AMONG THE SHEEP, STATIONS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 582, 10 August 1909, Page 8

AMONG THE SHEEP STATIONS.

IN THE TURAKINA VALLEY. A CALL AT HATJTAWA.' : : The road from Morton-Bros.', at : . Otiwhiti (wH'les. our' travelling \ correspondent),';"is' oil. tHe'-(^gb' of a 'porwndioular cliff :of ani. immense height,\.aiid ; at the,.foot>>.■ of .'.'it the Turakina boife-'aiid' swirls .along.This road spon makes a .dip. almost to the water-level, then.rises again, ; ; aiid, at '- a bend in. the;road one eoes "Hautawa," the..fine rosidenco ; of Mt. T. 'Duncan. -' Hereabouts "there" is a fair area of. flat or rollirig land, .but there is not, much on the' Otairi Station/' When I' see: in the; prqss to-day that would-be farmers, want their land "not too far from],the railw'ay and ot'her oinvonknees" I wonder what such folk would have thought, if they had taken," up similar heavy bush land l as old John Duncan did between "thirty, and forty years ago. He had to make his 'way to his land-as liest lie ■could. There was 110 Huntervillo in those days, with, its stores, post office, and railway. On the way up-river the, road, seems higher, still above the water. The bush on. the opposite side has - bsen left: it .would Been, a sin to have it. > At the' foot 'of the, hill a:bridge spans the river, arid] just below it is. the old concrete'ford that was used before the- days of bridges. At l'ukorca Mr. Robert Lilburn's house is perched up,oh.'.the hillside, ;and ,is. a -feature m the view. 'He intends' building, a new. resiV dence next year, when the-present buildingwill be used as 'the.station-house. This property, is very hilly, running up to two thou-' sand feet; but 'it, is grand stieep country,, mostly blue papa. Being so hilly, it, is al-. ways dry, so that stock do wejl on it. .Just before 'i-eachingr.Pukeroa! there'is a very fine waterfall of about fifty feet; There had been heavy rain the' day-before, so there was a big volume of Water .goih£ 'oVer. A little way boyond'the. fall is anotTier bridge, over which the road leads to Pokonui, and 1 just above the bridge is a peculiar sight. The water has gradually-.cut a. channel about four; or five, through which the whole of the water of tho Turakina River flows. It .reminded mo very hiuch of tho "Strid," near Bolton Abbey,; in Yorkshire, where all the wators of the Wharfo in a sifiiilar manner rush through a narrow cliannol. It is esteemed, tho correct thing to'jump over it, In doing so once upon a time "the only son of a widow, , and . the last of his race, was drowned. In' Wordsworth's "White Doe of llylstone" the incident is: mentioned. ' ' 1 ,

Next day on ray return I went to see the .11017 station which! Mr. : T. ■ Duncan is building. Whilo at breakfast ho said. "I will show yoti over the new. station." We saddled up. and'set off oh. our.ride of about a,couplo of miles. As wo went, Mr. Duncan' : "There' is a man at tho station-you should know, and we will sec if ho remembers you." Well, we soon passed through the massive gates.; The road had been nowly metalled, and' had not. had time to settle before the rain c<-unc; so it was a. bit uneven. But when'the weather "dries up thero will be a splendid metal road right up to the station. I was amazed to seo such a block-of buildings—quite liko a township. 11l fact, as -1 .said..to: Mr,,Duncan, all .ho. now .requires is a iiost' office oiitl libraix; 'die"is'

thero tp mako a township. Tlio wool-iilicd is a very large building—most complete in i 01' cry particular. Tliero is night accommodation for four thousand slioop. In caso of showery wcathor every detail of tlsoi sheep worlc enn bo dono under covei—oven tlio dipping. Tlio wool room io suflicienily large to stare some four hundred bales. Two presses aro kept going. The floor is sunk below tho level of tlio main,shed..' An overhead traveller is provided for handling tlio bales casify; and the landing stage, to which ' the wool wagons aro moved with tho crano overhead, will make handling the wool n simple matter. Tho station-house, Wihcro Mr. T. Hammond resides, and some of the shepherGs, is a very moo dwelling with every convenience, hot and cold' Water, laid on, bathroom; aiid every requisite of a modern house. • Then there is the residenco—one can't call theso buildings cottages—of tho head shepherd, Mr.. Sid. Hammond, nephew of the aforesaid T. Hammond. This, again, has bcen built .with-every', comfort, hot and cold water, bathroom, etc; Then there is the men's house, another dwelling just as' convenient. Noxt. there is tho shearers' : accommodation house—a" substantial .building, • with'. every' necessary requisite, but not "a fireplace *511 every bedroom," which was one of tho absurd regulations proposed a whilo : ago . under the Shearers' Accommodation Bill. Tlioy don't shear sheep in mid-winter.. -.Then thore is •;tho blacksmith's shop; next-to it is ; the saddler's shop, where a man is kept busy all Jiis time; a little, farther on is tho abattoir , (you really can't call, it the killing pen). It is built on the most 1 approved lines. There is a splendid, high-pressuro water service all over'the village—it. really is a village—obtained from a reser.voir in "tlio hills, making the new Otairi station .the most complete and convenient: for-working of any I have yet seen. ;. Naturally, Mr. Tom Duncan is proud of it, and well ho need be, ,as it is a credit to' him'in every way; . A •..