THE FAIR TOWN OF HASTINGS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2810, 22 January 1908, Page 95

THE FAIR TOWN OF HASTINGS.

.«• THE TITANIA OF THE PLAIN. Bx A. W-abbt/btoit. To a spectator standing on an elevated position, such as may easily be attained on the slopes of the hills of. the south of the town, Hastings and its surrounding country present a pleasing panorama. Stretching inland from the shores of Hawke's Bay :s a triangular plain, verdant and diversified •by chimps and plantations of trees, and in area apparently about equal to the- Manictoto. plain in Otago, bounded to the south by an irregular chain of hills, clothed from hase to summit in luxuriant green grass <not sere tueocks}, and. with a jaged skyline. The other side of the triangle — for ,the sea. forms the bas6 — is bounded by green terraces, rising into swelling- hills ; these , again, rising, tier behind tier, to cuimin'ate in the snow-capped Ruahines, which Btretch like the string of a bow across a considerable chord ot the horizon- The ■ prevailing colour note is green.; the vivid - green of young willow leaves, of bursting poplars, of fresh and tender grass; the rsombre green of fir plantations. The in- . finitive variety of colouring produced by the play of light and shade on the 6tark " mountains of Otago is not noticeable here ; ' though when a spring storm sweeps along ' the slopes of the high ranges one may see ' deep shades, running down to purple and ' indigo. From your coign of vantage you will notice that the country below you, pleasant though it 16, is but sparsely settled for a. country of such wonderful fertility, and capable of sustaining a population much denser than it does at present. When one looks down on the Taieri Plain from Saddle Hill one sees farm steadings embowered in trees in clcse proximity over the wholp area; but here is a large plain, containing a rich alluvial soil, where one sees bare paddocks, apparently miles square, and houses are only thinly dotted over the rerdant -expanse. The explanation is that the land is pearly all used for grazing purposes, and that it is he'd in large blocks. The country, I am informed, was orig:naily covered with scrub and fern, which cost a lot to clear, and so diminished the then capacity of the ground that a largo area was required in order that the settler plight make a decent living. Those who inveigh loudly against the large estates in the Hawke's Bay district should, before calling the proprietors hard names, picture to themselves what the country was when the original settlers took it up, the con.ditions under which they lived, and the amount of labour, energy, perseverance, andi it' has taken to subdue the.'wKder"jiess to its present appearance; and then they should be willing to admit that, 'though "the s large landowner may, under "present day tondifcions, be an anachronism, he is by no means a criminal, i- Looking- at the town of Hastings itself -from our present altitude -one is reminded .of Eoms medieval town clustering round -the foot of an. old baronial castle which towers above, and dominate^ its humble neighbours. The building- is the Grand Hotel, a four-sfcoreyed, red brick structure, ■which towers above the, rest of the buildings, as did Gulliver above the Lilliputians. Descending to the town and strolling casually about its streets one sees that it is in its chrysali3 stage, evolving from the ■wooden pupa to the 6tone or brick crysalis. Everywhere buildings are going up. The favourite materials are concrete and brick. -Most of the buildings under construction at 'present are of two storeys. To an old Dunedinite a stroll along Heretaunga street, the^ main street -of Hastings, recalls the George street of 20 years ago, when Messrs A. and T. Inglis's place lorded it over a miscellaneous collection of low, wooden neighbours>~when the architecture was very varied, and the fronts of "the Tmi'dings pTesented a, very irregular line, when a low one-storey shanty of the very early Dunedin 6tood cheek by jowl with an up-to-date structure. These contrasts are vividly presented in the Hastings of to-day. Now that rebuilding has been energetically taken in hand this rawness of appearance will soon give place to the majestic order of a jirell-builfc town. The most prominent feature of the street life- of HastingsJ as of other North Island towns, are ■__!__ THE MAORIS. To a South Islander the little whimsicalities and oddities of these debonnair people are 'vastly amusing. Their dress is often, according to our ideas, ridiculously incongruous. I saw a fine specimen of Sfaori ■manhood the other day who had ruined the •tout ensemble of a stylish hat, smart Norfolk jacket, .and orthodox collar and tie, .by enclosing his nether extremities in a pair of shabby dungaree trousers of the- copperxivetted sort, supported loosely at the waisc by a strap. Sitting at table he appeared to be dressed most gentlemanly ; walking alongr "the street he was an oddity. But of this incongruity he was evidently supremely unconscious, and evidently considered himself no end of a dandy. The wahines are equally faulty in tasfe. They prefer gay colours, and as for harmony of colours they know nothing about it. They come into town on Saturday mornings and spend the whole day, squatting placidly in shop doorways, gossiping, and smoking. The men also gossip and smoke, while _to this they add drinking and playing billiards, a. game at which they are very adept, and of which they are very fond. In summer