A TRIP TO MARTINBOROUGH.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXVIII, Issue 7931, 3 January 1906, Page 3

A TRIP TO MARTINBOROUGH.

(Contributed by A.P.K.) (Continued). The scenery unfortunately could not be viewed to advantage, as not only on the day of our arrival, but the following day, when we left, the sky throughout continued dull and gloouiy, the hills lying some miles away being cloud-tipped. Though many of theiu of considerable height, they appear to have been cleared of. bush and ecrub and looked through tho misty atmosphere a rich emerald green. What struck myself and companion when driving through was this rioh green tint —the immense stretches? of flat or undulating country—the nearest hills, 1 should say, being fully twelve miles away on either side of the valley—the entire absence of any uncultivated land or manuka scrub—the beautiful plantations dotting the landscape ia all directions, in some places flanking long carriage-drives terminating in large substantial residences, whose gablo ends and tall chimney stacks peered over or through the dark foliage. One main road, I particularly noticed, a continuation of ono of the main streets of Martinborough, running in an easterly direction, : appeared to stretch away foi miles; in almost a straight line, walled in here and there on either side by tall blue-gums, until it narrowed itself to well-nigh u point, hazy and distinct in the far distance. A branch line will no doubt before many years have passed connect Martinborough with Featherston, it being a comparatively easy line to construct, there being no engineering difficulties to contend with and no heavy outlay in its construction. Apropos of our trip, it being, as 1 have al- . ready mentioned, a' dull drizzling day on our arrival, myself and companon having elected to sit insido and the sides of the coach being covered in, we could take but little note of the country through which •we were travelling. We had approached the outskirts of Martinborough before beiog made aware of tho fact, having for some timo relat'sed into a semi-somnolent condition—lulled into a dreary, reflective state by the measured cadence and rytflm of the horses' feet—when suddenly our driver came to a full stop, calling out, "Anyone wishes to at a private boardiug-house?" "What?" I exclaimed. On the question being repeated, we lifted the flap and peered out. It does one good to travel occasionally, even though it be no more than some thirty-five miles, for the private boarding house, or rather collection of houses going by that name, which met our view was quite a departure from the generally accepted notion. Built from a design copied from the Scientific American, and only some three months in existence. It forms a large' square, in the form of a quadrangle, fronting the main road. The first is a two atoreyed house, containing commercial room, private parlor, bedrooms, etc., and from the rear of ths building a long line of one-storeyed single " bedrooms, about twenty in number, facing a verandah and concrete floor, numbered consecutively from one upward, continue for some distance, then turn at right angles, thus forming two sides of the rectangle. Between the extreme end of this and the main road are the outbuildings, and finally the building? (facing the road) utilised as a large dining-room, public sitting room, etc. Each room i» lit by. gas manufactured on the premises, and supplied with water. The meals are excellent, and everything clean, the rooms well furnished and quite up-to-date. The square, cr quadrangle, enclosed by these buildings, forms a garden. My first hurried glimpse of the place, between the side flaps of the cioach, g;ave me the impression that it must be a private lunatic asylum, and led rne to suggest as a mild joke that my travelling companion should avail himself of the opportunity and .remain here during our visit, as more conducive to his comfort, and that J would go on. However, we both stayed, and had no cause to regret it. the only slight drawback being the entrance of two men into our bedroom, No. 1, duriug the small hours, and the lenethy altercation that eusued, they asserting that No. 1 was their bedroom and we wildly » expostulating that the good landlady had ordered otherwise. As they had been imbibing and were utter strangers we were compelled to be diplomatic. Finally tbe.v were induced to retire, and we heard them trying each door in turn as they passed along the quadrangle. Our first evening we spent in strolling through the township; the general elections had been held the day before, gfoups of men who had come in the previous day from the flax and sawmills and outlying stations were standing about under the verandahs of hotels. As we approached a sudden movement was.discernable, an angry altercation, two men face each other, this looks like business, a short interval, a fistjsuddenly shoots out direct from the shoulder, a bald-headed man, his bat flying at a tangent, staggers back, falls, half rises, is hit again, when the excited crowd closes in, screening all else from view, a constable taking a pair - of handcuffs out as be runs, suddenly darts out from somewhere and runs ahead of us, the two combatants quickly beat a retreat before he has tome to reach the spot. The only radical cure for this is striking out the top line. Judging by the appearance of several, the election appears to have exercise 5 rather a severe strain upon them. It is well perhaps that it occurs only ouce in throo years, for if it occurred, say, once a week, like the Kilkenny cats, there would be few left within a twelvemonth to strike out any line. My conviction ih that Martinborough , has a future before it. It can boast already o£ three or four banks and very few lawyers, and if tho subdivision of estates continues the population must necessarily rapidly increase. Land has risen rapidly In price this last two or three years, and promises to go higher. At 9 a.m."the following morning we left Martinborough by the mail coach on our return -—the weather mo=jt aggravating, the same persistent drizzle, no wind, and the clouds hanging like a wet blanket over everything. A family comprising seven small children/apparently all about

the same age bad been staying with their parents at our Scientific Boardfing-house tba previous night, and were now leaving with us for Featherston. Instinctively myself and companion made for the ooxseat. to which I was on the point of climbing when arrested by tho voice of the coachman, "A lady is coming up here, sir!" Tho mother of the seven cherubs, with the youngest in her arras, was hoisted up, whilst the father—a quiet, placid, plump, little man—entered the coach with tho balance, the better-half remarking that travelling inside never agreed with her! It did not a* first apnpar to agree with the cherubs, for no sooner on being seated did tney find that their fond parent was absent than with one accord, in spite of the repeated assurances of the father thai; their mother was not irretrievably lost, only elevated to the box-seat, they "Jilted up their voices and wept." To the cossers-by it may have led them to the impression that we were conveying a contingent of tho "Westminster Choir Boye," who might possib'y havo been giving an entertainment at Martin borough the previous evening—and that they were merely practising the "Te Deum" and rehearsing some new arrangements of parts—but myself and companion, who had still found room on the box seat, happened to know better, and were compelled to listen to this wild lament without daring to make a single comment, the mother philosophically interjecting "that they would soon get tired out!" As smoking was out uf the question—as it made the baby cough—l was forced to turn my attention, with less abstraction, to the country through which we wore travelling, and so, added to 'the scraps of information gathered from our obliging driver, 1 ara enabled to give you this article, which uo doubt will occasion a run on this morning's issue. ANOTHER SUFFERER TELLS HOW RHEUMO CURED HIM. "I have great pleisure in writing to state the cure effected on mj'seli' through your Rheumo. I suffered from rheumatism in my shoulders for over six months, and for three weeks most acutely. 1 was advised to try Rheumo, and did so. The second dose relieved me and one bottle cure ' me. I have not had a /eturn, and hat is six months ago.—Yours faithfully F. W. Burges3." Rheumo cure 3 rheumatism, gout, sciatica, lumbago, gravel, and kindred complaints, because it goes straight to the blood and neutralises the uric acid poisoning which is the real cause of the troubls. All chemists and stores soil Rheumo at 23 6d and 4s 6d a bottle.