IN THE HILL COUNTRY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 5 January 1927, Page 9

IN THE HILL COUNTRY

SIGNS OF PROGRESS

(Contributed.)

Here in the Hill Country shearing is just about finished. Only t'tfe stragglers remain, which are brought in as they are found. This is almost entirely a sheep country. Sheep abound on every hand, and if one can only believe half one hears sheep .stealers are not exactly "unknown in this region too —a wily old fowl not easily caught. Much remains as of yore. A fine roomy shed replaces the old one blown down, and the conversational youth has been transferred to a higher sphere. There are more dogs than ever, and that trout kitten is now a full grown cat of matronly appearance and of equable temper. The hills around where the sheep graze are still covered with the corpses of the great forest lying blackened and distorted like fallen soldiers on a battlefield, which indeed they are. Trout are not numerous in the river, but the river remains as of yore : there's the noisy shallows, whose chatter is never slacked by day or night; and the deep, and quiet pools, with their sinister and abiding invitation to eternal repose insistently welcoming the weary tq everlasting rest; the bathing holes are better than ever; and the champagne air at- this 3CO foot altitude seems purer and fresher than when sampled fast. Progress is apparent in new dwellings; and modern inventions find expression in the instalment of up-to-date wireless sets, where news and music refreshes the* hardworked farmer at the close of a. strenuous day. This wireless invention is a wonderful thing, and in time it will indeed mean a great thing for Ihe settler upon the land. Every night in his own home be will come into direct and instant touch with the great outside world: its eloquence, its art and its music and its news will be laid at his feet —on his own hearthstone.

For a wonder there are practically no complaints about the roads and the bridges. Both seem to be in a very fair state of repair. \ The wool clip has been lair, but Ihe weather for many months has been most erratic—like it has . been everywhere else. Storms-—raging and sudden—have sprung up, a good sample of which we had only two days ago. These trees must be very firmly rooted otherwise they would be instantly blown over. A 'modern mansion has been erected nearby, with all modern conveniences, including a water-driven electric light plant, which costs a good deal less to run than the Nelson power, excellent as that service is.