OUR NORTHERN LETTER. (From Our Own Correspondent.) Waverley, January 27.

Otago Witness, Issue 2240, 4 February 1897, Page 19

OUR NORTHERN LETTER. (From Our Own Correspondent.) Waverley, January 27.

! THE TOY7W AND DISTRICT OF WAVKRLEY. j Away back among the rusted seventies * Waverloy was, to use a bull, Wairoa ; the I present neat, clean, lively township wan a wild, 1 many-owned Maoriland ; the population wkb j mixed — very, and the times lively — ol a stirring i »nd wmewlnl; »anguinary nature. Upon ail , the liij;h pluces and vantage grounds tbo ! dreaded Maori general Tito Kowavu, hio trusty and terrible fc mt Keroopo, and dusky warriow fought ii'ch by inch of their native laud the redcoats under Colonel Whitunore ; so that in place of the rich crops now being cut down were then man. and the chief industries were arras and accoutrements, Ammunition, warfare, and human blood ; wherens kow nil the sharp sword* br.ve been turned iDto pJoughrtharos, tbe spears into pruning hooks, and warfare and bloodshed into farming and arr:culture and peace. All the foroe* of Tito j Kowaru and Te Kooti .and our troops htvo j smo'ced eternal calumets ; the redcoats havu I plighted troth*, long ago sealed, with tha hand- i i some nut-brown maids of the noil, anil tbe j ' tctooed, war-painted heroes of the Maori i i war have years ago turned their brown | toes to the golden -oyed daisies. Where i was one* a stockade of oak-hearted men - | aud quivering women and children rest* in ' ( fancied security the Government Post Office, | and where the earth was drenched in red gore j of a bloody massacre rests very peacefully God's t acre. Along the tangled brake and black swamp, where, on the turn of the tide, Tito Kowaru and his men fled before the Imperial troops — who, by the way, had no heart to •hoot those noble lords of old New Zealand down— is now & beautiful shellrock street, full ■ of the cheery ring of the smith's hammer, thii j tvhir-r-r of the saw, and the snitch of the | j plane, and all the host of other thing* needed ' in brisk civilised centres. Further out there, where tbe pas used to skulk and tha redoubt* to spasmodically bUze, smile the fir-planted recreation grounds and the many beautiful farms and the solemn churches ; while down towards the rocky seashore, where tho "rebal" Maori used to fish and kill the snapper and the kawai and the truly f*c ' mullet, runs the hiasiog, screaming, red-hot pakeha railway. Skipping lambs and calves and spirited horses have usurped the hidiog places of the wekas and the pukakis and the brown pig, and the lords of the soil are not. The population of Waverley numbers some 500 pakeha*, living in good houses and making Jo;a Of money, and a few Maoris, crouching mostly in wretctied hovel*, quivering on sour, palsied mornsses, ro that the propheoy might bo fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet John Bull: "Go je unto the Maoriland and take everything that is his, and *cc alio that ye make an end of him with bad whisky, vile tobacco, and vicious abominations." And so the land smiles and ii happy, and the pakeha laughs and waxes fat, and the Maori drinks ad smokes and dies *, whilst the old rangatiras squat opposite their whares and wail " The ! pakeha ! the pakeha ! the pakeha ! " Northwards from the Momohaki railway station, on the Wanganui - New Plymouth line, and travelling up a gentle ascent for about one mile, you come to Fittonkerrie, on the left, handsome home of Mr John Chousen, a well-cultivated farm of 340 acres : its 18 acres of ripe wheat, six of oats, and 28 of turnips all Jook blooming under the forenoon summer sun. Pittenkerrie also profitably feeds 1000 Lincoln*, 400 of which are breeding ewe*, and also 400 }ambs. Mr Choueen has been singularly fortuDat* in obtaining from the celebrated breeding farm of Mr Peter Wilson tome primely bred rams — one two-toother purchased at the rani fair held in Wanganui on February 8, 1895, yielded for two clippings inside of 15 months 351b of wool. The land of this fine patrimony yields averages of from 50 to 62 bushels of , wheat to the acre. . j CHARLOTTE OEOVE. . j On the Okutuku block, some three miles northwards of Waverley, stands Charlotte Grove, of 450 acres, now in 17 acrex of rape, eight of oats, 24 of hay, and grazing 1000 Lincolns, three draught and three harncs* horses, two hacks, six dairy cows, and 40 head of fatten- ' ing cattle. This is the home of Mr William I Murray, and should you chance that way the hospitable owner will be sure to make you heartily welcome. J THE WAVBHZEY STATE FARM. Some four miles to the north-east of | Waverley towaship the Government State farm j i» well managed under two divisions — viz., that i of the horticultural department uuder tbe supervision of Mr C»llendnr, »nd the agricultural portion under tbe management of Mr Gillandtr. The farm, which is being run on scientific principles, consists of 300 acres, and has in the horticultural division over 1500' different I species of plants, shrubs, and fruit trees. It employ* about 10 men in all, and is, although only some eight mouths old, in a fair Tray to • become a national model farm. J INCIDENTS IN THE BATTLB OF NDKTJMAHO. | When Tito Kovaru and hJB tatooed warriors were entrenched in their pa at Nukumaru, and j Colonel Whitmore and his troops with the ! friendlies under Major Kemp were skirmishing i | or reconnoitring tbn enemy's stronghold, Mr ' J William Handley, vow genial host of the Nukarnaru Hotel, whilst doing duty as guide, said to a trooper, •' Relieve me for a moment," and permission being given by the officer in charge, the narrator, glass in hand, who was at the time of the requent buried shoulder deep in a trench, (scrambled out, and his place was no sooner filled than "wish — ping — thud!" came a Maori bullet from the pa, and, striking the relief on the side of the forehead just above the right eye, it tore off a narrow ribbon of flesh from the point of contact right around to tha back of the head above the ear. The wounded soldier was carried to the rear apparently little the worse. Handley then returned hi« post and the fight began, it being then about midday, j The rebels poured in showers of laad, but j happily with small effect, as they proved them- ' selves bad judges of distance and poor shot?. On the contrary, we numbered some crack marksmen, who general pinked the copper-skins at sight. Thi* desultory fusillade wore away in tbe afternoon with few casualties amongst the regular*, and when evening came Colonel Whitmore, after consultation, agreed to storm the pa at daybreak ; bat the cunning Tito Kowaru smelt a rat, and had with all those true instincts

