WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 82, 23 April 1937, Page 15

WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS

Bush Has Gone But Fine Lands Remain NEED FOR BETTER ROAD ACCESt 9"Thq aim of thpse who> had bush land w&s to get it felled and into, graaa aa qui^kly as possible. The buffh had no valtie at all,4 and the only thing that coiild be done mth It wa® to destr.oy it, as® the Ijftiid, responded readily to gras®. Better tifnber than any that has sinqe been mill- ' ud^wa® deatroyed in order to prjQvide gpod grazing." This. remzurk, w.a® mad$ to a Herald^Tribune represe.uta^ye by Ma E>. Carswell, one of the o|4eajb settlera at Puketitiri. Thus is briefly to|d the stpry of the destruction. in the early days of large areas of the magnificent bush at Puketitiri wbich adprn^d tbe. slopes of the Hukanui Range. This destruction ha® since been greatly deploreds - The sRwipill®. fqllQwedL. a®4; the remainder. of the bush has steadily dwindled year by year unfif in about six yearsf time the chapter of mijilipg, in Puketitiri wiJL be closed;

A fe?y yeurs ago, fruitless appeala wero made to the Grovernment to pre-r serve wu.s, known as Ball's Clear. , ing. The sum of £20,000 ■which wag ; requirpd copld nofr be- set aside for ' this pqrpose,^ and subsequently it was commercialised; Bay by day the, charm and the glory. of this beautifui bush is being lost. The mill saws mahe pjuy oxi the. majestie white pines. aud rimua- as they fall. The settlers living, axoud see the end- eoming slowly, butf i sur ely. •From this loss a Temuant is te be: savpd. Mr- Frank Hitchjnspn. rqcently gave to the natioa %n4 area to be pre-, , served The value of this won.dprful: gift will be more fully recoguisqd as^ the years pass oa yrhen^ ''-Hutclpnson'S; bush" •pfill give some: impresajon to; the visitor of the ^raadeur of the 3,500, to 4,000 aeres hoforo mau, launched his, destroying forcqs, upon, it It "will eves be a remiaderT of that beauty whichpreceded the preseat desolatioa of; , blackened stumps betweea which sheep, : now quiptly fppd. When the. axe has doae its wQuk and the flora of I^ew ZcalandL is sadly ! depleted in consequeuce, wh%t then for BufeStitiljY It, can no lpnger remain, a ' dpad-end., It sfill has % future, the whole of which is wrapped ttp in its ;road,„ The construetion qf the few miles Ijnting up w.ith the Taupo xpad ; near the. D.ouble Oroswig will bring it into touch with the, travelling public.. Valuable areas, of grazing land will be opened up which in the eighties carried thousands of sheep and. to-day oxily wild pigs and rabbits. Curative Hot Springs. Its wonderful curative hot springa would have. their isolation removed by the new Toad and afford iaestimable benefit to xmany suff-eiers now pxecluded from bathing in its mineral waters ; owing to the difficulty of access. In this spring on the bank of the Jdoh.aha river, reached by a sbc-foot trade laid : ofE aeveral years ago from Ihe Makohu river, Hawke 'a Bay has an ass.et that will be oue day a boon to thousands of people. To-day its wonderful waters. roll down the bg.uk iuto the river below to waste, except when pig-huuters or deer-stalkers chauce to bathe there. So mueh dopeuds, upon the link with the, Taupo, road. It is a question that the Puketitiri settlers are always discussing, an'd about which, they are entertaining hopeg. -For aome years the Goverumeut has realised the importance of this road', and engineering reports have. been furnished by the Pubjic Works Department. It is understood that a start wiU be shortly made on its construetion and this winter will see between 50 and 60 men on this xoad_, giving. access to, valuable hinterland besides aSording an altemative roufe to Taupo,', eliminating tho arduous dimbs over both Titiokura aud Taurangakumu. The Early Days. A very interestiug story of the early pioneering days in. Puketitiri,, long before the adveut of the timber mills, was told to a repoxter. by hfr. Carswell and by Mr. Henry Davis, now of Hastings, the latter first knowing the district over 3,0 yegrs ago, Mr. Davis told of his re.collections when the whole of the cpuntry, exteuding from the junction of the Tutaekuri and Mangaone rivers at Dartmoor, about sis miles above Ppketapu, right across to th© Mohaka river and out to the Taupo road, was oue holding, known as the Rissington Estate and owned by Colonpl Whitmore, who took a promineut part in the Mapri Wars. Mr. Davis also madp mention of the barraeks that were built at the t°P pf the Patoka hill in about 186^ where 150 men were statlonpd for two years The story, as told by both Mr. Davis and Mr, Carswell, of the very early settlement of the country from beyond Rissington to Puketitiri reveals the gr-eat courage shown in the faco of great dithcul|ies by the early pionoers whose descendants to-day are wellknown families in the province.

