IMPROVED TRANSPORT

Taranaki Daily News, 10 February 1934, Page 5

IMPROVED TRANSPORT

RAILING SHEEP FROM FAIR. BOON TO EASTERN DISTRICTS. The great improvement brought about by the Stratford-Main Trunk railway insofar as the dispatch of sheep after sales in the eastern districts is concerned, was apparent at the Kohuratahi fair on Wednesday. Before the advent of the through services on the line sheep sold at the fair were driven to Stratford and railed from there. They were on the road for about ten days and in many cases they lost so much condition during the drive into Stratford that they were not worth nearly what was paid for them at Kohuratahi. • At last year’s sale the improved rail service was available for the first time and sheep were loaded at Kohuratahi and sent to Stratford for dispatch north and south. On Wednesday the improvement was even more marked as the result of perfected arrangements based on last year’s experience. The pens are fortunately placed as the railway yard is only 200 yards away. As the sheep were sold they were sent across in bunches to be loaded on the trucks, and the officer who had control of that aspect of the sale could see when one bunch was loaded and then dispatch the next. The method eliminated any chance of confusion and loading went ahead quickly and systematically. Half an hour after the fair finished found 25 trucks already loaded, and by dark 37 trucks were filled with sheep. A total of 45 trucks brought the sheep away, the balance that did not get away on Wednesday evening being taken to Stratford on Thursday.