FROM SWAMP TO PLAINS

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXII, Issue 4360, 30 December 1921, Page 4

FROM SWAMP TO PLAINS

LOOKING BACK TWELVE YEARS. HAURAKI PLAINS PROGRESS. Viewing thp Hauraki Plains as they are to-day, it is scarcely conceivable that the settlements on that remarkably fertile land have sprung up during the last eleven or twelve years. This, however,, is a fact, and what were a few years ago rapu swamp, duck ponds, and isolated pukeko runs, are now prosperous dairy farms. From information gathered from Lands Department, men, of whom Mr J. McGlyri, now foreman, of the works at Kerepeehi, remembers quite distinctly what happened on the Plains twelve years ago, we find that the me.thpd of digging drains when the work first commenced was with pear, knives or hay knives, all work being done by hand. Some spades were used, but the work was generally done by the aid of the knives, while blasting powder was utilised, when a solid obstruction was fpund, such as logs of wood. The work was first commenced from • Patetpnga, Kerepeehi, . Pipirpa (then known as Murf’s Camp), and Waitakaruru, at which places the country was mostly low-lying peat lands and the workmen, who lived in tents, were often-flooded out. During the periods of high spring tides the men were forced to wait till the tide went out before they could go to bed. The class pf land and the methods employed were such as to call 'for general ridicule, but the Department persevered with its work. The No. 1 Priestman dredge, which is still in commission, was then employed at Waitakaruru mud flats, clearing the outside channel from the Waitakaruru creek. The No. 2 Priestman dredge, which is alsp still working, was in the Piako River improving a small channel at Waitoa. These two dredges were the only mechanical devices used till about five years ago, when another Priestman dredge was added to the plant. The next addition was the walking dipper dredge, which commenced operation a few montns ago at Kerepeehi. When the Priestm'an dredges were first assembled it was found that they were practically useless owing to their inability to deliver the spoil clear of the banks, It is said that necessity is the mother of invention, and something had to be done or the costly machines would 1 have been valueless. A scheme was thought out and chutes erected on the dredges to enable the spoil to be taken lea” of the banks. CONDITIONS OF WORKING.

The men who were at first employed in the draining works are described as a queer mixture of Maoris and whites, and a r.ougfi crew, though splendid workers. They were practically all unmarried men, young and old—a mixed crowd. A supply of grog was often obtained and the men made merry while gambling was a very popular pastime. Ah unregistered race meeting at Kerepeehi was a great attraction, all and sundry, including gaudily attired native women, rolled up to enjoy a day among the horses,. The only dwelling places for the men in those early stages were tents, and conditions in wet weather were particularly miserable, work being invariably carried out in the wet. The first surveyors wore no boots while working, and short trousers were a necessity owing to the moist nature of the land. The drain diggers were often seen working waist-deep in water. Connection with the outside world, when there was any at all, was very erratic and unreliable. There were no roads at all. No launch ran to

Waitakaruru. A launch, called the Piako, ran between Thames and Kerepeehi, but a man visiting the Thames did not know when he could return to Kerepeehi. To the narrator’s knowledge there were only three homesteads on the swamp, Mr McWilliams, living near Pipiroa, and Messrs Coxhead and Peters', on the Waitakaruru flats,. Mr Coxhead was the first to run a launch service from Waitakaruru. Of course there were a number ofl Maoris. A GRADUAL IMPROVEMENT. For four or five years things continued in much the same way, and then a gradual improvement was seen. Roads began to give access into the interior, and the swamp was gradually being converted into valuable land, through the first owners, who gained their properties by ballot were not at all sanguine about it and many sold out for very little. Some cbuld not -sell, and of those a few forfeited their holdings. The others battled gamely pn, and are now seeing the fruits of their labours. The first land opened was along the PipiroaWaitakaruru load, some at Ngatea., Kopuarari, and Shelly Beach, and small portions of Kerepeehi. The conditions of working have changed and the living is infinitely better. A totally different type cf workmen now occupy comfortable huts, a large number of them being married

The advent of the new machinery, the latest in drain diggers and land dredges from America, is bound to have a great effect on the remaining undr.ained portion of the Hauraki Plains, and judging by tjhe progress made by those already in commission they will be a huge success. A huge undertaking should thereby be materially expedited at a far less cost. The recently constructed Bucyrus dredge commenced work a few days ago, and is said to be doing great work in building up the bank along the Piako River between Kerepeehi and Ngarua. The walking dipper machine continues to do its work of digging two chains of a 16ft drain per day, white a Rood machine at Kerepeehi and another Bucyrus at Ngarua should be completed by the end of January. With seven machines on the Plains some great work should' be done, and things impossible by ordinary manual labour will be carried out at. far less cost; and before very many years have passed there should be no rapu swamps, duck ponds, or isolated pukeko runs on the Hauraki Plains, but all flourishing dairy farms possessing comfortable homesteads.