FOXTON NOTES.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIII, Issue 402, 20 May 1922, Page 3

FOXTON NOTES.

The south end of Main street, Foxton,! presents to the onlooker a very busy scene at present. On an eminence directly facing up the street stands the water tower, which is rapidly approaching completion. Situated as it is it occupies a commanding position and will, when complete, be 100 feet high With a fall of 116 feet to the street level. The sewerage stall' are also busily engaged linking up the waterways, while close by a gang is rapidly pushing forward with two large septic tanks, one of which is already completed. In the background on the river bank stand the tlaxmills from which the hum of the scutcher emanates, the whole going to form a veritable hive of industry, , The flax industry at Foxton is last approaching a termination for the present season, and owing to the indifferent prices ruling on the market, prospects for an early recommencement are not very bright. It is also thought that with the construction of the stop-banks higher up the river, the lower flats in the neighbourhood ot Foxton will bo adversely affected and that the flood waters will be of greater volume on these fiats and consequently delay the gathering of the flax. During filling operations one of the workmen engaged on the laying of the water lines at Foxton unearthed a penny piece dated 1851. The coin, possibly owing to the sandy nature of the soil in which it had lain, was in an excellent state of preservation, and when compared with the modern coinage was found to be considerably greater both in circumference and thickness. Unlike the present coinage the date of issue appeared directly below the Sovereign's head. _ Motorists travelling over the route Falnierston North to Foxton experience a great variety of road surfaces. From Pahnerston to Longburn the going is excellent-almost on a par with the London-Portsmouth road; thereafter the travelling is confined to purely metal and gravel roadways ot varying degrees of disrepair. From Longburn to Karere and to within striking distance of Rangiotu the road is in fair order, but thereafter it deteriorates, reaching a climax at Bainesse, where it is a mass of pot-holes. In the neighbourhood of Ilunatangi it improves somewhat, but at Motuiti it assumes a greasv surface, but this is probably, due to the overshadowing presence of the belts of pine trees. Following on the recent rain the going has been far from goodj and motorists-evehsts espeei-ally-find the overflowing pot-holes a source of annoyance and inconvenience. |