they go shearing-, and make good cheques. Then they live at a millionaire standard — fine clothes, fine- horses, fine everything; — until the cheque is cut out. They seem deficient in foresight, living only for the present. For then? there is no to-morrow. Whatever may be their philosophy, whatever may be their real religion, under the veneer of Christianity, they are happy and contented. They have evidently learned the great lesson,. how not to worry, and "sufficient for the day is the evil thereof." The Maori children are evidently as intelligent as their pakeha contemporaries, and quite as sturdy and. vigorous ; but still the race is dying out. New wine cannot be put in old bottles, and the vices of civilisation apparently more than counterbalance its blessings. An epidemic of measles or of influenza will play havoc in a pa, while among a pakeha community both are regarded with comparative indifference. Perhaps, as heirs of the ills of a millennium of civilisation, our bodies are by heredity fortified to resist and overcome them, _whfe with the Maori the new microbe fails to jneet, the old toxin, and goes on its way -*M**fc3*«_a*ui destroying. J^

In the order of this article I shall nov give some STATISTICS about Hastings. In the first place I maj ■ cay Hastings is Ihe second largest town n the Dominion, being surpassed only bj ; Invercargill. Stay, reader, don't exelanx i "Wellington.! Dunsdin! Auckland! Christ church ! Hastings is greater than these ir area aioxte; not in wealth, population, importance, nor yet in civic vanity. Thy borough of Hastings covers an area of 574; acres, or nearly nine square miles. As a ■coteequcEee of :his area the population, 458t at last census, ie not sufficient tc people- the town a> densely as most towns are populated, and, once one is out of thf business streets one notices the ru6 in urbe ; houses surrounded by paddocks and gardens, standing sedately each in its own block. Many of the borough sections contain 10 acre, and there are a few of 50. The Frimley orchard, for instance, is inside the borough boundary. But with th<3 rapid increase in population at present taking place (it is that the increase for last year is nearly 1000 souls) it is evident that these blocks will soon be subdivided and sold in more convenient areas. At present Hastings is enjoying the plea sure and the benefits of a land boom, and prices seem high. The more conservative burghers are shaking their heads wisely, but considering the fertility of the surrounding country a-nd the fact that much of the land will 6hoitly be cut up into smaller areas, there is no reason why Hastings should not easily and safely make considerable advancement on even its present prosperous condition. That it has made rapid and substantial progress during the last few years is shown by the advance in the z-a table annual valus. In 1902 this was £32 696. In 1907 it was £61,569 ; double. In 1906 the borough revenue was £7353, and over £2000 was spent on public works. In the same year Hastings contained 991 dwellings; a number largely increased since then, and it is absolutely impossible to get a house in the town, and cottages are bespoke before the piles are put down. The same scarcity of dwellings exists, at Napier. It strikes a visitor as a somewhat remarkable circumstance that Taranaki, with its trying climate, should be the great boomland of the Dominion, while the equally fertile East Coast of the North ©and, with its warm, equable climate, should be comparatively neglected. Speaking about climate, I may cay that the southerner who leaves gloomy (?) Otago or windy (?) Can terbury for the al'eged sunny north m search of a beautiful Italian climate will find himself grossly deceived. I fancy that Central Otago and the country between Palmerston South and* Temuka get far more sunshine than any part of the North Island, and that even Canterbury gales must give pride of place, if not for violence, then for persistence, to the strong westerly winds that rage from year's end to year's end along the West Coast of Wellington _ and Taranaki. Certainly the northern winters are warmer, but the wet summers make up for it. The countryround Hawke's Bay enjoys a splendid climate, end Hastings, to which I return after this digression, enjoys, I am told, weeks of sunshine. PROJECTED IMPROVEMENTS. The good people of Hastings, haying at last wakened up to the great possibilities of their town and district, are determined to put their town on a modern footing. One of the proposals is for the construction of an electric tram line across the town from north to south, cutting the railway line at right angles near the station. Tins it is intended to make of a length of about four miles, from Frimley to Havelock. The line is meant more for the traction of goods, than for the conveyance of passengers*, ac the passenger traffic alone would not be sufficient to justify the outlay. Mr Black, electrical engineer, made a survey of the route a week or -two ago, and will in due time submit a detailed report. The motive power is to be supplied by suction gas. There is also a scheme, or rather two, for the supply of water to the town from the Ng-aruroro, or from the hills behind Havelock. At present the town depends on artesian water. These respective schemes are being looked into by the engineers, and will be reported on. The next public work requiring attention is the^eewerage system. At present this discharges into the Ngaruroro, but does not work very satisfactorily, and