ACTIVITY AT WAITARA

Taranaki Daily News, 26 August 1930, Page 11

ACTIVITY AT WAITARA

THOUSANDS TO VISIT THE PA i PREPARING THE ACCOMMODATION' ENORMOUS NUMBERS OF EELS. ’ r Maoris from all over the North te- ■ land and numbers from the South Island are converging on Waitara tor the native ceremonies in connection with the commitment of the ; casket containing the ashes of Sir Maui Pomare to the specially constructed vault. A family from the Chatham ; Islands and several parties of' Maoris from different parte of New Zealand are al- ' ready in residence at the Manukorihi .pa and large parties are expected to- , day from Auckland, Waikato and Taupo.. Wanganui Maoris will arrive by the train on Friday, but numbers from all points of the compass are arriving as the days go by. The Waitara natives are. extremely busy erecting tents and shelters, collecting food and fuel and generally . making ready for the arrival of , . the ihundreds of' visitors. Very .few parties, ihave notified, the time of their arrival and none of them the number making the trij). Hence, with little idea of the number that will, eventually congregate the authorities at the pa can do nothing but prepare accommodation tor as many as possible. One man at the pa who has been in tbuch with affairs i throughout stilted yesterday that He | thought' there would lie at least .3000 .people there for the week-end. Another., ‘in an equally qualified. position to,’ .judge, 'said it was too indefinite to. even hazi ard’ a guess and that all they could do ' was- to be ready for “thousands.” Word is expected '. to-day from Parliament. Buildings conveying' .rind.. pe'fsbhneT of ’ tlie official party. For several days the pa has presented a scene of great activity.' There.‘are, now seven huge'.marquees arid five smaller tents standing among the other buildings and additional ones are being erected continuously. HURRY AND EXCITEMENT. Halls and houses are being.cleaned' and in sdme cases papered, and accommodation’with Waitara natives arranged' lest the :pa ' cannot take all. The Native Department has erected an iron shed and two of its'representatives are already installed with supplies of blankets, mattresses arid' other things. A health inspector has visited the scene and left his Advice and instructions. '■ Through the whole pa surges, an undercurrent of breathless hurry and excitement. The sounds of hammering and sawincr never cease and the tongues ! of wahines and children but seldom. Visitors are greeted loudly and soon they, too, are busy helping with the ‘ ; The question of food for such a multitude as the one expected is, of course, of vital importance. Parcels and cases, arrive from distant places, but the Taranaki Maoris are providing the bulk of the provisions. ' Already they have, promises of cattle, pigs and fpieep and. can, of course’ , always fall back upon, the freezing works. Ten tons of potatoes are stacked near the cookhouse.

But it is the number of eels that is so amazing. Eight hundreds eels from the Urenuj River arrived at the pa on Sunday and in the evening came a further supply of 3000 lamprey eels from the upper reaches of the Waitara River. Two thousand more of the same variety were expected last evening. These are in sacks and many of them are still alive. 'Five cases of fish arrived from the South Island yesterday. Hu°e piles of wood. are stacked at the rear of the cookhouse -and a great tarpaulin covers a supply of straw for , bedding. Long tables already set with silverware and crockery extend the; length of the main hall and decorations in greenery are round the walls. The white cloths upon the tables and the neatly curtained windows lend the rooinan attractive appearance? In addition to Maori visitors and the official party of Parliamentarians it is expected that many pakeha parties will arrive at Waitara for the week-end. On Sunday, the day of the funeral, it is certain that there will be many hundreds of Taranaki people and motorists from further afield to witness the ceremony.'' " ’ ■ ■, . ■.