THROUGH FITZROY TO TOWN

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 197, 29 November 1910, Page 7

THROUGH FITZROY TO TOWN

OUR SATURDAY VISITORS. A jp'itlerean who had been struck by the amount of' traffic passing through I Fitzroy to New Plymouth on a SaturI day made up his mind one day to satisfy his curiosity in the matter by a count of the actual numbers. An opportunity presented itself on Saturday, as the morning broke wet, and all hope of gardening had to be abandoned; so he viewed the traffic from a seat on the verandah, where the day was spent from 9.15 a.m. to 3 p.m., reading and smoking ad lib., and having his lunch on the spot. He was rather surprised at the figures collated, and has handed them to us as an item of general interest for publication. •

Of the vehicles, 133 with one horse, each brought 245 people to town; 8 with two horses each brought 9 people; 13 were tradesmen's carts; 6 were drays; 5 were expresses. Of the people, 23 rode on horses, 17 on bicycles, 3 in motor cars. In the figures the 'bus to and from New Plymouth was not counted. . It should be mentioned that the reason the j day was concluded at 3 o'clock was that, generally speaking, after that hour the travellers were more on pleasure bent than otherwise. Our informant, it will be noted, is a keen observer, and his assurance that the driving was all done very carefully, and that there was no whipping and flogging, is worthy of being put on record. The figures are certainly much higher than is generally estimated on casual attention being given to the matter, and the,y go to show that the volume of traffic to Xew Plymouth via the railway, South road, Junction road, and all other avenues, when the weather is favorable, is very large indeed, and gives a faint idea of the importance of our town as a centre from a commercial point of view.

03 QJ s eS a "p ** o V <n a, o b 0 2 V V o u o o & H > ft a Hi 9.15 11.0 63 5 — 80 m 11.0 12.0 47 1 — 49 89 12.0 1.0 20 6 1 26 41 1.0 2.0 20 3 1 32 46 2.0 3.0 15 2 — 18 21. Totals . . 165 17 2 205 321