RAILWAY EXCURSION TO HELENSVILLE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7259, 23 February 1885, Page 3

RAILWAY EXCURSION TO HELENSVILLE.

The second of the series of cheap railway excursions inaugurated by Mr. Hudson, District Railway Manager, took place on Saturday, the objeotive point this time being Helensville, and in connection therewith a river trip by steamer to Aotea (Shelly Beach),. an the estuary of the Kaipara River. The excursion train was much more largely patronised than the one of the previous Saturday to Mercer, there being about 350 on board in all (among them the Hon. P. Santo, of South Australia), and the train, which was a long one, having two engines attached.' Punctual to time the train moved out of the Auckland station at nine a.m., taking in about eighty passengers at Newmarket, and at the Mount Eden station some thirty more. A few also joined at Avondale. Mr. Lodder, manager of the Northern River Steam Navigation Company, accompanied the excursionists up, and got the tickets disposed of for the river trip on the train as it went along. This arrangement was an excellent one, as it not only saved time and trouble to the excursionists but enabled Mr. Lodder to telegraph from the Waitakerei station to ' Helensville the numbers: going by. steamer to Shelly Beach, and those remaining in the settlement. The providore of the Northern Steam Company (Mr. B. Hadrill) and the hotelkeepers knew, therefore, in ample time what to do, and the numbers they would have to provide for ; the resul' was that on arrival at Helensville the excursionists found every provision made for their comfort, The trip up was a very pleasant | one, the weather being all tint could be desired—bright and clear, the sun's rays being tempered byapleasantb.:eze, Therunupwas made in two hou.a and a half, Helensville being reached athalf-past eleven. Some picnic parties did not go all the way, but got off at one of the- wayside stations below Paeroa, and spen> the day in the bush. At Helensyflle an hour and a-half was given to the excutßionists going oh to Shelly Beach, to take a ramble round the settlement and get 1 refreshment. The excursionists scattered at once over the township, some to the houses of private friends, others to houses of accommodation, or the three hotels—the Helensville, the Kaipara, and the Railway Hotel while Mr. Hadrill, the genial providore of the Northern Steam River Co., had made provision for lunch for 200 on board thes.s. Kina. Precisely at one o'clock, the s.b. Kina, Captain Ross, cast off from the wharf with nearly 120 excursionists, Mr. Lodder. also going down to superintend their debarkation at Shelly Beach. The Kina made the run down against a flood tide in an hour and a quarter, the trip being a very pleasant one. Just before starting, the steamer Te Kopuru came up the reach from Te Kopuru, and on the way down the steamer Neptune was passed towing up a raft of logs to Helensville. At Shelly Beach the excursionists were speedily and comfortably landed in two boats, and immediately spread out to do the "lions" of the locality, which consisted of the large Runanga House, or Native Parliament House of New Zealand, an obelisk, in the recessed faces of which (protected by glass) are inscribed the text of the Treaty of Waitangiin English and Maori, and the native settlement. The obelisk is surmounted by a bust of the Queen. There was also another large building, used apparently for a meeting house, and some weatherboarded houses after the European style. Most of the natives were away at their cultivations, about two miles distant, and others fishing or gumdigging, but the visitors saw several, among them a very intelligent young Maori woman, who spoke English fluently and purely, and who gave the visitors any information they required. In one of the houses was a life-sized portrait, handsomely framed, of one of the chiefs, executed by Mr. Gaut, the artist. At the rear of one of the dwellings lay on a mat in the sun, wasted away to almost the proportions of aohild, a Maori croc, who appeared to be about 90 years old, and who could just be said to exist, and that was all, as she appeared to be oVlivious of everything around her. Some of the visitors wandered over the shelly bea jh, inspecting thehutge landslips, which had brought down masses of trees and shrubs by the run to the water's edge, or watching the tide rip racing up the steep bank of shells ; others went in search of ferns and rare plants, while a few, scaling the Point, were rewarded for their trouble by a grand view of the Kaipara harbour— the eye resting to the right on Helensville, dotting the fern-clad range at' the head of the Kaipara River, then on Kaukapakapa, Makaraa, Oruawharo, Otamatea, and on to the Northern Wairoa, and down to ~; the North Head, looming out of , the blue haze. Shortly after four o'clock . Captain Ross's warning whistle brought the stragglers to the beaoh, and all being got on board, the Kina -ran alongside the Minnie Casey, wbioh was' steaming up from Northern Wairoa for Helensville. From her the intelligence was obtained that the Mary Ann Annison was a total wreck at the Kaipara Heads, bat the crew all safe. The Kina had the best of it on the run up. ' At five o'clock, a comfortable tea was laid out in the saloon, by the providore, Mr. Haddrill, who did.all in his power to minister to the comfort of the passengers,' Helensville was reached in good time for the train, which started punctually at five minutes past six p.m., Auckland being reached at twenty minutes to nine. The e? -ursion was a complete suocess. Punctuality 'was observed, everything went off without a bitch, and there was not the slightest accident to mar the pleasure of the day. The public patronage accorded to Saturday's railway excursion should encourage Mr. Hudson to persevere with his efforts to popularise cheap railway excursions. There are one or two details, however, that yet require consideration in order to eliminate every element of dissatisfaction. For instance, the Avondale people bitterly complained that, though carried 14 miles less than if they had joined the train at Auckland, they actually had to pay more for second-class tickets than if they had travelled from Auckland first-class. This is an anomaly which should be removed. There is no apparently valid reason why these people should have paid more than the full excursion fares—namely, 5s and 3s 6d—and had the right of travelling - first or secondclass. It is this sort of thing which comes under the heading of what Mr. Samuel Vaile calls "railway jargon," and gives the enemy oocaiion to rejoice and blaspheme. ; . One of the attractions at Helensville. was a cricket match, World v. New Zealand. New Zealand won by some 40 runs. Father O'Gara (who is at present on a visit to Helensville for his health) was a man of the World, and whilst at the wickets proved a good bat, although on the losing Bide, and took his defeat philosophically, \ .... ■