Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, WEDNESDAY, NOV. 29, 1905.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 10526, 29 November 1905, Page 2

Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, WEDNESDAY, NOV. 29, 1905.

Till'- TTMBKR INDUSTRY

Y estel'day's proceedings at Tapuihikitea were .gratifying from the fact that thoy mark the commencement in real earnest of a substantial timber industry iu our district. It i* proposed to considerably enlarge the company's operations, and to extend the tramway, bo that it will junction with the railway at Tc Kavaka, enabling timber to be brought into town at a cheap rate. Progressive and enterprising minds ma at the head of the venture, and iu the Messrs Drunnnond Bros, the company have m«sn thoroughly acquainted with milling und buwh wort, who are eager to carry the enterprise into practical effect. There are two- other smail mills operating beyond Tapuihikitea, and these with the extensive enterprise of the Alpha Sawmilliug Company make a substantial effort to give the timber industry a good footing in our midst. It is an enterprise that is worthy of encouragement, lor it gives employment to a great number ot meu in the bush, iu the mills, and on the road, and leads to the circulation of a large amount of money that would other, wise go out of the district. It i.s, moreover, the. conversion of waste material, of which, unhappily, thousands of pounds hum for a. generation past been annually sacrificed to the fires tick, into gold. Unlike mining und other .speculative indusaries the gold in this timber business has not to be nought for ; it is on the surface laughing at man, and clamoring- for utilisation. It is a thousand pities that the industry, now well established, could not have been brought into being 20 years ago, before the great areas ot bush that then existed in our back blocks came under the destroying hand of civilisation, but -it is useless to repine, settlement had to be promoted, eli««p were required ti> taKe the place of trees. There m the consolation that the bush has not all gone yet, and if a. mill cuu. be made to pay at Tapuihikitea tliere- is no reason why we should not liave the- industry going in other parts of the district where considerable patches of bush still remain. People will bo encouraged to go further, afield. Tlio appeal of the Hon. 3. Carroll at yesterday's gathering, should" bo given weight by all who have timber areas in anything like accessible localities. Let such timber wherever possible be conserved, so that it may stand as the fouudationof an extensive industry throughout the district. Every tree to-day liuj* a substantial present valuo, and a groatcr prospective value, and by ordinary methods of finance the existence of the tree on the ground is a sufficient guarantee for the provision of the capital to enablo means to be provided to convert the treo into timber. We wish all success to the promoters of the timber industry in tlii.s district, and took forward to the day when their efforts may be considerably extended.