VISITING LANGDALE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1759, 26 May 1913, Page 6

VISITING LANGDALE.

MR FRASER IN WAIRARAPA.

TOIJR CONCLUDED. On Saturday tho Hon. W. Eraser concluded' his four-day tour in tho Wairarapa by visiting tho Langdnle settlement, 27 inilfcs north-west of Masterton, and inspecting tho country en route. The Minister, and his party were conveyed in motor-cars, and those who made the jurney included Dr. A. K. Newman, M.P., Messrs. G. R. Sykes, M.P., and. J. 11. Escott, M.r.; C. E. Daniell, A. E: Mabin, H. D. Vickery, and several Masterton residents. , Onco away from tho immediate neighbour'hod of Masterton, the routo led all the way through good pastoral country, ( which varied comparatively little in its general character: The hills re&ch a con-t-idteTable elevation, but there is a good deal of flat country: in. the valley-bottoms. . A halt for refreshments was made at Mr. Vallance's' station,. Kohuimingi, .fourteen liiilesout of Masterton, and a longer stay was made at Awatoitoi, tho property of Mr. Hug'h Morison. This place, formerly a portion of the Blairlogio estate, is interesting as showing how rapidly a bit of •Toughi country can be transformed. , The till-behind the house is of rough manuka laud, and five years ago that on which the house stands was in exactly similar condition/ Now the homestead, is surrounded by trim gardens, lawns, and shrubberies. Round tho corncr of the hiil on which Awatoitoi.stands the party were shown a place at which thero is a constant outflow of natural gas. A little-way down from the summit of tho hill there is a tiny poc/1 formed by surface. water. Through this the gas bubbles constantly, and itbursts into a sheet of name when a match is applfed: to the surface of the water. In summer time tho water, dries up, but. the flow of gas, according to local people, has gono on, to their wiowlpdge, for forty years without cessation, .and i)i all likelihood for a much longer time. Similar springs are found; in other,.parts of . thla . district. To the south the}'-are to be : found here and there for'a distance of fifteen or twenty miles. In Mine places the gas, with the addition of carbon, has teen successfully used for purposes of illumination, but'the flow is nowhere large, and tho principal interest attaching to the gas springs is that they are accepted as ■possible indications of mineral oil deposits. After viewing the gas 'spring, in which the Minister was much interested, the party went on without further halt to Langdale. . This estate, which contains over 13,000 acres, was acquired some years ago'by the. Government, and settled under leasc-in-parpetuity tenure, in areas ranging from about one hundred ; acres to a thousand. It- carries over thirty settlers, and has been in every way a mo3t. successful settlement. The estate cost .£3 12s. Gd. .an acre, and it is Stated that settlers have been offered fromJji; to £12 an acre for the goodwill of their holdings. Tho engnga mainly in sheep-farming, with N a little dairying. Practically the whole 'of tho land is good, the' only exception to the general rule being the Taupo,' an elevated ridge'of jagged sandstone peaks, which occurs in one small portion of the estate. Langdale as a whole is a beautiful stretch of smiling country, dotted with cottages which indicate the prosperity of their owners. ■

As the cars ran through the! settlement, it was evident that the wits of Langdalo had been at work. On a bridge was a placard: "Stop, look out for the engine!" and. one, cottage bore the inscription: "Railway station?" ' . • At an elevated spot on Langdale, where a- wide view is obtainable of the WangaeIm and Mnngapnkeha Valleys and other portions of tho country, the Minister was .interviewed by about thirty Langdale settlers, who a3ked him to consider the possibility of bringing the proposed railwayround by way of Langdale.

In'replying, the Minister said that any railway should go where it would serve the largest area, of country. The prob- I lem of determining the best line was one for engineers and surveyors. Thsrc was no doubt about it that development was very.much increased where increased facilities for communication were provided, but there could not be n railway in evetj valley. The first thing required in this country was roads, and here they had (rood roads. \ A settler: They are pretty expensive. Mr. Eraser: You can't get anything in this world without paying for it. Yon' are not so badly oft for metal as in some parts of the country. What does it cost you?,. The reply was that • the roads were metalled with rtver shingle at a cost of 2s. 6d. a yard. The Minister said that he had been travelling iu places where metal cost 13s. fid. a yard. A settler stated that river shingle did nof last for more than a year or two. Metal of lasting quality, brought J nto the district about Langdale, would cost 18s. per yard. ,• • . • The Minister-snid that if.the railway . were to be built the interests of that dis■trict. would not be neglected when a route was being decided upon. Ho added that the more he saw of the country the more he liked it. -Yfter circling Lnnsdale,. the cars made a. hurried journey back to Masterton,- covering the distance ill an hour and a half. The Minister and the Wellington members of the party returned to town by the .1.30 p.m. train, arriving liero in the evening.