Atkinson, Alfred, Land Agent and Authorised Surveyor, Princes Street, Hawera, opposite the Post Office. Secretary for the Hawera branch of the New Zealand Farmers' Union, Agent for the South British Insurance Company, Fire and Accident, and Agent for Messrs A. J. Park and Son. Patent Agents. Mr. Atkinson was formerly for some years a surveyor on the Government staff. He has resided for a great number of years in Taranaki, and has an extensive knowledge of the quality and page 239 capabilities of land in that district. Mr. Atkinson employs a staff of competent agents, and does not confine his operations solely to his own district. Both he and his agents are constantly on the move in outside localities, and visit every portion of the North Island. By adopting these methods they are able to form an excellent opinion of the comparative values of land, flax, and timber over an unlimited area. That his endeavours to act in the interests of his clients have met with success is shown by the fact that he has lately effected a number of sales in land and timber of considerable areas, in localities ranging from the Bay of Islands to the southern end of the Wellington district.

Mr. A. Atkinson.

Cowern, William, Land and Finnancial Agent, Hawera, Bankers, Bank of New Zealand. Mr. Cowern began business at Patea in 1874, and his knowledge of the district is unequalled. Upwards of half a-million acres of land have passed through his hands within the past ten years, and he has negotiated many of the largest land transactions that have taken place in the island. Mr. Cowern is further referred to as a former Mayor of Patea.

Mr. W. Cowern.

Hirst, James William, Licensed Land Broker and General Commission Agent, Hawera. Mr. Hirst has been engaged as a land broker, and land and commission agent, since the year 1896, and does a considerable business in town and country properties. He is further referred to as Mayor of Hawera.

Major Charles Edwin, Licensed Land Broker, Insurance, Financial, and General Commission Agent, Princes Street, Hawera. P.O. Box 137. Bankers, Bank of Australasia. Established in 1881. Private residence, Princes Street. Mr. Major possesses the fullest confidence of the public as a man of business, and is widely and favourably known. His long and intimate acquaintance with the district enables him to give specially advantageous advice to his clients. As a financial agent, Mr. Major has been very successful; as, of hundreds of thousands of pounds invested for his numerous clients, not a penny of either principal or interest has been lost. Mr. Major is further referred to as member for Hawera in the House of Representatives.

Sussex and Co. (Ernest Sussex), Land and Estate Agents, Taranaki Land Exchange, High Street, Hawera. Agents for the Alliance Fire Insurance Company, Messrs Reid and Grey's Farm Implements and Oil Engines, etc. This business was established in the year 1905, and is conducted in a double-fronted building, containing offices, etc. Messrs Sussex and Co. are buyers and sellers of freehold and leasehold properties in all parts of the district.

Mr. Ernest Sussex, Sole Partner in the firm of Messrs Sussex and Co., was born in 1870, in Victoria, Australia, where he was educated. He was brought up as a builder, and worked at his trade in Victoria for ten years. In 1893 he came to New Zealand, landed in Hawke's Bay, and a year later removed to Taranaki. He then settled in Hawera, where he worked as a journeyman for a time, and afterwards became a master builder for twelve years, during which he erected many farm houses and country residences in and about Hawera. Subsequently he established the firm of Sussex and Co. Mr. Sussex has been a member of the HaweraHigh School committee since 1903.