THE HOT LAKES

Feilding Star, Volume XXVII, Issue XXVII, 30 November 1905, Page 2

THE HOT LAKES

(By " Conubia.") Some time ago I was travelling on be Waikato express, and the general opio with one and all was the Boer var. How different now. As soon I is the morning paper is opened the : mestion is heard from one end of the jarnage to tbe other, " What about he last English football match ?" 3oon another question is raised, " How are the two great leaders, Massey and Seddon, getting on ?" j when the opinion is freely expressed tbat in the Auckland district, the stronghold of the Government, they will lose several seats. We bear very little about tbe individual candidates, for tbe all absorbing topic ia, " How is your district for No license ?" and it ia wonderful bow public opinion bas cbanged on this point. Tbe general opinion is that Mo license will be carried in the Ohinemuri and Bay Bay of Plenty elec orate***, but Auckland City .seems to be wedded to the old state of affairs. In the Waikato, although there are patches of good land, there is none to be compared to tbe Waituna and Eiwitea districts, but I think before long there will be a rise in tbe price of land here, for the boom in land has not fairly set in yet. I remember some 20 years ago a friend of mine bought a farm in the Kiwitea for £8 an aore. He made a prophetic statement tbat in twenty years tbis same land would be worth £20 an acre. The reason assigned was that in Canterbury land, which was no better, was fetching £30 an acre, and that land, like water, would find its level. That same land was sold for over £20 an acre. It is therefore safe to assume that some of the good land in the Waikato and about Te Aroha will find its level. The Te Aroha Domain grounds have been very much improved during the last few years. They are now one of the beauty spots of New Zealand. Mr Williams, who owned tbe strawberry garden adjoining the Domain, has sold it to a syndicate, who are about to utilise the splendid springs which it contains, but the Government will be compelled to purchase this property in the near future at a big advance. Tbe baths at Te Aroha are princi pally soda springs, and rheumatic and sciatica patients derive great benefit from them. Te Aroha people say tbe Rotorua springs are not a patch on them, and tbey quote instances of people who have tried Rotorua for months, and have derived no benefit, and have come to Te Aroha and got cured in a week or two. This is perfectly true, but then it acts vice versa as well. The principal bath is No 2. which bas strong mineral waters, the principal ingredient being soda. This is used by ladies and gentlemen alternately ; No G. is for gentlemen only which is a milder bath. There is anoth r bath for ladies and children only, the charge being sixpence a bath. There is a beautiful pavilion witb private baths for which you pay ninepence a batb. Here you con have what temperature you like and nic 9 clean porcelain baths. The temperature of No 2. bath is about oDe huudred and two degress. Tbe great attraction of Te Aroha is the drinking water founts. There are twenty two of them aud are supposed to cure all the dineases " that flesh is hen- too." The eye bath is well patronised, and eeveral remarkable j cv. r:s have been effected to people .suffering from bad eyes, but the two principal drinkiDgfountainsare in the INo IG, adjoiniog No 2. bath. This i • beneficial to persons «h > have any thing wrong with their kidneys or liver. The water from this bath is taken to Rotorua and aerated and sold at twopence a glass. No 8. drinking water is beneficial to persons suffering from indigestion Hundreds come here annually to spend a week or two for the benefit they derive from this fountain. It would occupy to much space to describe the other fountains.suffice it to say, some are beneficial as a tonic and some are magnesia, others composed principally of iron. A medical gentleman who is continually travelling, informed me that the drinking water here is superior to anything of the kind in the world. Everything is very cbeap here and board and residence runs from £1 to £2 2s a week. I stayed at Park House and paid £1 2s a week, and received all the comforts of home, and I don't think a better boarding-house cau bo found in the colony. It is indeed an ideal place to spend a holiday. You are bound to drop across some Feildng people here to break the monotony, and the people are so kind. Ihe baths and water bave not served me very kindly so I am off to Rotorua. The residents say it is a good sign to be worse for a time — it shows that the water is getting at the root of the disease. I hope it will be so in my case.