THOSE AWFUL ROADS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIV, Issue 222, 19 September 1893, Page 3

THOSE AWFUL ROADS.

A TRIP TO PORT ALBERT,

By Tim Doola\.

At 9 a.m. on Monday, the 11th, I mounted ihs box seat of Bntlor'a coacb at Devonporb, my destination being the flesh-mortifying Village of Porb Alborb. We had a fairly

good' team of four horses, and a small coach of the Yaukee pattern. We bowled along merrily enough until wo h«d lefb tho sylvan shades of Takapuna two or three miles behind, then trouble Bs«gan to dawn, for bhe end of tbo metalled iSa'ad had come. Up hill, down hill, o'er &.troe clad downs we slid, slashed, bumped and trudged; now axle-deep in !?&ter worn gulch ; now through bottomless fascine-concealed mud holes— never-failing traps for tho surest footed roadster. The scene waa dreary boyond imagination. Hoavy showers fell at? short intervals, and a nor'-wost gale was blowing across our creamy track, when, aftar breasting n stsop riae, a" cold-looking, solitary house of two Etoreya mob our gaze. " Wade Hotel, aa d the driver. Ib looked « ' ' % of Tennyson Smith. Sir Bob.er Stout prohibition ami direcb veto had faJlen upon ib. It looked dead, ..o human form waa visible auywhoro .near. However, we p led ud* asked for bread and cheese and f boStlo if English ale, which were at once provided and promptly disposed of, to the groat) comfort of tho writer and bhe johu, who was hoarse and thirnoy with yelling "git up, Darkey," etc, etc. Wo continued our journey, end after a chaogo of horae3 toiled on, reaching Waiwora at 2.30. Hero the driver determined nob to proceed further with the coach, foaring to face the nsxb stage to V/arkworth.' Two good horses wore saddled, nad we proceeded on our journey, the coach driver carrying the mail. Wo pushed on together over a road thab baffles description, up hill, down hill and on tho level ib waa till bhe same—one groab aludeo channel, varying from one to three feet of wallkneaded tenacious yellow mud, through which our jaded steeds waded laboriously •with ik painfully monotonous ploch, ploch, ploch, ploch, sending up mud geysora which splashed one to the eyes. After a few miles of this tho mail carrier, who bad a very strong horso, had to puah on with the mail, loaving ma with a loss powerful animal, to the tonder mercies of the most awful road il has ever been my lot io travel, when after slogging through It as well aa 1 could 1 arrivod fib Warkworth with my load of uiud and a weary ■moke ab about) half past six, having occor.ipliahed a ride of sixteen miles in four hours.

BeforereachingWarkworthandaftercrossing fcbo bridge over tho Pulioi river, I met a horseman in one of tho worst quagmires on the road. Wo both pulled up, and I said, "Who would not; have a County Council ■and who would noh have a. Chairman of a County Council?" My friond .said, " I bin Chairman." "Oh," I replied, "the devil you are." I'm glad I'vo meti you. You ought to be proud of this infernal road. Yon and your miserable Councillors deserve hanging on the nearest) dead tree." "I bin Chairman," replied my vis-a-vis in an angry tono. "Of course yon are," replied I, in d similar tone, "and you deserve to be smothered in the mud of your own making, i suppose you're McKay or King or Homebody." " I bin Chairman," bo again remarked, very nngrily. " You've told me that aboutsix times," I thundered. Then the astonished traveller smobo his boflom and with (lushed face and flashing eyes roared out, "I bin Chairman — Owsthrian." Ib suddenly dnvvnod upon tne bhab the unfortunate man was trying to inform me fcbab he was » Oerman, but) aa ho pronounced the "g" like "eh," I iancied I had dropped on ono of Cho culprits which myself and (probably) my poor horse had been cursing at intervals during tho journey, so 1 apologised, explained, and askod if he holonped to the Puhoi settlement. His reply wns "Yah." That settled it. I gave him n nip from my flask, learnt from him the distance to Warkworth, and wo parted with mutual expressions of condolence on our unhappy lob, and condign condemnation of all County Councillors and Chairmen, especially those of the county of Rodney. 1 rested that night at Warkworth, and ab9.30 next morning, in company with two pleasant) travelling companions, pushed on for Porb Alberb. 'Our road for a good portion of tho way lay along the Hoteo river; ib was metalled and waa fairly good travelling. The econery here is very beautiful, giant ferns with sterna thirty to forty feet high intorspersod with nikau palms, and trees and shrubs of every shado of green grow thickly down to tho water's edgo. The note of the thrush, bhe blackbird and many native song birds added a charm to a scene nt once lovoly and exhilarating. We were very happy as wo jogged along, bub ib was _ a fleeting joy, for our road now deviated from the meandering stream and trouble began—sludge again everywhere—ploch, ploch, we ploched our weary way, splashing and floundering until v/e reached the turn offloading to Port Albert, where we parted with earnosb prayers for each other. I ploched on to Wollsford, which I reached at about 3.30, a seventeen miles' ride in aboub six hours.

