LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 14, Issue 1152, 13 May 1870, Page 2

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by correspondents. Sib, — Will you satisfy us as to the existence or otherwise of a pilot at Wairoa. Some of us are of opinion that jjuch an officer is extant, but we, the rninoiity, are incredulous. Our incredulity is founded upon the fact that the individual who is officially fictionised as pilot rarely appears in that capacity, and that " his heart is in the Highlands," &c, while anxious shipmasters " lay off and on" in vain hope of seeing something relative (by signal) to state of bar, not otherwise to bo ascertained. In favorable instances, and sometimes very unfavorable, Davy Jones (an assistant pilot of local celebrity) sometimes boards the perplexed mariners ; but sailors object to Davy Jones as a rule. Therefore, Mr. Editor, we wish to enquire whether there is a paid pilot at the Wairoa, and, if so, where he \jf — I am, &c, Makt. Sic, — I wish, through the medium of your columns, to invite the attention of the public to an important, but comparatively overlooked, subject, namely, the necessity of providing for the maintenance of the branch roads in outlyiug country districts. The Provincial Government will hardly be able to keep the main lines in tolerable l'epair, and there will certainly be no provision for such as that between Puketapu and Petane, and others similarly situated. Such being the case, the bm-den of keeping them up will fall entirely on those settlers who have the heaviest and most refular traffic on them ; their neighbors, nowing that these must repair the roads in order to get along, will hold aloof and refuse to do their share. This, I am informed, is already so in the case which I have quoted above (Puketapu to Petane) , the one on which, perhaps, least government money has been expended, and which is now in urgent need of repair, the road being, in two or three places, literally | a quagmire. This line of road has been very injudiciously selected ; it might be shorteued two miles, and then be a better road than it is now. The road is not of such importance to us in Petane, as we use it only in driving stock ; but it will become unfit even for that shortly if it be not repaired. Hoping some action will be taken in this matter nest session by the Provincial Council (by special legislation, ifneccssary) I beg to subscribe myself A Pbtane Settleb. Sin, — In your last issue you reported that the man Boyle, who was convicted for robbery the other day, was an ex-Defence Force man. Plaviug a great respect for my old comrades, and for the name of the old corps, I beg to contradict the report and to state that the person named was never a member of the old C.D.F. The members of that corps were of a class much above that kind of thing. — I am, &c, An Ex-O.D.P.