HAWERA.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1168, 1 July 1911, Page 11

HAWERA.

» ■ A GREAT DAIRYING CENTRE, UP-TO-DATE AND ENTERPRISING TOWN. Hawera lies in the midst of one of tho most fertile districts in ' New Zealand, forty-eight miles south of New Plymouth, and two hundred and three iniies north cf Wellington. Hawera is, comparatively speaking, a small borough, inasmuch as its area is not more than 500 acres, but it is particularly well filled with a population of same 3000 people.' If the borough were extended, say, another 500 acres, tho population of Hawera would be placed upon a proper basis more inkeeping with its importance as a great dairy 'centre; but at the present time Hawera has no thoughts in that direction When it does the town will jump ahead. It is in Hawera that the average, dairy farmer-has to go in order to ascertain bow the industry goes. The visitor will be told in quite a casual, way of dairy lands running up to .£6O and .■£7s per acre, and he will be introduced to such record-breaking names as I\nunokonui, Riverdale, .lolls. Hawera, all dairv factories whoso outputs aggregate thou-Timls of tons of butler ami cheese per annum The place is literally surrounded bv nests of dairy factories, and every vear they have increased, in proportion to the continual subdivision of the dairy farm lands. In many New Zealand areas, where the land is poor, aggregation of farm lands is on tho increase. In Hawera the reverse is the case. Every year the farms become smaller, and. every vear tho town grows richer. Dairy stock sales are one of the features of business in the town and district, and they prob ably a""regate more to the square mile than they do in any other town in New Zealand This is not a particularly good sign in one way, but it appears in a measure to promote a good deal of commercial enterprise. In many ways Hawera itself is a most up-to-ciale (own It is lighted by ?as and by electricity. Both l£htin» powers are controlled by private Xpfisc. The town of Manaia is ates Hawera, the power-house being situlichtod bv the same power which illuminated on the banks of tho Kapuiuu River. The town possesses a number ot very fine buildings, hospitals, handsome English Church? Roman Catholic Convent, Teeh-ni-a School, public abattoirs, public nth* public library, fine fire brigade station and tower, and some very artisac residences. Proposed Tram Line. ■VI tho present time theic is a.n agitation to connect Hawera with the, county leading to Kaupokonui and Manaia by a

tram line. The vehicular traffic on tho Main Koad to Kaupokomri is so- great that it is almost impossible to keep the thoroughfare in good repair, in tho busy season the cheese and butter wagons, draivn by six horses each, may be seen I six or seven in a row, just like the wool wagons in Hawke's liay and Waivarapa. If tho local bodies will only agree, Hie tram proposal will be carried, and the result will benefit . Ilawcra considerably. Another project on hand in tho town is the improvement of King Edward's Park, and the macadamising of tho principal streets. Both these schemes are being attended to by Mr. G. Burton, the Mayor of the town. It is interesting to note tnn'' in connection with the macadamising of the streets with tar macadam, Mr. Barton has a scheme for importing the material ready for use from Victoria, at perhaps less than half the present cost of tho work. Tho advent of the Dominion Winter .Show. Company is one of the best advertisements tho town has received, and its inauguration is likely to lead to siill further nrominenco of the district as one of the great dairying centres of New Zealand, in addition to being a prosperous dairying place of fertile farms, Hawcra is rich in historic associations, a fact not put to as much use as it might be by the borough and the newspaper. It was at, Te Xgutu-o-te-mnnu, near Okaiawa, eight miles away from Hawcra, that tho gallant Major Von Tompsky and many of his Forest Rangers were killed in an ambush by Tetikowaru. Monuments to the memory of thoso who fell are erected at Okaiawa and also in the town of Mimaia. About a mile and a half from Hawcra is another historic spot, Turuturn Mokai, where Captain Ross and a number of men were surprised bv night by Titokowaru and put to flight, leaving behind them many of their comrades, dead and wounded. At another place, the Ngaere Swamp, Captain Whitmore chased and nearly caught Titokowaru, who was held to be responsible for a dastavdlv crime known as the. White Cliffs murder. Amongst several well-known Hawcra citizens, Merer?. James Livingstone, .T. neslop, and J. Flynn are residents still living in the place who had" stirring times during the Maori War. Both Mr. Livingstone and Mr. Flvnn were with Von Tempsky at Te Ngutu-o-te-manu, Mr. Flynn being seriously 'wounded, in which state he was carried from the field by his comrades. Mr. J. Heslop was in the battle of Omorunui, when ho received a bullet through his hat. Ho was tho first man to enter the pa, and still retains a relic of the incident in the shape of an old Maori musket. Amongst tho prosperous town fettlemenls in the vicinity of Hawcra are Manaia, Kaupokonui, Inaha, Okaiawa, Piliama, Mcremere, Auroa, Otakeho, and Normanby. Nearly all these places are the headquarters of progressive dairy companies.