NEWS FROM THE KING COUNTRY.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2334, 25 June 1887, Page 3

NEWS FROM THE KING COUNTRY.

Te Kooti's Meeting House at Te : Kuiti. (By ock special keportkr.) To those who take an interest in Maori carvings and fancy work, this big whare affords an interesting study. In length it 13 about sixty feet by about thirty in width, The walls are about seven feet six high and from tho floor to the ridge pole the height is about sixteen or eighteen feet. Round the inside are fortysix carved posts or slabs, supporting therafters, tweß^y-eight'of which are ranged round the sides,' the remainder being at the ends of the house. Those round the sides are carved in grotesque resemblance of some ancestor who was famous for some particular attribute. Maui is;represented with his rope round the sun. The story runs that Maui wanted perpetual day, and in order to gratify this wish he snared the sun. All'went well for some hours, and Mr Maui thought when the sun was near the Avest he would haul him back to the east, and begin day over again, but old Sol was too strong for him, and in spite of the rope and Maui's strength, set, leaving part of the rope in Maui's hand. This old god was a sort of a Maori Hercules, and used to perform prodigious feats of strength. ■ Another carving represented a noted ancestor on the East Coast Tamatekapua, a peculiar individual. His forte lay in the direction of appropriating other people's property. An old tohunga—whose whare • was of course strictly tapu— had a ; poporo bush growing beside his hut. This bush grew over the roof, and was loaded with berries, which the old mail intended eating himself. Tamatekapua, however, cast longing eyes v.pon them, and, braving the terrors of the tapu, provided himself with stilts, which raised him sufficiently high to get the fruit. Of course, a great uproar was raised, but they could not trace the thief as there were no footprints. The old boy wps successful for a long time ; by means of his stilts he reached the food stored on the patakas, or elevated store-houses. At la§t!he ;was found out, but I believe nothing was done, probably owing to the fact that he escaped the penalty, of desecrating the tapu. Consequently he must be something of a dignity. Another figure represented the celebrated old warrior, Maniapoto, with his taiaha in his hands. He made his home in a cave, and a cave was represented at the, foot of the post. ' It was hollowed out to a depth of fourrfor five inches, with miniature stalacites hanging from the roof, with a miniature figure of the old chief: sitting at the back. ; These, of course are, only a few of the number, each of has ! its' history. The panels between these carved uprights are worked in coloured fancy work designs done ' with mange mange, no two of the many panels being of the same design. On one of them was worked in this fanciful . design' the 5 cutter in which Te Kooti escaped from the Chatham Islands, while ' at intervals-round the wall plates were j rough paintings of the canoes in which j the early Maori colonists came from , "Hawaiki." At.the farther end of the whare was a secret door, which was skil- ' fully constructed; it was one of the J panels referred to, which was made to slide sufficiently wide to admit a man. As all the joins of the panels were covered by the carved slabs, this one .when closed would not be, easily - detected. By means of this Te Kooti used to practico a little deceit which to the. simple minded creatures was an exhibition of his supernatura.l power. It was his custom to go out through the door of the house and mix with the people outside, he used to contrive to work his way round to the back and lifting aside the raupo and ti tree,_ slide the panel back sufficiently to admit him, on those occasions a row of his attendants stood in front of it to hide his entrance from the eyes of the common herd and when he appeared among the people in the whare,. his sudden and-unexpected appearance was attributed to supernatural means. Notice ! The Heathen Chinee must now abandon the idea that he has a vested right in " ways that are dark and tricks that are vain," as . the heathen Maori sometimes graduates in the school of Charlatanism. To those who take an interest in native art in the direction of carving, the meetiug-house at Te Kuiti is well worth a visit. A small charge (a shilling, I believe), is made. In speaking to one of the natives afterwards (a big rangatira, by the way) of my visit to the whare, he asked me if I had paid to go in, and when I told him I had not he demanded,a shilling, saying, "I had to pay when I did ; in fact I had to pay half-a-crown, so homai the half-a-crown." I have a weakness for trying to get my amusements for nothing—it is constitutional with me—and I claimed exemption on the score of being a member of the Press. It was all right, however, when I explained to the old boy that a description of the big whare in the Press would be the means of inducing others to go and see the curious carvings, and he could black mail those visitors as much a 9 he