AT THE FRONT.

King Country Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 2, 2 November 1906, Page 3

AT THE FRONT.

In every issue of the K.C.C., space will be kept for news in connection with the N.I.M.T. Railway Works, and we cordially invite our readers to send us any items of interest, that may come their way.-Editor.

No pleasanter or more instructive trip can be taken by anyone who has a few days to spare, than to go up to " The Front," and see for himself, the class of country through which the N.I. Main Trunk railway is being pushed. It will open his eyes to the difficulties that the engineers of the Public Works' Department have had to, and are coping with, and will help him to realise, that the task before the Government and its executive officers, is one of more than ordinary difficulty. The engineer in charge (Mr J. D. Louch), has from experience, seen the absolute necessity of providing a good service road. This may mean a larger initial outlay, but it is true economy in the end, and the traveller who takes his seat in "Tom" Moore's coach at Oio, after his twenty mile journey in the Public Works' train from Taumarunui (cost 1/6, first class), will keenly appreciate Mr Louch's foresight in this respect. The road, which for the whole of the seven miles to Raurimu is through bush, is wellgraded land in fine order for feither light or heavy traffic. # Being chiefly composed of pumice it is even better in wet than in dry weather, and would be a revelation in regard to the value of the pumice as a road-making material to those accustomed to plough their way through the muddy tracks found in so many of the backblock districts where the land is more fertile. The traveller who leaves Taumarunui at twenty minutes to eight, arrives at Raurimu about noon and after a substantial lunch at one of the many boarding has time for a stroll round before the coach, leaves for Makatote at 1.45 p.m. Towards the end of the embryo city, the giants of the forest have been felled and a clearing made as a site for the station and for the head office of the Public Works' Department. Mr Louch's cottage and other cottages for the other members of the staff are dotted about in close proximity. ! [To be continued.) '