THE PHANTOM FOOTPATH.

Waikato Times, Volume XV, Issue 1286, 25 September 1880, Page 3

THE PHANTOM FOOTPATH.

TO THB EDITOR. Sir,— lt is a great pity that your Te Awamutu correspondent does not number stenography among his numerous accomplishments, anil had therefore to rely on his memory for the report of my case, which bears out the truth of the saying "Half the truth is a whole falsehood/ But, from the reason above mentioned, I give him the benefit of the doubt ; the fault may be in his head and not in hie heart. It was the ancient Egyptians, I think, who held the superstition that if they drew anything which could be recognised they would be called upon in the day of judgment to give it a soul. So when they drew a picture it was a nondescript, like nothing on, over, or under the earth, but that there might be no mistake they wrote on it "this is a cow, or "a horse, " as the case might be. Well, the footpath in question is a nondescript, and the maker should have written somewhere along it, "This is a footpath." For it is not gravelled, and in some places not higher than the road, and without the ordinary channel to separate the two. We have, in the Mangapiko, miles of the sides of roads much more like a footpath, which were never intended for such. I am glad, although at some cost to myself, that the thing lias been ventilated, as it may prevent a stranger (as I may say I was, for I had not been in Te Awamutu for 5 months, the footpath being formed in the interim) being taken in and done for — residents being sa'e. As a matter of some public interest, I trust you will give this space in your columns. Gordon T. Y. Tlsdall. Alexandra, 22nd September, 1880.