NORTH PAST TAIHAPE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 433, 16 February 1909, Page 6

NORTH PAST TAIHAPE.

SCENES THAT ARE FADING. : AND TOWNS.THAT/DREAM m- : - ■'. 'v- ■■■■•■ GREATNESS. " ' -'■' : ".V (FROM- OUR.'TRAVEIiLrNG. COEBESPOHDENT.) - : !' ■ . Be he: from'; New Zealand, or be' he a' duly<. ; qualified ; globe-trotter, or seeker after novelty, do the Main Trunk .line, and as .early.;as' possible/ 'If •he cares, lie can aocomplish;. the .journey iii.sectioiis—this is .the best., course,: if he . wishes ,to "see everything —but. Ail he' chooses,. he: can', clear the'cqun-' try in- dash. If he. wishes fo rhemorise';";something 'which' ia quickly passing -for. ever:':away,.-,, however, them he should do the to Auckland return. \ The :great novelty,";' is : the aspect, of bush life, arid oustoms wliich one_«ees between. Taihape and Taumaruiiui^-: a ninety mile run. 'In this area .lie the: last remaining evidences of pioneer hardahipn iu the: great fight for,; existence.: The busii'is doomed..; it as you hear the fiercescreech of, the circular saws,' and ; : see "JJtlie clouds' of steam at the 'sawmills, along. x the line..; Youfeelitas-you see'the., felled timber in patches desolate through a bad' burn j and-.you hear the settlers 1 say; /with convic* tion that,rio matter whether.timber is"up"in price ;or down, it'must : "go', :: so:thaf the'.hind can pay_ toll 'and " ; .be ■ repfoductiye ior' , the rent or interest which is '■; being paidby 'the toiler: The .Government is reserving twqmile stretches along the.line for.scenic pur-, poses,,: but > the 'settlers : say ; that they' also will , -, go. ■: Even' how some have ■ been partly ruined by fire, and over other areas tho bush ;is so light that there.:is hardly any doubt ithatit.will disappear;much sooner than the majority of. people think. ;. Tirenty-five years ago a .traveller; now residing 'in Hastings passed up the island to .Hawke's : Bay. .At Danneyirke, 'where!"■ the town ; no'w.'.lies, there -was::an apparently ; impenetrable forest, except where man had set.his..resolute Band; and , so .'it, :was' for" mile's; Vand '.miles. To-day" the-ordinary -traveller "would- rieyer dream that; there had .been 'a. stick:of.timber" -in.panneyirkejVwh'ile.iarther.on'imay-bei.Bee'ii'' a few ■ etiimps, -."the'. last ■ of .that great ■ forest onceknown as the Seventy Mile'Bushv.Nirie--;teen: years --ago^: the writer.-of.'these' notes rode" in u a buggy' : from. Eketahuna 1 ' to.- Pahia- ' tua,. nineteen 7 miles, -jait' a>fpa'd - which-was one 'beautiful' forest -avenue.' : To-day "it ia all■ ,gohe, leaving behind; the.ugly.blackened stumps', the clearing of' which is the work of the second-";generation. The the: reasons why the. great, fofests'.on' the Main Trunk line should be 'seen" before they, disappear' for: ever.v. ,, "-.'■' ••'•;,'■■• ■.'■'■■ "'■ ■'■ :;■'■-''

>Tneri there 1 is .a .charm in the; quaintncse and novelty'of some of tlie bush'towns which are growing, like "Topsy; , ?; , and. are not .quite sure 'as' to- their..destiny.''; Take 'Eangataua. for instance—a"place' whioh".has': dreams ol future greaifcness, like,Ohakune/iTo'umaruhui, and. Tβ Kuiti.' -Rangataua■ is a-sawmill' towji which gVows'every;day.;;lts's'tores sell everything: from summer; iJrinlts-to;boots;.'■ arid: clothing, .but its most striking[inscription' is a legend in- blue arid 'gold regarding dentistry on a" plate which..adorns.;a-blackened vijree stump, ten feet.tong;' 'Herein,-one.notes ithe march of ; Progress. r.A dentpl .rotim of tV"s description:in the'seventies:in.the then.bush town; of; Carterton would have aroused . ae-: rision; to-day;.iri-Eangataua it is , ..taken iij the proper thing.;' , '; : , . ■;. ( ■';' .'■'.' ~..',.'.' : Then again, look at Ohakune, at preseiif wrestling with its destiny, with- dreams • of wildest wealth, but just/now.struggling for bush'.:city-, of 'tents,'.sawmills, boarding-houses,';.' and "summer. drinks. •'. Its. great feature .is.,'its;inhabitants, who. are :as good.a lot; of/hustlers as : one will -find anywhere. ■ .It will" not' he .their: fault," if Ohakune. 'lags ■in ;;.the.march- of ..Progress..:,. Although their: town has not yet - been. laid out, they .have''.schemes for .electric.light : and j .a high-pressure water supply,: a track.- to Ruapehu, proper'-recognition -as-the - half-way h)juse Wellington .and Auckland, and a sub-railway terminus which./will wipe out Taihape' .A chamber:of.i'coimperc'e has just, been.formed : to.see that/none,of these proposals are lost sight of, : and it will riot' be the fault;of the. residents if they do. not materinliso. ■:':.■;:: ; --. .■■■.'.-..'■■.. •!;'.-' -■?/>.'.

