‘SOUTH AUCKLAND’

Franklin Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 44, 22 April 1940, Page 4

‘SOUTH AUCKLAND’

FURTHER APPRECIATION * , | “CAPTIVATING STYLE” “ENT HH A L L I N GST olt Y ” Appreciative notices, both public and private, are still coming to hand about the book, “South Auckland,” written by Mr H. E. R. L. Wily. The Waikato Times, the most important journal in the province outside of Auckland, in a long and eulogistic review, after describing the contents of Hie hook, and staling it is written in a ■•captivating style” goes on.to say:—

.“Historians are oflen boring lo Ihe reader: Mr Wily’s record cannol become boring for one moment. With a style that is entertainingly unusual because of his ironical comparisons between present conditions and conditions of the past, he has successfully created a saga of the South Auckland pioneers and a story of the progress of the five counties up lo the coming of refrigeration and the cream separator, which, he says, started the modern era . . . .”

‘•lf. is seldom we have an oppor--1 unify of reading appealing reminiscences of the district, but the opportunity has been offered by Ihe publication of ‘South Auckland’ . . ‘‘South Auckland is rich in personal reminiscences, and many anecdotes are related with descriptive pen pictures . . .

Naturally the Waikato and Waipa Counties loom largest in the regard of a Hamilton paper:— “The progress of the Waikato and Waipa Counties has been phenomenal. . . . To travel along the road of that, progress with Mr Wily is an experience which should prove enthralling to -fill people interested in the district. The development of Raglan county came later, and the hardsnips were •greater, but the story as fold by Mr Wily is none the less descriptive. Details of Ihe occupations of the pioneers, the food they consumed, and of the unique -flora and fauna of New Zealand, of which Ihe author has a store of knowledge, are facts every South Aucklander should know . .

After mentioning the 33 full page illustrations the book contains, the reviewer concludes: — “Much more could be said about the interest of the book and quotations could be added to entertain the reader, hut the material of immediate interest to .Hamilton people is so extensive that the difficulty of quotation would be to know where to stop. As a portrait; of our early pioneers and of old South Auckland the work should prove particularly popular.”