Landslips In Taranaki.

Taranaki Herald, Volume L, Issue 12291, 25 June 1903, Page 2

Landslips In Taranaki.

HAEDSHIPS IN THE BACKBLOCKS

(Gontribtited.).

Though. your Stratford correspondent has lately from time to time noticed the state o£ the roads into the^ Back Blocks, inland of Stratford, these notices contain very little information of the real effect of the" recent slips on the unfortunate settlers whose means of communication with the outside. world are thus cut off. A report of a recent experience in the country east' of the East Eoad may give some idea to more fortunately placed . settlers of - what the pioneers have to contend with. On May 9th I started from New Plymouth with the intention of visiting the Mansaehu Road for a -fortnight. On Monday 11th, it started to rain and continued to pour for four days. On lliursday 14th, slips occurred on the road. During the week the wet had caused the pack horses to cease their journies from Toko and Tututawa, so 'that supplies were curtailed. On Saturday it was found that a filling which was being tunnelled was collapsing. At this time this would have been saved by two men with shovel's without much difficulty. On Sunday, 17th May, a walk- to Tututawa %«s possible, and the slips were only /such as could be removed by a few men without delays During the next week, which was fine, good work we»s made on the road, and had a jack or two oeen aviailabje the road would have been completely opened, but "on the following .week wet set in again/ Therd were six solio. days" rain, for sixty hours of' which thunder and lightning were incessant. At night the lightning gave a constant illumination so that it was possible to read with little discomfort. The" river Mangaehu began to rise and continued until it was 30 feet above its normal level. On Wednesday, 27th, slips began to be common. Every now and. then between the rolls .of thunder ihere would be a rumble and a shake and another lump of hill side would slide into the river. Reports of the blocking of the road became more and more emphatic The question of even a horse track being open- 1 ed was considered, and heads were shaken. The state of the commissar- ] iat department was urgent ; at Puniwhakau, two , pr three road - parties , were known to have 5 cwt of flour just in j private houses overhauled the stores and estimated ,how long they could go without All outside coiniounication was now closed. On . Monday, June, Ist, the settlers turned out <to clear a horse track through the slips which had filled jip the road. ' By the. end of the week, the possibility of a pack hor^e getting through became likely, and early the following ■•y^eek Bain's pack^ horses got in about 4 miles, but one unfortunately rolled over into the river with its pack ; the horse died, but the pack was. got out when the river went down. \ > '' t By this time ihe filling by ihe tunnel at McLauchlan^s. had cav,ed in and, a gap about, 20 feei^wide and 30 feet deep now exists across the road, A temporary rdad and bridge have" been constructed, and by 3.5 th June pack horses were al te to get right through .to. *Puniwhak%u. At a point opposite ■ Mck.oU's l! a s lumj> of shellrock came on ,to the road in the first iweek. ; When the next lot came down 'another ' block hit r thp first and both carried the road to the river, leaving a cliff of papa at, an angle , of , 45 t degrees for a new road to : be scraped' j out of. - Morris' and Johnstond's j farms lost a fnew fence 1 of 8 -wires only recently erected.' It is an open question whether the, owner should "be required to take his land off the road, "or., We "Government should be required' to,' replace the farm' 5 in' its . proper . place* At Donne's there is a large slip of timber and rubbish which will take some time to remove, but very little- now will enable a sledge to gfet through comfortably. , ". - t : On some road camps the slip's came at liiglht. oiytio .the.meh who ha<d a narrow escape, on*) not getting clear till the sludge had engulphed him, he has a very hazy idea as to how hegot out. In many places the slips run over one and two chains of the road; culverts are blocked and fillingswashed out. , - • ' ' To one not used to being shut out from the world the experience is peculiar. On Bth June, a- Budget of 23rd May was got in, this was the latest Taranaki news >up to 18th' -Jime. "The Stratford paper,, however, had been brought in by the pack horses. i 1 , * . Tip to the 15tH Jtme there had been no timber jack available to remove the stumps, ' but on the 16th they * began to " shift, and on Wednesday 17th, though most people thought the attempt madness, it was considered possible to get a gig out into open country. The> journey of five miles was accomplished. . Some times for a few chains the' horse divw the i.rap ; at others one wheel hang over a precipice while men held up the vehicle. Again in places the trap was bodily carried, and in many cases an inch wider between the wheels would have caused a' complete jam. Still at aboirt one ' o'clock open country was reached. Between the main road and Tututawa there had been many slips, but men were more plentiful and a proper clearance had been made. Of the six weeks to which the intended fortnight extended, two were passed in intense rain— one of these in thund- , er and lighUningr-two , in iistening to slips, two absolutely cut off from communication, two in contemplating a famine, which luckily did not eventuate. ' The amount required to reinstate the ftoacl ' from Tututawa to Puniwhafeau Jib estimated at about £600, but if .McLachlan/s filling, >which will now.require a bridge, had been attended to this amount would have been curtailed. ', The Stratford County Engineer is evidently a man of ihe old school, and believes thoroughly in bone, sinew and shovel. Over ti/enty men were seen working all armed with shovels, and now and then an axe or grubber. The possibility of the use of a barrow, a road scoop, or horse to drag logs away does not seem to be considered. Ev^n , the, timber, jack is, not .known in •the "of the country's appliances. However, if the money is available • a few weeks will find\ the road re-ektabliehed. - Many people wonder what can induce men to locate in such slippery places, but in summer it is a beautiful country ; grass grows equal to the

best land in Taranaki. In June the country, even hill sides, had a plentiful covering of rich green. Cattle do well, and where level enough to plough . every crop can be grown in perfection. The air even after a frost is warm and salubrious. - ,To one travelling now from , New Plymouth to Stratford, the feed between these hills would be a revelation^ but considering all things visitors' should,, enter these regions in sunimei'.