liked, providing he let me alone. Railway Works. Messrs Coates and Metcalfe have the rails laid to within three-quarters of a mile of Te Kuiti where the line crosses the Mangaokewa stream, the bridge over which is almost completed, they could complete the line to the end of their section in a couple of weeks if they had the bolts for fastening the rails, but till they get them, the work of platelaying and ballasting is at a stand-still. From Te Kuiti I went on to Waiteti to see the new contract, the work on which is being pushed on vigorously. I was kindly provided with a house by Mr Moss who is in charge of the receiving store at the former place for goods required at the tunnel. After leaving the native settlement at Te Kuiti, the roads are in a dreadfully muddy state, being quite axle." deep. It takes, I be ; lieve, four horses to pull from fifteen hundredweight to.a ton over them, and I can quite believe it. "The -.place where goods are deposited by. the train is about 2£ or 3 miles from Te Kuiti, atid from theJatter place to Waiteti the distance is about the same. The cost of cartage to Waiteti, for the or 6 miles,. is 35s a load, a price which I think no .one grudges the carters. .Messrs Anderson have opened up work throughout the length of their contract—about 81 miles -—all the cuttings being cither sub-let or done by day work. This section ends about half-a-mile on the south side of the Mokau River, the bridge (timber) over which, as well aa the "Mokau station," are included in the contract. There are about 200 men employed, and Mr Anderson told me he did not think the number would be much increased. The viaduct is about seven chains long, and the greatest height 114 feet. The weight of iron required is about 400 tons, and all the forge work in connection with it will be done at or near Te Kuiti. It is the intention of the contractors to push on the construction of the line from the latter place to the site of the viaduct, so that all "the material, such as ironwork, gravel for concrete, &c., will be taken by rail, thus saving the cost of cartage. Altogether about 1500 tons of material and supplies will be required for this contract, so that at least an additional train a week will be required. Two trains will be utterly inadequate to the requirements of the case, :,and would seriously retard the progres#-_of the work, and if the Government desire,to facilitate it they must grant at least another train. I was surprised to see SO much work done in so short a Mate.' The contractors are practical menTand their manager, Mr Robertson, is equally so, and if a proper train service is instituted to keep them going in material the line will be finished well within contract time. At Waiteti there are two stores kept by Messrs Hill and Farrell, there are also two boarding houses owned by Messrs Turner and Berry both of; which appear to -be doing a good business. The road through the camp is cjoite kas9 deep injnud and the surround-

ngs so thorou4hly comfortless that any profits made by the business people are dearly earned. Mr and Mrs Berry have , taken a prominent part in "an'effort 4 to !' raise a library fund. So far they hare been very successful and the promoters hope in a? short time to have a supply of books, magazines,!and papers for rea'ding durmg the winter months. An institution of this kind is urgently required and deserving of, support, for when men are ' thrown entirely on their own resources for amusa-irieitti-during and long evenings the time must hang very .heavily on their hands. Let the library be once started aind its value would scion be appreciated. Inhere would therefore, be very little danger of its falling off for lack of funds. There are plenty of intelligent, well-read men always on such works to whom' the choice of books could be left. A few sets of chess, draughts, and dominoes would also be a welcome addition to the reading; room. A good deal has been said about a compulsory clause'in the specifications for'theWaiteti contract in the matter ' of finding work for the unemployed. I aisked Mr Anderson, who very courteously gave me all the information he could, whether it was true ; for reply he handed me a copy of the specifications and permitted me to take a copy of the clause, which runs as follows: —In the event of the Minister of Lands ; looating any special settlement or settlements in the vicinity pf the railway, the contractors in employing labour shall give preference, to tlie'settlers in such settlements up to a number not exceeding fifty at any time, and shall keep them employed at ordinary current rates so long as their services are required, on the understanding that they conduct themselves properly." They are never likely to be called upon to fulfill this portion of their contract for tvvo reasons, first, this land belongs to tbe v natives and not to the Government, the title not yet having been ascertained and even then the owners'" may = object to part with it. Secondly, even if the Government did ■ own it it is totally unfit for special settlements as it is very rough and broken. Limestone.