Boute., of Tracl. Puketitiri WAS on thq old tra.ck used by the; Maqris going tp Taupo, ex- , plained Mr. Davis. It passed through the dexxsq, bush from Hukanui to Hawkston, Qorning, put near where the Puketitiri Hqtel now st^ands,. It led on, to Taupo, crossing the Mohaka ' river at Pakatutu and cam-e out at Te Haroto. This was also used by the first settlers, and' the diflkulties that : tliey experienced could; hardly be : realised by the present generation. The taking up pf lcaseholds, from the Maoris and, Crown lands marked the first stage of settlement. The pountry es£e®(ling from the Mohaka^ river. tp Te Haroto was taken , up. by Mr. Carswell's father, M-r. Alex McEay and Mr.; Dunpan Livingstoue. . Mr. Emery took up the Puketitiri flats, Messrs. Peacock- ;and Freedy first occupied Hukanui, naw owned by Mr. Twigg, of Havelock North. Waipuna, now owned by Mr. Douglas Lane and Mr. Nelson Lane, of- Havelock North, ' was taken up by Mr. Wergon. Mr. Sealey, who later was resident magistrate of Hawke 's Bay at Napier, took up Patoka. Mr. Leadham occupied Pekapeka, now known as Rissington, the hpmestead being where the board-ing-house now stands. Mr. Matthew Hill acquired the land from Mounfe Cameron to Waihau and built his home. at Ardglossar. Old Racecourse., The next impprtant step was the. sopuring. pf tho, W.koJo oojmtry from, Woodthorpe near Pukotapu, where race meetings were held annually for. many years, xight across. tp tho Mohaka, river by Colonel "^hitmore and Colpnel McNeil. This vast area w&s namod the Rissington, Estate and, with the exception of Hawkston and Puketitiri, was. subsequently sold to Mt. Robert Rhodes, father of Sir. Heaton Rhodes, of Christchurch.

Mount McNeil, at the back of Rissington, was named after Colonel McNeil, who later became General McHoil. Mpunt Cameron got its name thrpugh Colonel Whitmore, wkp was aid-de-camp to General Cameron, who commanded the Englisk troops in the Waikato. Mr. Davia explained that his step-father, Mr. O. L. W. Bousefield, who waa fho Government s.urveyor, lived at Woodthorpe, the #© °f their old home being now marked by a small clump of trees in the bed of the Tutaekuri. Mr. Bousefield wag a brofher of the late Bishop Bousefield, of Pretoria, South Africa. Dr. Ormond, brother of the late Hon. J. D. Ormond, M.L.G., also lived at tkat time at Woodthorpe. Colonel Whitmerp was regarded as being a good settler and spent his money on many improvements and he imported from England Shorthorn and Hereford cattle and Lincoln sheep. 200 Meupted Troops. In the early sixties the Colonial Def enco Force, commanded by Colonel Whitmore, of 200 mounted troops was stationed under canvas on the flats just beyond the Rissington, School. : Later they were stationed in barracka On the top of the Patoka Hill. Captain Lossair and Lieutenant John St. George had chafge of A Compaoy, while B Cpmpany was in the charge of Captain Anderson and Lieutenaiit Fred Gascoyne, unele pf Mr. H. Gascoyne, of Maraekakaho. The barraeks were burned down in 1865 and the force was thon moved te Waipawa. The only access to Puketitiri from Rissington was by an Old sledge tr'ack which was worked with bullocks. Ihe troops later constructed the road as far as Patoka, making it suitable for use by drays and waggong. The next step in the development oi this great block of land was the subdivisidn in the early soventies made by Mt. Rhodes, who cqt it into blocks which were taken up by various settlers. Mr. James Hallctt, graudfather of Mr. E. J. H. Hallett, solieitor, of Hast-

