CHATHAM ISLANDS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9116, 16 June 1908, Page 3

CHATHAM ISLANDS.

. (From Our Own Correspondent). TE ONE, June 3. Since my last letter the islands are the poorer by the loss of two prominent settlers. Of these, the late Mr R. W. Rayner had occupied the position' of postmaster for about 41 years. It had been decided at headquarters in Wellington to givo him a pension to commence or. January Ist this year, and it was on the occasion of his trip to New Zealand to arrange about his successor that he received the sad news of his incurable illness. He returned to the island, and awaited the end, with j great cheerfulness and fortitude. He was at last, however, persuaded to go to his relatives in the South Island. He left here on February 19th in the evening. Next morning he was dead, having passed away peacefully in his sleep. He was burried at sea. Only a few weeks before, when the islanders heard of his intended retirement, they presented him with an illuminated address, thanking him for all his kindness and w.jrk for the welfare of the islands. He had seen, as can be imagined, manv great changes and events in the history of the Chathams. He wua one of those "held up" by the Maoris under Te Kooti, when he inaJe his escape from exile here. Inn deceased was 79 w hen he died. His duties, too, were multifarious; he was secretary of nearly every body here, and most government duties were undertaken by him at one time or another. The Anglican Churoh here will miss him greatly. The Rev. J. De B. Galwey held a memorial service for him on March Ist. The church building itself may be said to be a monument to him, for he was the principal means of its erection. At the time of his illness he was acting as lay reader every Sunday, wet or fine. The members of the congregation intend to put up some memorial to him in connection with the church at an early date. The other settler whose death has to be recorded was Mrs Odman, the wife of Mr H. Odman, well-known to every one who lives on the island, or has visited it at any time. Mrs Odman will be missed very mud', for her kindness and genial manner to visitors made her hosts of friends. Her funeral was, largely attended, and many beautiful wreaths were laid on. her coffin. We had a visit from H.M.S. Pegaius recently. She came to Wangaj roa harbour (Port Hutt) one Saturday about throe weeks ago. As there are no residents at that part of the island, no 6ne knew of her presence till she steamed across Petre Bay into Waitangi harbour, on the Sunday mbrning. After a brief visit to the beach, with a small mail from Wellington, the warship turned round and left us. From here ah'i went to the Bounty Islunds, and thence to Antipodes Islands, where sh3 rescued the crew of the French ahn that had b3en wrecked two months before. Tho U3ual big nre he'r.g se-c-:r3d among the djeks this year. Thsr3 arj always plenty to be got, anl with very little trouble. J was not aware till recently that the bhek swan has his close season as w. J II a3 the rest of the game. There has baen some complaint from New Zealand, I bslieve, about them being ' kill 3d.-' Now we all know that such , laws are good, and that in a populated place line New Zealand they arj necessary too, bat to apply the Act to the shooting of black swans he.'e is as big a farce as it would be , to have a clos3 season for rabbits n iNj,v Zaaland. There are no rabbits j her j, but there are swans, and plonts I of them. On the great Whar.ga lagoon which covers aoout 50,000 acres, there are thousands of then. It is simple fact, not exaggeration tj say that you. can see, sometimes, a line of swans several deep, stretchin? right across tho lake for fully six miles. If they are not killed they will soon starve out everything else. By the late, mail we received the naws that the Order-in-Council stopping the importatioa of potatoes into the Chatham Islands had been removed. It was made when the blight was not here, and was really very necessary. Now we have the blight we shall probably have to send to New Zealand for potatoes, especially the seed potatoes of jtnose kinds supposed to be blight-resisting. I must hero confess that I enjoy reading the articles appearing in your paper over the signature, "Frank Morton." I cannot help juining issue with him over the question of corporal punishment in schools. Disciptine'would be impossible without it. The use of the strap indiscriminately, and on every possible occasion, is fast dying out, and the stick is not the rule but the exception now. Punishment for failure at lessons is not just. Punishment for wilful wrong-doing is just, and should be administered iai-

partially. The low prices ruli.i; for sheep and , wool ara bad news for the settlers here. Live sheep are, of course, , sent up by steamer (about 1,000 at a time), and the cost of each for freight, charges, etc., by the time ' they reach their destination, is not lesa than 6s. There ia no great fortune to be made over that, and wool is nearly as expensive to ship. It | would not suit the farmera in the I main land to have tc p.iy 53 a head j on sheep that they perhaps c;et les3 | than 10s for. The sheep here are fine specimens of thejr kind, especially as to weight, and bad, or even poor mutton, is the exception. The weather here novv is decidedly wintry. It has been blowing from the south for some twelve day 3 now, and will probabi'y do s-o for some time yet. The quantity of hail that falls, too, i 3 moat noti^able. There is often to be seen in the I papers the outcry that the children of New Zealand have either no teeth, or bad teeth. It is sometimes held up as an example that such in not the case in the Old Country, because they eat less meat there. Other learned persons suggest that sugar is the cause. But anyone who knows the Old Country must also know that the tseth of the children there are no better than t those of colonial children. And ' \ , where are there better teeth than ''} those of the negroes who chew , sugar cane all their lives? All this * apropos of the fact that there' is a more than probable reason given by . the Morioris for the decay of the white man's teeth. The Morioris, by • the way, have excellent teeth now, and, judging by the numerous skulls . to be seen lying about the sandhills here, must, have had excellent ones

in the past. In some cases the teeth are worn right away, but none are decayed or missing. The reason they give is that hot food is not good for the teeth. Certain it is that they themselvea never ate hot food. What they did not eat uncooked, they kept till it was cold after taking it from the oven. Another reason the Maoris here give is, if the teeth have no exercise, how can they be strong? The pakeha ea*;s too many sloppy foods that give no employment to the teeth und they suffer from inaction.