BISHOP CLEARY'S VISIT.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 12581, 11 October 1911, Page 5

BISHOP CLEARY'S VISIT.

In- the- course of 'a ■ conversation. 1 with a representative of this paper^ the Right ! Rev. Dr. Cleary, Bishop of Auckland,' Said that he went to Tolaga Bay on Monday, celebrated Mass there oil.Tuesday for a moderate-sized congregation, administered confirmation, and visited the sick. His arrangements fn Gisbovne and Ormohd' prevent him visiting Tokomaru and Waipiro for -the present, but he intends to return to those districts from Auckland at the earliest convenient opportunity, when he also hopes 1 to call again at Tolaga Bay. Questioned us to his impressions of the Poverty Bay district, Bishop Cleary said that he was greatly ■ impressed by its marvellous fertility. This was, said he, its outstanding ■ feature to a new--comer such as he ; and he never tired of noting the hills, so rugged, yet *o verdant, so rich m succulent ' herbage, v and with such a remarkable carrying capacity. In this respect he declared that it. bore a striking resemblance to the "fam-. ous grass lands of the Republic of Uruguay, .through which he had travelled extensively towards the close of 1909. Hilliness apart, the soil and herbage recalled what may be seen along the rich, lands between Monte Video and Colonia., passing through the prosperous Swiss, ••settlements that are known collectively as Colonia Suiza. Further north, m the. more hilly parts of Uruguay, the resemblance to the rich Poverty Bay Ir.iula i* more marked, although the former is more of a cattle-raising country than the territory seen thus far by the Bishop >on his various trips from Gisborne. Uruguay is noted for its great "mataderos" (slaughtering. and meat-exporting establishments), the most famous of these being > the 'great beef-extract 'Manufacture ing centre of- Fray Bentos. 'Dr.. •Gleauy.' • has high - hopes that this wonderfully rich East Coast country will; m -the not! distant future, be -as /famous for its butter and cheese and- frozen -meat 'i'as.' Fray Bentos is for its extract of ' beefy and Paysandu for its ox-tongues, and that' the ports of Gisbovne,- Tolaga, Bay/ and Tokomaru Mill rise to > high pr-os-i perity as the great receiving and distributing centres, of what will be • (he thinks) the greatest, or one of t'he greatest, "centres of meat and milk-products m Australasia. " Judging -from what he has seen, he finds no reason. wiry the EastCoast district should not give a lead .<iiw dairying- even to the famous paspaluin grass lands of the Tweed and Richmond 1 riA'ers m New South Wales. "Of course,' said the Bishop, with «■ smile, "there is .a fly. m. this beautiful piece of amber. The coastal communica.tions by 'land are a caution — the- roads are as' bad as those north of Auckland, and when 1 have -said '• that, I have expressed the superlative degree, -of all that is bad m roads. In this particular- 'matter, we are, as yet, far off from civilisation — as far off as. was the Red River country when > I saw it m 1902, and worse than the worst part of Bolivia, away on the^ high- ■ Andean 'tableland, when I, passed over its wild wastes m 1910. Yet I have seen the- Coast roads only afteir a day's early summer rain* In the; winter^ I suppose they would n'lL' the description, 'four feet wide ajid cix' feet deep 1 ? It is not for the casual visi. tor to suggest remedies to. those. who are' "on. the .premises.? But bhe; roads' make upon the visitor one of his earliest and ugliest impressions.' -.Oliver .Cromwell insisted m having Tiis.'wa.ftise't; jldnestly m. his portrait) and I, suppose the chanceVisitor will be pardoned, if vlie [points m -the one defect m an otherwise beautiful scenic and ,pastoral..picture.."