Looking at the West Coast June 1966 (2025)

OCR

The if/eat flout it

VOLUME II No 8 June 1966

Edited and published by ,,,_
GORDON HOWITT P.O. BOX 321
GREYMOUTH. _Phone 7774 _

Printed by R. Lucas & Son (Nelson
-Mail) Ltd., at the registered office
of the company, 15 Bridge Street,
Nelson.

?
LOOK FOR NEXT MONT}-I[...]au rises._ The soil seemed
to change and after an hour of boulders we
came into -patches of trees wild[...]the roots under the mud, made it
terrible for the horses and my husband was
sorely afraid they would h[...]locks and was particularly anxious about
the pack horse. Several times both he and
Scot had to lighten the load and car[...]really did not get
very wet, but my boots well I thought they
would never reach l-lokitiki; but they did.

I thought the boulders were dreadful, and
rejoiced when we could turn from them, but
the mud was worse and seeme[...]or sheep that was going to the
West Coast, and although but very few went,
still they completely worke[...]-the

wretched‘ lawyer, ,a hanging Plan? With .1°’{§.j'

reversed hook or thorns all down its long
spray caught my hat and my h[...]ade me a second Absolom.

Now we made up for lost time for we
were on a nice bit of ground at any rate
wide enough for the horses, and we hurried
on and on, anxiously looked f[...]and were indeed thankful that day was
over.

The horses were tired and we also, and
they were soon let free (but of course
hobbled) and commenced at once to nibble
the short herbage there was to be found.
Whilst putting u[...]n a sheep on the side of the
track. It looked as though it was lamed and
had been left by the drovers. He thought he
could find it and how nice it would be to have
some mutton. How he ‘meant to get the sheep
into mutton, I do n[...]left ere, the
sun had se't, and they were away 80 10118 that
it began to get quite dark and I really felt
they must have lost themselves. My P05111101!
on this Island, by myself with four horses,
was a rather strange one, and they were so
l[...]gher but no

Today you drive from Christchurch to Hokitika in a sturdy car on a
well-metalled road.- B[...]sort_of
journey. And what better way to tell of those early times than -

the reminiscences ei
Mn; tt.Che:.IaEiea[...]le ‘
plight and I looked at it in dismay, forl
thought it would not possibly be dry for the
morning.[...]soft. I
The aromatic pillow, I had become accus-
tomed to, and slept most soundly. The music
of the ri[...]rds our morning song.
My husband sketched till he could no longer ,
see, and Scot nodded beside the bla[...]ng
in and out, looking so cleverly at everything; 1
pulling it, and pecking what it could eat. It i
was so pretty to watch it, and_N.' wo[...]ged
to do. Then the wild birds did not fear man,
thought no doubt he was a man and a brother
— and came around .you and when Y0“
sketched hopped even on the book. One day
a robin jumped on to the large drawing b°a1_‘d
Nicolas had on his lap and looked at 1115
work, I hope approvingly. Now alas, the)’ are
not only frightened, but gone!
The horses had a good time here, and the

morning. being very fineand N. notfea-T1113 '

change in weather, we lingered long
and I was[...]. The river
Teramakau now began to widen out
and showed that after the melting
of the snows it was ver[...]dangerous. On one little islet we rested

and the horses found good grass. The’

saddles etc were ov[...]ight,
the curling smoke, and the anticipation of
who were we to see. Standing higher than
the camp, we epied two men and their
horses and in about half an hour we
astonished them as we emerged from the
bush. They were drovers, and returning
to Hokitika, rough men, and poor hard-
worker. They loo[...]to assist the artist and his man,
easing the pack horse and aiding us to get
our mid day meal of tea,[...]iands. ‘And it was with great
difficulty that I could persuade these poor
fellows, that the smallest[...]inty dishes '
and indigestion. I remember so well how
they dried my soaked gloves, and indeed
my garme[...]soaking of yesterday and days before.
One never thought of taking cold, but went
on in a most matter[...]t dry.
Soon these two men) wen on, and in half
an hour we followed. Scot regretted N.
had not asked th[...]sion to ride
quickly after them and buy a little. How-
ever they got over the ground muchfaster
then we, and soot soon returned in a
downcast way, said he could not over take
them. We journey till sunset and arrived
at a small accommodation house, where
the road forks to the Otira Gorge, having
been directed that this house existed, we
were all looking forward for a mos[...]place with a square front and a
skillion back. Of course of wood but a
big chimney. The proprietor a yo[...]y were common people journey (sic)
on the road to Hokitika, there hoping to
find work or make a fortune digging.

