MALIGNED TAIHAPE.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVI, Issue 43067, 12 March 1907, Page 4

MALIGNED TAIHAPE.

Taihape is perhaps the most .maligned, town in ; the colony to-day. - In addition .to- its rightful; name tips progressive centre of ai wealthy ;dis-. triet, has-been called .“Die Hlappy,” “Fringe of Beyond,” “The Limit,” and other' fanciful names. Many were the croakers who- prophesied that when the rail head passed Taihape there would be one more deserted village in New Zealand. Present day indications, however, point in the direction thiait, with the completion of Main Trunk line Taihape will progress more -rapidly than ever. It is confidently expected that this will- -be a stop-over station for mail trains running Norh and iSguth when the steel ribbon which is to connect Auckland and Wellington is declared open. At a later day Taihape will no doubt become a resort of the tourist and the sportsman- At the present time the Hautapui River, which runs quite close to the town affords excellent trout fishing, and good shooting abounds. Taihape is 1463 ft above the sea level, and enjoys pure' mountain air. It would seem that this would be an ideal spot os a health report. The principal industry of the district is sawmilling, the headquarters of the Rlangitikei S'awmillers’ Association being situated in, Taihape.. The annual meeting of the Association was recently held ,and a most encouraging report was presented by the directors. It was shown, thiait 22' million! feet of timber was the output for the? year ending 3slt January last, and this represents a value of just on £IOO,000. The output also was ah inlcrease of five million feet on the previous year- The Association ships timber * to Australia, the port- of shipment being Wanganui, and the manager of the association informed the Writer that the export trade could be considerably increased if better ’ ' ing facilities were provided in Wanganui. In addition to the Australian trade, a very extensive trade is done with the S'outhi Island, timber being sent as far south iais Timaru. The Main Trunk line will shortly tap the great Waimarinol forest, and it is the intention of the Association to put mills .right through this extensive areai. This will provide work for mianv scores of and when the mills are in full swing Taihaoe may be called thie “Timberopolis” of New Zealand.