THE TE KAPU DISTRICT.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 798, 22 April 1910, Page 10

THE TE KAPU DISTRICT.

"KNIGHTS OF LABOUR" SETTLE- ;" '.' ;::'■'.-■ '..,;MENT; ~;■■ : ' - -.' Our .travelling correspondent has been .. paying : a ' visit to. the' country.; lying ■ westward of Taihupe, and writes as foihn;~. ■■. ■.■ }'■:■..'■;'■■ ';- " . It is now a good many years since tho first settlement of. the Tβ Kapu district took place. A good many'people will remember the: time .when' tho "Knights of Labour" movemont was causing coni aiderable attention;: in . Now Zealand. It was an importation from America, and of course was going to "rule the roast." ' Certainly for -.ay short- time, the "Knights" . made: 'things . unpleasant, and in Palmerston they were anxious to leave their mark, : However, all did not turn out as" they had arranged, so they formed an association to take up a Hock of and the 'Government allotted ; them a certain area in the Tβ Kapu district. There wore"sß in,the association, arid, to'show the hollowness of the whole thing, only about z< dozen took'up their sections. Of those who went to see what.they.had drawn, most 'said .they "were" not going to live; in such an out-of-the-way place, others that tho bush was tee heavy, and others that tho. land was far too broken. On the other, hsnd, many of them having . jdrawn'a section never gave it another thought: One man who drew a fairly ; Rood section actually, sold it three- timesfor £10 a time.. .Rather than have any legal trouble; as the selector was not entitled to sell, the purchasers "simply grinned and bore the loss.'. >This was in 1892, and to-day there are very few iudeed of the original members of the "Knights of, Labour"' settlement', still; on their selections. • There is one who , joined the order to enable him (to get a ■': bit of.land on mere advantageous terms than was otherwise the case.: This 'gentleman is Mr. A. R. Munro, who, irfion I first knew him and -for some years afterwards, was a'builder and contractor in Palmerston. He it was who. liuilt the Longburn freezing works, and during the contract'he had to suffer ~T«ry "severely from the demandn made on him by the "Knights." In fact, if . the reil trnth is told, instead of ntitkiiig a fiir.profit, as ho' expected, -he lost money oil" the. job. ; Imagine » con-

; (tractor haring a demand, made on him %y tho liricklajefs''for , 25. , ' 6d.--.an- Hour, '■■;■ |3ud having to nay it top. However,. ; . ith«re he is'te-"d»y; he and: His boys V. h'avo turned out to be tho class of men : ..for the bush country. They have a'nice .■ ish«epf»nn H *nd «n excellent homestead /.'and fine■■ The- sons :. (who, ' .•'.'. }iy. the by, have .served for, some:years as members'of'the Hnnterrille Mounted Rifles, all. four ef them) desiro to ;'ia&« Up land for', themselves; they have been ;in many a ballot for a ,' long", time, but with no luck till last . -month, when two.ef them drew ; sections. 'up Kaitieke way. ; :':.:'. '••"' \ '■ ].-"■-.•■'' ■ . Mr. Munro showed me where thero '.' had been a pretty big' patch of; Californian; bhiatle, butiit was, now. practi--;cally eradicated constarit'":cutting.' There were only a very'few "insignificant' , ;•■' shoots which'had come-up : this 'year;: ; ■■ By another, twelve months he ;; anticipa'tes. ■getting rid of it entirely. Sonio hali- , mile or so from Mr. Munro's.Jhouse, and ~in a_ valley, there is a pretty big deposit,; .'. oE limestone. It seems strange to see isolated bitrliko this,- with no; more •so far.as I could hear-for. many iniles. „ hi is a pitjv that it is too, tai out" oi -•the way to be/available for road-making. x —at all events for many a long year. ■''.-■ There; is another yery_ ■ peculiar .'natural; -.'•.''.■cariosity-in' the district, on Mr: Gilt Christ's farm, there are.quite.a number' -.'..of "pot holes." Some are "of great depth, and run down in a sloping dircc- ..;■ -iion; others-go straight down.-. -They. .■are all in sandstone country chiefly, ' and are in a very small- 'area of 'some 6 to 10 acres, and nowhere else on the farm.;-: When, the was ;l , being felled;;;'great'care- had;, to be/.exerciseaV. ■ for a man-inight'have'easilyslippd'iuto , one of the "pot holes," as the mouths were; all overgrown with vegetation. I .made, the;remark that it must be very ■risky:for the stock, but Mr. Gilohrist said it was very rare indeed for a .beast

or sheep'.to fall in; they-, seemed, to. ihave;;aiv' instinctive warning■ riot to go' near them. '." ;: ; ':. ... \