EKETAHUNA

Wairarapa Times-Age, 6 January 1940, Page 7

EKETAHUNA

THE HONEY CROP WILL BE BEST FOR SOME YEARS. ("Times-Age'' Special.) It is (he opinion of a local beefarmer that the honey crop in the district this season will be the best ■ for some years past. Haymaking. Hay-making operations are progressing steadily now that the weather is more settled. With the holidays over more labour is available for harvest-' ing. Personal Items. Mr J. B. Carruthers returned home yesterday from a visit to Wellington. Constable McCowan is at present visiting Gisborne. He is being relieved by Constable A. J. Goodwin, of Palmerston, North. Mr J. Jesson and his two small > nieces have returned to Wellington after having been the guests of Mr and Mrs G. Jesson, Alfredton Road. Mr and Mrs Mells. Wellington, were recent visitors to Mr and Mrs L. Neil. Parkville. Before her marriage Mrs Mells, then Miss Green, was employed as cashier in Messrs J. Jones and Co’s store in Eketahuna. Miss P. Simmers has returned to Auckland after having spent the holidays with her parents. Dr and Mrs Simmers. Mr Harry Dearie returned home last night from an eight months trip to England. Mi- W. Hodges (Wanganui) recently visited Eketahuna after an absence of 43 years. He was formerly a locomotive foreman in the N.Z. Railways. Mrs T. Bedding is visiting her sister, Mrs Marenzi. DANGERS OF PIONEERING CONSTANT MENACE OF FIRES. TRAGEDIES OF BUSH AND RIVER. There has always been a community of interests between Eketahuna and Mauriceville. Both were originally settled by sturdy Scandinavians, who always made good, and were noted for their kindly feelings and their hospitality. A hard-working band of settlers, with the hearts of lions, they tackled the dense bush of Eketahuna and Mauriceville with a determination characteristic of their race. The outlook in the early days of settlement was heartbreaking; dense bush to contend with, make-shift habitations, the securing of stores being a difficult problem with long tramps through the bush to the little homesteads cut off from civilisation and with none of the conveniences which modern people have at their backdoor. But the sturdy Scandinavian, man, woman and child faced the position with a cheeriness that did them credit, and their reward came only after a long, hard struggle. No one begrudges those.early pioneers of Eketahuna and Mauriceville the competency they enjoyed in the twilight of their lives. The Masterton district owes much to those bands of pioneers who have contributed so greatly to the progress and wealth of the “capital of the Wairarapa.” The Scandinavian settlers of Mauriceville were practically living at the back door of Eketahuna as Mauriceville East was only ten miles from its northern neighbour with some of the settlers much closer to that town which was settled in 1872 as a Scandinavian immigrants village was called Mellenskov and later had its name changed to Eketahuna. Difficulties Facing Settlers. It is said that some of those early settlers could hardly find room enough on their land at first to erect a house so thick was the bush. The story is told of Mr John Hall, the first settler in Pahiatua (he arrived there in February, 188 i), that on arriving at Pahiatua he had to pitch his tent on the roadside until he could fell sufficient bush on which to erect a hut. so one can quite appreciate the difficulties which faced the early Eketahuna and Mauriceville settlers. It is interesting to note that Mr Hall, who is long since dead, worked at one time on the Blairlogie estate belonging to Mr John Morrison at Whareama, and later lived at Gladstone where he was in the employ of Mr W. C. (afterwards Sir W. C.) Buchanan. Mrs Hall joined her husband in Pahiatua in May. 1881. and was ‘.he first white woman settler in the district. Mi' Hall is credited with having brought the fust plough into the Pahiatua district. Perils of the Bush, One of the terrible perils which the settlers of Eketahuna had to face in the early days of settlement was that of bush fires. It was no uncommon thing for Eketahuna to be practically blotted out with smoke, and even as late as 35 years ago Masterton used to be enveloped in smoke from the bush fires in the Eketahuna and Mauriceville districts. On one occasion the whole of the men. women and children in the district just beyond Eketahuna found themselves surrounded by a bush fire and in a frantic race lot life were able to reach a river bed. the banks of which protected them while I the flames roared all round them anight and trees crashed in rapid succession with the smoke and heat nearly suffocating them. Some of those who experienced that night of horror live in Masterton today, while the descendants of others reside in the Eketahuna district. This was one of the perils attendant on carving a homelout of the bush, another being tha. many a young life was lost in the bush as the result of an accident while cutting down the trees, there being danger everywhere in those, early pioneering days. The tragedies of the bush were no more pronounced than those of the river. when many a sturdy pioneer Jost his life in a Hooded stream, often when trying to rescue stock from the wild torrents that swept along after heavy rain or a cloud burst. Farming today I is not nearly as dangerous as the con- | ditions which faced the settlers when ' they were placing Eketahuna and MauI riceville on the map of New Zealand