WAIRERE NOTES.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 7499, 30 June 1903, Page 4

WAIRERE NOTES.

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

_In common with other parts of tho district wo wero not exempt from tho rough weather which sot in about tho early part of last week, and which concluded on Thursday. ISesides a fall of snow, which decked tho hill tops, there was much thunder and lightning, and tho rain also must havo been copious, us tho overflow of tho Ihuraua stream covered tho roadway for a considerable distance, compelling a rider at ono placo to swim his horso, whoro ho estimated the depth of water to bo about six foot; this constitutes a record Hood.

Fortunately, with tho excoption of ono slip which impodes vehicular traffic on tho Maugnmahoo road.no othor casualty has yet been reported, which, wo trust, is an indication that thc-new-formation-period of our roads has passed, and that tho stability begotten of ago will now help to permanently preservo them from thoso continuous landslips which have hitherto been such a featuro of our road troubles.

A visitor to the Empiro City from tho Wairarapa, when seated alongsido a cabby, learnt tho views of tho latter in a rough and roady way (as to his idea) of lifo in tho country. After a fow imidious remarks by cabby not at all complimentary to a pastoral existence, tho passenger remarked, "Hut wouldn't you find it an agreeable chango from tho monotony of your present work ?" Cabby: " What 1 To starve* on ton bob a week ?"

Passenger : " But the wages are moro than that, as thoy avorago from JGI to tlOs a week and found."

Cabby : " And what could I do with that ? Why, my ' Sunday bost' costs uio six guineas, my week day suit £4 10s, Sunday boots twcntylivo bob." Passenger; "But all tha.t would bo unnecessary in tho country." The conversation was, howovcr, abruptly closed by cabby dolivoring'himself as follows (which may bo considered as being moro terse than polite):

" The fact of tho matter is, mister, that you grass-fed country blokes don't know how to live."

With a lofty expression of self-satisfied importance tho johu whipped up his horses and left our rustic friend to ruminate —if not actually to chew tho cud of bittorness —in his rellcctiona as to what tho labour laws of New Zealand aro doing, and have done, to tho'detriment of tho working classes.

However, if this particular cabby is a fair samplo of the rest of his compocrs, it may perhaps account for the frequont complaiuts of ovorcbargo which wo hear of, so as to enablo them to maintain tho position, stylo and dress suitable to tho exalted status of a Wollington cabman !

Thero was anothor frost this morning, and their frequency does not lend itself to tho prolongation of life in tho factory calf, for their lifeless bodies ore occasionally to bo seen from the roadway, a proof that sordid gain is paramount to humanity * for undoubtedly it was starvation that laid them low.