We n[...]oad which
had been made by Arfliur Dobson, and

whose name was given to the pass over '

the Otira Gorge.

We were all too tired to travel farther
and the horses done up, so Nicolas de-
cided to take what we could get, and
really it was much worse than camping.
The house consisted of a front room for
eating and a bar[...]shelves for people to

sleep on. The proprietor showed us these
with great satisfaction and considere[...]w he asked a very big
price for some oats for our horses, and
give them very little. We had to accept[...]mpacked and stored the things in
the shed and the horses were hobbled, but

_ PAGE 3 I

_-‘An 1866 painting of
.Upper otira Gorge. T
‘Probably the. work of '
Nicholas Chevalier. _
{(Alexander Tnrnbuli '

from that momenE"N. had no rest, for
horses and addles were most valuable
in these quarters, and there were a set
of horrible fellows, squatting about
drinking and smoking, and they would
think nothing of taking horses or any
thing they could lay their hands on. In-
deed during the next few months occur-
rences showed that desperate characters
were on those very roads’, for poor

Arthur Dobson mentioned above was.

murdered by a set of ruffians who mis-
took him for a store keeper returning
with g[...]but I had no idea that
they might go on with the horses. Had
they done so, we were undone. Weg[...]

. 1 1997: From Marsden we took the Boddytown road
" . 4 deviating from our cou1937: 1st days packing of materials on to ,‘
Kelly Rang[...]J. Keating, T. Keatiiig, N. Sother- ».—§'I# -,1
an, R. Day, L. Martyn, H. Downs, P. Peters'.'l‘[...]iron half waytio the hut site. 'f.,_._ _'.
FEB. 1938: A severe loss to the club with the tragic . "[...]hile climbing on the _
Rudolph Glacier. , "
APRIL 10th, 1938: 12th visit to Kelly Range towork.
‘This day we made history in as much that we left town on
time. ylz 8.15 a.m.' - '

.1 if

. I‘ ;
LEFT: Members gathered fl. 3»
on t[...]Carroll Memorial Hut.
RICH-l'_I‘: Winner of the 1966
marathon race - Chris I-"

Coll of Greymeuth.

.- 1.;

. - LEFT: A previous winner of the
r . . ‘marathon - Graham Batty - hero of
__ V _ the 1952-53 season.

' '-' ‘ . RIGHT: 1966 women competitors,‘
Mrs Bruce, Marion Grant,[...]nej "
"4 Davidson - they allfinishedtool

LL!‘ 1; _
.

. Nov 21st 1939: Kelly Range hut, known as the Patrick Carroll Memorial
A 4 Hut, officially opened.

DEC. 29th, 1941: N. J. Sotheran, Ernie Giimour, and T. D. Duffy made a
successful climb ot Mt. Cook.

1943-44-45 Names like R. Warburton, M. Lambert, H. Ashurst appear
in the club's records.

MAY, 1946: At the annual meeting it was moved that the c[...]members (and many non-members).plus a grant of £100 from the Internal
Affairs Department built up flmds.

DEC, 1948. The first working party on the Arthur's Pass[...]n Greymouth then
transported to the site.

26 FEB 1949: Hut erected using the prefab. taken up by rail.

4th JUNE, 1949: official hut opening byclub presidt Norm. Young.
Today the club's activities include tramplng, ski-ing, mountaineering and

social evenings. Also the occasional marathon race for the younger members
-. but that sounds too much like hard work.

.14 ‘P West Coast Amine
Cluh3fl1hJuhi|e.e

The 7th May, 1966, was a big day
for members of the West Coast A[...]ccessful club.

., For the foundation members who
, -' y . were present it was a very special
t . , | q ; occasion as their thoughts went back
A - - ' uj _. i. « tothat meetingin 11-1. 5. Ray. _
__ 7 SEC.-TREASURER: Mr M. K. B.
Shear[...]CLUB CAPTAIN‘ M’ F‘ H‘ Gm.‘-“‘
"- . 1 '4-' " ‘ ‘I ho15"’ m -
,,.,p_’ This 3-re, ifmw the . commrrrn[...]. Pound. Messrs T. J. Higgins
gold ‘M. Instuie photo)‘ and H. H. Rattray.

