STORY OF HAWERA

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2624, 20 November 1915, Page 12

STORY OF HAWERA

/ : ; A THRIVING TOWN FROM FERN WASTE TO RICH ' FARMSTHE WAR DAYS Walking through the up-to-date town ' oi Hawera to-day, one fiuds it almost impossible to imagine that about half a century ago it was an untilled waste, ' and that the land now so closely farmed was covered Tjy fern and scrub. Even after other parts of ' Taranaki were primitively settled, there was for years no evidence that Hawera would one day bo a flourishing centre of one of tho most prosperous districts iii New •Zealand. The word-'Hawera signifies a burnt space in the undergrowth. It is 6aid that two neighbouring hapus of Natives dwelling near Robertson's Lakes quarrelled, and one, party set fire to tho other party's kianga. The flames, 'spread over the plains even to the banks of, tlie Tawhiti stream, and ever since then the' fire-scorched area has been known as "Hawora." Tlie ijfirst herd of cattle that ever crossed these plains went through (bolind for New Plymouth) early in tie year-1843. : They travelled by the new inlariditrack,. and were tn the charge ,of 'S";'m'an' ; '\i'ith' a famous name—one Captain Cooke. Mr. Richard Barrett, also, took a hand in piloting the herd " through. Mr. AVakeneld accompanied them on horseback. The Natives had never before seen a horse," and they fled-from it in fear. Eventually they plucked up enough courage to view it at','cl6seLrangeV and they referred; to nui''—big dog. Strange it- Sixty-years ago the Maoris ran and to-day no class-of, /people ife moro fond of horses. ' ' . . Hawera' had''its "share' of' the Maori troubles in the early days, but in the late sixties the impression grew that the . Natives had been subdued. This idea was rudely dissipated in the winter of 1868, when a messenger galloped in from Waihi with tho disturbing news tliat a party of' three pit-sawyers (Sergeant Cahill and Privates Squires and ■ Clarke) had been found tomahawked on the edge of the bush. A couple of days later Trooper Thomas was shot there.'. The Government rushed troops into the district. Captain .Frederick Ross was ordered to reconstruct and ' garrison the old'Turuturumokaifort, . near Hawera. , The outlying ; settlers were called in, and all awaited tho bursting of the storm. It burst at dawn on Sunday, July 12, when the noise of firing aroused the garrison at the fort. Soon came the tidings that the redoubt was surrounded by Hauhaus, land that the bulk of the garrison was wiped out. : On occupying the old redoubt, Captain Ross had found the original en- *'" olosure too small to accommodate his garrison. Consequently _ he had built some huts outside, and in one of these had taken up his abode. For several weeks the Maoris had traded peaceflbly, and, it is believed,;.had lured the garrison into relaxation of vigilance. At daylight on July. 12 the Maoris silently encircled the. camp,- and the sentry, seeing a form worming its way -.towards-him, and. receiving no answer to his challenge, fired. ' : ' The answer wps a volley, and "Kokiril Kokiril" (Charge 1) Man after man of the garrison fell beforo the advance of the Hauhaus. A few setescaped, and* alarmed the garrison of the Hawora .blockhouse, who hastened to the rescue. But while the relief party was on Its way a heroic struggle was fought with-

in the old redoubt, Four, men—Con-' stables Laoey and J. Beamish, said Messrs. Johnston and Milinoe—took up a position in a corner of tlie fort, and stood at bay. Ono w<is badly wounded, but the quartet mado such a detonn'ined and lieroio lesistapce that they held off the Hauhaus until the rescuers arrived. Then, through bungling'on the part of tho pakelia side, the Hauha/us got olean away, though the rescuing party was mounted and. could have overtaken them.. In 187,0 Sir Donald M'Lean introduced his '.'Peace Policy," and on January 11, 1871, Cobb's coach, mado its debut m Hawera, with the Prime Minister (Sir William Fox) and several others aboard, all out. on a peaco mission. Among them was Hone Pihama, a chief from the settlement now known as Pihama.' Pihama was in favour of a peace arrangement, and was conducting tho party through the hostilo country. After a iittlo trouble with Te Wliiti tho party reached New Plymouth on January 18. From .then on a biweekly coach service, subsidised by the State,-was maintained, and tilings went ahead rapidly. Settlers poured in, and the 1 provision of communication spelt rapid advancement. At that time there were only 4600 people in all .Tavanaki, In 1881 railway communication with Hawera was opened. Most of tho information for this sketch was extracted from an excellent little book written by Mr. W. A. Quin, of Hawera, at the time of the Hawera Exhibition, .