FACTS AND FIGURE'S

Taranaki Daily News, 8 November 1932, Page 13

FACTS AND FIGURE'S

OHURA AND WHANGAMOMONA.

A GLANCE INTO STATISTICS. Not a great number of Maoris are living in the Ohura. There is, however, a small pa, the Pukirimu Pa, -about two miles out of Matiere, and anothei near Niho Niho. ' In their travels from the King Country southward the Maoris used to follow the Ongarue down to Ohura, which •centre became a halting place on most inland migrations. The half holiday throughout the Ohura is observed on Wednesday. There is an attractive rest room for ladies in Ohura. Grass throughout the Ohura grows ■very luxuriantly on the rich river flats and sheltered valleys. In fact stock cannot keep it down until the autumn. “Those were, the days when a good horse was the settlers’ best friend, and the woman who came to Whangamoinona but was not a good horsewoman was here for keeps,” remarked Mrs. A. Klee, Whangamomona, in speaking to a Daily News representative of the early life of the district. “Stores,” she said, had to be brought in in the summer months, as the road was so bad in the winter that the freight charges made the price of goods almost prohibitive. Dairying operations are being carried out on the Marco, Whitianga, Brewer, Kohuratahi, Mangare, Ohura and other less important side roads in the Whangamomona County. Mr. C. W. Hursthouse, engineer and surveyor, was the man selected by the Government to make the firet official penetration of the Ohura and secure authentic data. Mr. Fred Newsham accompanied him. 'Survey maps of New Zealand m loSl merely contain a blank where the Ohura County was subsequently formed. When the Hon. McKenzies’ improved farm settlement scheme was put into operation many of the men engaged on road work in the Whangamoniona-Ko-huratahi area took up the sections, each of which contained anything from s'o to 100 acres, but later they left them and other settlers went in and took larger blocks. ‘ “It was found,”’ states Mr. C. E. Bacon, Whang'amomona, “that the sections were too small for the type of country, and it was the settlers who had larger holdings who made the most progress.” Snow is rare in Ohura, but during one week of last winter the hill tops were liberally sprinkled.

Strawberries are now ripening in many Ohura gardens. Th© capital value of the Ohura county is £1,113,9311, and the unimproved value £373,052. The value of improvements is £740,874.

Only 332 holdings arc settled and occupied by a total population of 2720 people in the Ohura district. The total area of the Ohura County is 427 square miles (273,280 acres). Last winter was the first one in which there was an all-metal road leading out of the Ohura. That was the Ohura-Tokirima-Taumarunui road.

One and a-quarter sheep to the acre and one beast to 4J acres is the carrying capacity of the grass land of the Ohura. ' . .

There are approximately 7000 dairy cows in the Ohura valley.

The triangulation of the King Country was commenced during the last week of I'BB3. Much of this work in the south was carried out by Mr. H. M. Skeet, of Taranaki, and in the north by Mr. Laurence Cussen, of Hamilton. The first detailed sketch map of Ohura was completed in I'BB4. It was prepared by Messrs. Cussen, F. H. Edgecumbe and W. C. C. Spencer. The Ohura may become a great fruitgrowing district. Mature trees are at present bearing wonderful crops. The only bank established at Matiere is the Bank of New South Wales. Mr. Stoddard is manager. Home brew is the vogue at Ohura, but Matiere settlers do not seem nearly so enthusiastic. A man once drank too much at Whangamomona, and being unable to reach his home spent the night reclining against a fence. There he was noticed 'by a joyous party who also knew where to find a pot of red paint. They decorated his throat with a brilliant red stripe, and spread realistic splashes of paint down the front of his coat and shirt. In that condition he was seen at early dawn by some women, who hastened in a greatly agitated state to the police station with the news of another gruesome murder.