STEWART ISLAND NOTES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13187, 21 January 1905, Page 2

STEWART ISLAND NOTES.

HALFMOON, January 18.

I am sorry to say the- weather has been again behaving badly—acting in dofianco of tho meteorologies, and turning things topsyturvy. But for the fact that we have got a day of _15 hours' duration, wo would bo justified in striking .an average, declaring emphatically, "Now is the winter of our discontent." Sunday last, when things wcro supposed to bo at their level best, the services were cold, damp, and depressing, and even that was an improvement on tho boisterous winds of tho preceding day. Wo may have summer in courtesy of the season, but in virtue of the never. However, that may bo, tho,facilities we possess for holidaying were taxed to their limits. Last week's steamer trips'to pnd from xrtto crowded, and the township itself literally swarmed, Had the season been at all seasonable, the likelihoods (ire there would have been a dearth of house accommodation. Tho Tourist Department having seenij ingly overlooked the island, tho island has been overlooking the Tourist Department. In pursuance thereof, I am able to lay a few corelative facts before you. Last season 203 people all told visited Milford Sound by the overland route and Lake Te Anau. The numerical was considered sufficient to justify ail extra promising trade. The lake steamers were subsidised on a lordly scale, lake hotels ditto; track huts already erected were reconstructed and embellished, and to cap all high-class cooks were employed, so that the gastronomies of hut life might bo elevated to cuisine standards. What these represented in hard cash I have no means of knowing, nor. does it affect the question at issue. Three hundred per-week during tho season of, say, 16 wccls is a low estimate to place upon tho, traffic to Stewart Island. If my critlimelicals be strong enough to stand i.he test of simple addition, that makes a fraction, inside 5000 tourist visitors, and yet, not tho slightest consideration has been given for their comfort and convenience. It is quite right tho department should foster new routes, hut that should not be done at the expense of old-established resorts. What tho island lacks is utilisation of flolden Bay, so as to facilitate traffic on the inlet. Situated within a mile of Ilalfmoon, it is b.v far tho safest—as well as most convenient—basis for operation. A few camping-out hub, erected at the coves, sand beaches, and islands, would be of immense advantage, so that, as a question of cost, the undertaking need not be extravagant. One of our musical events was held on the evening of,the 13th in the Athenroum Hall. It was beneficiary to a I'resbyterian Church fund fpr fencing and enclosing their grounds. The First Church (Invercargill) incumbent, the Kov. K. Ferguson, who has pastoral charge pro teni, presided as chairman. The Knox Church (Dunedin) organist, Mr Bnrth, and Professor and Miss Black were amongst tho performers. Mrs Blue, popular in the musical circles of Invercargill, and Miss M'Donald also took part. A local resident (Mr R. Burns) did " fakcer business" in a sleight-of-hand which astonished the audience. Cash receipts of tho evening added material aid to the fund.