_ ,_ A membership of ap[...]ascent
of Mt Davy on the Panama Ranges
on Sunday_ 17th May, 1936.

Random notes from club trips -
_ JUNE, 1937 - at Arthur-‘s Pass.

’ Breakfast -was a g[...]ticularly Bob's saveloys, a la
dishwater. (‘in those days transport .
was by Bus to Otira then walk over
-. thepass or getalittinagoodstrain ; .1
« through the tunnel). -

___ __j.._.._[...]ll the fitter run-
ners reccvering after
the marathon race.

-_ __._._...... :.._..___..

-'-"' >- - _ -- -s—..'
"'__:_§a:,. ._ .'-I -.51. . _.
. 3- ‘I; . . _ ‘J _r. V

92 years ago thoughts were far from the
visiting tourists.

You see in 1874 four emigrant ships

left the old country for NELSON
PROVINCE — 'ADAMANT', ‘CHILI’,
‘OCEAN MAIL’, and ‘MICHAEL AN-

GELO’. At that time almost all the coast
north of GREYMOU'l‘H was under the
NELSON PROVINCIAL COUNCIL control
and the idea of a new settlement in un-
known country must have come from one
of those innocent officials.

And so it came about that KARAMEA’S
_first settlers arrived by sea on Nov.
'2'1th, 1874, after transferring at Nelson
from the four immigrant ships to the
CHARLES EDWARD.

Can you see those people on arrival in
a lonely world of their ow[...]sting reading - perhaps you are a des-
cendant. (I1 you are then the KARAMEA
Centennial Committee would be pleased
to hear from you. Perhaps you have an
old photo, document, or diary, to help
with their museum).

Richard ALLEN and son George
Charles CASTLE
Benjamin COUTTS and son Peter

William ANDREWS and son William[...]NRY

Robert JOHNSON and son Robert

Edward KING

Thomas LINEHAM

Lawrence LAWRENSON

Frederick LlI..LE[...]nd they were
on was imsuitable for cultivation.

Shortly after this another batch of

.immigrants came from Westport on one

of Nathaniel EDWARDS’ Anchor Co ships.
These new arrivals were:-

Ezra HALL a[...]Church at Karamea

4 many years ago, before

the house at the right
was burnt. 03y courtesy
Mrs R. Hird).

." '..__‘__— . -_..!.

a[...]fire, or an electric heater, and only
read about those pioneers. We don't know
what hardships they sur[...]their shelters were built they,
made roads by daytime and burned the
‘felled bush at night to give li[...]completed,
and so they duly arrived in their new
homes in early 1875.

Who today would change places with a
pioneer?

A school was soon built of notched
logs and thatched wit[...]ive bush. John NAYLOR was the
first teacher.

The housewife learned to make-do.
Cooking was in camp ov[...]r and made
tubs.

Even getting supplies from the shore
to the huts had its problems - there
were no horses or bullocks at first so
manpower was used. Th[...]these sections further up
the river was by canoes hollowed out of
white pine logs.

But again came a setback - the big
flood of 1877 stopped many farms. In
fact for 3 months they lived on potatoes
until a boat "with supplies could get food
ashore.

All that was a long time ago when the
future looked very doubtful. Today t[...]to make a round trip
possible.

KEEP YOUR EYE ON 1974 - KARA-
MEA'S CENTENNIAL YEAR.

(The above is an edited account taken

from an old manuscript held by W. Hird
o[...]ON LT

WES TPORT

TOP RIGHT AND RIGHT: These two photos _ 1 ,
from the collection of Mrs R. Hird of Kara- r ' ff ..
mea show the shape of things to come. Both
snaps were ta[...]ld Karamea re- -
, tmion. Note the flags of many countries 3: ~35‘ "
I flying for the occasion. Would the photo be "‘ ‘V’
- dated1924?Andislhetopphotoofamotor
car or is it a horse drawn carriage? Who ' ‘
knows? .
I BELOW: The Umere (Karamea) Tennis Club "'7"
5 in 1922 or 23. This club went out of exis- a

- tence about 1945. At one stage the district
{ hadfive tennis clubs.

