RAILWAY INTERRUPTION

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 81, 9 April 1904, Page 2

RAILWAY INTERRUPTION

A PASSENCiEU'S TALE. Passengers on tho niuil train from Wellington appear to have Ijivil u lively timiv At every atopping-place they wm assailed by tales of gales with varied garniture, One or two narrators who, under ordinary circumstances, would have scorned to pervert the truth, now assumed an air of importance as they recounted vividly fre terrors of the night, 'trees hifd been blown out by the roots, and landed—goodness knows whwe. Windows hud been blown in, and families deluded with rain. Uere ami there wiru fences damirgud by Uiu force of the milling wind, and signboards, chiniueys, sheds, teuees, tossed, twirled, and shattered as things oi no moment. MullVrs were aot no bad as depicted—which is ln.'iUap.s only natural. Otaki was described us a scone of wreck and ruin, and truvelleis of an anecdotal luru of mind set out in harrowing detail the sad story of tlie homeless, the death of a wayfarer by the fall of a telcyraph pyle, ami the interference with railway U'tUlic by the derailment of a long' train of empty trucks. Then on arrival at Pulmcrston willing raconteurs poured into ; the eurs of astonished listeners their talus of nocturnal visitation, which resulted in varied 'devastation, front shattered sheds to crashing limbs—'of trees. The train by this time was a couple of hours late, and apparently in no hurry to complete , its journey, liver and anon as the J stations were reached the personnel of li.e followers of Rougvinonl changed, ami fresh horrors of the night were unfolded. "The real thing," however, confronted the traveller* on arrival at the Tonga toe go.ge, mjU , sceniled to vac n"<-, , „ bogg>, s uii J- > , wuWi . Uiy on Ute .nah W had to be made up and over he steep countryside. tlangs ot wotkLt had earned out steps to as t the benighted travellvrs m t a climb, but with the passage ol 1llm ls of ffet these soon Ucunii (roiU.iierou.sin the extreme* Lai terns and Hares were provided, casting llickering rays on the surrounding medley scene, and making the outer darkness even more b«* When the train first pulled up at ■tli* slip, out poured th« passeufters, resolved to know the worst. Then came an order to return to uho carriages, and thin mandate was obeyed eiully by many a grumbler whose feet and clothes had come into too close proximity to the. clay, An hour or more was spent in those uncomfortable hubilments until the mails had been transferred to the relief train. Passengers for Taru'naki stations bewailed the fact Unit they must proceed without their luggage, the ollicials deciding to transfer only that for northern ports. Then the climb over the hill began. Here a stalwart young fellow, plodding away with all the strunuousness of youth, but growling the while ; further on, a choleric old gvntleman, grumbling ami mentally hurling' anathemas nt the railways, the Government, the weather, wild livings in gviucil, xhuddcring now uml again as Unit gouty leg or rheumatic joint caused a sharp twinge of pain. Then came the boyish humorist of the party, who saw nothing but a huge joke, though he admitted to himself that even jokes were a beastly nuisance at tinges ; uml lie fairly roared when others not so active us himself "came a cropper" In tu» mud, or stumbled on to the tails of an ovurcout that should have hung a little closer to the wearer ahead. Ladies wore not. so fortunate as these representatives of the sterner sex, but gathering their garments around them and inwardly anutheniising the lady who lirst introduced those dinging trailing skirts which seemed, .littutl f<>" *-'"o «mr »n eternal nuisance rn this predicament, plodded on their weary way. Here and there a mother might be seen trying her utmost to manage the impedimenta of the family's annual Easter trip, and to assist, and encourage three or four children of various heights and sizes in the upward toil ; assisted now and again by some kind fellow-traveller who npu;dil.v bivomes a heroic benefactor. Now followed some girls, pretty little things, (krkisl out in their loveliest costumes, which in this unfortunate occurrence became bc-sim-.uvd and bedrai{.y>'k'.l—(but it was dark. Tuning and panting, and assisted by sons, returning fiom their Easter vocation, comes a fussy and garrulous old lady, who 'describes the affair as "awful," and the car-ryings-on of the young people us "dreadful. >' Hero a squalling infant, a terrified youngster, n kind helping bund of a companion in distress, splashes of muddy water, the dreary swish of skirts', the sough of feet pulling out of Uie -bog, darkneSH heightened by a glimmer Jiere and there-wcrywhere confusion -a pathetic picture to some, humorous to others. About nine o'clock the U'unabipumnt was completed, and the train moved out on its onward journey, reaching N'ew i'lymouth shortly hoi or* midnight,.