LOWER VALLEY.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume X, Issue 3330, 9 October 1889, Page 2

LOWER VALLEY.

1 (From Our Own Correspondent,) i Having had the pleasure of perusing s your many instructive and interesting articles on the flax and dairy industries, and hearing that tho Messrs a liidwell Bros, had been making most • complete arangemen'ts far starting a e largo flax mill with tho latest improvei. ruents in machinery and building and d other accessories connected thdrewith, f and knowing tho great boon that the e development of the flax industry is to the working classes, by employing s surplus labour, thorebv giving an 0 enhanced price to the labour market t generally, I thought a description of tho mills, etc,, might interest somo 5 of your renders. I therefore decided • to tako an outing and inspect tho s various works that have been in progress in connection 'with the flax s dressing for somo time past for myself, r Having taken a very pleasant rids of 3 about 10 miles I came to the well--1 known Pihaiilea estate; it is not my -' intention in tho present instance to ■ give any detailed description of this ' splendid properly, hut to confine ) myself to the (lax industry thereon, ' Sudiccitto say thatanyone seeing it as I 1 did, and having preyiously travelled i over tho large area of giassless plains i of the Wairaiapa, and more particu- : larly that of stations to tho North, > Mich as the large tracts of land that are to be seen in tho Napier and i 'Auckland district, that, even our '■ present favourable to a casual I obseryer, seems to have had no i beneficial results, I think would bo impressed as I was, that tho l'ihautea ! estate is a veritable garden of Eden, i Passing down the mam road leading I from Feathenton and other parts ■ as a short route to the Lower Valley, i '■ via the lower Ruamalmnga i and boforo passing oyer the sandhills that make a sort of neutral boundary '■ separating the Pihautea station from ' Kahautara; to (lie left of the main > road the first thing lliat attracts our ! attention is the new industry going ' on, in some splendid paddocks of ' about 100 ncreu in extent, free from i every conceivable rubbuh, and green and as level as a lawn, Thin is i divided into spaces about 10 feet apart by galvanised wire, stretched ' along with wire skewers about 12 inches long, spaced about ovety. ten feet, • This, I was informed, was for ■ keeping the fibre secure in windy weather while drying, From the drying grounds I next inspected tho flax supply in its natural state. There are great quantities of flax distributed over diQ'erent portions of the station, but that in the immediate vieiiiity of the mil) comprises a larjp belt of apparently extra Quality, anil groiyn so depse and. tjijck, thai l])e best description I could give of it ia fefa compare it with a thick crop of green* oats. One thing that particularly attracted my attention with regard to the green flax was two flax bushes that had beoncut off, the one in the ordinary way, cutting all the leaves, the other with the centre or sucker lcilf left on, Making inquires 1 found •t was done to test the advisability of leaving the centre leaf. The lest . considered very satisfactory, and the' firm have decided to have the whole of their flax cut in tliat way, and it is anticipated''that ttay will have a second qrop in less than half

