WAIMATE PLAINS.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 October 1924, Page 17 (Supplement)

WAIMATE PLAINS.

WOB I/VS RICHWiT I/ANOS LIFE Hti THE OL» IJAVS STR'IOOGBS 01? PJONEBRH ’ AH Now have hoard of Ute woadwful fertility of perha|w the ridheol (»aot of dairying-kud iu the whole- world. If ».s -Today c.V&twly settled -and iKiimf.ifwl >*• the intnwi (hri superb arcs of country. Vtw't changes

in the sise of the farms have taken jdace in (he past twenty-five or thirty years. Before the establishment of the dairy industry many of the farms ranged from two or five hundred acres or more. Times were hard in those old days; fanners had to work long and content themselves with very little beyond actual living costs. But with the advent p.' cool storage and prospects of regular shipping, butter and cheese factories began to spring up in all districts. The prices for produce on the Home market gave to our da.r.-men a good >rofit and it was not h 3 before land rose in value I srn.s ;u'i could have been bought for £2O an acre rapidly rose to £4O. and in th? course of a few years up ■ a £l5O pe r acr? p for some of the brst beach cmintr- Sine? then the Wai mate Plains ha ? enjoyed v long period of prosperity, and > -.lay he land yields an ?.er increasing retur? Although a go-sd dej' u military movemoot ceir red around Manaia in the early days inerp was orac'ncally no clash of situs ’v-: -ft? and white seidiv v uor.fi of fh? VPaiugongoro River and up the cossi aa im as (hmnake. Neverth 'lesss. one or ■ -’ » imp »n *o: actions were foughi tin f»r from Manaia In add''iion m ;h* •-'-‘is? 11 our arms at Te Again <» 1? Mimi, where (he gallant Von T?tu|»ky and a loi of Forest Rangers were killed by native* under Tilnkowaru, there ■’l-* i> -mgagem?-«( fought from the sea in the early day*. Mi ('ovwx.t in h>s first- volume i■•>.» \’ev. /. ibi - l Wars and the Pioneering Perv> i states-- "The first occasion

on which British forces came uito conflict with kFaon w-wi'irs (leaving out OaptainCooltb; enconnleih) was the puuitix’e CicpydiUou to (tie Taranaki coaol m 1834, when 1f.M.8.*-Alligator m*d U«o oehoonev IfiaheHa- ’from "Bydttey -tMdod - sadters andooldters whir bad -been /emt to-rescue-Guard -and 'her two children, -cftplaredwhen (lie bargue Harriet was wfodkftl »e.i» Cape -BgmmtA The (besidos toe fladors) U*c bOtb ltegiM»cni; Atttder Capi **»r'J«hi»siM».. Gw October 8 the torc<* ■ fcmdad-cm - toe beach wear th? W awn al e ■a«d» Orangi T-uapck-a qialis. o»> (be writo-ride of-the Kapmlt River, a couple- (4 '•miloa -from Maiiffia Lown, ami fH'<4- heavily on the Maoris after meowing Che-JH-tle Jack G’wivd A- Hribsh - flag of truce was flying at- 4-lre -bm*; buffc* fhe temipur got out of band Adto*—too (be force owaladed (be evacn at'id bitt 4orC -wWiHi •hotted on October I, -and aho--oapPhed (be'pah; Orangi Tuapeka, on top. itortoern ride <4 the Kapuni •* (to '(totohar-.. H-4«ith fortified villages were deakoyed, (ho wbarat -being- demolished. by-Hii?. ” Traces of former occupation of (he WriHii!ate.pah may (iliß* Ik- tound-in- (he shape Of lunnara pits, which were kept well stocked during (be period -toot the -and Waikato iribtw made fro quent raids into Taranaki territory: This pah, standing on an isolatol qaece of chff, w*« -impregnable to waruois aimed with the'-old- -Wann weapons'- It was easily defended, (here -1 wing ouly-one wind ihg (rack to (he summit This-path Could aasdy l»v a few iJalwaW. *4»raA'c*, White the* defenders «)k»v.- *cmdd*h«a3 down ► stones-on to the heads of too- aUac.ltera > Mr- James J. Patterson, an old HMwdent of toe Plains, wlrn liv?j» at Manaia, -m-termed toe writer of this .article (li<t he bad in 4ms -|MWKehH»ou several - cwiwh-: bail* taken -kiMM (he-trad-of (he -Kapmii •R.ivew’wfeerc it -emjilie#* -into the sea These -o-mmioii 4»atts were -tmdoulitollv firc*l by * when -.that ship was shelling (Ire Maori stvengh rids

SEFTLING THE I’bAING. The town <»f Mmiua, ri(.ual.?d on licanli fully level country, was laid out -mi a square plan, the snrv *y aUiMvmg for plenty of wide i»l.reela, in anticifiation of tbo-coMlre being an important- one, owing Io the rich lairroundmg territory, It was nut long lief ore all the pUmo country along a two iml<* .-ifcrip-k<nn • (he eea wa* t-dten ti|r -by- pioneer i;ettloi> The waatai road lending frmrt W««w Plymouth to* Wang-anui bad been w?l| Im«|= 4»y (he v liHftrooiM,-- Armed GonslMmlfuy and otlmm, and most, of th?. al.ia>«tns -bed t»ccn bridged- It woa cm oitber side of* thin highway that the eadv w4t)<w* Ilnar ihddingM- Sm»» alter the c.-ninfry-sHnafad lotand and tip towards Hie FimvmV Reserve won mn*»ed for mdeatiun.. Thin was then -clothnd- iw* virgin. bush-, and lor tl»<r- mo.il part h -awdy Lmt liered with rata, puk iloa, -inatai, Law* and other forest, with dense undmgrowth of supplejack, - wmelierrv, ' httdilawy-r,** eU . underneath. Settlers who took up holding* in these ■ inland Mltatnctn had-Io out up with -th,» -isolation- and hardship* that ntill character ise Ide in-some -of Taranaki's-remote I>ack blocks. BushleUing was soon--hi--opera-tion-and the Manat*-township-wan a centre for supplies. The roads being - nothing better than tracks through tha-'-toceat, set tiers had to sledge thfeir liolonging*+o their holdings. Many of the fiirHvdmusea were built from timber pit sawn o* -the pro ( >erty, and although roughdiewn, they looked picturesque in- the clearings that had been cut out of- the ■ Iwnh. Supplies were sent in to these set Hers by nack saddle, and it was quit e«-common tosee a string of half-a-dosen -qitick honv-s start out from the Man am stores-heavily' laden with flour, sugar, boots, etc., for a trip into the bush districts,