19 June 1908, Page 5.

VISIT TO THE MOTU.

TIMBER AND TRAMWAY PROPOSALS.
RETURN OF MR REES.

Discussing the subject of his visit to Motu district this week, Mr W. L. Rees stated that it was his first trip to that locality, and he had been greatly impressed with what he had seen.

"Our party," said Mr Rees, "consisted Messrs Hilton Lysnar, Otto Hansen, R. M. Birrell and myself, Mr Hansen driving. We got into the trap at the Willow Crossing, first setting off by the old track, but having to return some little distance because the railway works had fenced the road line off at places. We drove alongside the railway for 3½ miles, here and there having to stop to remove boulders that bad been cast down at the railway cuttings. At a spot 3½ miles beyond the Willows Crossing, which will be the next section of the railway line opened, the Rakauroa road leaves the flat and winds up a long, steep hill. The railway continues further up the valley, and about a mile or a mile and a half beyond the section to be next opened, it will have to cross the Waihuka stream on a high bridge, and then there will be five miles of steady cutting on the face of the hills, which will be a tremendous work, the line returning again, to the original side of the valley by a lofty aqueduct, which will bring it to the Waihuke station, 32 miles from Gisborne. I saw at once that it was an absolute impossibility for the tramway to go up the road; It would be a great expense to put a tramway anywhere near the road there. I the therefore asked Mr Armstrong, District Engineer, to go with me up the bed of the stream, to see if there was a possibility of putting the tramway there. We left the exact spot where the next station will be situated, and went along the bank of the creek, ultimately having to go in the creek and cross it on several occasions. The bed of the creek is all rock and shingle; it has a gradual fall for five miles up to Gold creek, and presents no impediment to a tramway being laid down, there always being a bank on one side or the other, and the creek never rises more than two or three feet. It drains very little country, and the fall is so rapid that the creek cannot rise much. That is the natural site for a tramway from Rakauroa to the next section of the railway line. I then left the creek and rejoined the buggy party on the road about four or five miles from Rakauroa. Mr Armstong told me he had always held that the water way was the only site for a tramway. We had a meeting that afternoon at Rakauroa, and then drove on to Matawai. The road there is very good. The water on the Matawai side flows down to the Motu river, in the Bay of Plenty, and on the Rakauroa side down to Waihuka into Poverty Bay. About three miles beyond Rakauroa is the first piece of bush, belonging to Mr Clark. That is the only bush to Matawai; there the real bush commences but the country is covered with fallen logs. Between Tahora up to Rakauroa and Matawai there are hundreds of millions of feet of timber destroyed. There are even now among the logs great trees four and five feet through, and 50ft to 70ft long, lying on the ground, but the heart is good. At Matawai the real bush commences, especially on the west bank of the Motu for about 30 miles, an unbroken series of forest, without mentioning below Koranga creek, on the Tahora side. We rode from Matawai, where the track does not permit of wheeled traffic, to Motu, on Tuesday. For the last six miles before we got to Motu we passed through dense untouched bush on both sides of the track. In the Motu township and the immediate vicinity all the bush has been destroyed, but the other side of the Motu river, the Whinray reserve, presents a beautiful spectacle. We rode across the old Motu bridge to see the Mangatu blocks, No. 4 and No. 1, across the Motu river. The timber there on both sides of the Motu is magnificent, white and yellow pine, rimu, and matai trees, many 6ft to 8ft in diameter and at least 100ft of straight barrel without a single branch. Mr Hansen, an experienced bushman, pointed out to me trees that he said would cut into. 17,000 to 18,000 feet of timber. The bush there is virgin timber. I was anxious to see the Mangatu blocks, being the farthest in that direction for which I had authority. I saw Hansen's mill at work cutting 80,000ft of timber for the Government for bridges and culverts.

