RAGLAN AND WHAINGAROA HARBOR.

Waikato Times, Volume XVII, Issue 1460, 10 November 1881, Page 2

RAGLAN AND WHAINGAROA HARBOR.

Their shipping and rival steamboats. — How the inhabitants of Raglan worked an oracle on the latter. — Tbe freestone quarries, their trade and prospects ; also, the lime and lime-burning industry in course of being established by the Waikato Navigation Company.

A recent visitor to Raglan, whose statement proceeds upon the preamble, that he spent a few clays in the vicinity, and was enabled to do a certain amount of exploration, and otherwise collected information respecting the prospects and resources of the place, writes: — "I was particularly struck with the aspect of affairs in connection with the trade now being entered upon, for the supply of building stone. My attention was specially directed to the subject in this wise : I reached Raglan township on a recent Saturday afternoon, and shortly afterwards the "even tenor" of events was somewhat rudely disturbed by the announcement there were two steamers in the " offing." ITnder some circumstances au event of that kind would be considered of little moment— sufficient to attract no more attention than what was necessary on the part of the more inquisitive, to ascertaiu the names of the vessels together with the names of their port or ports of embarkation. That is a condition of affairs, however, belonging to sea-port towns ivi the usual acceptation of the term. Such, however, has not yet become the condition of affairs at Raglan. Isolated in a great measure by land, and with but very little communication by sea, a shipping arrival, or even a strange face, naturally enough becomes a subject for speculation. As a consequence, the appearance of two steamers "all at once" quickly gave wing to speculative reports. One ve&sel rather better adapted to " bar navigation " than the other soon made her appearance at the wharf, a structure about which I shall have something more to add on a future occasion. Without t ikinsr moie ihtu breathing time thia mysterious bark again " through off 1 ' and n\ -pite the f lot that " shadow of evening had jrathered round us" her signal lamps weie seea to shipe a oour.so up the harbor. Tthit w.ta sufficient for the good people to found their own couelusionaad, <is it afterwards turned out, these were sHictly coirect. With the stagnation which had overtaken fla^-dres-ingr, and other untoward chcumstamses, the carrying 1 trade of the plu'-e had fallen >-o low that, the steam service previously performed at regular intervals, hid become disorganised, and Utterly it had "shut up" altogether. Recent re vivalscoupled with the fact that, a free stone quarry ia now in operation has had the effect of -timulatina: shipping enterprise, with the le-ult that, intend o? one, two competitors havo enteied she iatn. Not only did thii ci >'ai 1 'he >u id n appearance of the tw^ steamer*, bu'' it 'ike wise #aye a clue to tho a rupt departure of the one. The quarry Mtuated on a lip of rountry at the head of the harbor and, separuh s the w iters of the 1 itter from a Urge In sjoon or lake, communicating 1 with the harbor by means of a narrow but navigable channel, running out at the a 'ores lid lip of laud. B 'f >re disposing of the ntpa.ui bo its an 1 their rivalries it may bo worth while adding that the good Folks of R isbin were not slow in weing their opportunity, nor at all backward in f iking iidvatitiga of it. D iruur thtj time the one ste inner vwi-< away petting freighted with otone, they opened up negotiations with the other for a reduction of rates, with this result, that, whereas they had previously been charjred 20s per ton, it was now covenanted and agreed, iroods should be taken from and carried to Onehung i, at a uniform rate of 12m 6d. In that wav hirye pledyes of support were secured, so that although tho one oraffc «rofc away with the cargo, the other j cou<?ht hold of the trade. In this, it would appenr if; is with steara-boata | is with individual* : The race does not ways belong to thu swift, a < more than the h ittle to the strong. The quarry as I hive already said, is situate I on a lip of Imd at the he id of the imy. For ship~in<r, th n situation afford exr-ellent facilities Vessels of reaMma'ile tonnage can mil up alongside the le'ljre of n>ck, at the biseof th° hill from which the btono is | ikon. S'> far a- I can {rather, no wcienifi<- examination of fie qu irry has been made. I have looked up no end of reports issued bv Dr Hector, and I have dived ilnep down into the "Transitions and • loceecliuijs of the New Zealand Ineti'nte," but I hive completely failed in both cases to get any assi-tance from either of tho-e sources. Then again, Hoch^etter deals largely with the coal ueasures of tho district, but he ia d together silent regarding the Htone. This is undoubtedly an overlook. It is a j >rorai-inir brinoh of development, and I h ive no doubt if ltwasfaiilyrepresentedto he proper authorities the (Government eolojri^t would bo well pie >sed to give it > in- attention. In the ahsence of assiar, uu'e from -uch " poweiful aids'' I must >c touteut to note down the few obvrvitions made on tho spot. Tho Hup>lv is unlimited It. is a clean, smooth working, sund stove w<thout the slightest laeeofgnt, and when exposed to air becomes as hard and durable a« adamant. The srrain is very close, so much thtit, the h irdest possible substance makes little or no impression upon its surf ice. It cert linly could not be worked with the ease of the Oaraaru stone, but if operated upon before it hardened, it would not be bad tone to work. On the other hand, it haa this advantage over the o»maru stone : it never lose-* col jr. ~o close grained is it that neither smoke nor even particles of dutt find lodgment about it. I am strengthened on that opinion by the fact that a doorstep infrontofoneofthe stores, previously an hotel, with some letters carved on it, was pointed out to me. The stone was got out of the quarry, carved and laid in its present position 18 years ago, and de-pito the elapse ofr time, and tho extra b\td usage to whioh it must have been subjected, when swept of refuse, the color is as arood, the texture a« fine, and the curved lines as sharp as the day on which the work was done. Few would believe f-his, but th" proof is there, and can be seen by any one curious on the point. For flagging, building, or even monumental purposes, I should imagine, without aping the knowledge and observations of a Hugh Millar, or the practical experience of a atone mason, that no material could possibly be better. In solid b»ildiner blocks it does not coat more than 3s per cubit foot, and when dressed the price does not exceed 7a. Altogether the work is a most promising one, and I should ask you to accept of it, in the light of one of these coming events in the progress and prosperity of this lars^e and important district, which i« just now, in this, its early operations, casting* out shadows before it. I should also add that, at present, the stone is being used for erecting certain public buildings in Auckland, and. it wonld not be out of place for yoa to pick np scratch acquaintanceship with the builder, jnst to ascertain how he gets along, and his opinion and prospects of the 1 stone. Coming near home, but still inside Raglan boundary, we have another undertaking which ia ' eqaally promising 'in its relations to the future of the place: The demand which has arisen throughout the district for fertilisers suggested to tho enterprising manager of the Waik-ato River Navigation Company, that- 1 the opening out of our lime-stone deposits, and burnins: and preparing the same for the Agriculturist, might not^ improbably

