A HOLIDAY TRIP.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2226, 22 February 1886, Page 2

A HOLIDAY TRIP.

We are indebted to Mr M. Caselberg for the following notes of his recent holiday trip After an absence of twenty-one years I re-visited the South Island. I expected vast changes in the various places and persons, and will now Rive my impression of them. .

Lyttelton has not gone ahead as much as I expected. Probably the tunnel to Christqhurch has dopreased it, and mado Ohriatchuroh a place of much importance. Lyttelton streets, although very steep are well made and well kept, Business places are chiefly built of stone and bricks, and the public places are well built and solid. The harbor had rather a desolate appearance. There were very few Bhips in it in consequence of the collapse in the export of wheat to England, I was not there long enough to become acquainted with the particular grievances and wants of the town. I am, however, under the impression that the town ia languishing for want of the expenditure of a few hundred thousand pounds of public money for a graving dock and fortifications,

Christchurch the " City of the Plains," has forged ahead beyond my anticipations. Its little wooden houses and stores have been replaced with very large and handsome stono and brick buildings'. Its Cathedral University, High School, State Schools, public parks, and above all its Museum are a credit to its inhabitants and to the whole colony. The town has a well-to-do busy aspect.' Judging from the appearance of tty wholesale and retail'stores, and jfom' the assortment of mefchmili® in stock, one youjd. » 'webiiy blkra of. settlers

abounds in the district and province, but as soon as one gets into conversation with its business' people, and has a peep behind the scenes, things are not quite so rosy, A very great number of the fine buildings are built in anticipation of good times coming, the occupiers only using a few rooms, while the rest are placarded with the omen "To Let." In some instances these expensive stone buildings had to be erected in accordance with the terms of leases and municipal regulations. There is a general cry of dull times, aggiavated by the ruinous prices ruling for the last few years for cereals. This has diminished the spending power of the country districts, upon which Ohristchurch mainly depends. Unfortunately the people, or its public men, instead of facing its present difficulties in a rational and sober manner by curtailing expenditure and studying economy, advocate further large loans such as making the railway from Ohristchurch to the Wost Coast of the island* which, according to their version, will tap the richest minerals in the world, coal, iron, gold, diamonds, timber, etc., in fact it will tap a veritable "Eldorado." If anyone haß the temerity to offer a mild protest against the scheme, they fiercely turn round on him, call him a Northern man, perchance a Wollingtonian, one of those who wish to aggrandise Wellington at the expense of the rest of the colony. They invariably threaten to ruin Wellington by taking away the seat of Government. But apart from all their croaking and grumbling, one cannot help being struck with the fine town, its beautiful and thriving suburbs, and with the accumulation of material wealth and comforts, making it evident that from its position as the capital of so good a farming and pastoral province, it is destined to bocome a very large populous and thriving city. Although it has no high pressure water power, the city is singularly fortunate in haying a copious supply of most excellent water from artesian wells, sunk from a depth of 60 to 100 feet. The supply seems inexhaustible, although the wells are. numerous. Christchurch has a steam firo engine and an efficient Fire Brigade. Kaiapoi, the seat of the largestcloth and woollen factory (I believe) in New Zealand, is a very pretty place, and has a prosperous appearance, caused chiefly by its excellent soil and, perhaps, by its having the factory in its midst. Canterbury Plains.—On leaving Christchurch with the express train for Timaru, I felt very anxious to Geo the magic changes that twenty-one years of energetic colonisation had wrought on those plains since I last saw it. A very large portion, or nearly all of it was then Government domain. I imagined to myaelf to see as great an improvement on those plains aB I had seen in the town of Ohristchurch; that it would be studded with numerous smiling homesteads of well-to-do small farmers, with nice plantations and orchards around their homesteads, dairies, and numerous pleasant villages. lam sorry to say my anticipations were rudely dispelled. The plains were still there, nearly as they were twenty-ono years ago. Some portions of it were undor cultivation a fow years ago, in crop, I have beon informed, and somo are now sown in turnips for grazing purposes. The land is held in largo blocks, principally by foroign mortgage and land companies, who came into possession mostly by foreclosing on those who eagerly bought large aroas for speculative purposes, and now these companies aro also waiting for good times to realise viz., the borrowing era of Yogel's large loans. I have been informed that on a very large portion of the plains the land is light and only fit for pastoral purposes, and, consequently, will only pay in large holdings, and that there aro a very large number of thriving small farmers to tho north of Ohristchurch, and at other places where I have not been, I hope it is so. Still one cannot help feeling that the same vicissitudes havo occurred all over New Zealand. Lands of each province were monopolised by the few to the detriment of the many, and to retard the future progress of the country. That tho then administrators of tho body-politic were interested in pastoral interests, and gave the laws a bias in favor of tho land being sold to land speculators in large blocks.

