OROUA BRIDGE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume II, Issue 279, 16 July 1889, Page 3

OROUA BRIDGE.

FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT The weather for the past two months has somewhat retarded the progress of the various hemp mills around this part, and in consequence very little fibre is being despatched. As a result of the sharp frosts, followed by heavy rains, the main road from the railway station running [illegible] the big drain is now in a very bad state, and with much more bad weather will, in all probability, be impassable To overcome this difficultly, however, it has been suggested by one or two, to ask the millers along the river to cooperate in the laying of a tram from the station over the worst part of the road. This is no doubt a very wise plan, and seems to be the only way of overcoming the difficulty, but it is doubtful whe her the mill owners along the river will, in view of their situation regarding the period o their lease, go to any expense in such an undertaking Messrs Elbec & Co. have gone to a lot of expense in improving the site lately owned by Sinclair & Co and in place of a single stripper mill, have now three machines fitted up, two of Booth & MacDonald's, and a Cable, the former two only, being used, and which are said to be doing splendid work, while the latter, an old one, is kept as an emergency. The firm have also hod laid to their bleaching ground, a distance of half a mile, a wooden tram which is used for conveying the dressed fibre to the field, and bringing the dry fibre to the mill. Now that there are six or sevent mills carting to and from the railway station, although at present not so much as will be the case later on, there, is, consequently, a lot of work being done at that place, but not without a great amount of trouble. In the first place the siding opposite the station is totally unfit for loading, everything having to be rolled from the drays up a steep platform into the trucks, and very often the line is full of waggons, and it is impossible to procure an empty one without a great deal of shunting with a horse. On several occasions fibre has had to be rolled across the line into the goods shed, and lef there till there was an opportunity of securing a truck. Although a great improvement, the siding lately put in is still unfit for the work tha is being done at present, as whe more than two drays meet there to gether, it generally means a consid erable delay for one or two of them A meeting of several millers wa held on Tuesday evening, last to con aider the state of affairs regardin the railway accomodation, but I hav not heard what transpired. Mr Simpson has resigned from th office of postmaster, and his term expired last month, although he i still undertaking the work, for th convenience of the people till som arrangement is made. What wit the large increase of postal and rai way work at Oroua Bridge there sufficient inducement for the Gov to have a stationmaster here, and is to be hoped they will endeavou to do so, and relieve the inhabitan of the present inconveniences as soo as possible.

FURTHER RISE IN N. Z. HEMP. The cablegrams from London of the date of 11th July announce that two hundred bales of New Zealand hemp have been sold. Good Wellington sold at £32 per ton, and fair quality at £28. A rise at this time of the year is a most encouraging item of news.