means landing knee-deep into soft clay it is too bad. A deep pool is in the middle of the road and I hear that on Saturday a man (who like all strangers, didn't know its depth) turned to the left and laiided his car in the morass. He was obliged to take off Ms shoes and stockings and wade to the nearest house for help. It was gratifying after hearing this to find a man with a pair of horses clearing v track in the middle of the road —the stage it had reached reminding one forcibly of the picture in so many homes '' The ploughman homeward wends his weary way. *' The road was a replica of the pictured road. Good luck to you, ploughman; likewise '' more power to your elbow.'' Quite a number of women's hearts will beat gratefully for you to-night, particularly if they bought new stockings while the sales were on. Blessings also on the unknown parties who were responsible for send you. Retracing our steps from this blot on th.2 landscape, the beauty of the district ! was more apparent than ever. Where else are finer Cammellia trees, flowering shrubs, and bulbs of so many varieties? Truly the Hutt deserves its name of Garden Suburb. But, dear people, when you want a whiff of the sea for a change, don't go Gracefield Road way—yet. Give our friend and his well-fed horses a chance.