ALFREDTION.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 3054, 15 November 1888, Page 2

ALFREDTION.

v:(From Our Own Covrospondont.)

OluEiiiie weather wo hail during' tho •Winter hml tho first lmlf of spring lias given place to very unseasonable weather. We aro having a-lot of cold > southerlywinds, .which keep things very backward. Oil Sunday we had one of the heaviest floods on record so far as this district. is .concerned:; ,-Y: ,jf , . -

A meetiug of settlers was hold a short time ago,- to take : into cousiileration the metalling of the AlMtonEketahuna Eoad; but no one present seemed at till anxious that the district should - raise a ,loan for. this purpose, and after some ' discussion,' a motion was carried:'"That no steps' be taken in the meantime" A resolution was passed appointing a committee.to act in'conjunction with the Road Board to inalto enquiry as to the relative merits of the Alfrcd-ton-Kketahuna and.the AlfredtonMangamahoe roads." The enquiry, no doubt, is as to the relative costs of the two routes: there'.civn.be no doubt as' to ..the distances.;'l'he Mangamahoe,route will save, tlie district 6i miles railway, and 14 miles road travelling to Masterton or Wellington. To au individual a few miles extra travelling by road or rail is perhaps of not much importance, but to a commuuitjv it js ol immense; importance;.. ; Iri the matter, of roada, this district has never' ally assistahco from tlie Government;' in fact, we have, beeii exceptionally badly treated, and it is only reasonable to expect that the Government will give a helping hand in opening the Mangamahoe road, of which seven miles is through Crowit L'andd. Your/contemporary, the Staiy : lias again' gone! for the Alfredton Eoad Board. . He. states; '.' Tlie Board raised a loanjfor the purpose of pushing on the main road via Tiraumea." The Board never raised a loan for the main road via Tiroumea,' nor for any other mam mid. He' says: " The Board has been annually withdrawing about fGO out of the general fund to make good the deficiency in the special rating district." lapi informed by the best authority that tbe total arrears in all the- special rating districts of the Board amount to £2, and a good debt at that. As to his woeful tale about the 'l'awataia Eoad " its miniature canals and potato pits," tlie said road is only now being formed, and it is not the work of an "Alfredton Amateur Engineer," but • tbe work of ah authorised surveyor. It may be asked: Why : these periodical attacks on the Board by your contemporary, and the devoting of a column and a lalf at a time,of abuse; of its .members ? I will give the reason in three ivords: "The Board's'"Advertise-

meats!" ■ Shearing lias not yet. commenced in this district. The per centage of lambs has. been exceptionally . good. I have heard of several settlers who had over 90 per cent., and tlio crop of wool promises' well..