'As -a ■: city 'of- summer drinks,\ Ohakune stands by. itself—-that : is "as a .commercial entiiy.: In: some ; of theplaces, notably those presided over, byyoiing ladies, summer drink* cost, sixpence a glass, and the; young ladies in question do. a .vast business.. • No. doubt they are quite right to make as. much money asi. possible: . ■>'--~ . '-v ■'' . 5 ;:.: : .;,.,' : ; _■.:•,■ ."....•'-"■ •' ;■::' t-: , If ..the. trade .in summer, drinks in ■ some 'places in.Ohakune; may,be taken-as a rion, :tho barmaid': willinever be., abolished, Drivo", her. but .of'the Auckland, hotels 'or ; any> whore else,,and' she' .can take; to -.the' King Country, and. sell summer drinks, and. make a;fortune:, .'At present this phase .of the business -_is. in".its. infancy, .but it' Las", great possibilities..Bushmen and pothers from the waybacks'.: 'will driuk hogsheads -of -. summer 'drinks, s and risk the everlasting ruin "of :di« gestion, if ;the'.liquid_ can :be' served ; only ■by some arch of .The writer saw evidence of the of. this ..statement : .in Ohakune, he .also. saw' the groat ..vogue foi, summer drinks 'at Taumarunui,: Rangataua, To Kuiti, and at other pkces'along the line; and 'he, therefore, i predicts., with confidence a great future 'for, the' business 'of .summer, drinks in the King Country.'. Of those drinks, just; dnev'furtbor:;word,. and;no more.. AreV they.non-alcbhclic?' ; .. . ', : : <v~-:-: y - ;'. '■' 'Although; .it- has ; many., sawmills:; in; itsI vicinity, Taumarunui is'not'a busb.'tbwny -It lies : .in a basin, at the.-junction of tho:Wanganui and Ongaruo rivers, a' town; with white; chalky ;streots. like, those of -'Eotbrua,- and a . Maori.'pnpulation: whic]i.!apparently. lives,idly, on the industry of. its . Europoan -brcthronV Taumaruhuii has: a..futuro—that is, if: the . powers that be will only .Toad its backblocks, and put its streets; in "proper order, but- at present" it is hampered with the; leasehold system of land tenure with;laz}'. Maoris as the landlords,, ; and "a'.paternal Governmpnt which does not seem-to care -.what; happens,' ; consequßiitly .it is muoh troubled...".' .There.. appears, to 'bb no'doubt .that' the 'place: haa ■■• not received fair '.treatment, , ' and very : for- . cible Tepresontations a.ra' now : being niado by. : the residents,to'Sir- Joseph.Ward.:■••...-. •.■.- -o Taumarunui 'is! also' a town of summer dnjiks and it-plays its cricket, football, and.tennis on ' 'Sundays. : • AtVpresent ;criqket is undorXa: 'cloud owing to^honth on tennis;.; Two teams from the -sawmills.met , at.Taumarunui 'the other Sunday, .and' .had a;,sbmowliat axoiting •:•• encounter.- Early:iu ~thb; frame :a. bat3ma» with tho historic name of Drinlev strjekthe leather iiito a , clayey wajoriiolo'fifWn jards. 6(F the field; It hadbeen dpcidod that ihero should bo no. boundnri" l !—cvry:. run was to be run out, f.rid Dool»y one? Itie mate ran eijjhtyjrnhs* wKiKllw; boys of ih<i town wore diving: unsuccrisefnlly for the ball, The ball was; eventually r'ocnv.wd • ilirpijirt • the waterhol?' beinE_ pumped out by [lip fir» bngino, but by thattimo.Dnolwaurl hfs matV'.' had run one hundred more.rims.' ■ Aftor ■vliiohDooley's team: doolared thoir : itirirgs e!os<\t. Tho does -not- vouch' for of the Mport'bf'Uiis icrinkbtmatcli;' orc-pli ' tbhfc there .WAS-a:.criokbt:ii)atob, snd ;: npbl!-y: mndo many; ruii.a, but,- t|h">inforn!nr:on-lviis' ; supplied fmm wlut is. Relieved a reliable ":. ■ nnturp. ;Tl>e'.lira" hangs-lieav.v .in tlibscrli'.t]» ■ villages ocoasio)ially, and a crjcirct tliin'gs : nlot>c quite as any otlsor oevitjOi ' But,.; then ■ t.lidro ,is-, time to . pass n' story Von from mouth;fo,mouth how that story-..nose grow in transitu. '■-.'■ .■ ■ . v .;.''; , : .-