Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878] WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1892.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XIII, Issue 4247, 19 October 1892, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878]

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1892.

Being the extended titib or the Wairarapa Daily, with which it is IDKNTIOAL.

A few years back, it will be remembered, a portion of the Hutt line of railway waa swept away, and it took several weeks to repair damages, On that occasion the department arranged in-a few hours through the medium of a coach proprietor to keep the traffic open, and to maintain a regular time table. This was how a difficulty was faced and surmounted at tho Wellington end of the line, But wheu we consider how tho existing trouble towards the Wairarapa end of the railway is being cop»d with, we aro almost forced to the conclusion that the futtber an obstruction may bo from the Empire Oity, tho less evidence there is of it being met by a business like arrangement, -The line is now blocked ou the Kaitoke Bide of the Rimutaka,ond there hajboenageueral lack of information as to tho probablo duration of the stoppage, and of the means taken to provide for the temporary continuance of tho traffic. People in the Wairarapa have been unable to ascertain when they could reach Wellington, or what difficulties and dangers had to be faced if they made the attempt. They could not ascertain when 'heir mails and parcel* were likely to arrive, and the more questions they put to Btationmasters and Postmasters the more they pet puzzled. There appears to be no one in authority in this district who has been able to supply information during the past few days, and thi' general impression appears to be that things were somewhat muddled up, If, as in the case of the Hull break-down, the well-known coach proprietor had been engaged to provide effective transit by road-between the Upper Hntt and Featherston a regular and reliable service might have been established at a day's notice, Such a service may now exist, but if it does the general public know little about it, The department appears to have been unequal to the strain put upon it by the late slips and this is all the more surprising to us because we have elwaysregarded Mr Dawson.theTraffic Mnnuger, as one of the best and smartest Superintendents iu the Colony, Pissibly the reason may be partly an error in management, which wo have for many, years p inted out.. A large district iike the * Wairarapa needs a local nwniger or sub-mHnatjerlo look after its interests, We have, it is true, capable stanou-musters, but they are necessarily kept very much in the posi'ioa of clerks. They possess no independent authority, and are powerless to do more than carry out such instructions as they may receive from Wellington, It is with regret that we notice (hat at a time when the passenger and goods traffic has been necessarily disorganised, there has been no local authority to whom inquiries could be addressed, or with whom arrangementßof a temporary charaoter could l:e conveniently negotiated. Tho railway has swept away the old moanß of communication by which, the public were accommodated and the onus rests upon it to give the publio every information and facility when through any mischance a breakdown occurs on the line. We understand that practically ibo difficulty is now at an end, but should a similar mishap again occur, we trust the department will at least give the publio in this district more ample information than it has afforded them on the present occasion.