TARANAKI ROADS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXV, Issue 73, 23 February 1918, Page 3

TARANAKI ROADS.

AND THE FAR NORTH.

VISIT OF Wei IVMATA COUNTY CHAIRMAN TJ TARANAKI.

la eon versa lion with Mr Hector Aikenhead, the well-know fanner and breeder of draught horses of Helensville, who acted as judge of that class of stock at the Show, the. eternal question that wo are in the. habit of putting to all visitors—“ What do you think of our roads” was put, says the Hawera Star.

Mr Aikenhead is chairman of the Waitemata County Council, and consequently is very much interested in Taranaki methods of road construction and maintenance. So much so that ho is accompanied by his county engineer (Mr G. A. Jackson), and they are. making full enquiries. In reply, Mr Aikenhead said he had noticed that the question was invariably put with a complacent smile of assurance, well knowing what the answer will he, and no wonder. He had

heard a lot about Taranaki roads, and they fully deserved their reputation The miles and miles of perfectly smooth surface that lie had travelled over between New Plymouth and Hawera were a revelation to him. . He said there was nothing of the sort up North,, excepting a couple of streets in the .city of Auckland. “I am so impressed,” he added t “with your roads, that I have fully made up my mind to move in the direction of adopting similar methods in our county. And as a result of enquiries that T have made I see no reason to prevent us making as great a success of tarred roads as you have. I should like to take this opportunity of thanking the members and staffs of the various local bodies for the kindly and cordial manner in which I have, been met and supplied with full information, and also for the further information, which I intend to get before leaving Taranaki.

PULLING TARANAKI’S LEG! “Not only your roads, but your system of administration appeals to me. You are right up-to-date in all respects. Your boroughs are replete with all modern conveniences, and everything in connection with your local bodies goes to prove that you have the right men in the right place. “I am not quite happy about your toll-gates; they seem to carry one back to the good old days of Merrie England, and one. half expects to see Dick Turpin with his mask step out from some hedge, and present a pair of pistols. But if the toll-gates are necessary to your road construction policy, then by all means keep on the toll-gates. No doubt your good roads are largely responsible for your wellkept farms, which I have noticed everywhere without a single exception and the natural corollary of the fine class of stock of every description to be seen on these farms, which, for condition and quality, (ire .second to none in the colony.

“The crowning glory of Taranaki to my mind is the happy faces and robust figures of the farmers’ wives and children, and yet could it possibly be otherwise in such a country run by such astute business man as the Taranaki farmers evidently are?”