Ashburton 1 did not stop at, but as tho train passes through the town and stops, at the station fifteen minutes, I a gooci opportunity of seeing if. It has a brisk appearance, son^e' good business places, and publjc buildings, Everything hasan aspect of being very new, excepting its inhabitants who havo an oldfashioned look perhaps as a contrast. It has a gas works and well made streets. Timaru is a pleasant well-built town. It has some good agricultural and pastoral country round it, and a breakwater, which, by the bye, is the town, and a very expensive work it has proved, and it will be a heavy tax on the town and district for all timo unless Dame Mature will causo an upheaval pf }and in its vicinity so as to forifl s, harbor, In tho meantime Tiiriaru is anxiously looking forward to largo loans, so as to make time? good again, and run out another few hundred yards of seawall and some fortifications, which will then transform it into a Portsmouth. After loaving Timaru tho plains cease and tho country becomes undulating, especially after crossing the Waitaki and entering the province of Otago. Nearing Oamaru tho quality of the land appears hoavier, and although the whole country was suffering drought, the crops in these pi\rts look healthier and. pastures gfecnpr than in Canterbury.

Oamaru hap .1 solid pretentious appoaranpe, all the buildings are of its celebrated Freestone. It haß a beautiful wide street, two chains wide, and public buildings in it, built in anticipation for the requirements of ten times its present population. It has gas works, highpressure waterworks, carried from a considerable distance,, and an open roadStead converted into a harbour, at an expense of hundreds • of thousands, ojs' pounds, also a very completp Wo.pllen manufactory. The inhabitants of Oamaru have the proud diatinqtipn of being the heaviest rated ifl tls whole of New Zealand, and still they are dissatisfied, grumble at the dull times, and are also looking forward to the futuro borrowing of millions to revive their departed prosperity. The best lands in the district are held in large blocks. Ab one comes to Dunedin the countiy becomes wooded and broken, smaller farmßand homesteads are more numerous, which make headway by combining cropping potato growing, and dairying, givinp the conntry a w,ojw cheerful and inhabited I haye been informed tl\as tna process of absorption is, goingpflh?w also, wealthy neighbours buying out the poorer ones so as tq haye moro elbpw room, Dimedin is without doubt tho empire city of New Zea'and, all its public buildings are built with stone in a very strong, and massive manner. Ita commercial houses and shops are all built of stone and brick of large dimensions and handsome designs, the state schools, high! schools, University, Hospital, and Museum are a credit to New Zealand, andw|t ' favorably vie with similar in#utions' of older countries. The b'ulk of its inhabitants are Scotch, and do credit to their, nationality by their, fostering educational institutions, 'and by their 'commercial, enterprise and general public spirit. Tim' city is well endowed with reserves which are well laid, out and well kept for the recreation and inhabitant;) Tte m'afty ail feai&ctofe fcrfels afo 1

