Orari is situated on the main railway line between Christchurch and Dunedin, and is the stopping place for passengers to Geraldine, with which there is a regular coach service. It is eighty-one miles from Christchurch, and nineteen from Timaru. The district, which is in the county of Geraldine, is devoted to agriculture and sheepfarming. There are about 120 persons in the township, which has a school, and there is a post, telegraph, and money order office at the railway station.

Belfield School, Belfield, near Orari This school was erected in 1884. The number of scholars on the roll is sixty, and the average attendance forty-seven.

Mr. William John Glanville, Headmaster of the Belfield School, is a son of Mr. William Glanville, an old colonist of Woodbury. He was born in Temuka in 1869, and brought up and educated at Woodbury. He served as pupil teacher at the Woodbury school, and was then appointed headmaster of Fitzherbert East school, near Palmerston North. There he remained for two years, until 1890, when he received his present appointment. In musical matters Mr. Glanville takes a great interest, and his services are in active request at local concerts. He was married, in 1892, to a daughter of Mr. John May, stationmaster at Rakaia, and has two sons and one daughter. The Belfield Post Office is connected with the school, and Mr. Glanville is the local postmaster.

Mason, William, General Storekeeper, and Farmer, Orari. Agent for the “Rambler” bicycle, the Liverpool and London and Globe Insurance Company, and the “Press” and “Lyttelton Times” newspapers. Mr. Mason was born in Westmorland, England, in 1857. He arrived in Victoria in 1879, by the s.s. “Cuzco,” and shortly afterwards came on to New Zealand. After staying a few months in Dunedin, Mr. Mason went to the Rangitata, where he established a business, and was one of the first storekeepers in the district. About two years later he established his present business at Orari, and has successfully carried it on and enlarged it. It comprises a butchery, bakery, ironmongery, drapery and general store. He owns a farm of 120 acres, all cultivated, and has wheat crops which average thirty-two bushels per acre. Mr. Mason has always taken a very active interest in all local affairs. For six years he was a member of the Orari school committee, and for three years its chairman; but owing to pressure of business he was obliged to resign. Mr. Mason is a member of the Orari Park Board, Temuka Caledonian Society, the Geraldine St. Patrick's Sports Association, steward of the Geraldine Racing Club, and president of the Orari Football Club. He married a daughter of Mr. Duncan Taylor, of Rangitata, in 1889, and has two sons and two daughters.

Ferrier, photo.
Mr. and Mrs W. Mason.