ROUND ABOUT MAURICEVILLE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 5090, 30 July 1895, Page 3

ROUND ABOUT MAURICEVILLE.

[By Rustic]

There is no question that the district about Maurieeville is in a most depressed condition. • Never iu its history, since the first band of hardy Scandinavians penetrated its silent forests and disputed possession with the then übiquitous wild pig, has there been such an utter dearth of industrial enterprise. Stagnation broods over almost everything; settlers have discontinued all improvements; and all the usual Eiations of this particular season the your, such as buslifelling, . iing, etc., are not even spoken of. The Koad Board is, and has been, almost the only employer of labour during tho past few months, and oven the operations of that body are becoming more circumscribed as th e season advances. There is no doubt that this condition of things is in part due to the scarcity of money, consequent on the low prices of produce, but it is only partly to be attributed to this cause. There is a feeling of insecurity which seems to peivade and permeate the whole of our industrial economy. Men are afraid to invest money on their property. It is not altogether easy to understand why such a feel- J ing should exist in the minds of settlers, as a little reflection would show them that it is neither probable nor possible that a country like this should go to the dogs, or that acquired rights will, to any great extent, be trampled upon; though mis-rule for the time being dm reign triumphant. The fact remains, nevertheless, that such a feeling does exist, and though the of produce may go up, the reeling of insecurity will remain—for a time at least—and will do much to prevent that buoyancy ■which would otherwise attend such a happy circumstance. Somo little excitement was created when it became known that an outcrop of coal, or something very like that nrticle,had been discovered on Mr I l '. W. H, Kummer's property at Maurieeville East. Some specimens were sent by Mr Kummer to Mr Mackay, mining geologist, of Wellington, and lio received a reply on Friday last. JlrMackay pronounces it to be coal of an inferior quality. He, however, advised Mr Kummer to prospect deeper as he says it is quite possible the quality will improve at a'greater depth. The discovery was made through the occurrence of a land Blip. |

During tho last week I yisitod Mr Falkner's now sawmills, situated a fow miles west of Hastwell, on what is known as the Mount Bruce Bond. I was much struck with tho magnitude of his operations. Mr Fulkner —wise in his generation—intends to jj&jisß the.-tiinber on his splendid' "fjjpi'ly (about eight hundred acres in extent) instead of allowing it to lio and rot on the ground as is too often tho case in this district, The sawmilling plant is a most elaborato one and fitted with all the latest appliances for preparing timber for the hands of the joiner. A comparatively now settler in the district, Mr Falkner has two most desirable accomplishments enterprise and capital; and though the latter possession in a settler may be open to some objection, in the abstract—yet i)s be employs a large number qf hands—chiefly villagers from Hastwell and Mangamaboe, thereby spending something like three hundred pounds per month in wages, etc, it may be presumed thut he has brought hinisolf face to face viitji his responsibilities! Returning through Hastwell, I

noticed that Mr 010 Anderson is about finishing a very handsome and commodious Hall, which will be a cnjfti.t to the settlement. Hitherto thT lovers of tlio light fantastic in I Hastwell, haye been at a serious disadvantage in this respect, but new, through the enterprise of Mr .Anderson, this long felt want will bo supplied, The floor is a model of what a dancing floor ought to be, timber being specially prepared at Mr Falkner's mill.