THE HOUNDBURN HILL DEVIATION.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 181, 23 August 1872, Page 3

THE HOUNDBURN HILL DEVIATION.

_ ,(To the Editor of the Mouxt Lda Cheoniclb.) Silt, y ■ In your issue of last week it is amusii g to read the report of Mr. Barr on tie subject of the Houndburn Hill dev ation. Though it be amusing yet it is annoying to think that he too should be prejudiced against the line of road we wish to see constructed. I say prejudiced, because, if not so, how are we to ai-c >unt for his apparent determination in showing the line- of the memorialists in the worst possible light, while the line recommended by the District Engineer would appear, by his . report, to be faultless ? Mr. Barr, however, is placed at a disadvantage, being a stranger in our district, and probably knowing nothing whatever of the line of road desired by us, because although he says he went over the ground in question he probably means that, perched upon some rock about Preston's station, he took a bird's eve view of the Plain, and,, with his subordinate at his elbow to point out the distant landmarks - the imaginary . swamps—the frightful high elevation I and the enormous outlay of £6OOO, which would be required to construct the memorialists' line —all this compared with his cheap low-lying line, how could we expect Mr. Barr to come to any otlier conclusion than that ; which he came to? We certainly, however, cannot congratulate these gentlemen upon their engineering abilities, and we are forced to exclaim—lt is strange how some men get on ; merit can have but little . to do with it. ■ That Mr. Barr has made some very glaring mistakes in his report must be obvious to all who are acquainted with the proposed lines of road under dispute. The two points —Pigroot. fluming and Eweburn creek—which he ' says are common to both lines, are certaiuly not so, - The former is, but not the latter. The line desired, by the ' memorialists wonld cross the Eweburn Creek where the Xaseby road crosses it now, which is about two miles from where the road recommended by the Engineer would cross, so that t'tis, oil account of the position of the creek, " makes a material difference in regard . to dist;;n -ef\ If Mr. Barr had taken the true point common to both lines at this end it would be a point about half- a mile east from Eden Creek hotel, and in doing this he would havs been forced to admit that the Naseby line would be considerably shorter than tlie other; and, moreover, the elevation at this point i* about the same as that of Naseby—instead of 200 feet" lower as he would have us believe the common point at this end to be. . A frer | >assi ng Pigroot/fiu min g the me-mpriali-ts* line would.'of rourse, run through more elevated country than, the other. Its ascents and descents, however, would be les3 abrupt than those of the Engineer's line. But to think of an engineer putting forth this - elevation as a difficulty in the making of a road is too ridiculous 10 deserve " comment, especially when we consider that, even.at th'eMrcvation of 2000 feet we are still some 6000 feet under the level for perpetual snow. •Mr. Barr further objects to the memori «lists' line, on account of its having to cross two or three small watercourses from the Kakauui mountains, and several swampy! flats. It is true the line would have to pass over two or three small shingly creeks, but they present no difficulty whatever, and instead of .being a disadvantage to the road .they would be a very great ad- • vintage, as they always contain clear, 1 cool water for man and beast to drink. In regard to the swamps which Mr. Barr talks'about, it is difficult to conceive where he could have tumbled across any within several miles of the memorialists' line in last December. "Yet it is possible that he may have got ,s.vamped, and very probably got into

afjg/but certain n:*3 mat he in no real svVamp on t lino of r >ad we desire. We not, however, wonder at Mr. Barr's one-sided report, when we c.msider that the men from whom he would naturally seek information mi rife subject would be our representatives, who are totally ignorant of our requirements. Nothing can be more true than the maxim-—" As we sow so shall we reap." If we sowed our votes at random at the last election, how can we expect a good return. We had the privilege of electing two representatives, and we chose men not above the common average—-absentees—and who have no interest whatever in the district. AVe may rail at the Government ■■for injustice which we consider ourselves-/subjected to, but the Government allows us .and if thro :gh them we.are. subjected to injustice and made the laughingstock, of the Province*,. we have simply ourselves to: blame.—i am, &&, : Maniototo.