DISTRICT NEWS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 328, 2 March 1910, Page 2

DISTRICT NEWS

(From Our Own Correspondents.) URUTI. The very bad weather conditions prevailing last Thursday made the day one of great disappointment to the many country people who had assembled for the one great event of the year here, namely, the Uruti sports. As the day advanced the rain got heavier, and a great many of the races were abandoned in consequence. The inertness' of the local body in dealing with the Uruti track is something to be marvelled at. IWhen public attention was drawn to one particular slip—by no means the worst on the road —through an accident occurring there, a man was sent tor half a day. The settlers who daily risk their lives are getting very bitter on the whole subject. The many settlers who came over the track on Thursday to attend the sports report numerous inintr mishaps. The track is cut out of steep papa bluffs, and is fast crumbling away. , It has a general slope outwards, and if any rain falls this slant downwards' towards the gully makes it extremely difficult for a horse to keep its footing. Horses frequently in the two-feet-wide places get their hind feet over the edge, and hairbreadth escapes are the order of the day. Men ought to be put on at once. The bridges on this road, too —a county road—are mostly made of pungas, s'ome years old. . They are naturally in a state of collapse. On the Tangitu road, which joins on to the Uruti, one notices culvert timber exposed to the weather. On enquiry being made, one finds it has been there for months —abandoned, apparently. One settler on the Puke road informs me that several tiroes he has hired men and repaired the bridges at his own expense. The county has thirds in its possession to expend on this road. One of the bridges is again totterin'g to its fall, and unless the settler again puts his hand in his pocket he "will be isolated, as the stream is a rapid one and unfordable. Last week a horse slipped through, and it took hours of hard work to resctte it.

The baekblock country settlers are real heroes—hard graft, the plainest of tucker, and discomfort upon discomfort. It takes real grit to carry a man through. But when the wayback man sees the money voted for the roads' and in the hands of the local body, and time rapidly passing on to the dreaded "winter, and not one penny spent in improving the road, he is only human when he wishes the councillors were in his shoes in the mud. HILLSBOROUGH. A representative meeting of settlers on Monday night last decided to have a picnic and sports gathering on 17th March (St. Patrick's Day) in aid of the hall fund. And Ido hope, Mr. Editor, we will have a finer day than we had last year. We will be very pleased to s'ee many New Plymouth people with us that day, as it is only five miles out, and it is a really beautiful place where the picnic' and sports will be held. Particulars will appear later. It is very gratifying to know that the school committee's request that tflie school be enlarged has been acceded to, and additions are now being made. In the meantime b'chool is being conducted in the hall, but we hope to have the hall clear again before the 17th March for the concert and dance on that night. Some rcaliy splendid crops of maize have been grown in this district for green feed, Bft or Bft high. Mr. Aa ron 'Ma rsh is exceedingly well pleased with his milking-machine, and says it could not be better. Tt, is a Piiddj and Mr. Newton King is the local agent, I hope you will not consider this an advertisement for any particular machine—that is not my intention —but Mr. March's opinion is worth something, because he has more than an ordinary knowledge of machinery.