RAILWAY DEVIATION REFUSED.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 396, 16 September 1911, Page 5

RAILWAY DEVIATION REFUSED.

STRATFORD-ONGARUE LINE

[BY TELKUKATH. —i'RIiSS ASSOCIATION'.] Wellington, Tnursday. The Minister for Public Works this evening declined to accede to the request of a deputation of Pio Pio settlers that the route of the Strat-ford-Ongarue railway should be deviated to follow the Waitewhenua Valley. The deputation asked that a commission should be appointed to report upon the proposal. The Minister replied that the line was authorised from Stratford to Ongarue, and neither his opinion nor the views of the deputation would affect the position. Men had been working from Ongarue end for some time, so that the route of the line was settled. He was satisfied that a branch line following the line of the proposed deviation would be considered in the future. Mr Jennings, who introduced the deputation, advised the settlers to watch the commission which the Government proposed to set up to determine tne railways construction policy.

PIO PIO ROAD

(Own Correspondent.) A deputation, consisting of Messrs J. Wall, C. K. Wilson and G. Elliot, waited on the Minister for Public Works on Thursday evening. The deputation was introduced by the Mr W. T. Jennings. Mr G. Elliott, who was chosen as spokesman, explained that the deputation was sent by a large and representative meeting of King Country settlers who fully recognised the value of the work that had been done by the department in the past, but at the same time respectfully submittsd that nothing like full value had been received in the shape of metal on the main arterial road for the amount of money that had been expended. The bad state of this main thoroughfare was daily crippling the back blocks settler, who paid anything from three to nine pounds per ton on the necessaries of life during the winter. The desire of the settlers was to have the road metalled as far as Pio Pio this summer, in order that settlers could get their milk supply to the local dairy factory. It had occurred to the settlers tnat the work could be carried out to much better advantage to both the department and the settlers if let by contact. The Minister had so indicated himself to a previous deputation some two years ago, and he understood the engineer in charge of the district was in favour of the contract system as being the most economical to the depatment. With these facts in mind an estimate fom a reliable contractor had been obtained, and it showed the work could be done for the sum of 7s 4d per chain or £2897 for the five miles to Pio Pio. The Minister: What is the width of metal''

Mr Elliott: This estimate is for a 12x8 road. Most of the present metal is 10 x 9. The Minister: Do you know that tenders have been called and accepted for the crushing of 3000 yards of metal?

Mr Elliott: We were aware, sir, that tenders had been called and were very pleased at the step, but would like to have seen the contract let for placing the metal on the road, picking the metal up again after crushing is an unnecessary expense. The Minister: [ agree this would be the proper methods. I cannot say at present as to the amount of road we wi'l be prepared to do till Cabinet finishes with the Estimates. Mr Wilson: I would like to add, sir, that cartage fees in some instances amount to over £IOO in the season to certain individja! settlers. This scale of charges is a great hardship to both large and small settlers, and it is the unanimous opinion that the money granted by the department would be infinitely better expended under the contract system. Of course, we have thirty miles of mud beyond Pio Pio which is still to be considered. Mr Jennings emphasised the urgent necessity of the requests of the deputation stating that getting milk to the factory was the settlers' life's blood.

The Minister received the deputation with exceptional cordiality, and recognising the importance of the work, made a definite promise to visit the district at an early date to inspect the conditions personally, saying he would then give effect to, as far as possible, to the wishes of the deputation as far as monies were available. The suggestion made by the deputation 'hat the expenditure of the money be left to the County Council was a good one, and would have his consideration.

MEDICAL ASSISTANCE IN BACK BLOCKS.

The deputation also waited on Mr Buddo re medical assistance in the back blocks. . Mr Elliott explained the total isolation of many of the settlers in the interior and remote parts of the King Country. The nearest doctor being Te Kuiti, much suffering and hardship was endured by settlers' wives in their homes thirty and forty miles distant in the silent bush. Accidents in this progressive district were frequent, and valuable lives in maternity cases were risked owing to the rough journey over bad roads, together with the heavy expense entailed in the journey to Te Kuiti. The desire was to establish a local doctor at a suitable centre by erecting a house with a room to be used for emergency eases, a district nurse to be in attendance to relieve all distress by attending special cases in homes in remote parts. This nurse to be assisted in her work by a local medical board, a provisional committee of which had been recently appointed. The Minister: Have you no cottage hospital at Te Kuiti? Mr Elliott: No, sir; we have only a maternity home there, and that is often overcrowded. But we do not

advocate a cottage hospital at Te Kuiti, as the Hamilton authorities oppose it, and it would not suit our needs like the present proposal, as many of the settlerß cannot afford the expense of sending cases from their homes, and in some cases hesitate to the eleventh hour before calling medical aid. Mr Wilson said he knew of one woman so isolated she had not been cut owing to bad roads for nearly ten years. The Minister: Where is that? MrWiison: In the Mangaotaki district. The Minister: I think the needs you advocate are of urgent necessity and would like time to communicate and confer with Dr Valentine. I know something of back block suffering and will give my reply to Mr Jennings as early as possible as to the amount of subsidy available for your purpose.