THE RANGITIKEI-MANAWATU DISTRICT.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4955, 8 February 1877, Page 6

THE RANGITIKEI-MANAWATU DISTRICT.

(BY OUR SPECIAL COBUKSI'ONDKNT.) The natural importance of this district has somewhat forced it into notice lately, ana people'in Wellington city and other portions of the defunct province are beginning to be aware that Rangitikei-Mauawatu (conjo n.n, names for convenience of deaonption) represents a large. amount o progress and settlement, and°a field for still further pro*rem and settlement. But, outside the old province of Wellington, in the colony at large but little is known of a district fairly entitled to.be ranked parallel with any uvttae ISorth or South Island, and even within the limits of the-old province.such as is known of Kangi-tikei-Manawatu is that which has absolutely forced itself upon public attention, for of the real prosperity and resources of the country but little seems to be apprehended outsvle its limits. I stall reserve until after I havemade the readers of this.paper in detail with, the' district any comments in the nature of "then 1 and now?',any remarks as to the difference which some five or six years have produced in the district; but I may bo permitted to" say.a't this, writiug that where six years ago, there was almost a terra incognita there are now flourishing townships, a railway some. 35 miles in. length open, and frequent settlement throughout the district. Ihis being premised, I would ask those who follow me to eater"the district by one of its natural ports, .

.>■'.< .'.'• POXTOS, I , •■ . ' some eight hours by steamer from .Wellington. The town is situated in a) bend of the ■ Mauaw'ata River,:which is no inconsiderable stream, and 4;he -bar-at-thp-mouthpf- which is very " easy'of passage'to boasters and small steamers, Foxton isnow a county town. In connection' with the railway-terminus at Foxton, 4 very substantial'=wharf has ; been constructed, on which a pair of heavy shears.are in course of erection'for landing heavy, goods, especially the railway engines, much required on the line. - A' public hall is also in-course 'of erection, and : the various' religious "sects, have their jabid- ' ' • ing place* {fa 1 neat buildings;' The : trade of , the port, '-from being a ' fe w years sine? almost • ■ niL how "Averages thirty.'^vessehi' ';'&f month, amongst which are to be counted the s.s.Napier ■ 'and Tui, ' been aiTattentive listener in the gallery during-ihe'last session of Parlia- ' ment, my. first tnp inland from Foxton was to •. the Douglas'purchase, j ; ' THfi C-BODA DOWNS STATION. ; '''' - "I liad so-frequently had the pleasure of -he'aring Sir.GeprgeGrey, Mr. Rees, and other purists denounce 'the. sale of the block forming this station to a company as a gross outrage on the 'dearest interests of mankind, that I made '" haste to see it Riding through the sandhills' wHoh envelop i*Fpxton'for several miles, at about tie*Wghtn mile-post im the Saudmi-road . I amved'A't the homestead, where I was rei ''c'eivediwith therrufmoat. courtesy .by, the manager, Mr. Dawson. .The homestead is not " but upon a block of acres purchased by the company from Mr. Nathan, of Wellington, and joined to. that'obtained from the-Govern-ment by the purchase from .private parties of a few intermediate sections. , iThree years ago, on thesite of .the.- homestead, and between it and the iea,\wa3 a favorite hunting-ground for those whet I like chasing .1 and shooting jwild,. v iNow theres are; pretty cottages, Wellfenced paddocks, a boiling-down establishment, "Mind all..the;;belongings of a fjiisit-class homestead, while around may be seen' sheep, cattle, ,• ,;and enough.to • acoompanyme-overakrgepprtipn-of the station, .1 involved a- ride or-ibver; thirty miles, and I am enabledjHherefore,. as to the actual condition-of the Splice; to-write from personal 1 ■' obaervation: It maybe i well to premise jvith , a history ofthe purchase, s On September the ,2neL,AßM v Oiders;in; .Council,were issued authorising the sale. .to., the company of 22.000 „*-, acrefcof an«acre, of which 7000, acfeVwere toT>e""set" apart" for the of special settlement; the company undertaking "'". toTocate settlers upon them, in two years' time. ■*" ; 'On 1 the other the Government undertook to complete the survey of the-land and to! put "".' ihe'eompany/ in! possession.' ■ Tfien'arbse difficulties. " Maoris-* made claims here and claims .'.' the"result*.was that iae governmentscpuld/rip't; fulfil their portion '.'