From what I heard there our expectations with regard to a supply, of lime are . likely to be disappointed, the'stone being the sort known as crystalised limestone which, it is said, yields but a small per centage (about 30) of lime when burned. I hear that some of it which was used in the construction of hearths and fireplaces has in this way been subjected to great heat without showing any lime, in fact the stone when cooled exhibits no alternation after the heating. It is intensely hard and but for the trouble in dressing it which this quantity involves would make excellent . building stone. Of course as regards durability it is -aH the better on this account, but " bricks would be cheaper. It occurs in strata from about six'to nine inches thick, as 6ne man said "it was laid so beautifully that you could get anything from a tombstone to a hearthstone out of it." There is an inexhaustible supply of it, what appears on the surface is an infinitesimal proportion of the amount. Below the surface the rock is cavernous as several streams disappear in the ground, and; there are no visible outlets; possibly they may empty into the Mangaokewa ; they certainly do not appear again between where they disappear and the river. Sunday Trading. - I am sorry to say the custom of trading ou Sunday obtains at all the camps along the line. We profess to be a Chris tian nation, yet every Sunday one of. the fundamental principles of Christianity, respect for the Sabbath, is violated. The all-pervading influence of the Almighty dollar is responsible for this, Of course it will be alleged in excuse that men who Iwork at a considerable distance along the line cannot, come down ' on. Saturday,' after 5 o'clock for stores. Now that difficulty, would be very easily got over, let the men begin work haljf or -three quarters of an hour earlier every mprning, and they can leave off at a period on Saturday afternoon sufficiently early, to admit of them coming in for supplies.. Besides, to my own knowledge, stores are packed along the line, for there, as elsewhere, competition is keen, and men are ready enongh to deliver goods if bought, from. There are no less than nine stores at Otorohanga, Kuiti and Waiteti, lam not an ultra Sabbatarian; 1 incline to the belief that "the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." Apart from the sacred character of the day, I look upon it as a day of rest as well as reasonable recreation. Leaving aside therefore the religious aspect of the there are physiological reasons why men should observe the Sabbath as a day of rest. Men who open their places of business, at 7 a.m. and work till 9 p.m. require one day in seven to recuperate. " Six days shalt thou labour" is a command laid down by a greater Physiologist than any earthly one. Nature's laws are immutable and a violation of them is sure to be followed by punishment in the end. The French tried every tenth day for a day of rest, and it was found that men and horses broke down under the strain. Furthermore Sabbath breaking is forbidden by law ; the police therefore should do their duty, and enforce obedience to the law of the country by prosecuting those who do business on Sunday. I hope Inspector Kiely will take the matter up and instruct his men to put a stop to this blot upon our civilisation. My suggestion that work should be begun earlier in the morning is perfectly practicable, for Lsaw the same system carried out on the late Mr Dixon's contract on the Wellington Masterton railway. Temperance Hotel, Otorohanga. This really good hotel, which is just finished, is an excellent house to stop at. Having stayed there twice I can vouch for its good accom modation ; the beds are good, as is also the table. There are seven bedrooms, and a sitting-room upstairs, all exceedingly well appointed. On the ground floor are five bedrooms, dining-room to seat 25, parlour, bar, and kitchen. The whole building is thoroughly well-finished, and reflects credit on the contractors, Messrs Maunders and Co., whose skill is testified to by many fine buildings in various parts of the district. As business has increased so much the proprietors intend building eight additional bedrooms, stabling/and all necessary outbuildings.' The hotel is under the personal supervision of Mr Black, one of the proprietors who, is ably assisted by his wife. The accommodation is equal to that in any ot' the Waikato hotels, while the charges are very moderate, indeed much more so than in many hotels not one bit superior. It supplies a long felt want, for the boarding houses were not able to receive all the travellers to that district. I hope the proprietors will meet with the success they deserve.