ON THE MAIN TRUNK.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1424, 26 April 1912, Page 5

ON THE MAIN TRUNK.

PROGRESS OF THE TOWNS. RAPID DEVELOPMENT. The further development of tho country and towns governed by tho Alain Trunk line, continues to be a feature of land settlement in New Zealand. It is only.a matter of some .forty-two months sinco tha line was opened for through traffic, yet in that time tho railroad lias become chief of its kind in the Dominion. With the immense forest resources which exist between Rangataua and Mangapuhi, a run of nearly 100 miles, thero has sprung up a host of sawmills, whose labours keep tho railroad going night and day feeding the demand from either Auckland or Wellington. Timber "specials" of half n hundred trucks are a common sight at nil hours on tho Main Trunk, drawn by the immense locomotives, whoso powers ol .haulage are even now being taxed by tho big-loads. The development has not by any means been confined to tho sawmills;. The rush, for farm areas in the King Country has been remarkablo on account of the cheapness of the land there, and where thero iias been no standing bush settlement has progressed fast. In other places small armies of scrubcutters and axemen are helping tho sawmills in clearing -the land of a gigantic forest—to-day one of the chief beauties of the island, but in a few years an area of blackened stumps, with this great work of development, it is not surprising to find a striking development in the way of population. In a period of little more than three years ft score of villages have,become towns, some even municipalities, ami at the last election a new electorate had to bo added TO the district. .

Tho towns where the greatest progress has been made are Hamilton, To ICuiti, Taumarunui. Ohakune, liangataua, Raunimi. Kakahi, and Owhango. Hamilton nntl Franl.-ton Junction are practically ono town, and the situation of tho AVa'ikato centre promises it a splendid future, which even Palmerston North in some respects might envy. In a few years Te Kuiti has wrung from a Native pa to..a municipality, as big as Taihape, and larger than Pahiatua or Carterton. Taumarunui, nt tho head of the Wanganui River, lagged at first somewhat behind fe luuti but is now the most active town on the line between Marton find Hamilton. Its population is increasing fast, and fully .£30,000 is now being spent on street improvements and drainage, t and another .£15,000 in ' business places all in brick and concrete. The factthat the Stratford railway will junc-tion-with the Main Trunk line three miles south, of To Konra. nnd now onlv Mven miles north of Taumarunui, is bound to benefit the latter town. Tanlnarumii also possesses immense farm lauds resources, and these are being fostered by the building of roads and bridges, which even if totally inadequate to the requirements of tho place are of great value. Chief of these is tho bridge, over the Ongarue River, right at the back door of the town. Another brid-e will shortly be placed over the Wanganui River, and thus further land will .bo opened up for settlement and traffic. With the aid of the Wanganui .River, Taumarunui oven now ships goods thirty males down to farm settlements. The town is largely visited bv' tourists', who journey up and down the river, and strike across to Rotorua, or down to Tokaanu, via Wniouru, and on to the hshing grounds at Taupo. Ohakune continues to show steady development, and with Rangataua is the great sawmill metropolis of New Zealand. Much is expected from tho Eaetihi railway junction, but at the present rate of progress this work—onlv nine miles in length—may not be finished for tho next quarter of a century. There is a legend to the effect that somo time ago a first sod was turned of this railway, but many people who can find no trace of the work characterise the statement as a fable. A first sod has, however, been turned, but apparently nothing else has been done. On the other hand, thero is distinct evidence of work at the To Koura end of the Stratford railway. An immense cutting may be seen driving right into the hills, arid a small-town of tents, with gear and timber, 6hows that something is being done. Raunni, Owhango, and Knknhi are all rapidly emerging from the chrysalis 'stage, aiulniust 'have a good future. The continued'changes of life nnd conditions on the Main Trunk line will be a feature of settlement in' New Zealand for many years to come.