The Feilding Settlement

Feilding Star, Volume XII, Issue 58, 1 November 1890, Page 4

The Feilding Settlement

(From the New Zealand Mail, 7th March, 1874, by a Special Correspondent.) —-(Continued from last issue). At the end of six months from his location upon the lot, he has the option of selecting from twenty to one hundred acres of farm land within a few minutes' walk of the township. For this he will pay an annual rental of half-a-crown per acre, with the right of purchase at £3 per acre at the end of seven years, and one half the gross amount which he has paid as rental upon the town lot and dwelling-house will he placed to his credit in part payment for the erection of a dwelling-house upon his farm section. Many of your readers will, no doubt be at first sight inclined to question the wisdom of locating the immigrants for six months in the townships. Mr Halcombe, however, decided upon this plan on good and well-considered ground.; Most, if not all of the immigrants, are utterly unaccustomed to bush life, have no experience in agricultural matters, and would have no chance of success if located immediately on their arrival upon their farm sections , Distribution upon sections also meant isolation, difficulty of supervision, and of the impossibility of their benefiting by the suggestions and instructions of Mr Halcombe and his experienced assistants. It was these considerations that induced him to locate the immigrants, in the first instance, for six months, in the township, so that they may be enabled to become acquainted with and inured to the work of settlement. During the period of six months they will be employed by the Corporation in open--ing up the Manchester Block by means of main roads, and those amongst them who have learned habits of thrift and steadiness will be able to lay by a small sum of money which will be available when they settle on their country sections. I now come to the subject of PRESENT AND FUTURE EMPLOYMENT The great advantages of immediate employment provided for the immigrants can scarcely be overestimated. Indeed, there are no drones at Feilding. There are immense forests to be reclaimed, houses to be built, roads and tramways to be constructed, rivers to be bridged, fences to be erected and large quantities of timber to be provided, and what is wanted here are strong arms and willings hands. So soon as the new arrivals have temporarily settled down in the township they are set down to work clearing bush roads, brick-making, sawing, splitting and so forth, by contract and at firstrate prices. The men who arrived from the Ocean Mail were all hard at work next day, having obtained the necessary tools in advance from the Corporation's general store. Mr Maysmor, Mr Halcombe's energetic assistant, accompanied the various working parties to the scene of operations pointed out the nature of the work, instructed and encouraged them to proceed, and subsequently revisited them at intervals to watch their progress. Here the fallen timber is not wasted, as is too frequently the case in other places. Where the log is suitable, it is split into posts, rails, blocks, shingles, and so forth, which the Corporation purchases at current prices. The erection of houses for the immigrants is at present delayed for want of sawn timber but Mr Halcombe is making strenuous exertions to get at work until the steam saw mill at Mr Bull's is in operation. The erection of the buildings will afford ample employment to carpenters, brickmakers and bricklayers, splitters, fencers, and the construction of roads and tramways will create a demand for stone-break-ers, road-makers, and blacksmiths. As I have said, the main line of railway to Wanganui passes through the block, and it is expected that one large section of the work will be shortly commenced. The Corporation has endeavored to send out a large proportion of immigrants accustomed to the timber trade; but they are also introducing a fair sprinkling of shoemakers, tinsmiths, paperhangers, and other artiza s. Already there is a professional photographer on the ground, but for the present, I believe, the exigencies of bush work demand his attention. In the selection of Colonial workmen preference is shown by Mr Halcombe for men who engage to settle permanently upon the block, and besides furnishing these with regular employment, he gives every facility for securing land and dwelling house on easy terms. The extension of the tramway from Palmerston to Feilding is to be commenced very shortly, and as soon as a gap of four miles of roadway has been completed, there will be direct communication between Feilding and Rangitikei. There is already a large market for timber at Marton and the surrounding districts, and as soon as the tramway is extended to Palmerston the Corporation wili be enabled to send large quantities of timber to Foxton for shipment to Wellington. But Feild ing being situated on the line of rail ways between Wellington and Wanganui will also the latter town as a market for timber and other produce. PROGRESS. Six weeks ago the only settlers on all that vast block of splendid country lying between the Rangitikei and Manawatu rivers on the east and west, the Ruahine ranges on the north, and the present southern boundary of the Feilding block, were Messrs Hughey and Whisker, Mr Menzies, and a few Natives. Mr Gilett, the surveyor, had been at work for the Provincial Government in the district for nearly two years, and latterly for the Corporation. The first lot of Feilding immigrants—33 in number, including children—ar rived by the ship Duke of Edinburgh at Wellington, and were promptly located. (To he continued in next issue.)