A New Maori Meeting House.

Waipawa Mail, Volume X, Issue 1062, 22 March 1887, Page 3

A New Maori Meeting House.

!The natives residing at the Waipawa pah are erecting a new place of meeting by Ihesideof the old whare that has served

for that purpose some years past. The Hew building is being put up on a grand *nd almost magnificent scale, regardless of cost, and will be a tremendous acquisition to the pah. It measures 60ft by 20, and[the stud is 18ft. The windows, of which there are plenty, are framed in colored glass, and blinds of literally manjcolors are hung over them to keep the sun out. When the place is being used for service, it is doubtful if tl\e historical “ dim religious light” will be obtained, perhaps its substitute will better please the native tastes. The architecture of the new structure is somewhat difficult to describe and we would not hazard a guess at the age to which it belongs. The best Way to sketch the house is perhaps to say that it is a long narrow (compared with its length) structure, with a kitchen at one end and the meeting room at the other, the two being divided by an open verandah, roofed, but not fitted with sides. this, the natives can lounge and smoke their pipes when they do not feel inclined

to go inside and attend service. The meeting room is to be fitted up in a most complete,manner, looking-glasses and hairs being found at all corners in the centre huge affair, and shews that the designers ® re looking forward to the time when feasts will be held in the room. Some has been displayed in the design of the table. It is fitted on to a running carriage, which in its turn, travels on a tram line. Thns the whole table full of viands and everything can be trundled out °f the meeting room across the open space and into the kitchen, where the cooks will ®?sily clear away and do their duties, "e must confess that the idea is an excellent one, and might well be imitated m the dwellings of the pakeha, where e are not to ° proud to be practical, the lines on which the tramway runs nre doubled, so that two tables can be made to cross each other, just as railway rains do at crossings. The natives will mploy cooks, especially to cook their ictuals, and in every way will they do ings up to the knocker in the future. , ls . e ven believed that a system of ectric bells will be put up. so that the . servants ” inay be called without the 6 0f £ ettin £ U P and fetching them, mtf ro ? rea ?y aqd method of calling tor them berng resorted to* Manners

are going to be the order of the day now, at the pah. It is estimated that the natives will spend about £SOO iu4dl on the new building and its furniture, as they are, determined to spare no expense to have the thing done properly. Imqiens: quantities of spare bedsteads have just been purchased, for it is intended to give a sort of house warming in a dqy or two, at which numbers of visitors will be present. Natives from the other coast, and from all the way to Porangahau will arrive either to-day or to-morrow, and their presence will be celebrated by a feast; Of course there will be an endless amount of speechifying, and it is thought that some of those who have land will deal with the subject of the land laws pretty freely.

It would not be fair to conclude without a word of praise to the contractor, Mr Fitzgeruld, builder, of Waipawa, in whose hands the work has been left. The workmanship of the ceilings and tlio gencial style of the building reflect the greatest credit upon him.