A LINK WITH THE PAST.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 2074, 6 January 1920, Page 3

A LINK WITH THE PAST.

The mins of Ihe fir?l flourmill erected in Taranaki have just' been unearthed in New Plymmn i. In the early days of she settlement, in 1843, to he more exact (says the Taranaki Herald), Mr Bundle and Mr S. Oliver acquired from the local agent of the Xcw Zealand Company the piece of land where the rains are visible for the purpose of erecting a flourmill, which the settleyienl stood greatly in- need of. The first grinding st.oacs were made from

boulders from the beach (they min still he seeft there), and a waterwheel, ,13 fee! in diameter, was constructed For the motive power. This mil! ground all the flour used by the settlers, and considerable quantities were also exported to Wellington. The Hour for exportation was carted to (he beach by Air Joll, wim.-c team consisted of four goats and a dog. With this strange team madiy hundreds of tons of (lour were taken from the mill. To give an idea of tin 1 extent of the outside demand, it is only necessary to slato that a Ircd'T from Wellington, named March, came up perirodically to !a\ in stocks for English vessels. When Mr W. K. llulke arrived in I lie settlement, he built the Union Mill, with u better class of machinery. It therefore became necessary to improve Ihe old Alpha, Mill. A new building was accordingly elected on ‘ifiTold foundations, and French stones and silks were put into use. It was, however, found that, there was not. room for two lloiu: mills in Taranaki, and after the Alpha had been idle some time Mr Oliver bought Mr llulke out of the Union Mill, and the machinery of the Alpha Mill with the exception of the waterwheel and the original stones, was disposed of to the Maoris. The waterwheel was afterwards used by Mr Ant bony Brooking for a small sawmill, which, in turn, gave place to a hone-crushing mill run by Mr .Dccimus Atkinson. *