."of the conditions, and the" company did; not ' • ; fulfil, theirs. ■ And the latter, could scarcely have been expectSi"to have',done so as jyet, . . th^y' were hos in the .'possession which was -" promised to 'them."' Butin one respect .the ] _delay hasjnpt been disadvantageous-, to ithe ~." public interests., As the"7oo,o acres for-special ' aettiement;were.originally laid out they ran ■"' vound;the rest of the ! prbperty.'in a\ series of * smaU such as, owing to the diversified nature of the laiiS, there would kave been considerable: "difficulty in getting any one to take np. ; TTow this is all changed. The Government have, I am led to understand, quieted the : native title;and the 2ndof last month having ■ seen;the'expiry-of the time within which the first contracts between. Government and com-1 pany wereto.be fulfilled, a second period has been eateredrph, with a, most advantageous change (for the counbry) as regards the locality, of the special, settlement. .Some time ago the Government appointed' two gentlemen to. select the locality. These were Messrs. Gower and Sanson, ;oH settlers in the district, and well acqaainteiiwith it. They picked two blocks, : doe ! of 1300 acres, of easy,access,from the Sattdon'-road,' and" the other really most ad-.. - . aiirably suited"for special "settlement. "It*coinr■-' ipinses 'a flax swamp, now ready for agricultural work, in consequence of having been drained ' by the company, a terrace of fern-land, backed - ■ by bush, and the '- whole impinging on the Sandon settlement. It is contemplated so to divide this block as that each settler shall have bis shareof 'swamp, terrace, and bush—and I wish I had a share. It will be remembered that an-Aetin reference to the Oroua Downs Block was passed last session.. By it the above arrangements were made. : -Phe.company have conie to a wise to the class of settlers they propoie bfiaUowedfawhM»J«(i' i pay for the land, and . every effort wiltbe made to secure as purchasers thb»e experience and some ' make the. putting of. stock on their property the effecting of a mortgage on the same. I may aay here : that the.success i of the Sandon special settlement, which willbe described in a subsequent letter, is an effective .. ' argument... in '. favor- of: the plan indicated. The station or block purchased from Govern- \ meat is called " The Oroua Downs," but, w}th - one of Dickens' characters, I< am tetopted ; to ask, »'m y Downs?'* Of 'the 22,000 acres which it includes abont one-third is swamp land and the rest, bush 1 , and there is not a ■ symptom of "downs''abdut either. Without an exception, not a portion of it is fitted for 7 ; sale in small quantities. " That to be disposed '. of by ,the company in "the special settlement 1 form has become most suitable' "in consequence oJLthe dWnaee.Vprks carried out.. "Fo r the Z rest, it will undoubtedly be of great subsequent value, but- only because capital has been freely ' _ arid coherently invested, a result which .could '..■ .not possibly, have been attained if the land "had been parcelled'out amongst a number jojf 1 • small proprietors.' , Already the impiroVemepts -effected by the company are bearing '<: '-. fruhVin the increased value given to \adjacent r lands. Thus I know of 100 acres sold for , £3 10s. an acre, and 200 acres sold for £3 an '■-. acre, bordering onvthe compan/B property, and purehased originally for perhaps a sixth; of ~. eithersum.'f . ■■> '■-■■ : - ■•'■'.■ ' ■ . . ■.- ,i. 1 As has been said,l:rbde;over a.large portion of the block, and bad an opportunity,of seeing / what Douglas and Co." (to call, them by that name) had done. ; A very vast; drainage plan is being carried out in relation to the most ex- "" tensive swamp on the estate. It includes a mam drain connecting with the' Oroua River, oyer four ndlee in length, 25ft. wide at the tpp, with an average depth of 9ft; and a width, at . the bottom of sft. When I say that this plan '"" of drainage is being carried.out,.l am scarcely "correct. A great portion of it is completed. There are now some 250 miles: of main, apd branch drains completed, and their' good effects are plainly visible. That the land,, with) a '" Bystematic outlay of capital upon it, is m^st valuable, can be easily seen ; and the swamps •will yet pay cent, per cent, upop the outlay gone to with regard to them. But had the property been subdivided, this outlay would

