THE NORTHERN SANATORIA.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11503, 9 February 1903, Page 6

THE NORTHERN SANATORIA.

METAM-ORPHOSLS OF THE JfAORI.

SIR RODEBT STOUT'S IMPRESSIONS

(STZriAL TO "THE FKESS.") WELLINGTON, February 8. Yesterday I called upon Sir Robert Stout, who has just returned from Auckland, and having heard that he {.pent come time in the thermal district, after an absence of some years, I asked him if he would caro to .give me come idea of the changes he had noted, and of the development off the districts through which ho liad travelled. Sir Robert, though evidently busy with a press of Supreme Court work, readily acquiesced. , " After an Absence of four years," he said, •' I visited Botorua and saw great improvements everywhere. The public garden .of the Sanatorium at Rotorua is now finer than anything of the kind in New Zealand, in fact, it is unique. It it beautifully laid out, and the paths wind pleasantly amongat beautiful flower? and shrubbery. In the centre of the grounds thtre is a rotunda, where, in the season, a band plays four days a week. Tha climate is such as nukes open-air concerts an enjoyable form of,entertainment. One night while I was there in the holiday eenaon there were ahout a thousand tourists in Rotorua, and the scene, with numbers of people thronging the beautiful grounds, with their boiling pools and small geysers playing, wae a tery beautiful and animated one. There are no fewer than twenty-six boarding-housee and three hotels in the township. There is also accommodation at Whak*rewarewa. About three-fourths of the vieitore stayed at the boarding-houses. "What struck me wae that we need not be alarmed about the cry that people wilt not visit our tourist reeorts if there are no hotels at wWah they could get liquor. In this connection it may be worth, mentioning also that I etayed at Wairakei, and that while there I noticed that not one quarter of the guests took liquor. It does not eeem necessary; therefore, to consider the occasional tourists in dealing with our liquor question. Since I was in the district four years ago I found that great improvements had been made in the roads, and generally in the means of getting about to the various pointe of interest. There are two steam launches on Rotorua, and one on Rotoiti, and these are largely availed of.. Recently a road has been made to the wonderful Waimangu geyser, and there is now also ,an excellent road from Rotorua to Taupo via Waiotapu. At Wairakei I also found great improvements. This, I think, is the most restful place of all. In the fine- air of this district, ana *midsb the beautiful and very wonderful eurroundings, one could spend a quiet week or two very pleasantly. One thing struck me as necessary. The means of communication must be improved, and the time muet soon come when either they must have an electric tram or a motor-car eervioe between Rotorua and Taupo. Per,;, haps the large amount of power that is at present running to waste in the Waikato river might be utilised. I feel sure if something -were done in this direction far moro people would be found visiting Taupo than now. The trout fishing Jβ another attraction. I found a great number of people fishing about Galatea, and also in the Waikato. About Rotorua also there is wonderful fishing. "What pleased me more than anything else on my .travels, however, wae the fact that the Maoris are really learning industrial pursuits. Everywhere I found them working; .they can 'be seen. road making, tree planting, coach driving, waiting at the accommodation houses, acting as carpenters and painters, and generally making themselves useful. They are preparing for the foundations of the new baths. At Rotorua Sanatorium and at , the Whaknrewarewa nursery I found them doing all the work luufer the able superintendence of Mr Goudie. That nursery is one of the interesting sights of the district. Trees reared there for the plantations. At Waiotapu no fewer than three hundred thousand trees were taken from the nursery laet year for transplanting. It is marvellous the number of young treee there, and they are all well attended to and ikept free from weeds of all sorts. It struck me that what was going on in the way of tree planting in the centra) part of the North Island goea to prove that the most barren looking land may be made profitable. The Government certainly deserve great praise for pushing on this work. The fdreste of the world are being depleted year by year, and timber is becoming more anct more valuable. , Our own kauri and totnra forests arc- also fast vanishing, and it is therefore all the more necessary that \ this good work should be pushed on energetically. I fancy that it will also be found that the alluvial flats bordering the rrrera will prove good fruitgrowing lands. Altogether I think there is a great future before what- was formerly considered to ibe merely the waste lands ot this great central region." Sir Robert added that he had come down from New Plymouth by train, and he was pleased to find a great improvement in the train arrangements. There appeared to be a general improvement in the railway management on that and other lines, and he added that the Tourist Department also seemed excellently managed. I