Mangaroa.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 341, 1 March 1911, Page 5

Mangaroa.

Welcome rain has fallen at last —a long-felt want by the settlers in and around Ohura—the rain falling for about eight hours accompanied by heavy peals of thunder. Though the country around has been enveloped in smoke for weeks past tho fires have not done damage to any extent, Ohura having fared much better than other places. A launch at Toi Toi bridge, nearly completed, is of interest to visitors and settlers. She is intended for the trade from Matiere to Tokirima. The engineer and builder, a tall, smartlooking young fellow, told me that he has explored the river from Toi Toi bridge down to the first low-level bridge and said there were hardly any snags at all on that part of the river. From Toi Toi bridge to Matiere he declares will take a lot of money to snag. However, he is quite, satisfied that the launch will accomplish what she is intended for. A native, Wiari Kauroha. is said to be going to build another launch, to be 32ft long by 51ft wide, with a draft of 12 inches and driven by a 15 horse-power oil engine to trade from Tokirima to Mangaroa. He will spend about £4OO on the Mangaroa river before next summer, should these launces prove a success, and it will be a great boon to settlers in the Tokinmu district, where the roads are quite impassable in the winter and settlers have to depend upon their pioneering transport, pack-horses.