TE KUITI, ON THE PROSPEROUS MAIN TRUNK LINE

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 34, 10 February 1922, Page 10

TE KUITI, ON THE PROSPEROUS MAIN TRUNK LINE

REMARKABLE INCREASES. rs" fMWKRNTMKNT CrFTKXGK I I AX BLSTORUJ TRI.ECUAM. , J I Tt is relaied that noi many ye;n- a;o, ■ With the exception of a. i-oupli? of luillix-k . teams waiting apathetically in the sun•Jight for the apprar.Mi.<" of their drivers ! to incite them with whip and profanity j into unenthC3ia«tic a< i inn. there was aj notable day when the main street of I the little bn-h setiloment appeared! almost devoid of life. The bullock, sragons ropresenti'd the local provision* | delivery service, waiting to lake their Joade over the wat;.iii trnekt into the adjacent wilderness of bush and iVrn to! the hardy settlors who je|>ro>oivted (the tneagri; population 01 the district. lAcross the street at the little railway yard one of the leading liusiucs>« men oi ctlK , place was endeavouring io stave otV; ennui assisting the to iake -the. uovera utf some triu'ks. The . •oldest inhabitant, chewing his fading •whiskers in deep tlioujrhl. and ntilisng a leary stick to assist his laborious progress, liovh slowly in from round a comer. Opposite the railway truck he .paused and slowly Flruijjiite'ning figure so that he couM >\ati-li fhe work of tie two men stood for some moment? in reflective •silence. Suddenly ilic oM| mian appeared to be Ptrui-.k with an' Sdpa. "My." he in his old squeaky i addressing the busii.ws man. "J Ibeliere I've got a teleirram for you."'

•nd dipping down into an inside pocket of ids faded coat the old fellow fisheii ep a, telegram and handed it over. The date, showed that the unofficial telegraph, messenger 'had carried the meseage around with him for just over a Week! Fourteen years have passed since the oldest inhabitant delivered his ifamous telegram, marked "urgent,"' to the lea-ding business man of To Kuiti end the phenomenal progress Which has l>een achieved in that time is illustrated Iby the following figures. In those days jfcbe post office, telegraph ofliee and railway station were run by Mr. Helling fend his daughter, while the white population was not more than about 40. iNo longer does the stiitionmaster of] Te Kuiti take covers otF trucks, nor I do the business men lind it necessary to look for diversion iji the railway yards. The stall at the local railway' station 5s considerable. For the past year freight charges; including passenger farce, for outward and inward goods totalled £70,010. For a corresponding period in 1014 the total amount of freight charges wan JC22,0i1-t —showing that in the past eight years tlie cash value of business handled'lias been twice 'doubled. In the past ten yeans tlie post eflice lias twice been enlarged while a etuff of telegraph messengers is now employed, the total post ofliee staff now numbering 37. "In fact," says a Tc Kuiti (business man, "we should" have had a

Binch larger post office building now if at had not been that two plans were mixed by the Department with the result that some much smaller town got our .post office and we got theirs." •Whether or not this explanation of the Oinimposing- appearance of the present. ' past office is accurate it is impossible to discover, especially iv view of the great care exercised by the present local postmaster to uvuid divulging any official information. When, for instance, iaform'ation regarding the number of telegrams and letters handled during the «rf S w" ear AVa:3 soll « llt ' or the purposes yefnscnt article., the chief officer «S£ conlfli '"I' V ' ,tal ineWe i,,fOrma - epeci*? ke chained onh- with the Sal ? nt of tlle Postmaflterdesiuf , >*"'"• safe to adenine *"»* office W • " B - 'business- of. the f / Oat of XjH^vay. 1 . r

The Te Kuiti telephone exchange is now abo a particularly busy one, nearly I every large-sized farm in the district I having telephonic communication. EARLY HISTORY . j Tho advent of the Main Trunk railway through this district was not made possible until an arrangement vas I reached between the Government of tinday and the King Country Maoris, about J3? y.-itrn agu. About l!»00 the first large area of Crown land was opened I for .-ettlcment in the district, ami ";n ! J!)(C Te Kuiii was created ». native town--1 ship and town swtion.- uil'ered for lease :hy tin , Maori Land Hoard. It was not j until about l'.Hl) that the real progress, I which h;us since eontiuued Unchecked, jhegan. Originally devoted to cattle and eluvp grazing, the district has latet developed a highly important dairying busine-s.

]U"IIJ)rXO BRISK. : Tiuit t'.ir l.uiUin- trade in and nroi'mU tin , liiwn is brisker tlin.il il lias liet-ii for nmny ywir* i- mi r\ioll.-in ri«flps of the 'frviii'i'iil iiriiiaju-ritv. During the your eniitM .lunuury I! , -- building |>erinits nl a tiuiil nilm- of £l:<.Tli!l i:>/ have been J isxiit-il by ill- lUiiuujrli ivnuicil. A great man\ 'IV Kuiti |)eoj>lp havt , spasidi , wi'i'k- • end iv-Mden.-i's at, Karuiin-u. a suburb ot Kiuvhia. two and a-half imittir jdrivi- vlisiaiu. ThiTi' mure an , lat riii' prrsi-iit liuu , lieing built tliriv for lIV Kuhi r.-sidfntv.

EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES. ENTERPRISE AND ORIGINALITY" * DISPLAYED. ' Tlie public school, with a total roll | mirabor of CIO. is idenllv situated on the ! banks of the Mangaolcewa stream. On I the same sii>e is situated the Technical ' iliflli School. There is a total teaching! staff of 14. A number of additions to | the buildings have been made during the j p:i-t year and still mure are required to aOroniiiKidate the ever-increasing num.- : tx>r of pupils. Another site has l>een | selected at the southern end of the town :' when , it is intended to build a second ! primary school. Preliminary r-teps have , a!-o lii'i'i! completed for the erection of a' School, the various local bodies ' ' iu<\ hi:.- uunrariieed JCTOd fqjj the purchase , 01 :. site. , , Aiimiiil' various themes which have ' ( l« en undertaken l>y the liradmaslvr and . t tin' K'.-iiiiul committee for the izencrai i tmprnvvnipnt <>i si-liool .-piipmeiit'anrt to i as-i<l education, one now,in hand is the i cstiilrlishiii}; of a peiMuuieiu fund, to be < founded by a cnrnivui queen competition a minis the eludes, for the providing of j i I hoy drinks cluring winter, extension of : i shelter sheds, erection of a war memorial, I the instituting of a school library, the

purchase of certain phonographic records to facilitate the teaching of foreign language, and to assist with the erection ol a gymnasium in conjunction with local sports bodies. A Catholic Convent has also been recently opened in the western portion of the town, under the charge of four Sisters of St. Joseph. The convent has about SO pupils and will eventually be made a boarding school. Experimental plots have recently been established near Te Kuiti by a committee of dairy farmers in conjunction with the school comiifittee and the Department of Agriculture, for the purpose of making experiments -?n top dressing over a period of five yeaiv. Various manures and phosphates arc used, and the results of (>ai.-li carefully watched and recorded by '(lie bo.Vss of the higher classes of the primary -rliool and tl>c High School boys. The marked difference in the results so far obtained ha-ve emphasised the usefulness of these experiments.

RAFLWAY HOUSING SCHEME. In the matter of residences it. is of i special interest to note what tint Rail- ! Wav Department has accomplished at jTe Kuiti for its employees. A consider- | able piece of livid was purchased on the ' edge of the town in a beautiful locality, i and here the erection of 40 houses has been undertaken. 13 of which have : already been completed. These residences «re modern in type, and well built, and ' married railway nyn who tenant, them are charged one day"s pay per week as rent.

THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE INTORMATIOX OLADiIA' SVPPLTRD. The general welfare of Te Knit i and district is nw under ihn care of a particularly live rhfliirfher of Commerce Tho president i* Air. iMorton. and the I mvnriwrship totals Si), putting tin- chami ber in the position of having the sct-ond largest membership of any such body between Auckland and Wellington. This i>ody has already l>ooll instrumental in 'furthering the interests of the town and district in ninny ways, the recent I'pper Kinjr Country exhibit which uttravted so iiiiirii attention at tin- hist Wa.ikato and I'almornton winter hliows, U'inj: the it'-ult of their initiative and enterprise, i Every inemlier of the ramiiiitti-u coiis'uU'rs no trouble too preat if the , interests of the district are i'on<-erne<l. land anyone inleresUil Ims only to write Ito this'liody to receive the fnllret expert j information mi any matter relating to jthis proji-esstve kxality.

' IMPERVIOUS TO DROUGHT. gUITABILTTTFOR FEDIOREE STOCK j Tlie past five years have witnessed I a very marked increase In the area of ■ country in grass, and the old pasture has i improved beyond all recognition. A feaI ttlre of the district which never fails Ito elicit exclamations of surprise from I visitors is the unfailing greenness of th. ; 1 landscape. This is explained by the peculiar formation of the land, which absorbs the moisture and holds it until it is gradually brought hack to the surface by the heat of the sun. Jt is a well--known fact that on occasion* when Taranaki and other districts were suffering irom drought this district still presented it* usual refreshing greenness. The unprecedented sale of turnip seeds this season also indicates that Miis year a record area is being put in crop, and everywhere may lie seen motor tractors engaged, in ploughing. Five years ago there was practically no pedigree stock in this district, hut since then the great advantages it has 'jo offer have been realised, and the district can now produce some animals equal to any in the Dominion. The limestone quality of the country, together with its peculiar configuration, is specially suited for stockraising, being conducive to (rood bone and physique.

j SPORT IN ABUNDANCE. IDEAL FISHING STREAMS. The Upper King Country 13 well known j for the sport it provides "both to anglers I and shootists. Pheasants and quail are in abundance, while wild duck are also very numerous. Last year 250 pheasants were liberated around Te Kuiti. Several beautiful fishing streams are within easy reach of the town, all being clean shingle ■ mountain streams, and fish up I'o bib are frequently caught, being always good fighters after the manner of denizens of mountain streams used to rapide. A three or four pound fish from these streams will give better sport than a lOfb lake fish. The streams are kept well stocked, 50,000 fry being,libcrated in the various streams each reason.