“BRIGHTER TIMES AHEAD.”

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 28 December 1927, Page 4

“BRIGHTER TIMES AHEAD.”

SPIRIT OF OPTIMISM ABROAD RECORD HEAVY YEAR FOR RAILWAYS. “ the' general impression among farmers and 'business people is that the tide has turned, and that there are brighter times ahead.” Mr J. F. Maeidey, locomotive engineer for the Auckland railway district, made this observation at Auckland. He returned on Saturday trom an official trip to the Wanganui, Napier and Wellington districts, where he has been meeting and talking with responsible citizens. “On the railways tlie demand for engine power has been heavier than for any other year,”, lie said. “There lias been .a- .phenomenal amount of traffic in wool alone. Just prior to the holidays 1000 more bales of wool left Waiipukurau than for tlie same time last year. An average of 75 trucks of sheep per day left Otane and continued far a week. At AVaipuktir.au 24,090 sheep were sent away in three days. Within my experience the railways have never had such a heavy year as this.”

One of the biggest sheep fanners in the North Island told Mr Mack ley that fleeces from his flock averaged two and a half pounds heavier this year than last. This, he thought, was why there had been such a large increase in the total weight of wool carried. “Auckland has been phenomenally busy,” said Mr Mack ley. “In both goods and traffic there seems to be a buoyancy now which was not apparent a month or two before the holidays. Everywhere I heard the same optimistic note from farmers, business people, and traders generally.”