THE OHURA VALLEY.

King Country Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 246, 30 March 1910, Page 2

THE OHURA VALLEY.

Special Keporter. The thirty odd miles between Te Kuiti and Ongarue tuko a couple of hours to cover by tin; afternoon express but when it is noticed that the gradient is a constantly rising one for over half the distance until it reaches some 1200 feet above sea level ' at Poro-o-tarao, the comparative slowness of the journey is accounted for. I am more and more impressed w the wonderful possibilities of the Waitomo and Ohura Counties every time I travel through them. All the way up the line on this trip I have had land pointed oilt to me which is at present unoccupied, is excellent limestoi o country, and would and will yet cany a great pastoral and agricultural population. Not that it is entirely unoccupied. Here and there, as we wei t past, one noticed the beginnings of clearing and burning the bracken and ti-tree, and wherever grass bad foui il a resting place it had spread and grown and thriven. Some of tluso fine tracts of country are being leased by the Maori owners at low annual rentals; and given a very moderate cash capital, some common sense and a pair of willing arms, it is difficult (o see how any failure to make money cah occur.

We passed Mangapeehi at 3 7 miles from Te Kuiti and three miles further on Poro-o-tarao. I am told that tl:o horse track (for it cannot be called a road) between these two places badly requires repair. A grant of £IOO appeared on the Estimates and this amount spent would do all that is asked for: the cutting back of the tall ti-tree and levelling the track in ono or two places. Ongarue is a thriving settlement on the spot where the Stratford line is to join the Main Trunk line. The T.T. Co. have a mill here. There is a good deal of settlement going on near Or.garuo. The Waimea block of 110,000 acres is in process of survey, and already some 90 settlers have taken up sections on it. More energy and activity in cutting up the rest of tlu; block is asked for. There is no lack of people willing to take up the land.

One of the best tests of the growth of this most promising district is the number of schools and .scholars going to them, and I quote a few facts of interest in this dinclion. A new settlement at Owanga has HO children in its area and I hear there is every prospect they will get a school at an early date. Otanui has a household school at present and under a dozen children attending, but more will inevitably attend when the district is better settled and the sections cleared. A new school was opened at Tatu last Tuesday, and already nearly ,'H) scholars are in attendance. At Niho Niho a school is in course ol erection and probably 20 children will attend it when it is opened. Tokarima is to have a school built as soon as the timber can be carted to the district, and here again 15 or 20 children will have the opportunity of getting an education. Kakati has over 50 children in alien- » dance, and Onparuc the same number. Manunui is full to the limit and Taumarunui is having additions made to it. All the schools, all over this part of the island, are going ahead, and every visit confirms the belief that where the children are there the population is to be found. The coach ride from Ongarue to Mangaroa is over thirty miles of road passing through some of the best land in the Ohura Valley. It is hilly in character and at present, except here and there at rare intervals, shows no signs of being taken up by the pakeha settler. It i?, as is unfortunately usual, Maori land mostly, and it consequently yields no returns to either the Natives themselves or tho State or the county in taxefor rates. Over the first dozen miles tho road, being pumiced, is fairly good, winter or summer, but after that point it degeneratei and whilst not at all difficult in dry weather, in winter it is almost impassable with its treacherous clay surface, its sharp curves and its steep gradients. A stop for a few minutes at the 12-mile point, where a small sawmill is >it work and a wharo or two are occupied, and we roll forward to the first township, Maticrc, about*l9 miles from Ongarue. Matiere is a thriving little centre and possesses a resident doctor in Dr Floyd Collins and a most enterprising and popular citizen in Mr Phillips. Tho seven shops lie so recently built aro all let, I hear, and the Mntiere folk arc strong in tho belief that theirs is the real centre ol' I,ho Ohura. From Matiere, after a stay of an hour for lunch, we travelled through Niho Niho, four miles away, noting 'the butter factory, which drawn supplies from a wide stretch of surrounding country, and reaching Mangaroa, a fnrthpi' six miles away, at two o'clock. We covered the thirty miles in just over five hours, a very quick run considering' the road. Of Mangaroa, I may any I was impressed both with its situation and its surroundings. I.'acked up by huslvclad hills nearly all round it has a spacious stretch of Hat land in the township, through which flows the Mangaroa stream. There is a sense of expectancy in the air in Mangaroa. Lookdown the main street. Here and there is a butcher, a bootmaker, plumber, a builder, a draper, :nd storekeeper's shops. Hut the groat bulk of the township is Uill unoccupied, and when I enquire, I am told that all the. sections are in private hands, and are not for sale. A couple of years ago as much us .iM. 50 wan given for choice j-acre sections, and it is impossible to-day to get picked sites at less than ,l'"oft to ,i':U!O per J-acre. That, the SI rat ford-Ongarue line will pass through Mangaroa, when built, is certain, but whether to-day's prices of land are justified is another matter. All the same, the township is a very attractive one, and I can quite appreci- i ate the faith which the townspeople have in it. There are a number of new buildings going up, notably tho new County Council olijecs, I'i.r whjefy Mr 11. Craven has secured' the'contract, at £370. Freights are naturally very heavy to this remote place, and 1 was not surprised to find a local bricklayer busy making his own bricks. Mangaroa school has about 30 scholars, and besides a number of good accommodation houses, has a timber mill. There is a good deal of dairying in the but all the milk goea to the Niho Niho f tic lory.