nui-Tokaanu highway suddenly brought the timber within easy reach of a railway town. In the early forties, timber-cutting grants were made to two private firms who extracted some 18 million H.D. under war regulations. At this time Mr Pei Jones, and his younger brothers Toriwai and Walter, began to make plans. The two younger men had a great deal of logging experience. They thought the Maori owners could get at least twice as much royalties if they cut their own bush. The owners of Puketapu 3A are 600 members of the Tuwharetoa tribe whose paramount chief was the late Hoani Te Heuheu, a very ill man at that time. Some of the principal leaders of the tribe met at his home at Waihi and were in favour of forming a timber incorporation. Before Pei Jones left Waihi, the old chief spoke to him in his sick room. He said he was keenly interested in the idea and Pei should go ahead with it. The office in Taumarunui from which the affairs of the incorporation are still directed. Mr Pei Te Hurinui Jones. Managing Secretary of the Incorporation, businessman, tribal leader, scholar (Photographs: P. A. Blank)