HAWERA.

Patea Mail, Volume X, Issue 1315, 2 March 1885, Page 2

HAWERA.

, (prom OUR , OWN CORRESPONDENT.) Our genial .postmaster, Mr Cheney, is about to be removed to fresh fields and pastures -new. He :bas been' here a number of y&ars, and jiistly earned the esteem and respect of the settlers. For his own part he has occasion to think well of the district, as he made a nice little pot out of a small block in the Waimate some time ago.

Th e-■-gre at vi ol in ist Re men yidre w a tremendous house, settlers from Opunake, Stratford, and Manutahi coming especially to hear him. Remenyi told me that the house was worth £7O. Talk about dull times, eh, when so much money can be diddled;out of a small district to see a little fiddling. The correct things is to- say the music and; appurtenances were grand, charming,, and all that sort of thing. The yiplinist took a number bf Maori curios away with him as presents to the mnseUnr of his native : town.. - Since beginning this last tour he told me that he had expended £SOO on curios of various kinds. ; A telegram he sent to a legal friend whom ho met previously in Wanganui was characteristic. “Have yon got ray curios yon promised ? It not, I kill you.” (Signed) Remenyi. It is needless to say the wire fetched the lawyer, who had a nice little lot ready for the cbnhoikenr, some being presents, othersjfor sale, amongst the presents and purchases being two store hatchets, as used by natives in former days, two green-stone' gods,- a taiha, a i pair of Maori skulls in excellent order, mats, kits, etc, making quite a selection. The skulls, male and female, were dubbed Romeo and Juliet by the grinning Hungarian.., In order to make our- library more popular, the rates of subscriptions have been reduced. The reading room continues as aforetime, entirely free. Crops of oats, wheat, etc, are ‘ very good this year, the former commodity promising to be very cheap. Small parcels are now . offered at 2s 3d, and there is a large quantity in the market. There have been enquiries for rape, but I do not know of any crops about. Much will be required for sowing in the newly burnt bush ; nothing is better for keeping thistles down, and cattle can feed off it while the grass comes on.

Cocksfoot seed has not been so plentiful as was anticipated, although I think the general price was only 3 and 3£, so that I should think buyers will do well, becaneea large quantity must be required in this district for local wants. The Hawera Town Hall is being rennovated, ceiling painted, walls scriraed, papered, and decorated with statues, &c, It looks fresh and neat and will present a cheerful appearance. Shareholders may take their dividends out in the pleasure of seeing the lively improvement. A new piano last year at a cost of £BO, and other improvements, and this year beginning with decorations, thus the profits are invested. The Hall will be complete in time, and is already a valuable property. I hear that Juno’s sweep on the Egmont faces is taking very well; being a local one and the management above suspicion, for such as like investments of that precarious nature, I can commend'this.

Strange we never heard a word about it! When the s.s. Gairloch first went out of the Waitoro River she stuck just outside the breakwater, and there she lay all night long, passengers, and cargo of sheep and cattle. The s.s. Hannah Mokau. could not move her that tide. The-next morning she got off all right. The Waitara is a nice little river, but she ain’t good for any thing, she’s got her shoals and shallows. With fair treatment, Patea may vastly improve her trade, and there’s no reason why she should not hold her own against Waitarai ? i /