At Wellsford I was mosb hospitably entertained by that worthy old settler, Mr Goorge Dibblo, and next morning, after a fearful amount of " ploch, ploch," I did the distance to Port Albert, about five miles, in an hour and ahnlf. Here, bavinp transacted my business, I p.iid a settler to return my horse to Warkworth, aa 1 wanted no more of thab road " pie."

Port Albort is a cheerful place for a wet footed, mud - covered, weary traveller. There 10 no hotel, there are two bonrdinghouses, managed on strict tomperanco principles. The population is not largo, and they are a sad-faced, unhappy looking people. Weak tea, thinly cub brond, stucco pastry overdone, brokon-mouth ewe, ram, stajj, and working bullock, comprise their daily food, with an occasional daah of bacon and eggs fried to a tarry brown colour. The literature of the placo comprises Bunyan'a " Pilgrim's Progress," Moody and Sankey's hymns, tho " Ready Reckoner," Horvey's " Meditations Among the Tombs," and other kindred light roading. A "yellow-back" there would boa stranger in a strange land.

Tho Residont Magistrate stayed two nightß at one of the boarding houses, whore he waa compelled to take pob luck at the same table with Maoris and others, whose habit? at table were not of a strictly high order. Thore was no privacy for him unless in his bedroom. Such a stato of things should nob be allowed to exist; tho travelling public should bo in a position to domand in an}' seaport town reasonably comfortablo accommodation, and if tho tomperance lunatics will nob have or provide ordinary hotel accommodation, then tlia Government should have power to Btep in rind remedy tho evil, for a crying evil it ia. Doctors ofton prescribe brandy for patients, bub if they' proscribed ib even in a caso of life and death, ib or any kind of xpirit could nob be obtained noaror than Warkworth, and whileb stoamers having spirits on board aro raoorod at the wharf, a strict watch (as I am informed) ia maintained by temporanco ppie.9 to provont tho sale ot liquor. On Wednesday last the captain of the a.s. Ethel was chnr^ed with a breach of the Licenain" Act.' Tho vessel waa watched by ono of tho holy epios, a meeting was held opened with prayer for Divine guidance, an inforSSftfcion was laid, but the R.M. decided that

Ib was laid against the wrong man and dla missed the case.

On Thursday I bade adieu to the soulchilling shores of Port Alberb, reached Helenavillo by steamer and thence by rail bo Auckland. But to return to those awfnl roada — the worsb mubbon man ever returned to. AH tho way from Devonporb to Porb Alberb nob a road man waa to be seen, although in thousands of places the digging of a little gutter where thoro was plenty of fall for drainage would have relieved tho roada of a vasb quantity of wator, and have made them comparatively dry. Surely there i 3 gross neglect of duty all along tho line. Ib is no wondor that tho howl of the Northern members was so frequently heard thia session in our Legislative halls. Tho cry of the afflicted settlor is bitter in the oxbreme, and the tales of woe poured oub in Parliamenb ' were nob exaggerated in the moat trifling degree. If County Councils will nob do their duby or if they have no funds to do ib with, then the Governmenb should devise some measures to remedy a grievance which presses most seversly on every eattler in the country north of the city of Auckland. I have resided forty-two yoara in the Australasian colonies. I hava Been some terrible roads, and ] have no hesitation in saying thab the main north road from Dovonporb to Porb Alberb ia the the worsb I have ever had the misfortune to travel upon.