it is proposed to lay a main sewer to a point about four miles from the town boundary, where the sewage will be discharged into a tidal estuary. Reports on these subjects are being obtained from two engineers. These projected improvements all mean money, and before they can be carried out the ratepayers will have to agree to a loan. The prospect of an increase of rates has caused a number of ratepayers, who live in what might be called the country parts of the borough, to petition for severance from the latter, and amalgamation with the adjacent country. They cannot see why they should pay rates for a drainage system and water supply which will be of no advantage to them This agitation is now proceeding, but its success is problematical. The tram line, I may remark, is to be under- j taken by a syndicate, which will obtain j the privilege from the borough. I There is also some talk about opening a new port near Cape Kidnappers, where there is a natural harbour, giving five j fathoms close inshore, and the construction of wharves is all that is necessary to provide a port. As the whole district, including the 7 borough of Hastings, is rated in support of the Napier Harbour Board, there is very little probability of this project ever, being put into action. BUILDINGS. The Government buildings in Hastings are completely out of harmony with the present importance of the town. The postoffice is a squat, wooden building, and the railway station not much better. The j town boasts a fine library, owing its exist- j ence to a Carnegie gift of £2500. The building is a substantial one of red brick, and contains two fine airy reading-ropms, well lighted, with ornate plaster ceilings, i The various religious denominations have [ fine churches. St. Andrew's, Presbyterian, has a striking open-work tower; and St. ( Matthew's, Anglican, a quaint pergola, < which is in summer overgrown by creepers, ' and through which the congregation pass from the street to the building. The Grand Hotel far surpasses any other _of the business places architecturally, but some o* those now in course of erection, though not so imposing, are substantial, and not wanting in architectural grace. *»_ In summer the streets «j^ somewhat dustj,

f and in winter they are decidedly muddy. They are covered with a mixture of pupa and river shingle. In some of the quieter jr streets shingle alone is used. 1 TOWN PROPERTIES. Having such an enormous area, Hastings has no town belt. The library is vested " in the corporation. There is only one park in the town — Cornwall Park, containing 20 • acres. Inside the town boundary is the j racecourse, a; fine piece of ground, surrounded by trees, containing a miniature lake, a couple of stands, and all conveni- • ences. It is also used as a show ground- . and belongs jointly to the Jockey Club and ' the A and P. Association. ; LAND VALUES. The following figures will give a good t idea of the present value of land in and near Hastings. They represent prices . actually— paid during the last few months in • bona fide transactions. Land in Heretaunga i street in a good business part of the town • fetches £180 per foot. Quarter-acre sections > within -£asy distance of the business part • of the town bring £200, while as the dis- • tance increases the price decreases to £100, . or even £50. Blocks of about 10 acres, for orchard purposes, fetch from £75 to £100 1 per acre, but such very se'dom come into ■ the market, being tightly held. Small farms r in the vioinity of the town run from £45 ■ to £80 per- acre, with improvements, aci cording to position and quality of land. The ► price of grazing land varies, but may be • said to run from £5 to £7 per acre for i every sheep the acre carries. Thus for land • carrying three sheep a buyer must expect ■■ to pay from £15 to £21 per acre. These » quotations, incomplete as they are, will be ■ sufficient to give outsiders a rough idea i of land values in this district. ' INDUSTRIES. ! The town is assisted in its progress by [ several industries. Nelson Bros.' freezing works at Toinonoa, just outside Hastings, employ an average of 170 men all the year round, ranging from 250 in the_ busy to 150 in the oJtseason. The PakipaTci works, about four miles away, also employ a large number of men. Then the Frimley and ether orchards call for a large amount of labour, especially in the fruit season. There are flour and sawmills in the town. The Bunny slopes of the hills about Havelock are said to be very suitable for grapegrowing, and every year more vines are put in; and the sanguine inhabitant looks confidently forward to the day when vineyards shall clothe the neighbouring slopes, and Hastings wine will be known to all the four quarters of the earth. At present it is very favourably known in those parts of the Dominion to which it has penetrated, and the supply cannot meet the demand. What result the carrying of national pro-hibition^-would have on the wine industry is somewhat problematical. Logically, if New Zealanders decided that it was immoral for them to drink wine it would, or should, follow- that it would he equally immoral for | them to make it. and sell it to people beyond the sea. Yet an industry capable of great development should not liehtly be crushed. Meantime the viticulturists go od calmly planting- vines. The wine industry ,13 at present only in its infancy, but there is no reason why it should not advance as rapidly as did the dairy industry, and prove equally beneficial to the country.