ROADS IN THE NORTH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 9306, 15 September 1893, Page 3

ROADS IN THE NORTH.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—We have, for this district, a member of Parliament who is also chairman of the County Council and, to show you what interest has been taken in the roads, within the last three years, I will give one instance. On Friday morning, the Ist September, a bullock-dray, loaded with gum and driven by natives, started from Mr. Johnston's store tor the Awanui landing, a distance ot seven miles. They arrived the next morning, to within a half-mile of the port, when they gob hopelessly stuck, after trying all day and night to get the above distance. Not expecting to have to carry provisions, and having no money, they had to beg something to eat from the nearest house. Then they came to my house and borrowed a sledge. They put three sacks of gum on and started to deliver it. Meeting one of our councillors, he took their names down, with the view of summoning them for using a sledge on the road ? Mark the result. Said drivers (two) being afraid to use the sledge, carried all the rest of the gum to the landing on their backs. I gave them something to eat at dinner time, and they, finished carrying the gum about dark. To get one load of gum to the Awanui those poor bullocks and natives had to work continually from Friday morning till Saturday night, and it is only seven miles too. Here you have a fact about our main road to the port of Awanui up North. My store at the landing is nearly full of goods. The storekeepers cannot get anyone to cart them, and cannot get their gum down for shipment. Some of the goods are taken away on horses, and the result of that is that we found a horse'dead on the main road in front of my son's houses, and not knowing the owner, we had to drag it away ourselves. The main roads should be taken over by Government, and the County Council should not have anything to do with them. Now we are near to election time, we hear lots of talk about the roads north of Auckland from our Northern members. How is it they did not do something before? The other day young Smith, of Victoria Valley, got stuck about 50 yards from the landing with two horses drawing an empty waggon. He got the help of another carter with horses, but the two teams could not draw the waggon out of the mud. They got it pulled out next day by a team of bullocks. This is on the main road. There is plenty of, tea-tree close round to make the holes passable. Nearly all the culverts on the roads are in holes, to the danger of the public, and we may well say, where is the chairman, and where are the councillors, that they allow this state of things to continue?— am, etc., J. A. Sdbritzky, Awanui.