Picturesque Eltham.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 30 June 1925, Page 9

Picturesque Eltham.

A few years ago the site oil which the town of Eltham now stands, as ■well as the whole of the surrounding <»«emtry,: was covered with heavy bush., This has since been cleared away, and the town is now the centre of the richest dairying districts in Taranaki. The township made rapid progress after tlio opening of the railway, and as the population increased it was formed into a town district. On October 12, 1901, the town was constituted a borough, Mr. G. AY. Tayler being the first ,Mayor. The Mayoral roll since has been Messrs G. AY. Tavler, 1909-1910; T. C. Stunners, 1909-1910; E. Parrott, 19101911; G. P. AYake, 1911-1912: T. B. Crump, 1912-1915: B. Dive, 1915-1917; T. B. Crumo, 1917-1919 ; G. AY. Tayler, 1919-1925.“'* Mr 1. J. Bridger is the sitting Mayor. Erom the start the new borough set but on progressive hues and laid down the main street- full width in tar, macadam, the first to he so laid in Taranaki, and its success was the forerunner of the system of road-making since adopted in "the Tnraiinki province, which is famed throughout New, Zealand for its.good roads. ;

The Concrete Town.

Eltham also adopted a progressive building po'icy, going in largely for concrete, and, as a result, with a population of only 2055, possesses business premises and other buildings that would do credit to many larger centres. . .The town is pleasantly situated on gently undulating country, .and presents* a neat and pleasing appearance. It possesses a good high-pressure gravitatiqn water supply system, which has been carried to the extreme boundaries of the borough. The gasworks, which are owned by the municipality, were installed in -1911, and now have an annual output of over 1.0.000,000 cubic -feet of gas per year. The municipal buildings consist of a block of fine ferroconcrete offices and ■Town. Hall, a commodious building with, complete equipment for theatrical entertainments., The exhibition of moving pictures is also included in the business enterprises of the council, and has'proved to be' ii paving proposition, and obviates the necessity, of levying rates for the purpose of paying interest on the Town Hall loan' and hall maintenance. ’ ' ■ i

The council has expended a loan of £IO.OOO on erecting thirteen workers’

dwellings of various designs.. The Soldiers’ Memorial Park, which contain* 53 acres, was vested- in the corporation in 1919, and will eventually become the principal recreation ground of the borough. E’tluun is the centre of a dairying district, the Eltlmm Co-operative Dairy Company being one of the largest in the province. The re _ are also meatpacking and bacon works, a co-operative box factory, and joinery works in. the borough. •. Good progress has been made with the development of electricity, and today there is an abundance of*powc-r for all purposes nvai'able. The* borough council has replaced the gas lamps with high-power electric lights, and the business people have gone jin for community lights, and to-day Eltham is the best-lighted town in Taranaki. Eltham is generally designated the “sun spot” of Taranaki, not because of- the amount of sun that shines, hut because tlj,e business people and citizens gen era. iy are a happy, homely and sunnv crowd. This is a noted and an appreciated characteristic of the people generally, and goes a- long wav in making the commercial interests of the town solid. - . ,£ ' Eltham tradespeople are fully alive to its position as a commercial centre, and are continua-llv offering inducements for the residents to trade with them. The fact that they are able to sell cheapI}’ 1 }’ and give such good service and selections is because the rent standard is not so high as in .some of the neighbouring towns. Eltham has its Chamber of Commerce and Progressive Committee,' which work in close co-operation with the. borough and county councils. It also has a number of social’societies and sports organisations.