TRAVELLING IMPRESSIONS, ••>

Otago Witness, Issue 2860, 6 January 1909, Page 70

TRAVELLING IMPRESSIONS, ••>

By J. Bowie. [ On the trip down the railway line from Napier to Wellington one sees the great changes that have occurred during the past few years. The bush district is now one almost name only. Logs and stumps have taken the place of standing timber; and the dairying industry -has almost altogether supplairted sawmilling. Where timber-laden trains a short time ago dragged their slow lengths along, the railway traffic has become so slack that, I afla. informed, numerous transfers of railway bands have been made from Hawke's Bay to the Wairarapa, Manawatu, and Wellington sections. The Wairarapa is, of course, more of a pastoral and agricultural district than a timber -producing one. It has, from appearances, experienced a fairly good season, as the grain crops are looking well, and in ma, ay cases are ready for the reaper. Where the country is not too shingly there is apparently plenty of feed. Of course, I am speaikiig simply of the country bordering on the railway line. After crossing the Rimutaka, where, owing to the amount of passenger traffic on the Manawatu line, the goods traffic is somewhat congested, the xjn-ly item of note is in connection with the duplication and straightening of the line. This piece of engineering is not yet complete, although a considerable part has been finished and handed over to the railway department, and is being used very much to the advantage of the travelling public, who appreciate the increased comfort of the straight running. Wellington on Christmas Eve, then the s.s. Manuika, with a two hours' stop at Lyttelton, for Christmas Day, and Dunedin on Boxing Morning, summarise the rest of the trip south. I