EKETAHUNA.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 755, 29 April 1881, Page 2

EKETAHUNA.

■ ; j (From Our Own Correspondent.) i The appearance of tlie coiintiy-iat 'each ' side of the Eketabuhaaiid 'AJfredjton f lias muoh altered these There arenowmanyopemiigß inthe giant - bush, where the settler's cottage, the black clearing, ■ and the heaps of carbon and ■. logs give the first results of pioneer reso- , lution. The Mangaone block in the , immediate yicinity of the road, is now j more or less provided with settlers' resi- 1 deuces, of nine miles from, the Eketaliiuia township. Accardiiig to the tastes or means of the occupants, they ( have gone to.the trouble or.expense of | giving their homesteads an air of respec- ( tability, varieties of building from the ] slab whai-Q .to tlio" gabled, rustic lined, four roomed cottage may be seen. These 1 settlers were Tawed by'th'efatreme heat of the summer months in preparing "the ! fallen timber for the fire, which was , appliedtoit'afwmontlipgo.- : J All the bridges on : tliis.road are.now completed excepting one, and that will be finished in a few days. The material and workmanship of these bridges are alike creditable to the contractor and employees, in. accordance with the terms of the contract, rough, temporary bridges were erected spanning the gorges and gullies—a little to the side ,of the sites of the others. By this means, the Morop and Alfredton settlers were enabled to get rid of their wool this season. The completion, of this road will be a great boon to the settlers ofthese districts, and the increased traffic is alreadv affecting this township. There are also great changes on the main.road. Five of the old rotten structures have been replaced by culvertsand embankments. The bridges which Mr Chapman contracte.l for are being rapidly pushed forward uuder the supervision of Mr Thompson. Nearly the required quantity of timber has been delivered and stacked at the.sides of the road, and rough temporary bridges have been thrown across the creeks. Mr Thompson would have made a greater show with this part of his work, but, that he was necessitated by the nature of the subsoil at Pierson's creek, to erect a very large skeleton for the purpose- of driving piles. The water in the Makakahi river iB lower than it has been for many-years, and many of the wells are empty. We have-.experienced a long period of dry weather, which however, does not seem to hasten on the dormant season. On the contrary we may esteem ourselves fortunate in having had the enjoyment of a long continued Bummer. The paddocks continue as green as in the Spring, and the clover and wineberry leaves at the sides of the roads preserve their color. This extreme verdancy is caused by heavy dews, by vapor laden fogs which oovor the earth a little after nightfall, and by the proximity, of the bush. Last Sunday morning a Bohemian named Koll attended by his dogs went into the bush to kill pigs. He remained away all day and towards night the dogs returned without him. This alarmed his wife who immediately spread. the alarm through the settlement. As he had not taken a gun, but depended altogether on knife, the suspicion was that a greater evil had overtaken him than his simply ! losing his way. Search parties went out | on Monday morning, and by continued L firing attracted him to the road. He had not been injured by the pigs, but bore 1 evident marks of the effect of the exposure ■ for a very cold nightin the bush. A general feeling of disappointment was felt, when the news that our distinguished 1 visitors, the Duke of Manchester and party had lunched at the hotel last Sun- , day morning and departed before that , fact was known. Had it been generally [ known that we were to be so honored a ( larger concourse of people would have [ assembled to have witnessed the arrival.