"At the meetings at Matawai and Motu the settlers not only approved heartily of my proposal, but offered to sign deeds to carry on at once, their desire being for an immediate start to be made. They expressed their earnest wishes that the tramway might come as soon as possible. Beyond Rakauroa, six miles, to Matawai, and another 11 miles to Motu the road is practically level and flat, and there a tramway would either run on the road, or on flat lands immediately contiguous. The resolutions passed at each meeting were "that this meeting approves of the proposals submitted by Mr Rees, and pledges itself to give him every assistance to carry them into effect." There was only one dissentient. Many of the old settlers who had previously opposed the plans warmly supported them, one speaker saying he regarded the scheme as the salvation of the place. The soil is a friable clay and directly rain comes on the road becomes a quagmire. There is no difficulty if the Waikohu Valley stream is taken as the site in putting the tramway from the Mangatu blocks to Motu, and from Motu to Rakauroa, to the line that will be opened before next winter. Mr Armstrong states that he is only waiting for Mr McLoughlin to finish the bridges, when he will have all the earthwork for the railway to the next section at the foot of the hill, which should be ready before next year. I believe that the timber will make a return if properly and energetically worked of £200,000 a year for the next 50 years. All the posts now obtained out there is from these dead logs, of which a great deal of the timber is sound. It is quite impossible to make roads there which can be used in the winter. At the Motu meeting, I said I could supply freight at half the cost of cartage. The question was raised as to what that amounted to, and a carter who was present was asked the question. He said, "You cannot get anything carted at all now." There are at least 100 miles of main roading in the district, including Tahora, which cannot be utilised except by tramways. It would cost a million of money to metal these roads. Even the roughest tramways that would bear the weight would always afford a certain means of economical transit. The last amount paid for cartage was £12 10s per ton, but now owing to the state of the roads it is impossible to cart at any price. I was told five drays had been left on the road, tarpaulins and all, which is a disgraceful state of things."

"My intention is to begin at once from the Mangatu end, and build the tramway downwards towards Waihuka section of the railway. I would start at that end because we can get all the material there. When the tramway is finished — which I hope will be in time for the opening of the tramway and railway section at the same time next May — one will be able to leave Motu in the morning, spend some hours at Gisborne, and get back to Motu at night. The weather will not block our work in any way, because all the time the material can be got ready. The logs near the roadside would provide sufficient material for the timber required."

"Then your trip, has further strengthened your belief in the practicability of the work?" asked the reporter.

"Most decidedly." said Mr Rees. "It has surprised me that the difficulties are so few. If Neill road were made a person could canter the whole way from Matawai to Motu."

Asked as to the feeling of the settlers in the matter, Mr Rees said they were all convinced that the work presented no great difficulties, and were very pleased that something was likely to be soon done in the matter.

Place names: Willows Crossing = Waikohu River crossing at Waikohu; Waihuke station = Farm beside the site selected for Otoko railway station; Waikohu Valley Stream = Waihuka River.

28 June 1909, Page 4.

SAW MILLING OPERATIONS AT RAKAUROA.

MR W. L. REES' ENTERPRISE.

Great interest is being aroused among the settlers of Rakauroa in Mr. W. L. Rees' recent saw milling operations in this vicinity. His plant is situated about half a mile from the Rakauroa store, on Mr. R. Beaufoy's section, and is almost ready for cutting purposes, the erection of it being in the hands of able workmen.

This mill is considered to be one of the most "labor-saving" plants erected in the Bay, most of the machinery being of the latest American style. Mr Rees, it is stated, intends to construct a light tramway to the terminus of the Gisborne-Rakauroa railway for the conveyance of his valuable timber to the "great timber market." By this system he should be able to place his timber on the market at a very fair figure, and, in view of the immense areas of valuable timber bush he now holds the timber rights for, he should secure a very considerable portion of the timber trade. He does not intend to "play" with the timber, as on his last visit to the mill he expressed his ideas as follows: "I do not intend to convey a few thousand feet of timber to the market at a time, but intend to deal with millions of feet."

The Rakauroa settlers offer Mr. Rees their hearty congratulations on the manner in which he has commenced his task.