A Popular Tourist Resort

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume IV, Issue 1088, 8 September 1904, Page 3

A Popular Tourist Resort

Wonders of the Colony Displayed at Hie SI. Louis Exhibition (Written for tho Waim Daily Telegraph.) i[By Edmund Mitchkll.] St, Louis, August 16. Trade botwoon America ond Australia is seriously restricted by thooporation of tariff laws, and the want of a reciprocity treaty, This is tho reason advanced by the Australian Commonwealth, limiting its viow with somo short sightednoss to tho moroly Auioriean aspect of tho great World's Fair, for its absence from what is in reality an international clearing house of idoas ond record of industrial achievement. Tho Government of Now Zoaland, England's island colony in the Southern Seas, has been partly inlluonccd by tho sarno feeling of doubtful rammer* cial benefits, New Zealand, however, has not wholly abstained. America would havo welcomed at tho World's Fair an illustrative show ol her great wool products, her rich agricultural, mineral, and timber resources, her profitable dairying and ohilled meat exporting industries, hor woollen and other important mnuhcturing ontorprisos, But sho has concentrated hor efforts on displaying national assets that stand quite aloof from vexing tariffs, In tho first place. New Zealand is hnppy in tho possession of somo of tho most magnificont scenery in the woiltl—of field and mountain, of forest and valley, of lake and river, of sprouting geysers, boiling pools, and vast craters, tho lava crosi of which is still su)!only aglow. Secondly, sho numbers among her population some 50,000 Maoris, the noblest race of savages in tho world from tho points of view at once of physique, bravo and genorous oharaceor, intollect and power to raiso thomselves to tho white man's level,

Thirdly, Now Zealand, with hor deer foroats and hor well-stocked trout rivors, offers great attractions to the lover of quiet sport, And to theao three features she gives prominonco at St, Louis, Inciilen* tally wo get a few glimpses into her natti> ral resources, but scenery, and tho charms of (ravel amidst such scenery, strike the dominating note of her oxVbits. Tho subject is one which lends itself So artistic treatment, and th n re are no moro asautiful courts in the Palaces of Agriculture and Forestry than thoss beneath tho signscroll "New Zealand,"

That this is the land of thorough-going democracy, of compulsory arbitration, woman's suffrage, old ago pensions, and so on, is strikinjly illustrated by the fact that Now Zealand has a special Government Department of Tourist and .Health Besorts, with a Ministor of Cabinet rank to administer its affairs, Travellers with woeful memories of extortion in other parts of tho world, will wolcomo an innovation that is specially designed for their comfort and protection. It is this department that has brought over the New Zealand exhibits to the Word's Pair. In the pavilion within tho palace of agriculture thoro is a groat assemblage of large-sized photograghs, these in themselves works of great artistic merit, Of tho f cones depicted no description nceiHo attempted, Thoy most fully bear out the olaim that in New Zealand tho hand of Nature has accomplished somo of its most lovely and stupendous effects. Notable among tho views is ono that sprouts its boiling stronui 1000 feet in tho air. Oil paintings and water colours loaned from New Zealand collections, depicting both scenery and Maori typos, also woll repay inspection, Somo cases of wool fleeces, baloe of hemp fibre, sarno of various grains, and panels of oolished timbors aro also on show, just to remind the visitor that in this land of God's beauty there is God's plonty as well. But the court in Forestry Building is oven n.oio attractive still. Study tho magnificeut antlored heads of deer, and remember that thoy are the greatly imprayed progony of stock importod from Scottish moors, Look at tho huge iwoaty pounder trout, and reflect .that the New Zealand rivers were stocked partly from Europo and partly from America. Those faoss form markors in human progress, for neither result was aeliiovod without study skill, care, and costly oxjorimont, New Zealand is not rich in indigonous launa-thero was not a quadrupod in the land before the coming of the white man, But her birds aro most interesting and curious, Here, for example, is tho koa, a speoie" of parrot that fastens on tho bar :i of a sheep, and picks out tho fa. surrounding tho kidneys, leaving th sheep to dio a lingering death, and disdrining tho rest of tho carcass, No one can explain how ono special tribo of birds came to develop such an epicurean taste and also tho anatomical knowledge necessary for its gratification, The vicious habit is not, a hereditary ono, for, as wo havo soon, sheop a comparative newcomers to Now Zoalasu. Another strango but this time inoffunsiva croaturoistbo kiwi, or apteryx, tailless and wingless, for all the world like a halfplucked and disreputablo looking barndoor roostor.

