A TRIP TO WAIMIHA.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 328, 14 January 1911, Page 3

A TRIP TO WAIMIHA.

_ I i (By a Special Correspondent). (Continue 1 :! from last issue.) Arriving at Tangitu wo found a Post Office established there, Mr E. Gilford being postmaster. Although .this institution is rot of an elaborate J design yet it suits its purposes and i requirements. I am informed a big ! business is done there. Twice weekly ! the mail arrives at Tangitu and vice j versa to Waimiha. For carrying the . mail Mr Lovett has been appointed mailman. Staying for a few hours j at Tangitu, 1 was informed an associaj tion called the Tangitu Improved ! Farm Association has been formed for I the purpose of furthering and protectI ing the interests of settlers. Of late nothing much has been heard of it. One man jokingly remarked, "when we first started we had the power of an eight-horse portable engine. Things went off smoothly, and for awhile we. did well, but unfortunately some part of the machinery 'broke,' end we have not been able to drive the engine with the same power and effect." Let me advise the settlers to keep this association alive, and the little defects will be speedily put to right, and upon my return visit I may find those defective parts working harmoniously, as through its medium much good cart be done, and the rights of the settlers brought into effect. Having bid adieu to my Tangitu friends we proceeded in a north-westerly direction to the I Tangitu Block. Here we found sev- ' eral large clearings apparently some 1 excellent dairying country. Travelling along the Takariki road we noj ticed the formation is not continuous. : At intervals we find ourselves on the i old pack-track. After travelling ; about a mile through standing forest i we suddenly come across a nikau ! grange. Mr Banfield was favoured I with good luck in drawing a good i section. He informed me he has ! something like 55 acres felled, and of this acreage he has got 30 in beautiful grass. Mr Banfield assures me for grass-producing purposes he has never seen its equal. Judging by the superb growth, and the abundance of feed I willingly emphasise what Mr Banfield says as true. Being late in the day, we hastily made our way a little further. My friend gave the word to halt and dismount, and said we had better pull up for the night. To my surprise who should this property belong to? To none other than ! Mr J. Kenny, formerly in business in | Taihape. Being intimately acquainted with him for many years, nothing i daunted, but we must stay for the | night. This invitation was readily accepted, and having fininshed tea, we sat by the camp fire, chatting oyer many incidents of the past. During our conversation we were often interrupted with those small insects, mosquitoes, which are most unpleasant j company. Mr Kenny assures ine they I are very bad this season of the year. | I found this remark to be true, and ! the proof of the pudding being the ! eating, the mosquitoes almost devoured me. A very interesting converI sation took place about our early days in the Manawatu, when we were but youngsters. Many up and downs have been experienced since, and many changes have taken place. "It's not all beer and skittles," said my friend, alluding to the life of a back-block settler. "It's truly hard. We suffered a hard winter last winter, and I unless we get a more vigorous road ' policy, I am afraid we shall be in a ! worse plight than the previous winter." These few remarks I find to be : the'naked truth, a3 judging from perj sonal observation, the struggling j settler has indeed a hard life and a : hard row to hoe. After a hearty ishaking of hands and thanking him ! for his hospitality we parted, wishing ■ Mr Kenny and family every success in i his new sphere of life and that he and | all the settlers live long to wear their i hard-earned laurels. We descended | into a beautiful open valley (mostly all level country) which grow 3 some of the finest manuka I have ever seen. The weather being beautifully clear enabled us to command a fine view of the country. Looking in the distance it was simply perfect. Most part of the time our eyes were fixed on Aria and Pio Pio. To make Aria that day seemed to be an impossible task. Sauntering along we followed the Mokauiti road, where we came across Mr C. Messenger's farm. Mr Mes- ; senger, by the way, is more fortunate ; than his fellow settlers, as he has erected a fine dwelling, nis being a good open section, which requires little work to improve it. Mr Messenger has already several head of ' yearlings on the place, daily growing into money. From thence we travelled along the i'ototo passing : through very fine country on rouio. We immediately dropped into another huge valley, where abundance of grass | can be seen. After a little bother we S picked up the main track to Aria, j At present the track is almost obliter- | ated with fern and undergrowth, thus | rendering it very difficult to trace, j On our way we passed a line gtove of I peach trees, having evidently been ; planted at some time by the natives. Although, the fruit was not ripe we felt like Adam and Eve very much tempted. A little further on we discovered what had been a large Maori : pah. Upon close examination we found ! relics of what had been native build- | ings. The pah, probably, may have | been in existence half a century ago. ; Having retraced our hordes' footprints again we set out for Aria. Al- : though we passed many thousands of | acres of splendid country, which is at j present owned by the natives, we felt ; assured that in the near future this ! would indeed be a paradise to live in. I The climate, too, is all that can be de- | sired. Accomplishing a hard day's : rough riding, we landed in Aria about 7 p.m. Before concluding my notes I must thank the settlers in the Tangitu settlement for their voluntary informa- . tion, and whilst their hospitality will ever be fresh in my memory, 1 must confess my trip has been a most enjoyable and uneventful one. With all their hardships and patient endurance,

a mere genial, kind-hearted lot of settlers I have never met. Lei nie, ask. Mr Editor, through the columns of your widely circulated paper, to wish one and all a happy and prosperous New Year.