KAUPOKONUI.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume VIII, Issue 1372, 30 July 1886, Page 2

KAUPOKONUI.

(KROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT )

The wenther since my last has been grand for bush work, gunny days and bracing frosty mornings. The grass is snffinng a little, nnd cattle are getting rather shaggy, but in a short time we will again Imve lons daye, when, grass will be more abundant aud tbe cj.ita of t!ie cattle more sleek.

A considerable area of bash bus been felled in this block this season, and from a careful calculation I find that thera ii about 5000 acres at present let to men, besides what may be let between this nnd Christmas. Prices for felling are a shade higher than last year, consequent, I suppose, on the exodus of men to Kunberley. liu»hfelliug has for the past two leiuous been exceedingly low, and few cheques of any mignilude have been earned. When all timber except rata is chopped tor 80s per acre, men do not make much out of it, aud the storekeeper and butcher often suffer.

Within the past twelve months the Upper Duthie road has undergone a cliuugp, stveinl sections having been taken up and sr tiled upon. At present ther« are about six new settlers, where six months ago there were none. The new nrrivals, who mostly came from the Ran<»itikei district, are now engaged felling.

I observe that fungus-picking is becoming nn established iudH6try in this parrt, and an the bueh has been felled about the ri({lit length of time for the fungus to grow, the logs yield prolificly. I'm told that cattle devour it with great relish. A doubt exists amongst settlers who have their houses insured, as to whether the fire insurance companies pay the insurance money in the event of a building being burned down by a bush fire or from a spark from a neighboring tree. Can you tell us? — [Read conditions of policy.— Ed. Stab.]

It is wiih pleasure that I notice Te Ngutu is to be improved. A good road now leads from either Hawera or Manaia to tho ctanrings, and a prettier spot in summer time it would be bard to fiud, and with artificial improvements Te N»utu o te Manu would become one of the lions of the district; a place ot solace to tho worn-out mechanic, the worried clerk, and the roving tourist; a most eligible nlnce for a picnic, with its historical fame for the gushiug bean to hold forth on to his adorable.

Pigeons are numerous nil over the block now, just as the season ie expiring. It will be a Ions? lime before pigeons will be exterminated if they always act as they have this Reason — keep away in the shooting and return in tiie close season.

I would again draw the attention of llie Bond Bojnl to the stnte of the lonha culvert, on the Skeet road. A settler coining over it the other night had a narrow escape from n spill into the si ream through his horse shying. An inexpensive handrail is badly wanted.

1 notice by the prodigious supplements issued by Uve Star tl>»t the harbor affairs of New Plymouth bare been Retting a lot of attention in "°arJiaoicnt, and it is highly amusing to note tlie various phases the arguments of the combatants and defendants of the future foundation of New Plymouth assume. New Plymouth people watch the Waitara river with a vigilance bordering on insanity. If any little shortcoming is noticeable, it is (to use a volcanic term) belched forth from here to yonder. Of course all's fair in loVe and war (and break-war-ter, too, for that matter), and New Plymouth people would like to see another couple of hundred thousand pouuds made into concrete blocks, and I'm afraid that lots of the opponents to the scheme would sing differently if tho boot was on tho other leg. If a loan was raiaed, would it not benefit the publicaus, make the storekeepers show signs of life, butchers fly around, and bakers shake the dust off thetuselres P Of

coarse it would. Why trade would revive, tradesmen wear two white shirts a week, and the town might, with the aid of. another loan, get rid of the ? petrified look— a .sort of brake-hant-oii,- so-go-abead, 'bos-no-loan appearance. To be sure, the Plains people would b» glad t«# see New Plymouth hale and hearty, it tbo breakwater will do it, but it would go very hard against their grain to have to pay for this transformation scene. Numerous members in the House will no doubt try to make us pay for the reviving of New Plymouth, but I can assure them we'll take unlimited amount of "Sampling" to be broken in quietly to draw a heavy load for the benefit of others.

Tho news of tb» QAlire ploughing match was received with surprise among settlers here. Few knew of tbe farce to be performed, but tbe comedy nearly ended in a bit of heavy tragedy, and I'm right glad that it did not, as during tbe past three or four yeu*3 tbe natives have beon peaceable, although under trying circumstances, and there may be an extenuating reasons for their late couduct. Had a determiued stand been made against the whites, the result would have proved how erratic the movements were on the part of tbe pakeha. In such a gathering of Europeans, I do not think all were there to do valiant deeds. Some went for curiosity, some for an afternoon's outing, some to put dowu tbe burlesque with a quiet, firm band, and others— well, others went to have a bit of real, downright bard fun, to be seen, admired, and applauded, and go through a series of evolutions which Dox Quixote himself, with all bis thoughtlessness, would have avoided. It is a blessing to all rehid-nt in tbe back blocks that the imagination did not run off with tbe judgment of all who were present at the " battle of Hastie's paddock," or tbe peacefulness of tbe back districts would have departed for a considerable period. Whilst cattle shippers and farmer* generally are bemoaning the low «rate» ruling at Auckland for fat cattle, prices are firmer elsewhere in the colony. From an extract I take from a southern paper, your readers who are interested, will see that tbe Dunedin market offers a better opening at present than Auckland for fat cattle, and that good prices are attracting cattle shippers in tbe Wanganui district. The extract runs : " Fat cattle.— The feature of tbe sale — a draft of magnificent bullocks ex Goahead from Wanganui. There was brisk bidding for all offered. Last week's pricrs were upheld, and in some instance an advauce of 2s 6d per 1001b was given. Bullocka sold at £5 7s 6d to £11 10s ; cows, £4 10a to £9 2s 61.— Donald Reid and Co. sold for Mr. Alex. Thomson (Kakanm) 15 bullocks (part Wanganui dtaft) at £11 to £12 7s &&— Wri K U, Stevenson, and Co. sold — from Oruua Downs estate (Foxton) ex steamer Goahead — 17 magnificent prime fat bullock* (very beavy weights) at from £11 7s 6d to £12 per bead."