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THE EAST COAST

SPLENDID COUNTRY. [ MR. 11. OKEY'S IMPRESSIONS. I "It was quite an eye-opener," remarked Mr. H. Okey, M.P., in the course of a conversation with a representative of the News, "to see the amount and the , quality of the land along the route 01 the proposed Gisborne-Waihi railway." Personally, he had had no idea of the extent of the country prior to his visit last week, and he is now quite enthusiastic as to its possibilities. A lot of the land is very good, capable, he estimates, of carrying one cow to every two acres when properly developed. Some of it, however, it not quite so good, and he added that it is useless lor anyone to go into the district and take up land unless he is prepared to work and work hard in effecting improvements. The whole district, however, suffers very severely from its isolated position, and, to give an instance, Mr. Okey mentioned that during his visit to Opotiki a steamer arrived which had taken over a week on its journey from Auckland. This .sadly impeded the district, and he considered that railway communication was an absolute necessity, and that he would certainly be prepared to assist the Auckland members in their efforts to get the railway pushed through. A start lias been made with the earthworks of the railway near Te Puke.

Another factor that retarded the district was the vast amount of Native land, which was not settled. Mr. Okey then furnished a very interesting account of his trip, saying he could not speak too highly of the treatment meted out to the party. The settlers appeared unable to do sufficient in their efforts to entertain the party, whose trip was made very pleasant, banquetting being the order of most days and every night. One feature was the fact that at every banquet all the edibles had been grown in the district, and Mr. Okey gays he will remember the magnificent turkeys for many days to come. The party, consisting of Messrs. W. T. Jennings, H. J. Okey, C. H. Poole, H. Poland, E. H. Taylor, W. H. Herries, F. Lawry, and A. E. Glover, M.sP., MessrsG. L.Peacocks (chairman),Cheal. Clark, and Stewart, members of the Auckland Railway League, accompanied by Press representatives and a photographer, left Auckland on Easter Mon-! day by train for Waihi, which was reached about C p.m. They stayed at the Masonic Hotel, the host being Mr. Sheffield, late of Messrs. Burgess, Fraser and Co., of New Plymouth. The accommodation was very good, although Waihi is ' in a "dry" district, and Mr. Okey states that there was no sign ol any liquor at the hotels, though he saw evidence occasionally about the towns, which led him to think that it is procurable somewhere. In the evening the party were shown over the Waihi Grand Junction battery and pumping station by Mr. W. G. Grace, manager. This proved very interesting, although the deafening noise of the stampers made conversation, except by vigorous shouting, very difficult. In the morning the party was joined by two members of the Borough Council and another pressman, and a start was made for Tauranga in two large five-horse brakes. Athenray, ten miles away, was the first stop. The party was entertained by Mr. V. Stewart. The land traversed was of a secondary nature, but from the few small cultivated spots seen in passing, should be capable of carrying grass if properly/treatcd. On to Kati Kati, where a fine dinner, prepared by the settlers (who had come from many miles) awailed the party. The tables were laden with fruit, including grapes, apples, etc., grown in the locality, and good enough to take a prize in any show. Mr. Vesey Stewart, aged 82, who founded the settlement in 1875, occupied the chair. Owing to lack of time, only two toasts were prepared, viz., "The King" and "The Railway League," both moved by the chairman,! and responded to by' Mr. Pcacocke, chairman of the Railway League. From Kati Kati a divergence of one and a half miles from the main road brought the party to Te Puna at about S p.m. Here all the settlers had assembled on a round hill, from which a fine view of the country was obtainable. Another repast was spread, but the previous one was too recent for full justice to be done to the viands provided. Here some old Taranaki settlers were met, viz., Mr. Edwards, late of Midhirst, and Captain Crapp, who was in Taranaki during the war time. The fame of Taranaki's Jersey cattle has reached these parts, for Mr. Okey met a settler who had just received a line of thirty Jersey heifers purchased in Taranaki. Tauranga, fifty miles from Waihi, was reached about 7 p.m. Here there was another banquet, and the discussion of local affairs occupied the till 1 a.m. On Wednesday a start was made shortly after 7 a.m. for Matata, fifty-five miles distant. Nearing Te Puke, the first signs of railway construction were met with, several' gang.i being engaged in formation work on country which is fairly level. Here several Taranaki-ites were encountered, including Mr. Bartle Harford, of "Tapuae" fame, who is in charge of a railway gang. At Te Puke, ten miles out, a stop was made for refreshments. The road between Te Puke and Matata contains some heavy hills, up which the majority had to walk, and Matata was not reached till about 8 p.m. Another banquet kept all hands out of bed till 2 a.m. Here among other Taranaki men was Mr. Win. McLachlan, late of Warea, who has a section on the wellknown Rangitaiki swamp. They all appear well satisfied with the change. On Thursday morning the brakes were deserted for launches provided by Messrs. Reid and Thorn, and the party" steamed up the Rangitaiki river towards Taneatna. This river drains a swamp of 85,000 acres, and last session a Bill was put through the House allowing the Government to spend £50.000 on drainage work. Years ago a number of Canterbury people took up the land, formed a drainage board, and spent thousands of pounds in draining. They, however, found it too big an undertaking, and wont out. losing much money. The Government now propose to lower the Rangitaiki river, which is larger than the Waitara river, by seven feet, and also to alter its course, giving it an outlet direct to the sea, instead of into another river as at pre.-onl. A contract has been let for part of it, and sonic few weeks ago the Minister of Public Works turned the first sod. Each member of this party went ashore and turned a soil also. If the work is successful the swamp will lie capable of carrying an enormous population. The soil is a black greasy loam, fully seven or eight feet deep along the river bank, It is a /lax swamp, and there is no peat, so that the shrinkage when drained will be very slighl. Fifteen miles up the river the parly was entertained by Mr. and Mrs. Keid. who own 2000 acres. A large number of settlers had assembled to meet them. They went a further seven or eight miles up the river, where some Tancatu:i settlers were present with buggies, and took them into Taneatua. It haa rained pretty well all day, and every one was wet through on arrival. Mr. Jennings, wko was travelling very light, had no chang\and had to retire. The | others banquet given

