MR. HULKE COMES TO NEW PLYMOUTH.

In 1847. at the invitation of Mr Flicht and other Taranaki settlers, Mr Hulke visited Nexy Plymouth; and after conferring with its people decided to bring an the machinery of his flour mill standing at Wangaiiui, which had been at a standstill for some time on account of the Maori troubles. A site was fixed upon in Queen Street for the establishment of a water-power flour mill, and a substantial structure was erected, the lnotor power being provided hr the Mangaotuku stream^ This mili was c'ill&d the- Union Mill, "and v.is owhoi] for a short time by aJcom-p-iriT. bi'.t wnntually passed into the luHMtR of Mr Sani Oliver, who worked it for many years. At his" death it passed nito tho possession of Messrs Honeyfiplu »nd Read, and quite recently the old structure was reconstructed by the Crown Dairy Company, which had" pui-cha-.d the property. At the opening of thr> Union Mill in 1848 a grand fancy dress ball was ffiven. in which the late Sir Francis Dillon Bell and other prominent settlers took a leading part. It was one of the groat functions of early New Plymouth and the first fancy dress ball held on the West Coast of New Zealand. I T pon the oueninnj of the "B^U Block" for settlement in the early fifties Mr Hulke purchased land there and farmed it. This he continued to do until the outbreak of thf» Maori war in 3860, when he, with all the .other settlors, was driven off and had eventually to seek protection in New Plymouth. About this timo he laid out his beautiful gardens in Pendarves Street and for a wbilo carried on the business of nurseryman. His magnificent exhibit of growing flax, covering all the principal varieties of tho phorramm tenax, is still well remPinborecl. About 1866, in conjunction with Messrs F. L. and W. D. Webster, ho built tho fine steam flour mill in Currie Street, now occupied by Messrs L. 1). Nathan and Co. as a warehouse. K^ also built a mill aj Tawhiti, noar Hawora. In tho early eighties he returned to Bell Block and started his celebrated model farm on the Corbett Road and set about the forming of that herd of pure-bred Jersey cattle, whoso fame has travelled throughout New Zealand. Hero for many years he experimented in dairying, and he was one of the first to see and strongly advocate the advantages of the present dairy system. : Ino results of his labour and experiments wore widely published and freely Qiivon to all inquirers. Many years belore rlip dairy industry was thoroughly established in Taranaki he was a froaurnt contributor to the columns of the rfufmaki Herald on dairying matter. 1 ?. In fact, he mar bo regarded as tho hither of the industry in this province, and he was the greatest benefaoor to the dairy farmer that Taranaki i has peon. What over knowledge ho gained by slow and solid labour the ro- i Mill^ were freely and unselfishly given to his follow settlor*. ' (To bo continued.)

Din 1 .D. corset is tlm liigliost mark oF ar-l.ieyeinent in its class. Often imitated, it is liGvor equalled. Only the maker* of tho P.O. corset, with "their ivpnderful organisation and facilities of distribution, can furnish rou with such a corset at sucli a price. Qualitr is the test of cheapness. Whr help in put z premium on inf^rinritr when you can \iear a P.D. ? ' ' q