TONGARIRO NATIONAL PARK AND MAORI NAMES

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 8, 5 October 1920, Page 7

TONGARIRO NATIONAL PARK AND MAORI NAMES

__ 4 . (To the Editor.) Sir,—Mr. Jennings apparently suggests that operations have been made in Maori names in a privately prepared map of tho Tongariro national Park, and Mr. Nosworthy hastens to disclaim any responsibility in the matter. I have before me the tiro maps to which reference seems to havo been made, viz., that prepared by tho pr«gident and secretary of the Ruapehu Ski Club and published and circulated by the club. Both compilers were, I know, desirous of preserving the Maori names and recording them correotly. So far as I can see, only one change has been mado in a Maori name, viz., tho substitution for an untranslatable name of a poetical Maori equivalent. So far as English names for natural features are concerned there are three—Mead's Wall, Skipper's Chimney, and Cathedral Rocks. So far as I know, they have no Maori names, and, as these are landmarks in connection with tho routes on the mountain, some descriptivo and easily remembered names were required for identification. Another English name, given by the late Mr. Girdlestone to the twin peaks of Nga Tohu, was the appropriate one of the Pinnacles, which will stick. Thoro is an unnamed peak on the crest of Ruapehu which* it is suggested should be named after Mr. Girdlestone, who did such valuable and enthusiastic work in the park. So far from blaming by implication tho compilers of the map, Mr. Jennings and Mr f Nosworthy should have paid a tribute to the zeal and public spirit of these gentlemen in devoting their time to the preparation of a valuable, detailed, and accurate map in lieu of tho one that' is circulated by the Government, which so far as the Whakapapa district, to which the former map more particularly relates, is incomplete and inaccurate. If the Minister in charge of the Tourist Department could only pay a visit to the park and see it for himself, he would realise the urgency of the immediate dovelopment of this great neglected national playground, and appreciate the efforls of a small band of enthusiasts, who love the district, the expenditure of their own time, their own labour, and their own money, to make it more accessible to the general public—l am, etc., H. F. VON HAAST. September M, 1920. onlv.'b© howled down by a few of the leaders 'and called 'scabs' and Tilacklegs.' I a?a glad Mr. Mai ley has taken a strong stand against the Stato minors. It was about t!wie he did that. The State mine has been tho causo of all tho trouble for a long time. The worst of it is thac all these strikes aro caused by men who hnvo only themselves to care for. We will havo to try to ahange things somehow. It -would not bo so bad if it WB3 only the men who owised the trouble wlio, suffered, but everybody is made to raffer." The position at Petone remains unohangeiL No further supplies have conw to hand, and unless coal is received today tho gasworks will olose down. The death occurred suddenly on Saturday of Mrs. 11. P. Hugo, who recently underwent a slight oporafcion in a Mnsterton hospital. Death followed a sudden collapse. Deceased, who was very popular in Masterton and district, is survived by a husband and daughter^ The executive of the Wairarapa Returned Soldiers' Association has decided to support, tho aims of the Now Zealand National Defonoe League, and steps are being taken to arrange for an address at Master+on to explain tho platform of tho. F. Eedneton. 0. V. H, Flaiman, E. len<!110. Bsthesda. Carnarvonshire, has instituted a system of ohecking tho movements of visitors to public entertainment* which opens up terrible possibilities. At the Ogweii Fanciers' Show thoso vho wished to leave the premises for a while had their hands stamped with a rubber stamp. On returning they exhibited their deoorated ftin to the man at the Coot in ordar to leyain aAmlflflon.