FROM NAPIER TO WOODVILLE

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 5520, 24 October 1879, Page 3

FROM NAPIER TO WOODVILLE

(by a special correspondent.)

No. V. — WooDviLtE,

On Monday we determined to vdo Woodville, and for that purpose wandered forth afoot. We met one settler and another until at last we tumbled across Mr Sowry. Your readers are well acquainted with the name of this active and energetic citizen of Woodville. He is chairman or secretary or committeeman on every local organisation, and, with Mr Protheroe, seems to do all the public work of the place. Pedagogus went off, and 1 sat down with Mr Sowry on a log and had a long chat. Finding my ideas about the settlement very crude, he promised to catch a couple of horses, and to take us round the settlement in the afternoon. In the meantime we hod some talk on the land-laws. I found Mr Sowry an exceedingly intelligent and shrewd man, not cursed with any extreme Radical or Conservative notions, but looking aVevery proposal from a practical and sound point of view. He freely gave his views on the deferred payment system, and as a man who has carefully watched its working I think a few lines detailing his opinions will not be space thrown away. He thought there should be some modification in the residential clause, but he would not abolish it altogether, because, after improvements had been made, and the grant acquired, many men would fail to reside on their property, and would leave it without further improvements, thus introducing the evils of the absentee system. He agreed with the Herald that as long as 50 per cent additional is demanded for deferred payment land very little country will be settled by small holders. The condition of improvement under which deferred payment settlers labored formed, he contended, the interest they paid the State. He also pointed out that to be successful the deferred payment settlers must be congregated in associations, especially in bush country, but the blocks of land thrown open on deferredpayments should not be to large, in order that the settler might obtain work on the larger holdings around. The great disadvautage under which the Woodville settlers labored was, in his opinion, the extent of bush held by absentee proprietors who would not improve. A well-known M.L.C. held several acres next to the township, and not a tree had been felled. If the settler owning the next section fenced, and cleared, and built a house, he might .find his fences, his grass, and his house, destroyed any day when the absentee's bush caught fire. He could not suggest any fair law to avoid this except the burning and falling by Government of all the bush on or near townships before the land was sold. The country would lose nothing, for the additional price obtained for the land would cover the cost of clearing. One amendment in the law which was much needed was a provision enabling the deferred-pay-ment settlers to pay-off the balance they owed at any time.

After causing Mr Sowry to waste two hours, I walked over to the fine large schoolroom, and there found Mr Hill, our indefatigable Inspector of Schools, conducting the annual examination of the children. I was much pleased with the manner in which he brought the intelligence of the children into play. In a very short time he succeeded in drilling into the senior class. the, main features of our constitutional history, and the way in which the " catch" questions were promptly answered showed that in learning the lesson something more than mere memory had been brought into play. The same class also gave a very intelligent description of the principles of the lever and pulley. With the juveniles he was equally at home, and they evidently delighted in the examination. On a table at the side were a variety of articles of underclothing very creditably made by the juveniles. The examination concluded by a short lecture from Mr Hill on the necessity for regular attendance at school — of which more anon.

True to his promise, in the afternoon Mr Sowry appeared, leading three horses. Pedagogus had disappeared, so Mr Hill mounted his steed, and we proceeded to go round the deferred-payment settlement, at the back of the township. Our horses went up to their knees in the soft mud of the road, and stumbled over the tree roots which still spread under the surface. No one can get anything like a fair idea of Woodville from the main road. Hidden by belts of trees are special settlements here and there, carrying a large and apparently prosperous population. The particular settlement in question was only some three years old, but the bush had been burnt off and mostly felled, cattle wandered among the stumps, fences divided the land everywhere, and comfortable houses were taking the place of temporary huts which were at first erected. Here and there was a paddock of wheat or oats — allsurface sown, for it will be some years before a plough can be put to work. Our guide told us that, though they had to "rough it " at first, the settlers had managed to make both ends meet, and were now drifting into smoother waters. A few had capital, and employed those who had none in clearing and foiling. Mr Ormond had an adjoining section of some four hundred acres which he had had cleared, and this caused the circulation of about a .thousand •pounds. Mr Holder in a similar manner had found work for the men, and then

there had been job's on the road and qtlier ways of obtaining a little mb'ney. They_ sold their butter to road-gangs or surveying parties, and had a market for the increase in their cattle. The timber about Woodyille is, with the exception of a few patches!, ■ useless eicept for .firewood, so the .> Settlers f can'"': nWe . iWtlMg 0t i ofthak There is, 'however, 1 a : prbs^ect^ 6f the tptaya patches being shortly worked, as a movement is a-foo't to get a saw-mill. It would surely pay the settlers, for now they send considerable sums out of the district for timber, and this money, circulating among themselves, would fulfil a useful office.. , - -

. Comipg back, we, ptrrick the muddy laiie Midh caused P'edagogu's and myself so much troUble dri Sunday. Our Horses every now and then threatened to disap 3 pear altogether, but managed' to extricate themselves. If the lane had not been " corduroyed " my firm impression is that we should all three have perished in the mud. As ifc was, our horses struck the logs about three or four feet deep. As Mr Hill's plucky little nag went plunging into • the clay, his rider became devoutly ropentari t, and exclaimed "Oh, if I had but come this way before I examined the school this morning I had not lectured those poor children about coming to school." This Wolseyan repentance was late, but " better late than never."

We got back to the hotel with not more than five pounds of mud on our clothes, which says volumes for the " gumption " of the horses in picking the cleanest and shallowest places in, the slough of despond we had passed through, and bid farewell to Mr Sowry. An early tea all to* ourselves prepared us for our homeward journey, and we bid farewell to Mr and Mrs Murphy, and their exceedingly comfortable hotel, with some regret. Previously Pedagogus was in trouble; On coming home from our trip to the Gorge he had carefully carried his clematis-root and his dirty fern roots to a damp place in the garden. Next day, going to look at his treasures, he found that they had gone. Concealing my rejoicings like a politic man I joined in the search. Unfortunately Pedagogus would not be misled, and a shout of joy caused me to turn my head, when he was seen dragging along his clematis root. Most of the ferns could not be found. Then a happy idea struck us, which was to leave the roots for the coach next morning. With minds relieved (at least on my part) we started just before dusk. The evening was fine, and our ride to Tahoraite was pleasant. Then we had another tea in host Scrimgeour's handsomely furnished private parlor, and then sought our couches. Ped. had stopped hei-e once before, and had spoken highly of the hotel. I will only say that his encomiums were justified. Next morning we 'started for Kopiia, and after an easy ride arrived in time for dinner. Then — railway and home.