Mokoia lies south-east of Mount Egmont, and has a flag station, fifty miles to the south-east of New Plymouth, 197 miles from Wellington, and seven miles south-east of Hawera. The station stands at an altitude of 214 feet above sea level, and the surrounding district is devoted to dairy farming. The settlement has a pretty little Anglican church, which, together with the quarter-acre section on which it stands, was the gift of a lady; and there is a native Methodist church at Manuwapou not far away.

The Mokoia Public School was established in the year 1904, and is an up-to-date building, with skylights and high windows. A teacher's six-roomed residence stands on the school grounds, which are two acres and a-half in extent, and contain some excellent school gardens. The average attendance is thirty-two. Mr. William Arthur Curtis was appointed headmaster of the Mokoia public school in the year 1904.

Mells Co-Operative Dairy Factory Company, Limited . Offices at the Factory, Mokoia; Secretary, J. A. Turton, Hawera. Capital £3000, in £1 shares. Chairman of Directors, Mr. William Duirs. The factory of this company is commodious and well arranged, and the plant includes a seventeen horse-power Tangye boiler, a ten-horse-power Tangye engine, a three-ton Humble and Son's ice-making machine, two 440-gallon de Laval separators, a Sabroe cream hoist, a Primus pasteuriser, two 300-gallon Humble vats, two half-ton churns, and a six-feet Topliss butterworker. The premises include also a cool chamber, a freezing chamber, and a testing room. Two creameries are connected with the factory, and the output is about 150 tons annually. The manager has four assistants, in addition to the creamery managers.

Mr. Samuel Bowman, Manager of the Mells Co-operative Dairy Factory, is also the local postmaster. He was born in Palmerston South in the year 1873, and was educated at Temuka. On leaving school he made a start as a factory assistant, under his father, who was manager of the Temuka factory. Four years later he entered the service of the Crown Dairy Company, and remained with it for eight years, working successively at Opunake, Otakeho, Okato and Toko. For one year, subsequently, he managed the Toko factory, for the Stratford Dairy Company, and on the opening of the Mells factory was appointed manager. Mr. Bowman is chairman of the Mokoia school committee, and is a member of Lodge Hawera, Number 34, New Zealand Constitution. He is married, and has two children.

Gungall, photo.
Mr. S. Bowman.

Duirs, William, Farmer, Mokoia, Mr. Duirs' farm at Whakamara, Mokoia, contains 575 acres of first class land, all in one block. He also holds 200 acres of land on the Waimate Plains, near Manaia. As a breeder of Polled Angus cattle, Mr. Duirs is a well-known exhibitor at the Hawera agricultural and pastoral shows, and has taken several prizes. Mr. Duirs is further referred to as a member of the Hawera County Council.