CASUAL AMBLINGS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 8354, 6 September 1890, Page 1 (Supplement)

CASUAL AMBLINGS.

BY A TRAMP, ESQ. UP AND DOWN NORTH NEW ZEALAND. SHEEP TOWN. A quiet passage from Gisborne to Napier. The good offices of stewards nominal. It may be imaginary on my part, bub I fancy the attentions of those cooks and stewards are not so thick as they used to be. At " The Spit" was a crush of cabs— car, or carriage, there was a big field to choose from—there might have been as many as six to each passenger landed. The cab capacity of Napier seems illimitable—likewise the cheek and charges of the cabbies and they ply for hire on the Lord's Day as well as on the six that belong to mankind in general. On Sunday there is no rest for the wicked cabby. I believe, though, he does distinguish the day, by charging double. In the matter of public conveyances Napier is a capital city. The two years' prosperity enjoyed by the squatters of Hawke's Bay has nob benefited the town much. They continue in a state of stagnation and inactivity. Cities cannot live by cathedrals and sheep alone.

OUR ROOSTING PLACE. In Napier we roost at the Commercial Hotel, kept by that popular Highlander, Mac Smith. I cannot name the particular patch of heather claimed by the Mac Smith's in bonnie Scotland, but they are a very ancient clan —coeval with the Mac Adams—and very much scattered. Stanley met with some of them in " Darkest Africa." The Masonic is the place where commercials " most do congregate, and where the to urist tramp and globe-trotter makes his temporary home. TIMBER TOWN. Learning of the refusal of the blackleg printing firm to agree to arbitration, and fearing the Maritime Council would take up the gage of battle so insolently thrown down, I did nob tarry long ia the east, but hastened towards the west. Halted a short time ab Danevirke. The Railway Commissioners have decided to raise Danevirke to the status of a terminal station, when the line is opened through the Manawatu Gorge. With this piece of luck added to its own ample resources in timber, good land, and small settlers, the star of fortune rises on the old Scandinavian settlement. The hotel accommodation will nob require any increase, it will be found quite sufficient to meet the requirements of the coming boom. To reach comfort, cleanliness, civility, and good, liquor, you have only to step across the rails to Henderson's. Its rise in rank will probably necessitate a daily paper in the capital of the bush settlements, and no doubt the enterprising "Bush Advocate" will be found equal to the occasion. While congratulating Danevirke, I have also to express my regrets at the disappointment suffered by. Woodville, the present terminus, whose claims to the position have been passed over by the railway triumvirate to whom is given the power to make and unmake towns. Woodville's loss is Danevirke's gain. The rest of the colony will accept the choice of the Commissioners as the one best suited to the common convenience. Whatever sins may be laid at the door of the Commissioners, they cannot justly be accused of acting from interested motives or party bias. It is as clear as day that, according to their lights, they are endeavouring to run our railways to pay. Arid if the lines had all been built on the same principlo, it would have been much better for the colony. ON THE STRIKE. Through the gorge —Palmerston North— up the line, on to Hawera, where the good news reaches us there was to be no strike after all. There was a general feeling of relief ac the news. Probably the only people to whom the information was unwelcome was the Whitcombe and Tombs Company, Limited. A strike would nob have done them any harm, apparently, and they appear to be indifferent to the loss and misery it might have entailed upon the great bulk of their fellowcolonists. The labour party have declined battle ; good, they can afford to adopt the Fabian tactics and choose their own time to fight. The opposition may claim a victory, but their enemy is not vanquished. It is rather early to cry vce victis. They have shown us that they know the lesson of selfcontrol, and have proved themselves nob unworthy to govern in the dominions of labour. The great labour battle of Armageddon has yet to be fought).

" THE CO." CAUGHT. Although the announcement of the Mari;ime Council that there would be no strike relieved me of any further anxiety about the means of locomotion, still I considered it advisable to continue the journey northward to Waitara, and fetch Boomy south to a more central position, where he will be handy in case of need. The Co. was rather surprised at the sudden call for his services, as he was expecting another month's spell and objected to be taken from his comfortable quarters, bub after we yob him lassooed he came away as quiet as a lamb. I book a horsebox and gave him a ride on the railway to New Plymouth, then mounted and rode round the mountains by way of Opunake to Hawera again. IN THK WEST. The re-opening of the freezing works at Waitara and the establishment of new ones at Wanganui, has, like the stroke of a magician's wand, removed the depression consequent upon the collapse of the flax industry, and the West Coasters now view things en coleur de rose. Sheep are up eighteen pence a-head. Buyers of "freezers" are busy, and small farms are everywhere in demand — Globo Assets Company of the Bank of New Zealand are going to make a very comfortable profit out of their bargain. The land in the West has nob all been mopped up in thirty and forty thousand acre blocks, as has been the case in the East, and the benefits arising from improved markets will be more generally distributed. The " dry rot," which I once remarked as infecting Waitara, is fagfc disappearing under the brightening prospects. Waitara is in fact being frozen into life, and I should not be surprised to find even the p.s. Terranora, or " Terrible Norah," as they call her, turn out a success. Father Cassidy and Mrs. Gallagher were passengers by the Terranora when she came from Sydney. The Father was on leave, but on receiving a polite note from his bishop, returned thence. The lady was in Waitara when I left. FROM NEW FLYM6CTH TO OPUNAKE. The ride from New Plymouth to Opunake ia slightly monotonous. There is a lot of land in the hands of the natives, covered with gorse, which adds nothing to the wealth of the country. The New Plymouth end of the road undulates considerably, bub is in fair order, and an agreeable change from thq mud paths of the East Coast,