But the most extraordinary bird of nil is tho huia, Thore are sovpral stuffed apeeilaens, and i( the visitor carefully inspects those ho will find that, whilo all uro exactly alike in plumage, tho beak in bodjo i istances is straight and strong liko a broiL awl, whilo in others it is moro slender and curved lilto a surgeon's needlo. What is the explanation of this peculiarity ? Tho ono bird is tho male, and it is his task to porforato tho hard outer tree bark; tho other is tho femalo, and she inserts her longer and more curved hoak into the nolo mado by her mato, thereby reaching tho larva on which both subsist. The Maori call tho birds "the failhiul o.ies," for tho ono cannot livo without tho other, In naturo there are numorous interdependent hosts and parasites, such as tho tinsy fish that takes refuge in tho oyster's shell and attracts food for its protector. But is thoro any other exarnplo besides this huia of Now Zealadd, whore the malo and female mates ero so in'issolubly one ? Tho bird is In Id in veneration by the Maoris, and only tJo loading chiefs tuny wear its plumes iw a head-dress or in tho form of a robe, Sjomo of these beautiful, and very costly, feather robes aro to be seen in tho cabinet boucath tho stuffed birds.

Closo by uro show eases filled with kauri Kiini, clearly rosombling amber, and usod for the milking of tho finest grade of varnishes, for which it is largelv imported into America. There is a romance attaching to this seemingly commonplace commercial product, The kauri, a kind of pine, still flourishes in Now Zealand, and forms one of her most vnluablo tinir boa But tha gutii is obtained on tho old aitoe of primovnl forests, whoro not n treo has Btood probably for many centuries. It is Bought for and dug exactly like gold, on Hats tho kauri gum value of which has been proved by prospecting, There- is a bwutifnl specimen of native wood carving—ilia framework of tho door of ft Maori Council chamber—thi'it will attnct nttf-ntion, Careful study should also bo given to the firm oil painting by Glendauer showing the really teiriblo operation involved by the old Maori custom of tattooing. Tho picture is oxoct to tho minutest detail, tho striking stick, <ho chisel, tho flax around the small finger of tho loft fraud for wiping away tho blood after oach cut, and the black pusto or dyo hold between tho right hand thumb and finger of tho operator, all being h evidonco, Portraits of several tattooed Maoris also B how Iheso former caunibuls in nil their

foarsonienoss. Why did tho Maori subject to aucb on ordeal ? Was it fora idons of porsonal decoration, or L< rentier his hbp&ot torriblo to his enemies, or simply to givo visible proof of his powers of physical onduraiioe? Authorities differ-all throe explanations Ond adhoronts, But let it not bo forgotton that tho tattooed Maori is passing away, Tho modom Maori chief is a cultural) gontleumu, a man of high education, often a really groat orator. At this day four sit in tho ilouso of Eoprosontativos, two in the Senate, and ono is a Cabinet Minister, So domooracy has been triumphant in Now Zoaland, ovon to tho regeneration and elevation of black-fellows who at ono time had all tho appoaranco of boing hopeless savagos. This succcoss is complote, for even the porpotuation of the raco is now assured, For ycai s tho Mauri population, a lomnant ol barbarisui,|was dwindling befnro the whito man'B stoady invasion, But for tho ltnl ten years the eivilisod Maoris havo boon steadily incroesing in numbors as woil as advancing in wealth, education, and participation in tho good government of their country,