THE OTHER END OF THE LINE

Stratford Evening Post, Volume II, Issue 88, 7 November 1932, Page 15 (Supplement)

THE OTHER END OF THE LINE

OKAHUKURA, OHURA AND TAUMARUNUI THE PLACE OF THE RED HAWK ~, Fame of Eastern Junction Owed to Political Expediency THERE are not many people in this area who know a great deal about Okahukura, the eastern junction of the Strat-ford-Main Trunk line; indeed, there is not very much to be known. It is quite an unobtrusive spot, and it is not yery certain that, prior to 1911, when it was pitchforked into prominence as a result of the Work of the eastern end of the Stratford-Main Trunk line being commenced there, if it existed at all. Jt is seven miles north of Taumarunui and the Maori name, "The Place of the Red Hawk." An Ohura settler told the Post the other day that Okahukura owes its fame to political expediency. The story goes that 20 years ago, just before an election, the Government of the day was threatened that if work was not started at Okahukura before the election writs were issued the Government could look elsewhere for support at the polls. So in 1911 a Public Works party put the first pick into the ground, and Okahukura's name first appeared on the map.

Work was begun at the Okahukura end oi' the Stratford line in November, 1911. The official explanation oi! the start was that it was to give the settlers in the Ohura Valley the benefit of connection with the main line, pending the construction of the difficult part of the line in the rugged Tangarakau country, just about halfway between Strafford and Oka. hukura, Jt is generally admitted that from Ohura, 17 miles from the Main Trunk, the line should have gone in a northern direction, through the Waitehena Valley, ' and some out somewhere near Otorohanga, or perhaps south of To Kuifi. That route would have opened up one of the linest coal seams in the King Country and its advocates say that it would have been in every way superior to the Ohura-Okahukura connection. Settlement in the Ohura Valley dates back a long time; it was begun in the early nineties when the late Rt Hon It. J. Seddon brought in his improved land scheme. But it was not until 1901 that survey parties went into the district to cut it up on a large scale and the first large bal. lot was held in the following- year. In 1004 the sections of the present Ohura town were sold, so that particularj settlement >is comparatively young. Dairying is the mainstay of the Ohura Valley. There are also some fine flocks of sheep, for which the hilly country is admirably suited, and a settler in one of the neighbouring

valleys has topped the market for wool two or three seasons running, but more and more men are turning to dairying, which with its monthly cheque is much more attractive than the uncertainty of the wool industry at the present time. Okuha township is 19 miles by rail from Okahukura and just halfway between the two is the smaller township of Matiere—the two main centres of the valley. Ohura County has a population of over 2700, and in the fertile lateral valleys there is room for thousands more. Ohura is one of the districts Aj/.th an. assured future. Settlement has gone in as far down as the Wian, ganuj River, but there has been practically no new influx since before the war. In addition to the rail connection' there is a road to Ongaruc, another to Taumarunui, and a third to Okahukura,, but the 'last mentioned lacks metal over a short stretch of four miles, due to some local differences of opinion, and outsiders cannot understand Avhy the gap is permitted to exist. Ohura County is practically all in the Taranaki Province, but a good idea of the geography of the district can be gathered from, the fact that Taumarunui if self is in Auckland Province, across the river is in Wellington Province, and the Taumarunui Hospital s. in Taranaki Province. At Taumarunui one is at the meeting place of three provinces.