ings, acquired Puketitiri and later. Hawkston from Mt. Michael Groome, father of Mr. Ernest Groome, of Te Onepu, Otane. The combined holding was, known 'as. Hawkston. Not AU- Bush. * Although timber- milling has been associated with Puketitiri for many years, Mr. Carswell explains that tho • whole of thq district was not in bush aud that there were some certain- areas that were clear and immqdiately available for farining. When he W.ent first to Puketitiri there was not one settler living between Patoka and the bush. His uncle, Mr. William Carswell, took a lease off Mr. Hallett and- lived1 almost on the same spot where Mr. T. Whittle ia now. living. Means of travel. were then slow and difiicult, said Mx. Carswell The. drays could go as far as Hawkston, the rest . having to.be done with pack horaes. The pack track followed the present Hawkston road to the river- to what was then known as the "Home Paddpfik, " and then follawed up. on the . opposite side of the bush, coming out . at Mr. Whittle 's plaee. It continued on te Makahu, at thp junction of the Nepia river, then on to Terapapa and ;ouf at To Haroto. One of- the earliest activities in the. . district, was a flax mill owned by Mr. ; Thomas- Hallett, now- of Rotqr.ua, on the other side of the bush and on, thq , Hawkston nver which used to, be known as the Mill- Stream. Tho mill was situated aboisfc half a mile down . strq.ara, below the present. bridge lead.ing to McLeod and Gardener's timber mill. A hill known then as the Big Hill and no.w owned by Mr. L. Br.ownlie, was then covered in. flax. and when it was cut manuka took its place. Timher Mfllirg 40s Tears Ago. Timber milling, which later devcloped into a most impprtant industry, started in a small way about. 40 years ago. Thq. settlqrs wer© then very glad to get rid pf the timber. All the land had then been taken up and the work of the first mill, which stood close to where the hotel now is, was followed with interest. The Holt family, whp own largq timber yards ln bqth Hastings. and Napier, have been associated with. the milling. t Puketitiri since. its 'inceptioh. Six-horse waggons wero used for many years in the carting of the timber lo Hastings and Napier and later followed the traction. engines, which played an Important part in tho making of the road. to Puketitiri. The industry, qxperienced its full share of troubles, mills got burnt down while fires wrought havoc among millqd and standing timbers. As, thq milling. progressed ^ the sqttlemqnt bqgan to ' grow. Prior to thq establishing. of- the first Post Qfficq, which waa housed close to where it now is, the nearest post offiee was at Puketapu, nearl'y 30 miles awav. There was then no regular mail which, was brought up when any of the sqttlqrs had occasion to go dqwn to puketapu, which was not often. Early Transport.

The starting of the first coach. by Mr. A. Mclntyre was quite an important occasion, stated Mr. .Carswell. It was something new for the settlers to be able to get goods from Napier withqut having to use a pack-horse. The road thqn was, nothing like what it is to-day to travel over. Mr. Carswell told of a mishap which occurred to the coach on the Newstead Hill when it got a bit of a atart on and the driver, becoming frightenedj threw the reins down. Thq horses quickly be? carne startled and in a few moments the coach capaixcd. Gne. of the two passengers, the late Mr. John Bale, afterwards crawl.ed out of the wreckage little the worse for his experience. For many yeaTs the settlers were without a schooji, with the result that the education of their families was no easy matter. The first school was held in a small public hall erected by the settlers on a condition that it could be used, for' schooling purposes. It was built on thq dpmain bqtweqn thq pre-' sent school and the hotel. Although hard wprk occupied the greater part of the life of the early settlers, Mr. Carswell said that they did not' mind it in the slightest. They did not notice thqir isolation and were quite happy if they got out ouce in a while to see a " neighbour. Holidaya used to be few. and far between. A day off was something to# remerqber. aud* a visifc to tpwn once or twice, a year was as xqnch as mo&t qf them made. Nevertheless, the settlqrs used to be very contqnted and made thq most of their !money wbich was far from being plentiful. Mr. Carswell concluded by- stating that tho way had been mafie easy for the younger settlers Who had reason to haves every confidenee in their district, which had a gooc^ future for farming.