' -■ '"finished Hannibal, oir John Moorag i Jm, .. . Jackson, and othor .generals retire*) uuder cover, ami *o our troops lound an empty citadel. The soenes of these wild inoidenw marking the homicidal gloriec of the past, being right opposite hit door, are frequently pointed out by Mr Handlay, - whose pioket fence is all along the line where Whitmore and his redcoats stood ready for that dftjbmftk aisuult of anna prevented only by evacuation of the rat-brown foe, I stood and B-lso cycled over the route onoe taken in wild flight by a young lady equestrienne before the battle of Nukumaru. I passed by • woatlier-boatd dwelling standing on the site rff the dreaded Tito Kowaru't kaingft. It wai t*bao to me, but all around the natives w*t« busy tilling the foil, and one young woman, hoeing potatoes, railing her bead, waved hcv i hand and called oat to me, " Kapai to bike ! " I LoDg after the war Mr* William Handley, who never appeared (o bold mnoh fear for tho I natives, distinguished herself. <A stookricV.r i had ridden up, and was in the net of tying np I his nag at this lone wayside hotel when three great Maoris, mad with waiparu, galloped «o furiously up as' to frighten the pakeha'g botae I into by*tenc4 i>o that the animal broke loose, : and by nay of raply at the irate owner 5*5 * remonstrance the three darkskins instantly farther vented their maniacal fury by striking him to the etuttb, and while two danced the halca upon hi* rnoumbent person, a third armed with a pitohf ork aought a convenient spot wherein to let out what merriment the pakeha might yet have left. It was at thia cri*i* that Me* Handley, armed with a good hide whip, rushed oat and laid about with right good will on the bare backs of the savages, who were so astounded as to allow their intended victim to rise. The latter thereupon challenged them to fight individually, but this consideration foir their feelings was altogether disregarded, »nd as Mr Hadley just then hove in sight, making quick running for the «cen«, the natives took to • horae and galloped off more furiously than they I had come. I NICE BOMBS OF THB SUNHT NORTH. ! Hard by Maxwelltowa, upon a beautiful fertile prominence in sight of the sea and some five miles to the southward, stand? the Fenwick Farm, christened by "m« and bike" at the request of the hospitable owner, Mr William Derbyshire, who had juat finished the thearing of 4000 purebred Lincolns, whioh eaoh averaged 91b fleecas. The farm smiles just now under 16 - acres of ripening wheat, and away out seawards lone Egmont, the cloud-piercer, rears np a glistening pyramid in the ohcokeied sky. Property is worth "zummat" at Maxwelltown, Mr Henry Porter Mills, proprietor of the store there, having given £60 recently for the quarter acre on which that building now stands. There is no boarding house or hotel at Maxwelltown, but Mr Mills intends to shortly supply the wont. Although Maxwelltown is bat a small place, yet around the corner can he heard at all times during the day the cheery ring of Mr Charlie Smith* hammer. Ho is the village blacksmith, aud does well shoeing for the farmer* all the country round about. LAJCESIDB. Some miles off the main shellrook road connecting Waverley and Nukumaru and a. few miles from the former to seaward, and by the shore* of a ' lovely lake, stands ' Lakeside, a beautiful farm of 500 acres, farmed and owned by Messrs Henry Dyke and Son. Included is au orohard of choice fruit*, and the other portion of the farm has just carried 2000 Lintfolns successfully through the season. ■WOODLANDS. If you like we'll take a wheel down the Aellvock road to Momohaki, and' before we g«t right to the railway station let* turn up that by-lane to the left and then we'll get to Woodlands, the lovely homestead of Messrs Howie Bros., whose 750 acres of rich loamy land akirts for over a mile the Montoroa road. The three homes are rich in stately plantations and laid out tastefully in orchard and gardens, whioh yield abundance of fruit in due season. The season's wool clip was good, and from the bucks of 17,000 Liucolc*. Woodland* milks daily 100 j shorthorn cows, the produce whereof goes to the • dairy factory. The genial brothers have now ' 50 acres of oats hourly ripening, which will shortly be oat down by aid of the latest improved machinery owned and used at Woodlands. <|t