TEANERAKI.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 826, 5 December 1878, Page 2

TEANERAKI.

[FROM OUR OWS CORRESPONDENT.] December 4. An abundauce of rain has fallen upon our parched meadows, and the grain fields and' the face of nature is renewed, gladdened, and re-ciothed in a holiday garment of green. Even our humdrum picturesque little township looks brighter, and our children, as they file off to school, appear influenced by the gay sunshine after the rain. In the little court-yard of the school, we mark the rosy faces of our wee folk, girls and boys, forming right shoulder forward for their march into school. Then comes the tramp, tramp, as each cohort goes bravely to the front, girls first, out of courtesy to the sex, all tidy and orderly. Our schoolmaster fol-

lows, respected by us and beloved by oL cliildren. ' j Looking at this town as'it is, and as it was, we find that a very great change haa taken place. In old times we had but one storekeeper ; we now have three and an hotel. This is the result of the railway system, together with the sale of township sections and farms in the neighborhood. There seems to be a falling off of water in the Waiareka, as in old times the flourmill was always on the go ; but now the rush of the waterwheel is silent. Mr. Reid, of Elderslie, is making a very beautiful arrangement of his artificial lake, by creating islands, &c. On Windsor Park estate there are miles of live fencing, which is coming on bravely. Todd's Corner is now nearly hidden from sight by blue gums, and the homesteads in this portion of the Waiareka are all looking well. At Weston the changes time haa wrought are not so well marked, but for all that the township is increasing, and town sections command long figures. I heard the other day of a townsman being offered L9O for a double quarter-acre section, having frontages to the main and one of the back streets. The Oamaru Stone Company's quarry is in full swing, and large quantities of stone have been excavated, and are now stacked beside the siding read}' for running into the market.