FROM THE EAST COAST TO THE WEST.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 230, 23 January 1878, Page 3

FROM THE EAST COAST TO THE WEST.

Pabt 11.

(Prom the "H.B. Herald.") WOODVILLE AGAIN. — THE MTTRDEE. The murder of OUandt, and its attendant circumstances, was still the subjeot which 1 found the Woodville people more ready 1 o launch out about than any other. No one whom I came across doubted Thomson's guilt. Indeed that gentleman himself, on his return to the district, after his acquittal, appears to have adopted rather an apologetic that an indignant tone in discoursing on the subject with anyone who would listen to him. He seemed disposed to plead the alleged unamiable traits of Ollandt's character in extenuation of the strong measures to which he resorted, rather than to dwell upon such features of the subject as Ilia lawyers would like to have seen brought out. in their best light. He occupied his old quarters for about three days, but did not find Woodville society disposed to take him up. He used to stand at his door a good deal, and invite any swagmen who| he saw passing to come in and dine with him, or stny the night. The swagmen even, however, uniformly declined his overtures, and preferred such food and shelter as they could get elsewhere. At last he got on his pony and went off down the Napierroad. As he was subsequently seen on the Masterton-road, he must have made his wny into the latter through some tracks cut in the bush. He had been a popular man with a good many of the people about the district, as he had a gift for spinning yarns about bushrangers, blackfellows, and the adventurous days of early Australian colonisation, and was open-handed with his partner's property. A good deal of gambling, it is said, went on at the accommodation house. It was naturally difficult to obtain evidence of this, however, as it could only be given by those who themselves participated in it. Some were disposed to explain the fact of his return to the township, on the theory that he knew where Ollohdt's horde of money was to be found, and that he had came back to take it away with him. BUSH TOWNSHIPS. The" streets -of ■■'Woodville, like those of Philadelphia and other towns laid out in the most approved modern style, present the appearance of avenues running between rows of beautiful trees. It somewhat mars the satisfaction of the spectator with the prospect, however, . : to observe that behind these trees again there are other trees, and so ad infinitum. Primeval nature, indeed, reigns supreme in this city, except where it is broken by a public house, two stores, And' brie or two small cottages. Suppose, indeed, that -a^ man wanted to 'clear his section, to fence iH^ and to build no it, he could hardly do so with an easy mind, when his neighbor's trees stand within a few yards of him, ready any iday to smash his fences and knock'his house about his ears.: In selling Government townships in the bush, the invariable rule blight to be adopted of clearing them first. The cost of clearing, which is nothing, when undertaken on a large scale, in comparison with ' what it must be when undertaken on a smaller one, would be recouped probably more than -double by the increased prices obtained when, the land is sold. If this were done, then many of the sections would be bought, as, for instance, the Taradale town sections were bought, for the erection of laborers' cottages. The system of clearing townships before sale has -been introduced with, success, I understand, in the Patea district, and ought to be made universal. Otherwise all the township sections are sure to go into the hands of speculators, and in such cases the chances are that even the speculators will get very little good out of them, and the settlement well be spoilt probably for many years. QTHm SPECIAL SETTLEMENTS IN THE WOOD- ■"•'"" YII^ NEIGHBORHOOD. In my last I referred to only one special settlement at Woodville. There are, however others in the neighborhood in a more or less advanced condition. One might well be excused, -however, for riot referring to them. They are hardly visible. None of them, of course, are along the line of road. The land there has all .been carefully reserved from settlement for purpose* of speculation. The only other special settlement which makes any show at all at present is the Heretaunga settlement It is about six miles this side of. Woodville, and is just visible, in the distance, from the main road, across a clearing. The settlers there are mostly people of moderate capital, and are employing their neighbors to do the first rough work of clearing for them. Settlers of their stamp, instead of speculators who only buy for a rise, should have been planted all along beside the poorer special settlements. Alongside, of the Heretaunga, . the Bush Mills settlement was to have been formed.. That, prqjeofc, however, has been upset, in the meantime at any rate, by a hitch in the native title. The Waste Lands Board offered the settlers the option of taking up land on the Puketoi B,look, at present entirely inaccessible. They did not seem tojsee it, however^ There is an excellent black, I believe, alongside the Woodville settlement, that should certainly '-be given either to them, or to some other deferred payment -settler-. The Waste Lands Board, however, it is said, intend to reserve it for purposes of speculation. After endless trouble and circumlocution, the Victoria block people are at last in a fair way to get their land. It is being surveyed at any rate. Let them only tackle their arduous task of making homes for themselves in the forest with brave hearts and strong hands, and no doubt we shall yet be able to reckon them and their children among our thriving and prosperous farmers.. THE G<3BGE. A ride of four miles brings us to the magnificent railway bridge over the Mauawatu. I may pass it with the observation that it is highly creditable to the engineer who designed it, the contractor w.ho built ta and the Treasurer, who harrowed the inpney to pay for it. The only question is whether it could not haye been' done without. At the other end of the Grorge the Manawatu, has. to. be crossed again, and the bridge there will be so expensive that- 1 hear there is-some talk of keeping the line on this side of the river all the way instead of crossing it twice. If that is practicable, it seen\s