by the settlers, -and- this kept them fully occupied until 2 a.m. Mr. Jennings' mishap gave him an advantage over the rest of the party, as he secured a good night's rest. Next day they inspected the Opouriao settlement. This was the first block acquired by the Government under the Lands for Settlement

Act. Purchased at £3 10s per acre, it has proved a fine investment. Sales of settlers' investments have in some cases been made at £27 10s, and as high as £3O per acre. It contains some of the best land Mr. Okey has ever seen, equal to anything in Taranaki—even the famous Waimate plains. One settler keeps 70 cows on 100 acres and made £7 per acre out of the milk supplied to the local dairy factory in one season. Besideß this, he has a patch of maize—indeed, every settler, in the district has maize—which returns from 80 to 100 bushels per acre. Maize at that time was worth 2- lid per bushel. The block cost the Government about £20,000, and last year 0000 acres of it supplied milk to the dairy factory, the output being valued at £28,000. When first it was taken up fifteen years ago, the holders almost threw it up, but dairying saved them. From here, the party went to to Wainuinu block, also purchased by the Government for settlement. The road here mostly runs up the river, which |L crosses sixteen times. , The settlers treated them royally at luncheon. (Mr. Okey broke off to mention that here he. had some of the finest breast of turkey it had ever been his pleasure to eat.*) The land is good, but not equal to previous blocks. The settlers, however, all appear -prosperous. They also drove a short distance into the Urewera block, where the Government has just purchased a block of 70,000 to ,100,000 acres from the' Natives. From what little Mr. Okey saw, the land appears of good quality. A start was made at 2 p.m. for Opotiki, which was reached at 6 p.m. Tho town, which contains about 1000 inhabitants, and is now on the verge of being formed into a borough, was profusely decorated with bunting, and the band played selections in front of the hall, where a banquet was held. The chairman, in the course of his remarks, stated that during the season they had shipped from Opotiki 7000 boxes of butter, its well as wool, etc. Mr. Okey pointed out to them that Taranaki during the butter season shipped 14,000 boxes at Moturoa every fortnight, and a similar quantity ai Patea.

Saturday morning was spent driving around Opotiki. There is some fine land around there, but its isolation, as well as the Native land, keeps it back. The locality contains 900,000 acres, of which 600,000 are in the hands of Natives. It, however, has a great future. In the afternoon a drive was taken to Whakatane in two brakes. Here Mr. Maynard Ramson, formerly of New Plymouth, is in business, and doing well. After tea, there was further discussion on railway matters, which, of course, was the main' topic of conversation. On Sunday morning they started on the final stage of the journey, the party leaving at 7.30 a.m. for Rotorua, 05 miles distant, in the Motor Co.'s brakes. Four sets of horses were used en route, and a pleasant journey terminated in Rotorua at 5.30 p.m. For the early part, the route was through the poorest part of the Rangitaiki swamp, and thence through a lot of land covered with pumice from the Tarawera ,-ruption, which could be made to carry sheep. The last part was, of course, through noted tourist country, the scenery and attractions of which have been often described. After the week's travels a visit to the baths in the sanatorium grounds proved most refreshing. On Monday morning Mr. Okey started per train for home, which he reached on Tuesday night, after a journey of over 1550 miles per boat, train, coach, etc., since leaving New Plymouth,

Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TDN19110428.2.11

Bibliographic details

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 287, 28 April 1911, Page 3

Word Count
1,924

THE EAST COAST Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 287, 28 April 1911, Page 3

THE EAST COAST Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 287, 28 April 1911, Page 3

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