BRUCE BAY NOTES.

Hokitika Guardian, 17 March 1926, Page 1

BRUCE BAY NOTES.

(From A Correspondent.) BRUCE DAY, March 14. GENERAL. Mr Ghas Smith met with an accident a. few days ago at Bruce Bay, being “fired” from his horse and dragged a short distance along the ground with, his foot in the stirrup. His job as mailman is not one to be envied, having to turn out in all uoaLliers and conditions, on Sundays and holidays, year in and year out. The obstacles on so long a route of rough hush track (approx. 100 miles) are many and frequent. and often of a dangerous nature, as his duty often faces him with flooded rivers and creeks.

While it is his <l«t.v to find his way over swollen rivers it is also his duty to get them over dry which is often very difficult. A lady travelling from Pembroke to W:\iho with her Otago guide became stranded between two branches of the Karangnrua river for some hours last week. They were found in their plight- by local residents who went out- to find them. The guide appeared to have misjudged the ford. Mr ,T. McGuire, who has recently been in hospital as the result of a poisoned foot- has returned to AY aiho wher lie is under the attention of the district- nurse. Air Harvey and Afr -I. Cain are at present in the Copeland A alley, koa shooting. Over 000 head of good grown .oek passed through during the last few days for the AVataroa Sale. All were from Haast and Okuru districts. Cattle and sheep were also sent from this district. AX T.XPEXSm- BLUNDER. Several men have recently been employed on th Alain South Road along the Mntakctake 'Range. Most of their time was taken up on the “slip” a steep siding over which the track passes. The formation is a loose blue gravel and is continually slipping away with each day of rain. Many hundreds of pounds have l>ecu spent during the last few years keeping this track in repair in this particular place, and a. good sum will yet have to he wasted unless an initial outlay is expended and the course taken over the hill, where it was surveyed a few vars ago. A special grant was expended three years ago and a few months after the place was as had as ever. Tt i* a dangerous, narrow and very steep track, and several accidents have already occurred there. Often the mails have to lie unloaded and carried up a little at a time. AVliile the management of this portion of the main road is a blunder of its own. the most serious blunder was made when the road was first surveyed over the Alaori Saddle, when a shorter and far better route lay down the Illuo River and along the const, connecting with the existing track at the mouth of the Maori and AVaita Rivers. Not only would it have saved an immense amount of money and cost of maintenance, hut it would also have lessened tin- distance to say nothing of it being a far better route; only a few miles of hilly country, whereas the present track is all mountainous with a very rocky surface and it is no uncommon occurrence to hear of horses “knocking up” on that journey. Resides it would have saved the expense of the two bridges at the Blue River, the first a wire foot-bridge, the second a timber bridge, for horse traffic; one bridge at the .Maori river, four or live Government huts, the high cost of telegraph line maintenance and the costly formation of the road from the Wife river upAvards including i!n-“Zig-zag." The benefits that would have been obtained hv the Bine River coast route which is a hotter and quicker route, tints a saving on tin* horses, would have given hotter access to the gold hearing crocks north of Blue River, and poHctralcd the gold hearing country at Bullock’s Creek and besides giving access to that vast area of pastoral land, would have passed through timber lands, whereas the timber value

on the other existing track is insignificant. because of the class being chiefly mountain hi fell, and the sleep formation of file country. The track would lilave bordered the beautiful Alneraki hake, thus adding to its value as a tourist route, and would have passed through a few hundred acres, of first-class land (ribbomvnod), while on the present route, not .suffieiont could he found .suitable to make a garden. AVhat is more, the road was i formed down the Blue River and a foot track conlinuod on to somewhere < in the virility of Bullock Creek, which connects with a good track that was c made a few years ago. mostly now i grown up or slipped away: another waste of public money. Ii: lias been said scarcely a person has used the latter track from the dav it was made, i (The Blue River in question is mark- i ed on the map ns Afoeraki River, hut < is hotter known as the “Blue.”) i