KING COUNTRY ROADS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 149, 22 April 1909, Page 2

KING COUNTRY ROADS.

Mr Hogg's Impressions.

During the course of an interview at Wellington on Monday last the Minister for Roads and Bridges, the Hon. A. W. Hogg, said he was greatly impressed with the country he passed through in travelling between Te Kuiti and Awakino. He informed a reporter that there are enormous quantities of limestone available, and the soil is very rich. Better sheep country he had never seen. In places the limestone jutting out of the hillsides assumed strange shapes. One might' imagine, he says, that he was loking at an ancient cemetery or a weird collection of heathen idols. At Aria, about 30 miles from Te Kuiti, there is a promising township. Transit difficulties, however, are a great handicap. It costs the settlers £2 to £2 10s per ton to get goods from the railway at Te Kuiti, and in winter when the only means of communication is the pack horse, the charges range from £6 to £8 per ton. When a sufficient number of stone crushers can be put in commission the settlers will be emancipated. The crushed limestone makes excellent roads, and all that is required is money but, unfortunately for the back blockers, thatcommodity is not too plentiful at present.