rat hoi* a pity that they did not think about it before ornamenting the solitudes of the forest with tho magnificent structure alluded to. Tlio construction of the line through tlie G.>r^e will be a very heavy work. OiiiTent ivpiirt ealimntes its probable cost nt a quarter of :i million. We shall need to borrow a j^ood many more millions before it enn be undertaken. I have not the le.ist duubt, however, that we shall borrow them, mid that the work will be done before very many years are over. The scenery along the road at this pointis the chief attraction for " globe trotters " on the overland route to Wellington. The foliage- clad cliffs rise at angles very little divergent from tho "perpendicular some hundreds of feet above the river on each side. The rata trees, crowned with scarlet blossoms, stand out in splendid contrast to the mass of variously shaded green around them, while the expansive tree ferns give something of a tropical aspect to the landscape. I should recommend anj'one who desires to enjoy the scenery thoroughly, however, not to ride a shying horse down the Gorge road. After it lias dodged once or twice to the edge of the cliff at the sight of a milestone or a wiiterfull, his attention will be so fully taken up with his own tight rope performance that he will oome away with a very vague impression as to the characteristic features of the landscape. The new township of pouangahina. The above, I believe, is likely to be the name of the new township which will some day soon be laid out at the lower crossing of the Manawatu, eight miles from Woodville and about nine miles from Palmerston. Mr M'Kenzie, who keeps the hotel there, is the owner of all the open land between the river and the bush, being about 3P>O acres altogether. The land was purchased about thirteen years ago from the Crown for £1 per acre by Mr M'Kenzie's brother, from whom he purchased it. He intends cutting up 200 acres of it on the right hand side of the road, being the part through which the railway will most likely some day pass, and of selling it in town and suburban sections. It is now being clearedfjof flax and scrub for the purpose of facilitating the survey. The bush behind it is part of the Manchester block — Colonel Feildings purchase — and the Manchester Corporation, I hear, contemplate opening up some of it for settlement in connection with the laying out of Mr M'Kenzie's township. If they do, Pohangahina will, no doubt, soon become, a place of considerable importance. It will be just on the southern boundary of Hawke's Bay- — but outside it — and will form the connecting link between the East and West Coast settlements. IN A STBANG-E LAND. As we pass the ferry, and enter the bush on the Palmerston-road we find ourselves in a strange land. The country is closely similar in its natural features to that which we have been going through for the past day or two, but historically and politically everything is changed. We are now in the Manawatu County. "What Hawke's Bayite is there, I should like to know, who could tell us the name of the chairman of its Council, or, indeed, of a single member of t-Hat right worshipful body ? We are in the Manawatu electoral district also. ;^ THE STON7 OEBEK SETTLEMENT. The Palmerston-road' skirts the southern boundary of the Manchester Block, which is an oblong stretching from east to west, about fifteen or twenty miles, and having an average breadth of about five. Some four or five miles on this side of Palmersfcon, we reach the Scandinavian settlement at Stoney Creek. It is larger, and" its establishment is of older date than the Scandinavian settlements in Hawke's Bay. Ifc;ns not surprising, therefore, that it should make a considerably better show in advancement and prosperity. There is totara in the neighborhood also/ ah inestimable advantage in giving the settlement a good start to begin with. ■' : ■ ■ ?• . THE BOADS AND BAILWAY LINES. . As far as Stoney Creek> the projected line of extension of the Napier railway keeps close to the main road. There, it diverges throug&tthe bush to the right, traversing the Efeilding Block diagonally. It comes out of it near Bunnythorpe, where it meets, at right angles, the railway^ now running from Feilding to Palmerston," 1 being part of the Feilding and Foxton line. The bush is felled and cleared a chain wide from " Stony Creek "to Bunnythorpe, but no road is formed. One can ride along the track without difficulty in summer, but in winter it must be almost or quite impassable. \To he concluded in our next.)