never have been undertaken ; and had Government proposed to make the outlay preriously to selling ihe land an indignant and virtuous Opposition would most certainly have denounced them for entering upon speculations with public money, which should have been left to privase capital. . The bush land.is also good; but except 111 one place, the timber would not itself pay the_ expense of felling. On a patch of twenty-eight acres where the timber has been felled and; then partially burned off, I saw, however, English grass of this season's sowing growing luxuriantly. , ■ The Oroua River forms the eastern .boundary of the block. .On the north it is fringed by the Sandon Settlement. On the west chiefly by what is known as Larkworthy's purchase, and on the south by the Faxton and Feeding railway. Roughly, it may be'said to average nine, miles in length and five in breadth. Fifteen miles of roads and tracks have been formed by,the,company, and fifty mijes- of, fencing have been put up_.ln order to give an idea of the expenditure of the company, in, permanent improvements, I looked over, the cash book for the past four months and found the expenditure to be—-For September, £1286; October, £1403 ; November, £1909; and December, £2682 ; making' a ■ t6tal of j £6278. About'lso men are at present at work op the property.'-'and it is; stocked with 'soo head of cattle and 13,000 sheep. 'lt will carry many more in a very few years, but not itwas"only capable of carying 6000 sheep.; 'The homestead is situated on what is really the most uninvitinar-looking .-portion" of the •estate;'but.ift nai " the advantage'of-being;close-to the Foxton arid Sandon road. .The people of the" latter place, 'who, with few exceptions, have never been back upon the run to sp .its »al Y are: never ,tired of justly praising the improvements effected,;which, are visible from the.r.oad. What was a' witddrneaT it now a cultivated place, and the short, time in which this change has been'effected is worthy; of commendation. " I cannot conclude, this leMer without__.bearing testiinonytothfe.,extreme courtesy T received from the ■'■■. Efficient manager,.,Mr. .'Paws.on^,whQ 7 ,\y,aj! c imoat;;ieady. to afford'me every informatiott-rdeau-edlfrom him. .„,. '. ; .yn>i'f ,: Hf(i 'h''^te.^«*'"fc"6T■ ■' ', THB'BAB.WATTb PEItDINS. . [ The Downs, or Douglas Block,: I took the itrain from Foxtou.to. Feilding. the lines in "the 'colony which" more than pays Its' working expenses,yand contributes something 1 towards the interest'on the cost of its construe-*' tion. .Far some time, as'-may be remembered, it and its management formt-d' the subjepf; of frequent complaint. A great mistake ppneera-v ing it was made' in the first instance by laying: it down as a wooden tramway, which,was; perfectly useless when worked by horse3,'and broke down irretrievably when an attempt wasmade to work, it by railway engines. ,' The ? tearing ? upCof this, traiKway and its ment by a .railway proper have added materially to the cost of the latter. Had it not been so, the present railway would pay the full interest on what' should' be its. capital cost. ; The receipts' are about £6OO a month, two-thirds of which, are from goods,, produce," and merchandise;'but the passenger traffic, though small, is on the and. is quite up to what might be expected from the number of the population,serye;d by tbe line.' As to itspast management it would perhaps be better to say nothing, as it would involve saying something !; At present, though I found some complaints of the iai-iff for the conveyance of goo'ds being- excessive, ;I heard nothing! but praise on 'every* hand of the ability [and .courtesy of "Mr. Moinet, th'e traffic' manager, who seems 'to -have , snebeeded 'in pleasing ereryorie.;' The 'line itself is 'worked as such • a like should'be.;', In a fewmiles we'reach

■•'- "■' '-'- '"■' .: TiELpiNo, - . The chief township bri;the Manchester block, though one, further on, Halcombe is rapidly risinf. l!: A ; very full and interesting description of. the special settlement .being effected, |and the cbhditiohs under which it was carried on on this block; has already J appeared in your columns,' and I presume that:your readers are tolerably' well acquainted! with the circumstances under' which settleirieht has been ,and 13 carried'en." I will therfefbre father confine myself'to'an'actual'description of' what I saw. •Yet;'at the same time, it will not perhaps be out of place'to mention* that the block, comprising 106,000 acres, was granted to Colonel Feilding, acting forthe Eniigrants'and Colonists' Aid .Corporation, at, a price of 15s. an dcre for lbo,ooo,"acreß, : the 'remaining 6000 acres being presumed to be takeii'up byroads andreserves.'' .In a' report to the Superintendent ! of Wellington, on 1 the 7th May, 1874, Mr. A., Follett Halcombe, the resident secretary to the Corporation, says:— "The'Manchester Block extends 'from the Rangitikei River to the Ruahine Ranges by the gorge of the Manawatu' River. : It is twenty • miles in length'byan average breadth of eight miles. With the exception of about 12,000 acres of open land the. block' is*.covered with bush 'Much of this bush Is towhai forest, very, light, and easily cleared ; but there are also large blocks covered with very valuable timber—-miaitai and; rifnu—interspersed: with tbtara'trees ; arid large groves of magnificent totara occur.in every, direction over the block. The .soil is uniformly, rich,;riiuch of it being a deep alluvial' deposit, underlaid with fine waterworn shingle. the country generally has agreat fall .'seaward and is therefore well drained, it has an apparent; level, and the few rolling ridges will offer little obstacle to the formation of.roads arid tramways in,any direction. V .." ( :■ ' .'