The Feilding Settlement

Feilding Star, Volume XII, Issue 55, 25 October 1890, Page 4

The Feilding Settlement

;i ifFroin the New Zealand Mail, 7tb March, • &':'.<•> lrlLlsJ4;' ; by a 1 Special Correspondent^ ; .3J-5 vzz (Cfcjfiliiiued from last issue). There was a rush to the store for The men had only to Ej give their naiD es and get what they 2i Shifted! '"'This 'ere Muster Moleolm's [-'•5 (ifnlbninbe) got ptauty ,o' groobe," : "■said a sturdy North l'ountry man, with ~~jßyidant . satisfaytiou. ' / Soon frying " t "^paiis we«;e h;88:Ug and keltles boiling, r ■ '• >Vjtiiiq the men .were .removing their "baggage froui the waggons, Said a sou of the Emerald Isle, as he removed a ,-r.fheavy^bundle from the- waggou, *• I'm , „ the shoemaker, and, thim ! B; my thraps," y/V'JiihJ: ; exclaimed Mr Maysmor, Mr *" HalconiWs assistant, 1" -then I can give you plenty of work tj-inprrow ;i LJ: ; inqming, " anU < Paddy's face brig htNot many minutes after I met /; | if |djr y7hi>lcer riding without his boots, which he had ; , handed over for much beeded repairs k u:J-s a -^ esd :t^ me than it has taken to r t describe.. -it, the new arrivals were „r^temparariljr. .located, and appeared to . .j bejweil pleused with their reception and their new home. " Ay, b,ut it's a-foine place," said one ; „" JFaix, thin, tNlthere^plihty o'wathei' and wood for i-i v/divila thrawneenj and the divil a tax « B3atali r iopayj" : Said the 1 shoemaker- A..J 1 viigroup of Maoris -stood near, anil they" and the immigrants regarded; each: — - — other Twithrxnutual interest. VOch, j '■'3 the swate crater ; sure I'd. marry her - ' and .live wid the* savages !" -! ; fwm 'the shuemafeer. "(They j . t T f wouldn't 0 be good for traded said ~: another,; 7 H the/ . ca ' no boots." ';' "/?* Jo^t like the pictures we, saw in the / said the wpmen^ ■■i-::i;ti-Jji ftjofe a stroll but along the southZefiT boundary, of ■ they block, passing splendid land. Surveyor's lines a'n'dm^rks were all over the country, • V 4ind Here' and there a thatched house. : ' •-■ f *TW& open land hereabouts is principally clothed -with flax and toi toi, _-„-,-. with an occasional patch of firn. The Vi flax and; toi toi invariably indicate that the soil is of the best quality, ; but high id tree is regarded as an un--faTpura_ble isign. - JI slept in the store with several of . : v :the imen>^Bmployed about the place, : ; din jampl&supply) fof blankets having beenv provided' by 1 ; Mrs -Green, • the of-the storekeeper. The. evening I >swaa ! 'passetf In' 'pleasant conversation ' r ~* with who expressed i-^coniplefe "satisfaction with their pre- - sent condition, and were full of con- - 1,/fede'Hcq, /fede'Hcq "in* '.] the * { t uture.j Amongot I<l J olhWrsjl made the of a ' -idischarged staff-sergeant of the 001 - .... stream Guards, who are commanded .-* " ; t>yiiC3dloneK Feirdingf; l TKe Sergeant -it .^reading in 'tbep^Lpndbn newspapers -the inducements nel J d' out to immi- ~ y igrafit^ 7 by ~. thie~C6rpprati,on, had |an f ;' . T |nterviejiV; with, Colpnei Feilding, fend :!'•'. :.^a%inig purchased W 4ischar^ge, came : *-^ut'^6' me"' block,, J -fie informed 'me Jihat Cplonet Feilding offered every ■ • limited number - of discharged of very' good characteritd^settle on the block purchased by the Company. ' ; ,Mr~^alcdmbe7 djfaj not come ojeer until^uWSay afternoon, having gone - on btisjiiesa/oy wa'jr' of the Manaw^tu 'thence': along the Stoney" -o^MSWitilpT* tlwrefbreUdecide. to await hisSrnval in order that my information niight be derived from, the best ;aß^<feinole source.* For some time after '-'^^^''^tnyal.'bis/hfUßdjs/were} full iof business, and I had to postpone my interview until the next day. ' Feilding, February 17, the immigrants who arrived y'esteraay were set to workto-day iat . -clearing. roade» ; and' there is an air !of v "■.' bustling industry on- every hand.' The fund .of the axe -and the -crash of lling, trees can be heard far in the bush. Groups of men . are coming -to -the store f or axes, saws, bill-hook's, .tomahawk's, 'and tobacco; women are -^passing to and fro with pots, frying.k f»ns^> kettles, tea, sugar, and other necessaries, and Mr Whisker stands - -amidsfr a' crowd of, women, distributlingf ihijE Ranter UhAng exchanged * /betw^en^hinl and ."bis fair custopaers, t He jf<^iß evidently oyerinatched. .Passing 1 through We bush I come nipon many piles of. split timber, Jhouse-bliJcks, posts and rails, and /lather material. Chi! d; en are garn"bolling about the banks of the creeks, or playing " hide-and-KO seek" in the forest. To these happy youngsters the place, has the charm of a paradise. They nave no thought of care, no regret for the past, no fear for the iuture. j I met Mr Halcom.be, whp had risen betimes, and is already visiting road parties^ 5 and' giving . instructions f or the comfort of the linmigrauts, and I noon was putting him through a list of categories, which I have planned out -with regard to THE <XPJGiN. OF. THE FEILD- .;,"'. ;ING,iSETTLEMENT. "The Coonists and Emigrants' Aid Corporation" is of Joiig standing. It was the outcome of the agitation, with xeganTto emigration to the Colonies •of Great Britaiu some years ago, when the Duke, of Manchester: and ,<>ther distinguished .mcii associated iheuiselves with the object of relieving the oveibuideued centres of population. 'But the movement was followed at that tiniH by no practical Jesuits. The members met and ctis•cussed the subject of emigration and ,<colfluiz?Uion, but took no important '.-steps to give effect to their projects, "liut Colonel Feildiag appears to have possessed the necessary energy to give life to the movement. i He visited »the varioiis . Austra ian Colonies, luyiag his views before the several <Tbvernmentß, but meeting with little or no encouragement. In coufs * of time he came to New Zoaland, and h re he vasinoro f«»rtuuate. A. great sch -me of imtnigration and public works had JmenJ.-iuiicned ; and the liovernuient .anxious to. avail themselves of any proposal that would facilitate the praciical developmnnt. of their plans, met Coionel' Feilding, as a director of the Hlohmista and Eniigrants's Aid .Corporation, in a fair sj»i rit. 11 c held many consultations with Ministers; and -finally, the tipper Manawatii disjtrict was S'lpcted as a favourable sphere of operations {Toint atviinved iA next isst-e.)