A GO-AHEAD SETTLEMENT.

Gisborne Times, Volume XVII, Issue 1346, 5 January 1905, Page 3

A GO-AHEAD SETTLEMENT.

(Opotiki Herald.) ' ■ Of recent days the fates have so willed it that I should make occasional trips to Gisborne, and each succeeding time 1 hive come away more impressed wish the wonderfed nrogreas which that district is making. I have been told that the people on a 33 average only sleep five boors out uf each twenty four, and the more I Bee of fchett! the more convinced am I that fch*re

is a grain of.irtitb in the asuf-rttun. A 1 few days ago X visited the settlement, travelling through the Motu bush. Eu route I noticed'’that Mr Vanstone's selection and those of Mr J. H Reid and Mr Armstrong were doing remaf kably well, the stock being in excellent condition. The selector whose heart craveth for bush farms will here find an ideal, tbo forces of nature

combining to produce not ODly an artist r c and but also an utilitarian regioio- A*. Motu l found ample evidence of progress- The factory is now in full swing, and the settlers appear to be well satisfied with tho venture. Mr Hansen’s sawmill is’working every day, turning out some really fine timber. Buildings are going up on all sides, all of local timber, of course, and even the ; bricks for the chimneys; are manufactured on the ground. -1 saw Me Hayes, an old Opotiki settler, who seems very satisfied with his present lot. He has a nice place, on which he principally carries on sheepfarming. The Motu people are very anxious in re-, gard to tbo opening of the road to Opotiki via Otara, as they consider it would be a great advantage to all concerned. Uu-

fortunately (although not very unreasonably) Gisborne people—or at least a socti.on of them —do not view the scheme with favorable eyes, so that it is not likely that they will move heaven and earth to have it accomplished. The Motu people, however, are very determined, and deserve the fortune that is said to favor the brave. There can be no question but that, if the road was opened, • there would be a largo exchange of trade between Motu and Opotiki. ,In Gisborne itself things'are so iwres of apw country were broken in and felled, and this year the area to be similarly treated will be well on to 120,000 acres. Wheresoever the eye can reach new buildings can bo soon in course of ereotion, the cry continuing to bo f ‘ still they come.” Even !be railway is being extended, for, of eonrse, colonial lines do jog • on if slowly. It is now within two miles of To Baraka, and is paying handsomely. A considerable area ha* been sown in maize this year, and the land is all fit for scarifying although backward on account of the bad season hitherto. There is still a large hmount of last soason’e crop in »be cnb, in Set, judging by what .1 saw along one rload, if one struck an avorage, there, must hi at least 20,000 sacks still available. J/ho high price of wool has given the district a'big impetus, and no doubt a larger area than usual will be -devoted to sheepfarming. Beef has hardened considerably since my last visit, though there was a , falling oil in one or two other.lines.Tsaw a head of 29 cattle. , belonging to Mr Baymohd. sold at ah average of £ls, some the animals reaching 4??0. All round; the district h as'overy evidence of progress, and l am’satisfied that the ■ people ■’ there are those'who are going to open up our bush country'as soon as means of communica-. ' lion have been provided. j jfg|s SiS '' : " ' ™~ ’

1. At loaat 60 languages a:o spoken in tbe Siiie governed by the Scar. ot Bussia.