. '■'■■■■- \ " The block is intersected and almost equally divided by the Oroua. Stream'which runs north and south through a magnificent valley, fully five miles' wide,. into -which the drainage frpm at least two-thirds of the, block finds its way, and which is full -of niagriincent timber. All oyer this "valley water is'obtainable in wells from ten to fifteen feet below the surface, and the block generally is very well watered and yet entirely free from any injurious flooding of the streams."., , V'.'. r - ~-.,,,-.• ~-■_ ~ Briefly, the Corporation undertook tojintrb-duce-2000. immigrants into the colony, and; to settle 2000 statute adults upon their land, before the Ist April,. 1877. A few facta will tell whether they are carrying out their conditions. Owirig ,tb,'Yaribris difficulties, the. first immigrants were' riot, introduced until January, 1874,; arid' for nearly two',;years afterwards these arid their ,iiipedirii'erita. had to be cbnveyed by wretched bush roads to their destination, and In tents and whares until' cottages were provided for them. .What do we now find?" Feilding is a haridsome v/ell laid out township,, easy of access by railway, with"churches, aschooV well-appointed hotels for- travellers' ."cbirifort'; passable' streets apd; thirty , miles of are fbrrried throughout the block, and will be tor the most part metalled during the summer ; and though the . full compleriieht -bf 'hnmigrants by same five or six hundred has-not yet been introduced, • owing to purchase-arid settlement of land by and influx to the district of Colonials, there jis now a population of quite -2000 souls on the blbck, whilst the iinmigrants now on their way out, under the auspices of ~> the Corporation, will find on their arrival comfortable cottages ready to receive thera., A uniform plan 'has' been pursued with the immigrants. Each head of a family was put 'ln'possession] of a town acre, ; and as soon as'possible of j a cottage thereof, and wag;, also allotted | a country sectiori jbf 40 apres,- ,For the town acre and cottage he, was .called upon to pay 7s. qd..a week for three year's, at the expiration 1 bf which they become his property without further p'aymerit; ' For ; the'4o-acre' section he pays a rental, of £5 a year for Beven years, with a -purchasing, clause at the rate of £3 an I acre. As in all cases the Corporation give him access 'by 1 a good 'macadamized '°ad |fco 'his 'j4oacres before "asking hiiri: tp . commence operations;upon'it,,it,will be'seen'that theyhave to spend much more than 1 the -purchase money Upon, the land. Of course the immi-, grants were not all first-'class, and even jof,! some who have since turned, out excellent; colonists there were not a"'few who under t ' ie »tter novelty of the circumstances attending a j change from their life at-Home to ' one in the bush here growled and grumbled arid produced some troubles. But 'sis all were wisely in the 'first' instance located in the town, and provided with work in clearing and road formation by the Corporation, those ready to become colonists got an opportunity of acclimatising

themselves as it were, and numbers! have benefited by this, as may be seen ny the readiness with which they are now setting.to, work upon their country .a Darwinian process of natural selectionwent on. Those capable (and fortunately they were thelarge majority) of becoming useful of the colony have remained, and the useless. have been gradually weeded out, and have left, for other places. And here it may be well tcremark that a little pre-arrangement ro, England might have prevented the trouble which some immigrants, through no fault'of J their own, gave. A thoroughly good colonial agent should have been sent Home—a man of ;character, of discretion, andW experience,, who, knowing the colony* wouli have taken as immigrants people suited to the conditions the, immigrants would have had\to fulfil ;• and as a result, the present satisfactory condition. ! of affairs would have been arriyeajatln even a shorter.time and 'at less expense. 1 However, all. is well that ends well, and, certainly the ! present'appearance of Feilding seem*,simply, I astounding, considering„thal;;the towftand dis-. 