A VISIT TO PITONE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 839, 30 March 1888, Page 24

A VISIT TO PITONE.

(BY OTO SPECIAL REPORTER.)

When certain plants have attained a vigorous growth they throw out shoots which, taking root in suitable soil, strike out an existence of their own and become, to a certain extent, free and independent plants. So when a parent town throw's out shoots in the shape of youthful and energetic suburbs, which, striking out for themselves, form roots substantial and staunch, it is a sure sign that the parent tow'n is in a healthy and vigorous condition. Such thoughts wore engendered by a recent visit to Pitone. The township—l beg pardon, the (to be) borough of Pitone—stands to Wellington in "the same relationship as New Zealand does to Great Britain—a goahead young community, ambitious enough to be self-contained and fairly self-de-pendent, and determined, to a certain extent, to take the reins of power into its own bands. Pitone has of late advanced from a struggling embryo township into the makings of a respectable borough ; and so convinced of this truth are the residents that a short time ago they advanced a stage higher in civilisation by taking steps to form themselves into a borough. Certain formalities have to be gone through before this can be accomplished, and one is a petition to his Excellency the Governor. This is being got up, and already some 120 residents have signed it. The first burning question over the new borough which is debated at ‘ ‘ the club, ” at the shaving saloon or at “ the woiks,” and which is tho subject of much discussion in the privacy of domestic firesides, is, Who is to bo the first Mayor ? And so far echo answers, Who ? To solve this difficulty I sought out “the oldest inhabitant ” on my . recent visit and endeavored to wean from him a reflex of public opinion ; but, alas, that opinion seems much divided. Several names of good men and true were urged as being fit and proper men to take upon themselves the honor of “ your worship.” But each good man, like those who were bidden to the marriage feast ‘ ‘ had many things to attend to.” The obligations of a borough necessitate the presenee of a Mayor, and although at present candidates are backward in coming forward in Pitone, I think it a healthy sign for the future peace and prosperity of the Town Council that there is a delightful absence of those self - complacent self-satisfied, terribly ambitious, blatant would-be public men, who, being by nature constituted upon a round plan, endeavor to thrust themselves into square holes, thereby making a thorough bad fit. Far better for a borough to seek its mayor “ ploughing in the fields ” than to accept the “Alfred Jingle, Esq.,” of society, who is hound to have his “Job Trotter,” with his “No. 4 collection hymn hook ” ready for every occasion. To drop metaphor. If a mayor is not visible, a mayor should he sought for. At best of times it is a thankless office, and the honors are dearly won. I must admire the innate modesty which prevents a rush of candidates in the field, and I think this sign augurs well for the gentleman upon whose shoulders the “ garb of authority will be thrown.” The new Borough Council, when they are duly elected, will find, like young chickens, “ all the trouble in life before them.” There is a lot of work “looming in the distancefor the borough of Pitone, and to get through that work some disagreeable facts will have to he brought forward.- First will he a question of footpaths. A country village or even a young township can perhaps afford to be independent of the existence and luxury of footpaths, hut that sin is unpardonable in a borough. Gutters, too, are extremely necessary in a borough with any spark of feeling of high-class respectability about it, and from what I saw and heard I fancy Pitone means to be a borough in reality, or else nqne at all. But, ah ! there is always a “ hut” in' life, that like the crumpled roseleaf makes ovcr-sleeo uneasy, and this Pitone ‘ ‘ but ” is, as 1 heard whispered, “our streets in some cases will require widening.” It has always been a mystery to one in this Colony, where in cases there has been plenty of room, that the “layers out” of many townships should have made them so “ cribbed, cabined and confined.” It was a delight to me on my first visit to the United States to see hundreds of young towns laid out on lines of “ magnificent distances,” great wide streets, sometimes with the luxury of two chains in width, planted at first onset with rows of trees, which, by the time the township had merged into the dignity of a borough, or “ city ” as our American cousins love to call them, had grown into a shelterable size, under whose spreading branches heated councilmen and excited politicians might find a cool retreat from the contest of ai-gument. Pitone h is two grievous faults— streets too narrow and a lack of trees. True, sufficient for the day may be the evil thereof, but unfortunately there is a future, and in that future which is inevitable when Pitone shall have become the Bermondsey of the metropolis, the faults of to-day will he a grievance, and an eyesore bitterly to be repented of. Pitone, for its size, is laudably ambitious. It has a water scheme on hand. At present the supply depends upon a tank service. Tho Gear Meat Company, who use a large quantity of water, could not afford to wait until the waterworks are constructed. So the energetic manager thought that if water did not como to him, ho must go to the

water, and ascertaining that the country was suitable for artesian wells, has had one sunk, and another one is projected, if not already put into hand, with capital results. lam told the water scheme proposed for the borough is to utilise a stream running bright and clear amongst the hills at the hack of the woollen mills. This stream would supply all the wants' of the town, even when its census is over five figures, by the simple and inexpensive mode of gravitation. With such a fall as can be secured the Petone waterworks would have a splendid pressure, more than ever sufficient for fire extinguishing purposes or the working of hydraulic machinery. My “ oldest inhabitant” tells me the residents hope to get their waterworks as a going concern in about twelve months’ time. It is proposed to borrow —yes, that is a good cousoling word now-a-days—to borrow- the sum of LSOOO from Government for these waterworks, and from the confidence I feel in the future prospects of the borough, I feel sure the investment will pay a comfortable dividend.

Then having water, Pitone wants a gas works “ all to itself,” and no doubt one of the first matters the new council will deliberate after the water will be the gas. But to my thinking —well, I think otherwise. Given that the waterworks are constructed with a good pressure of water, would it not be advisable to consider the question of electric light for Pitone? An electric light plant can be put down as cheaply as a gas plant. It would require far less supervision an 1 he far more manageable, while the question of the suitability of the light is answered by one visit to the woollen mills. I don’t want to fight the old battle of gas versus electric light, but I want Pitone to be a real live town—full steam ahead in the march of progress, and—well, I give credit to the Pitone people for being wideawake enough to judge for themselves in the matter.

Now that a borough is proposed there are outward and visible signs that a rapid impulse will he given to the place. New blood is coming into Pitone, and the advent of more outside capital means more prosperity. The Gear Meat Company are starting a new branch of industry, viz., felimongering. A suitable building is going up, erected by the capable local firm of Fraser and Co., and this will mean at once good and steady employment for from 15 to 20 hands, with a prospect of that number being doubled before very long. (To be continuea.)