The Mail Service.

Manawatu Herald, 29 December 1894, Page 2

The Mail Service.

When the preposterous arrangement made by the Postal Department for the conveyance of mails between the railway and Foxton became known we pointed out how absurd it was, and stated that the feeling of the residents was very strongly against it. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and no better example can be given of the truth of our contention than the statement that Mr Stansell has been paid a subsidy of £50 to run a daily coach to Levin, so that travellers to the city may be

able to arrive theM nt the time when cabmen are not so extortionate and when there ia lome light to discover the beauty of tha oity and a comfortable hostelry to put up at. Those who Wrote upori this business in a different manner did so in utter ignorance of what they were writing about. The mails in question are those only ih . Which Foxttiti is interested ahd in Common fairness the convenience of the residents should have been consulted.

The Department, without the excuse of such a good intention, has yet done the town some good. It has secured a more convenient place of meeting the train to be decided upon, one Which it will take the coach no longer time to reach, and will decrease the cost of a trip to Wellington from the prices hitherto paid. Mr Btansellj determining to make the route a popular one has reduced the coach fares ) and will issue fettirfi tickets available for the same time that the railway tickets are, and thus parsons using this route will be able to make a return trip to Wellington for seventeen shillings, only threepence beyond the sum the Railways offer a3 a : special holiday inducement to tvavel. | It may be urged that this sounds very well upon paper but will it pay ? If the Iverern route has paid the Levin route should pay much better, as it saves the passenger money by rail, and also time. The road, to townspeople, should prove moat interesting aa shortly after leaving Levin the buah is entered and for a long distance the drive is through a natural avenue. The Ileatherlea settlement i 3 next passed which is bound to produce a proportion of profit, then the interesting Native t>ah is skirted, which must bring grist from its inhabitants to the coach proprietor, and the crossing of the Long Reach, on the punt on the Manawatu river is worth all the ride to view. The coach proprietor has adopted aa the headline to his notice a most appropriate statement that this new route id the " Quickest, Cheapest, and most Picturesque." Foxton people do not take the gruel offered by officious friends, though co strongly recommended, but when they have to indulge in such light repasts rnke it and make it themselves. At present their constitution is healthy and they are not prepared to be " sat upon " by anyone. We wish the proprietor of this coach all success in his venture, which he deserves and we believe fully will altaiu. It brings the towns of Foxton and Levin into closer conj nection which we feel sure may be I still further cemented to their mutual i advantage. The coach starts running on Tuesday, thus opening the New Year auspiciously.