THE SPACIOUS 'EIGHTIES

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 260, 2 November 1929, Page 7 (Supplement)

THE SPACIOUS 'EIGHTIES

OLD-TIME TE AROHA.

PROSPECTING AND PICNICS

INFORMAL MEETINGS,

(By J. HART WELL.)

Te Aroha, as all know, is a charming health resort, 115 miles south of Auckland. The town is situated at the foot 0 f Te Aroha Mountain. The township itself is dominated by the mountain, which rises to a height of 3000 ft. Its mineral waters and baths are renowned, attracting a steady stream of tourists and invalids to the locality. Forty years ago it was a township that appeared to have fallen on evil -days. There had been a spurt of mining some years before, followed, of course, by a building boom, consequently there were far mo°e shops and dwellings than the population then required. But the townspeople were a sturdy lot, and although things looked blue they did not give up hope. "It will come again," they° said, and with what justification one has only now to look about and see. Te Aroha will always be a health resort of consequence, and if mining has gone down, farming has gone up, and with it a more reliable measure of progress in its train.

When the Prospector Reigned,

At this time in its history—the late "eighties—there was a good deal of prosmeeting going on close to the township jowl at Waiorongomai, some three miles distant. At Waiorongomai some large 'sums of money had been spent, both in opening up the country and in treatment plant, but the return never proved rap to expectations. But with the prospector's usual optimism (if he hadn't optimism he would soon cease to be a prospector, by the way), the country was well tested for years notwithstanding. Certainly prospecting in those days was not a costly matter. Any one with &e will to do so could get backing without much difficulty, and I was told that a man could do it on 5/ a week in the way of tucker. Most of the men who were out took spells at other work when occasion offered, and this helped them atan*. However, beyond the getting of good° dish prospects and , other encouraging indications nothing in the shape of payable stone has ever been opened up. Yet I suppose there are men in Te Aroha to-day who have faith in it as a mining field. Farming pursuits constituted the backbone of the country then as now, but they were carried out on a more modest scale. The reclamation and settlement of the swamp land in the Thames Valley were then but commencing, and this large area has eince proved a valuable asset to the Watching Out For the Sleeping Cow.

Te Aroha itself, and the whole countryside, had a more rustic look 30 and 40 years ago than now, but if modernity has removed the simplicities of life it has given compensation. No longer need you carry a hurricane lamp when you go visiting at night time, neither are you'likely to walk over a cow anywhere round about in the dark. _ xou can also travel to Morrinsville without being unmercifully bumped about on a corduroy road. In many other ways you will find Te Aroha a better place than it was then, in which to spend a holiday. The "Love Hill" has lost none of its distinctive beauty, nor are the hot springs any the less potent in the healthgiving qualities. . Simple Pleasures, But Good Sport.

There were good sports round about Te Aroha in the days I speak of. As was the case elsewhere, one had to rely Upon one another for recreative entertainment. Thus it was that amateur concerts, social gatherings and dancing found favour on winter evenings amongst young and old, and let me say the recreation which was the outcome was far more enjoyable and health-giving than the wild rackets of the present day. I won't be wholly supported in this opinion, I know, but it is a fact all the same. The township fairly revelled in outdoor sports during the summer months. We had riding parties, boating parties, ana" picnics galore. The riding party is a thing of the past, if the other pleasures do remain. Practically everybody possessed a horse in those days, and as the roads were none too good, some indeed being only roads in name, riding was the principal means of getting about. As an offset to the business part, gay riding parties were frequently held. A rendezvous would be {selected, whither the eatables would be sent ahead. Considering the exercise, the Weasant means of social intercourse and the appetite that could be engendered, Ho modern outing can come up to it for pure enjoyment. The tourists in those Says used to blend more with the local residents than they do now, and this, •dded to the general sociability of the township. Altogether, we were not badly «ff in the days before motor cars, picture shows, electricity, and hot water service. .When Cricket was Played for Sport.

I can recall one sporting event that stands out vividly in my knowledge. It Tras a cricket match between a local eleven and a team from the Katikati settlement, played at Waiorongomai. In the home team was Yardley, a crack international bowler, on a visit to Te Aroha at the time. _We plumed ourselves on having him on our side and expected to play havoc with the Katikati men. But, as it happened, we did not have it all our own way. At Katikati Were a number of young Englishmen out to get colonial experience, and if they did not know our ways at "'the time they knew all about cricket. They turned the table on us, making it so hot in the first innings that our team fell to pieces. But that did not militate against the enjoyment of the sport. There was a long adjournment for lunch, held at the loca. hostelry, with the result that some fancy cricket was displayed in the afternoon Good fellowship was more the order oi the day than scoring. The affair wounc Up with a great dinner in the evening. Lubricating the Agenda Paper.

I shall never forget the happy-go-lucky way of conducting public business common in those days. " Red-tape was almost unknown. One monthly meeting held in an adjacent township was always a source of pleasure to me in my capacity as a newspaper man. It was delightfully informal. Let me picture i 1 to you. The sitting room of a homely hotel. Some twenty settlers seatec nearby or around a spacious table Mostly all smoking. After the usua preliminaries the meeting commences The chairman called upon the clerk. t< read the minutes of the last meeting. _ln< clerk gets as far as the first few line; iwhen he pauses, looks up casually, an<

in an aside asks for someone to ring the bell! The minutes read, business proceeds until a break announces the arrival of the waiter. Drinks being nominated, business again, and is proceeding in methodical manner until a jingling of glasses is heard. Then another break. In this cheerful manner the needs of the country are discussed and decided, punctuated by the ringing of the bell! But there is no disputation, no acrimony. All is harmony, and any amount of business is done. Upon my word, in some respects these were quite model meetings, and commendable even in these present times. The days were spacious in the 'eighties, and many of us have left them behind with regret.