result in the establishment of a good thriving trade. The idea bad the additional recommendation, that if successful, it would be the means of hedging in a large amount of outgoing capital, disbursed at present on the foreign product. In pursuance of that opinion, ho cnat about for a favorable opportunity of attempting the experiment. The limefitone indications disclosed by the cuttings on the road over the range between Wbatawhata and Waitetuna, naturally enough, suggested that neighborhood as a likely spot. The place was explored, and a Bite for commenoin# operations belected. In due course it was secured to the Company by the "Waste Ltnd Board, for six months, afterwards extended to three years. They are now busily engaged opening out the ground, and expect having their first burning about the New Year. They have hud samples of the deposit analysed, and as experts will readily recognise in the following reports, they contain all the ingredients of a first-rate article : No. 1 bample t.tken from a bvow of the Hakramata range shows— Silicious matter, 6 "30 ; carbonate of lime, 87"25 ; carbonate of magnesia, 1 4i; alumina andiron oxides, 1\85; moisture, 1 30 , alkalis, 1 86. No 2 simple taken from the face of a neighboring spur, about h.ilf-a-milf 1 distant, shows — Silicious matter, 815 ; carbonate of lime, 85 30 ; caibonate of magnesia, 2 08 ; alumina and iron oxides, 3 "00; moisture, T5O ; alkalis and loss, O'OO. The scene of operation is a spot situated back from the Raglan main road a short distance, and about two miles in a direct line from the river. The contour of the country is such that a tramway, with an easy gradient, can be laid down to the river's bank. With the river steamboat facilities the company have got for distributing this product all over the district, or as the case may require, despatching it by rail to other markets, there can be little doubt but that the nucleus of a flout islmig trade is being laid. We are also pleased to le.irn, they have got indications of a good freestone, but we are not yet put m possession of full details of the discovery.