THE CHANGE OF ROUTE

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 77, 24 September 1879, Page 2

THE CHANGE OF ROUTE

It would appear that the rumor current m Feilding with regard to the change of destination for the Napier coaches is pretty generally believed m that townsh"p j still we must confpss we do not give it the slightest credence. We are poi'fectly aware tbat there has been, and ' : is..._}t present, a powerful lever at work to" have the contract shifted to Feilding next year, but Palmerston m this, as m the destination of the West Coast Railway, has a powerful ally upon its side— nature herself. In the first place, it is ah incontrovertible fact that from the (Jorge to Feilding is thirteen miles, while from the same starting point to Palmerston is only nine, being an advantage _of four miles ■m favor of the Jatter, without . saying anything at all about the difference m the nature of the two roads. The Napier mail runs between , Hawkes Bay and Manawatu three times a week, consequently if Feilding were made, the destination there would be twenty^ four miles more travelling each week than at present, and that multiplied by fifty-two, would lengthen the distance by 1248 miles. The wear and tear upon horse-flesh, men, and material would have to weigh' strongly with the contractor m framing his estimate, Could anything be^shown to conipensate for the^^liti^pl outlay, the originators of^'the rumor^vould haye sbme- : thing on their side, but the reverse .is actually the case, It is well hnown that the great bull? of passengers who reach Palmerston from Napier, are era route to Wellington, and we ask, where would be the gain of making them incur the trouble and expense of f our uvles coaching, only to necessitate an uncalled for journey of eleven miles by rail— in other words to length the distance by fifteen miles. In the face of these facts, the supposition is absurd, and only exists m the '.. lively imagination of the land speculators along the Feilding- Ashurst road, who would like to be able to announce that the, Napier coach travels that way, There is however, one change which might, and we think should be made before the next contract is called for : that is to arrange that the Napier mail should reach Palmerston at five o'clock instead of, as at pi'esent, half-past six. First we will proceed to show why the change should be made; and then we will point out how it could be effected. Were the Napier coach to arrive at five o'clock, it would accomplish the great fact of having a mail despatched right thvough to Wangauui m the same day, while the passengers would he enabled to have refreshment aud continue . their journey. Under the present arrangement the coach arrives at about halfpast six, or three quarters of an hour after the train has started northwards. We; have shown why the alteration should be. made, and it could be made m this wise : Under the existing arrangement the train from Napier does not start till a quarter to eight, but if it were to leave at at half-past six instead, an hour and a quarter would be thus gained. Mr. Macara, with whom we talked the matter over, was most favorable to the scheme, stating that another half hour could be easily gained on the road, and by this means the desired end would be accomplished, as— of course barring floods or other unforeseen stop-! pages— the time of arrival could as easily be made five o'clock a? it is now half-past six. When it is taken into consideration that by such a small effort such a great end as a trip for mails and passengers between Napier and Wangauui m one day could be gained, vfo think no stone should be left unturned to accomplish it. It may be recollected that when we agitated a daily mail between Wellington and .Manawatu, the proposition was scouted and we : were told that it would be, neither practicable nor profitable. . The. daily mail has now been more than twelve months m existence, and the manner m which v MeSsus. Hastwei,! and MaoarA have carried out the service has amply proved its practicably lity, and we sincerely trust the contract has been as profitable as it has been practicable.