striking feature,' especially the Grand Hotel, which is got up in a very uoigeous manner, and conducted after tho nioit modem American hotel principles. The offices of the newspapers are on; large and substantial scale, Bhowig the fourth estate is appreciated arid h™rospered. Dunedin is undoubtedly tile largest manufacturing centre "of New Zealand, comprising, ironfouiiders, steam sawmills, drugworks, tanneries, clothing factories, woollen mills, andseveral smaller industries, all employing, a large number of hands. The woollen mills and clothing factories are chiefly worked by female labour. These ;w6rkew'/receive very small wages, and 1 am sorry to state that the sweating system of old 'countries is still in vogue in the clothing manufactures. Dunedin has an excellent pervicei of tramways worked with horses, ateamJ< and with the endless chain for the inclines. There is a general cry of bad times the trading 1 Working classes complain of the scarcity of work, and some hundreds'" of strong, able-bodied men went away to Sydney and Melbourne during my stay in Dunedin. But decidedly the city has a busy and thriving appearance. The people Beem well fed and well clad, and judging from the bills ijf fare at the hotels, the frugal Scot has eschewed the oatmeal diet of his ancestors, After giving the Dunedinites all their due , credit, I am sorry to say there is a dark side as well as a bright one to the picture, ;to wit, tho Otago Harbor Board. This, rgient body have- spent something likeWflf a million of money in trying to ceavert, Dunedin into a seaport, which,has proved a complete failure. Their actions have brought down on them a perfect Nemisia, and is likely to deprive them of tho only natural harbor they havo to depend upon, viz., Port Chalmers—a bar harbor which requires constant attention;-'.' This, 1M have been informed was neglected, andr* the funds of the Board spent on the pet scheme of deepening the bay from Port Chalmers to Dunedin, with the result that Dunedin harbor was as navigablo twentyone years ago as it is now, 'while Port Chalmers bar iB considerably the worse; so much so that nearly all the large ocean going steamers ground on the bar in entering, and the steamers try- to avoid this port if possible, but as the owners have to run this risk for political' reasons they have to pay very large insurance premiums, so as to tickle thb fancy of the Otago people. The, personel of tho Harbor Board consists, with few exceptions of men gifted with eloquence of the Bort which is so successful election platform, who are also tradesmen residing in the City of Dunedin who are largely interested in a continuance of this costly and sensless expenditure, inasMjch as , there is an excellent line of raih|§ from Dunedin to Port Chalmers, capablq of doing all the carrying for all time. Port Chalmers iB a very hilly town, similar in its construction to, Jjyttelton, excepting it has not so good a'harbor, and that it has what Lytteltcn has not—a graving dock, Tho graving dock is not i very stupendous affair, but from enquiim I made from those in charge, I ascertains! that _it is fully lareo enough for all requirements. It is chiefly used by the Union Company's boats, and its present staff earn only precarious wagos, Yet so strong is the desire to fritter away public money, especially borrowed money, that the authorities in charge—l think tho Harbor Board of Port Chalmers—have managed last session to obtain tho general Government sanction for a large loan, some seventy or eighty thousand pounds, to be expended in erecting further dock accommodation, or in other words, to make it lively for poor P, C—, because in the first place thuir bar harbor precludes large vessels trading to it, con* sequently large vessels will not of their own accord come there to r&fit or be repaired. One would hardlyffink the authorities would borrow so large a sum to erect a casualty ward for broken-backed vessels, 1 fear I have devoted too large a space to Dunedin, so will defer my concluding remarks as to the future effect of all the general expenditure on the welfare of the colony as a whole.

Taieri Valley.—ln going south .froto Dunedin, tho country ia broken fufftef valleys and hills; but judging from the high stato of cultivation, the nature of soil must be good, although the land has the appearance of being bleak and wet in winter, but evidently the climato and its produots aro very suitable to the inhabitants. The Taieri Valley, Waihola, Milton, and Balclutha aro the most prosperous and chief agricultural and dairy districts in South Otago. The land is. good, tho peoplo are moro substantial, and the farms aro not in very large areas, These districts are justly looked upon as the back-bone of Otago, There are butter and cheese factories, meat presevers, freezing works, and limo kilns on a very large scf\lo,

Going further South the country opens QUfc into more level plains of considerable extent, The townships of Goro and are well built, anjU appear flourishing. -The latter townslAias tho honor of having the first in Colony. Oat and grass seed, cropping and grazing aro the chief pursuits of thcßQ districts. (To be continued.)