tlio timo thai would bo possible in the ordinary way. I now wended my way towards tbo buildings, the first in ray lino of route was tho men's qunrtera, as they we in Maori purlancu usually called whares, However j>rctensious or insignificant thoy may be howover, in tho present instance, 1 found a commodious building capable of accommodating »0 workmen, with all tho necessary appurtenances for the accomodation and comtort of the employees, The building comprised a jgfloomy kitchen for the convenience of Srtho cook and his assistant, a large dining room with a lars>e fireplace for tho convnienee of the men, The sleeping npartmonls are fitted up with bunks, roomy etc. At this fitago the cook prevailed upon me to try the cup that cheers but drts not iuebriatojihich I gladly assented 10. I can assure any of your readors wishing to inspect tho work that they will be very hospitably received. It was dressed near to the mill buildings, that nro about some ten chains distant from tho wharc, The building called tho strippershed isa commodious building 30 feet by 25 feet. It is this building that tho principal part of tho machinery is. Tho' internal fittings are of tho strongostdescription. There nro at present three strippers, but provision is made for two more if required. They have a different arrangement for tho transit of the fibre after it has passed through the stripper to any oiber I have seen in tho district; instead of boys standing vrolur the strippora and taking the passes through them, a carriago or moveable table carries it along to one end, a boy then passes it lo tho man at thejwasb, the rubbish passing through a trap door into a tunnel, and is cleared away by a man working under ground, This appeal s a simplo and excellent arrange mont, Attichod to the stripper shed is tho engiuo house, 30 by 1G feet. Thirty feet from the stripper shed is tho scutcher shed, a large building 60 by 30 feet, whore tinfibre is prepared for market, I noticed a building connected with the scutcher shed built entirely of iron, there being no woodwork whatever. This is the building whtre (ires are likely to ocjur, and is built as a preventa- ' tive. There ire three scutchers on tho most improved principle, built by F. Eobcrtson, of Featherston. The washing is duuo by pressure from n tank 30 feet high, containing 1000 gallons, tho supply is from a reservoir containing 3,500 gallons, and this is supplied from a spring in an adjoin- & swamp. There is also a largo tow Worn 30x16 for preparing the tow for markot. This portion of the industry seems to be neglected by many mills. I noticed the whole of tho buildings are of corrugated iron, both walls and roof. The mill is to he in full working order next Monday, and will employ thirty men. In my next I will give some notes on tho results; also tho increase in the farming ndustry in this district. Blown From the Guns.

During the Sepoy rebellion of 1857-58 many of (lie mutineers were blown away from the guns. It was a terrible punishment, one which had been inflicted a century before at the first mutiny of tho Bengal army in 17G4, Wo condense a description ol that execution from Kayo's •' History . of the Sepoy War, A batallion cf sepoys bad seized and imprisoned its English officers, S vowed that it would serve no e. A strong hand arrested the iny at its beginning. Twentyfour sepoys wero tried by a drumhead court martial, found guilty, and ' sentenced to be blown away from the i cannon. On the day ol the execution tho troops were drawn up English and Sepoys, the guns wero loaded, aud the prisoners led forth to suffer , the tcrriblo penalty. The word of , command was given for tho first four j criminals to bo tied to tho muzzles of i the guns, As tho men were being bound, four tall, stately grenadiers stepped forward from anion? the condemned Sepoys, saluted the commander, Major Hector Munro, chief of the ■ Bengal Army, and asked that as they had always hold the post of honor in ' life they might ho given tho precedent in death, as it was their due. Tho request was granted; the grenadiers were tied to the guns and blown to pieces. A murmur ran through the Sepoy battalions, who greatly outnumbered jtjj English I loops, and it seemed as jrtliey were about to rescue their ■ comrades, the twenty condemned men. O The officers of tho native regiments approached Munro and told him that their men were not to be trusted, as thoy had determined not to permit the execution to proceed, The chief knew that on the issue of that parade for execution depended tho fate of the Bengal army. The English troops were few, and there was scarcoly a man among them not moved to tears by the fearful death of the four grenadiers. But tho cemmander knew that they could ho trusted to defend the guns, which, turned upon the Sepoys, would havo defeated any attempt to rescue their comrades. Major Munro closed the English on to the battery, the grenadiers on one side, the marines on tho othor, and loaded tho pieces with grape, Then he sent tho Sepoy officers back to their batallion, and gave to the nativo regiments tho word of cjjjmantl," Ground arms I" They knew it would be madness to disobey in presence of the loaded guns and laid down their arms. " Eight about face I Forwardmarch I" was the next command. S* The Sepoys marched to a distance from their grounded arms, and tho English soldiers with tho guns took ground on tho intervening space, The danger bad passed away. The native troops wero at Munroe's mercy, and tho execution went on to its dreadful close. Tho sacrifice of a tow lives saved thousands.