'trict'were a wild,waßte" ; 'some. threg, yeara ago. But in,truth the: whole blpck,isi.lajjd of great ich'ness. Mr. 'Halcombe. has ; a pleasant house, for Himself on the'eve' of completion, and.in front of. it .are "a lawn of rich green sward; and., beds gay with flowers, the fruits of but one year's work, yet such as, in the 'old-Jbuntrjr-is only attained Ey years of patient and labc|rlous; industry; If anything werelwanted gress of the whole district, perhaps. <;he day's, .work I. was able to accomplish' pri my 'visit to' Feilding would best show it. I'left Foxtbn, at, half-past 6 in the morning by train, and arrived in Feilding at 9 o'clock; After breakfast jtnd a walkaroundthetbwnship,Mr..Macarthur,whpm I have already mentioned as Mr., Halcbmbe's j se'cdhdTri.command, left on horseback fpr-j iS[alcoihl&e, s eight by a. very fair;| road formed by the Corporation, as, indeed, all.-.-.the roads have been, with scarcely any., afesist"anoe from the T Highway Board, to which for Settlers-oh-the block co>triTmteanargelylnrrates. "Along the road -^e' passed many; sections taken up by colonials from the Corporation, and on which great progress in clearing,., cropping* and stocking; had been made. The-first view of Halcombe is ,vpry .taking..!; are mostly'situated onlthe!!gentle slope of .a slight . hill, along the crestjof.wbich runs a line of,-ib^j-andjiit,is ;piitside;.of'.these that thelsub-' are.Bituatedi'which." will ;;bjspffergd for sale, in .Wellington: hy.iMessrs... Bethune arid;- Hunter: en■>. the; i2sth , instant;The main railway from ;Wanganili:to;Welling-i:, :toripasses along thehollow at the. foot of the vhilli-.and the contractors are hardp,t.work tfep line,to,Feilding being expectedto be rpady "fpr fope'ning in a little more,' than' % .eigKteen months. It is no wonder .that applicaWons" should have already beea', made ;to purchase privately the sections''about) to be; sold by auction, . for they.-: are "not, ;like land! too often offered in this,, colony, remote from road, . railway, .or ' township.' The townf.* . ship'.' of n Halcombe," though only < started" a ' twelvemonth ago, already contains , 500 people, and all "the accompaniments in I the; shape of the usual excellent hotel which; d thanks to Inspector Atcheson, is now theirulp in up-country townships, good stores, accommodation houses, &o. I have seen towns springup:- with lightning-tike and evanescent groj wth; on goldfields, and in too many casea," pome like ishadows," and "so .depart:;f,-.buti the growth of .Halcombe'.has been as rapid-as that, of a goldfields township, and-contains 1 elements of. permanent-prosperity ,an.d ; ,progress na|ces-, sarily- wanting, in.the former.,, Mr. Halcombe,, with characteristic good judgmenljaccepted! a. number of the German immigrants, by thei Fritzreuter, and settled jthein at Halcbmbe.; As has been the rule with their nation, they, have turned out most patient arid industrious colonists—men, .women, .and ;chijdren turning-to literally" "with a: will." Indeed, in one Case brought under, t my,„notice, .a.: German, woriian and her daughter had dug up an acre of grorind in nine days. . - "" j ; After a brief spell, for the horses, wejeft Halcombe, arid having put four miles and a half of road'between-ourselves and It,' came ,ep a natural clearing, known as *f The,Big dfearing." The larid partly covered; with that strong -and tall- manuka scrub] whichjs indicative of soil, arid partly by fern." This clearing-, contains about .4900 acres,! of which' 1000 have'been purchased by a number of the sect known as Christian Brethren, who will--! shortly be' all in situ, . and, of ;,whjom one pioneer is already .on the .ground. .I|am unable to, testify to the soundness, : pf , this people's religious faith ; but,, from -what has., already been dbrieby their pioneer,,l can; p|ro-; nounce their industrial and' agricultural tenets, excellent. Already this man • has a nice crop of oats almost ready for cutting, and a good vegetable garden, whilst what is really a handsome ' frame house iff in course of erection. Leaving the Big Clearing, a ride of ten miles along a well-formed road in course of bepg" metalled brought us to Feilding. The land here offers no exception to the invariable rule on (the block. Wherever, it has beeri";cleared and grain sown, the.pasturage is simply-mag-nificent. The road Is known as the road,- arid at.a point about one-third of the : distance to Feilding the Gbvermrient: hive taken advantage of it to clear a road towards certain land sold by them- and that shortly to be opened -under the deferred-pay ment system.' The Corporation authorities do not seemj to regret the facilities they have offered ;by means of road