MID-WAIAU.

Otago Witness, Issue 2370, 3 August 1899, Page 29

MID-WAIAU.

Merrivale, July 26. — " Traveller's " letter requires a brief answer. I have a more or less personal knowledge of every settler in this block. It would be next to impossible to draw by lot a more energetic, thrifty Jot of neighbours. Nearly all are skilled farmers. The headway they have made in spite of adverse circumstances is astonishing. At the time the ground was opened the style in which the money was wasted in unnecessary co-operative works was strongly protested against. The loading has since been found acting oppressively. The settlers through Mr Gilfedder, M.H.R., are now petitioning to . get their ground rented on more equitable terms, or to be put by railway in connection with the seaboard. ■ It is sheer absurdity to throw stones at people because at the beginning they had to live in caves, lean-to's, tents, and poor houses. Such have been the beginnings of nearly all successful settlers. The pioneer squatter of one of the most famous runs in Otago lived in a cave. " Traveller's ' letter was refused insertion by the editor of the principal Opposition papers in Southland who knew the ins and outs of the case. Bickerings and petty strife, the bane of rural districts from time immemorial, seem, so far aa I hear, unknown amongst these settlers. On the contrary, they all seem animated by goodwill, friendliness, and mutual helpfulness. The farms are being cultivated like so many gardens. Many capital and in some cases elegant houses have been erected; orchards and ornamental trees are being planted; and a spirit of true settlement, second to none the colony has ever known, animates one and all. A New Settler. — I saw recently in your Canterbury sporting correspondent's budget of news that Mr Gates, of Tinyvald, was given a banquet on. leaving that place foi Australia. The day following I met the gentleman in question negotiating the Black Hill, near Merrivale station, ■with a number of his horses. The day was cold and" miserable in the extreme. The ground was covered with slush and snow. The animals, just off a long and tedious railway journey, did net look much elated by the majestic scenery oi the Takitimos and West Coast Ranges. By this time all will have got settled at Koromiko, a valuable property which Mr Gates has purchased rear Merrivale and Eastern Bush. Whether the climate of this part of the world will suit blood stock I cannot pretend to say. That this Western district cap produce draughts second to none in Otago or the colony, or the Southern Hemisphere, I have, however, no hesitation in asserting, aathe thing has been worked tfttt successfully.. Mr Gates will mifls the rail-

way connection and the good metalled roads of Canterbury. I hope ere long he will be similarly blest in the Waiau. Otahu. — The unsold portions of Otahu have been leased to Mr Gardner, of Birchwood, whose sheep now graze from the Wairio to the Waiau, with the exception of about a. mile. Railway Agitation. — This year the locality has been subdivided into districts for railway agitation purposes. Each committee has appointed delegates to attend a meeting at Eastern Bush. The following delegates have been appointed: — Messrs Findlay and Miurchison for Merrivale; Davis and Salton for Feldwick; C. Gardner for Birchwood; Morrison and Scobie, jun., for Eastern Bush; Darley and Fowle for Otahu; King for Waiau; Bradley and Beggs for Bellmount; Dickson and Officer for Scott's Gap. < Open-air meetings ha-ve also been held at Orawia- Bridge with uncommonly large attendances — in mid-winter too. It is, however, risking too much to do so at this season of the year, as a bad day would nullify all the efforts of the settlers interested over a wide area. Weather. — The weather since the early part of the month has been of the wildest and worst description. Turnip breaks have been trodden into mire. The driest and most suitable ground has suffered worse than usual. Sheep have had hard work to hold their own unless turnips have been supplemented with dry food. In some cases under my notice blindness or semi-blindness has followed this- exposure. The j morning of yesterday broke on the hardest frost I have known in the colony. If the weather had not turned cut so sharp there would have been heavy floods. Olahu, as it is, is in many places a waste of water. '