REFORM IN ROADS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 446, 9 March 1912, Page 5

REFORM IN ROADS.

To the Editor. Sir,—On reading your edition of the 20th ult., 1 waa rather amused at an article entitled "Reform in Road Making." \To those not in a position to know, it reads very well indeed, but to us people in the back blocks, who are in the midst of all this imaginary progress, it is a different matter. In the first place a road grader, at this time of the year, is simply making bad worse-, as can be seen from Te Kuiti to Aria, wnerever it has been working. We only want a few more showery days, and the latter will be a sea of mud,; in fact, it is not wise to mention the road grader to any teamster on that particular length of road. The settlers in the Pio Pio end of the Mapara settlement are, I believe, to be treated to an exhibition of how roads can be made with machinery. In the meantime settlers and their wives and children can put up with tracks, swamps, etc., and sledge or pack their cream to the factory. As to those roads that are being metalled round Aria, they exist only in imagination, the contractor who intended to metal the Kumara, Kie Kie and Paro roads,declining tu start, owing to some slight difference between the engineer and himself over royalty. The engineer has, I understand. been threatening to metal the Wairere hill, but I think that is about as far as it will get. As to the method employed on the main road between Ongarue and Mangaroa, it would be almost as cheap to metal those bad places as bundles of facines a foot through and 66 to the chain, costs about £3 to cut and tie, not to mention cartage of them, and cost of putting a foot of pumice on top. If the settlers between Pio Pio and Mahoenui are to have the bad sections of their road metalled before winter seta in, its time there was a start made in that direction, but I feel confident it won't be done.l- am, etc., A WAY BACK. Aria, March 6th 1912.