construction for-'getting, on-this land., They wisely recognise that every acre settled-enhances the value of ' their own land, and makes Feilding the entrepot of a flourishing :back" country... The l senior member for .Wanganui has purchased some land on this Government block (which, by the way, is known astheKiwitea), and we met him proceeding there in a spring cart with stores, like the true and hardy, settler he is. As we got eloper to Feilding we came across numerous 40-acre sections, to,which the special immigrants now having recourse, and on which'they are : doing much clearing and iinproving. But the prettiest sight, pf all was within the, township as entered'by the present road. Here one side of the road was' lined by cottages, with flower gardens that Wellington, could not rival,, and fruit and vegetable patches adjacent;, whilst thereinainder of each acre was ripening with the golden grain of bats or maize. At : a quarter, to 'four o'clock, we were ; again j in, Feildirigj arid ■ had a rett before getting on the train-at: Half-past four,'' which' took iis !to Foit'orifbr'tea-at:seven o'clock.,'- The ;reader of this will see.that not ft bad d,ay's work Was accoriiplished, which a year ago; it would have taken'-fuR/'four days' to-get .through;'. 'But owing to the railway arid the excellent roads made by the Corporation I was "able: to do jit' I in on niy return to write this letter t in-time to despatch it by the post '.plosfng-at ten j o'clock that night arid leaving for' Wellington at six I *'clockthe ? followirig inbrriing; ' j ! The Corporation have onp source of ,wealth: only/waiting completion', of the Taihyay fpr development. This is contained in'the splendid ] timber with' whichthe greater part rif their property is thickly' covered, o and which'is so much'-desiderated iri Martbri-Wahgariui, and -I the districts lying , between.,* The, Corporation have now timber millß at work under an arrangement by which they supply the bush for felling and take the sawri timber a fixed price; When the railwayis opened to Wanganui they expect to supply sawn .timber; there at from Bs. to 9s; ,per 100 ft. plus the cost of carriage. .At present they; supply jit from the miliat'lOs 1 . per 100; but this is asjit were a retail traded arid the wholesale'trade' which the opening 1 of the .'line will afford make the prices as'stated;"' ; .1 As a." concluding paragraph'l riiay state that betweeri capital arid the proceeds of the land | sold the Corporation .have now spent close on j £60,000 on the Manchester Block. There.are' 676'ratepayers on the' roll of the/Highway Board, and during the last three years ' the : block contributed ' a full 'third of the rates of the Manawatu Highways District, of which till lately it formed a portion, without receiving literally a penny back towards road construction within its boundaries. THE DISTKICT. .Rangitikei County has iis boundaries conter- ■ minouswith those of the Rangitikei Highway District, and the members of the District Board have been elected to the County Council. The total area of the district is roughly

■estimated,' ~,at ' 1,515,009 acres. In the aggregate of' the various holdings there are comprised 11,553 ' acres', of pasturage, 1929 acres under crop, and "2699 acres of bush, whilst plantation figures for only 8 acres, Mr. Harris, the "obliging secretary to the County ■ Council, was at some trouble to compile this information for me frbriv the returns m his possession. The annual, valuation °f the Highway District is' £36,000, the_ rates are '£lßoo.' It is gratifying'to' record that the quantity of land brought under cultivation is increasing very rapidly each year.-....; .. | ;,. ,' i BAIIWAY WOBKS.. • '~• i Of the railway which,,is to connect Wanganui With the, Rangitikeii-Manawatu District, and eventually with. Wellington, the position is this."' mUes comp]eted»-and the: permanent; under a contracfeotaKenby the Emigrant Aid Association. f -Fwm this -termination; of: this, Nathan's section, under * U P» *?.: within, a mile'o{.the.Rangitikpißiv.er.■-.' Then, succeeds Lockieand.Co.'SiWho .arfe alsoj con-structing-the bridge oyer the^riyer.,:; --.Stuart s contract begins at of'tins, at : the cliflj linim of jrpad. on ; ,Major-Willis's property, arid" runs, to-Turakitfa,. from whencb the line, incompleted, permanent' iffy .and' all, asfar,; Wthe bank pf the-Wanganui River, : On this lj*st:s,eptibu : Pr-np .heavy work i't9'be.abne/iwithith.e; exception' of,*; crittmg ,Gotv^'.saddle, l ,.; Allvthej con- , tfadla m b,e completed and ,the permanent frm lajd. under eighteen months frojn date,|o be finished ; before tha|.whichiis,iio;c;o.nnect Wellington, with F^atheratpni,-v-;"; uiA'--i . ■ ■ ■ • ■ j <