‘F :x."'}' T ,1" -'1.*-

s 1 , , "I; ' I
' fl "

‘ I 1“ _.

STANDING: Tom McLeod, Bert Duncan, Mrs
and Mr J. Watson. .
SITT[...]n Simpson, Norman Liecher, 7; N
Alec Duncan. CBy courtesy Mrs Tunnlclifie). ;‘~:',:§‘ ‘.[...]

y
_

.';r’-
l

1 Hi i

When the Lions Club "organised a chopping me7e"t"ingand sports day at Fox Glacier
it w[...]BOVE: My; that ice block certainly

looks flood. Hope it taste good 1'
Gerry Wells our Fox Glacier? as or

ABOVE RIGHT: Now there's a new View of the Fox
Glacier Hotel - with axes and logs in the foreground.
ABOVE[...]work at the motor camp.
RIGHT: Mum's boy. Tracy Thompson of Bruce Bay.

ABOVE: Lookout Miss New Zealand. Not
for a few years anyhow. At 4 years and 9,
bit Mary Sullivan can be a proud beauty
queen. '

LEFT: A timekeeper for the cho

LETTER

The letters below have been made
available by courtesy Mrs Harvey oi
nutherglen. ,

erglen).

PARAR SCHOOL.
MY DEAR FATHER. _

I was at the hall on Saturday night by
fine school masters place Mr Thomas,
and we had cake there, Ginerber and we
had Bu[...]an to throw handsfuls of stones
on the top of the house and it fright the
life ontofus and theschoqlmasterwas
siiuting and he said that he was going
to leave ten of_ and he wanted Miss Lich
to shoot and then myauntandthenhe
that straight in the room and then he
rang the bell and we came home at two

clock in the morning and I was not
aleepe atall.

Written by ANNA LOUISE GATZENS,
A PAROA scHooL GIRL IN EARLY 1880s

April 9th. 1885.
HY DEAR FATHER.

I hage got toothace today ve[...]place at Sunday

An early view of Paroa ' -
showing the old school '
at the right (By cour-
tesy -Mrs Harvey .Ruth- .,

. ‘g -[...]and carrots and pudding. My uncle and
Archie are chopping wood today. The
book that you send me I didn[...]nd she gave me some black-
'berries I was at Mrs Thomas with her
milk this morning I am quite well and I
hope you are to. My migonette is growing
very nice.[...]est with
three eggs in it and I foimd a nest with
12 eggs In it, it was Mrs Seebeck hen
that layed them and so she took six_gut
and let six in and we though they was’ent
-very good so first she broke o[...]Druces and
Mrs Druce was to townand Mr Druce
came home from his work and made

th us the

ho19th 1885’.
MY DEAR FATHER. 1

I was at school yesterday All the child- '
ran in the fourth cl[...]ew
Zealand geography. Miss Gillrople is
back at school again now she had a little
teapot and she made[...]ight. I might come into town on
Saturday with the tram. We burn some of
our ratter now. We always have fire in
the school now of a morning I slept two
nights at my aunti[...]so I said there is such
a lot of water along the tram road and
they said -that they where running along
behind the tram and so the water was so
high they had to go back[...]up
some bullocks this morning.

' Could be you will find yourself in this photo
if you look hard. The beach picnic is on the
fine sand that was once to be found at Blake-

town. CBy courtesy D. Moore, Greymouth). wwe<%

room A LETTER To THE EDITOR OF
THE "WEST COAST TIMES" IN .1914 -
’lVRlT'l‘EN BY MR JAMES McDOWELL,
'l'flEN[...]ger was usually a fine
specimen of adventurous manhood 20-40
years old, hardened to all kinds of pri-[...]tion was almost entirely
male anddance boiwes and hotels mm-
ished the chief and almos* sole oppor-
ml[...]and kept in position by a crimson sill:
null, sometimes carrying a sheath wlfin
bowie knife, "l~rUGGE'i[...]s was
miles long and there were in that street
92 hotels. We decided to hold a race
meeting on St Patrick's Day 1866. There
was no racecourse there then. However,
we raised money from the townspeople
and cut a race track in the bush. The
track was then 10 feet wide and if any
horse went of! the track he came to grief
at once ow[...]called the grandstand - admis-
sion to which cost 10/- the charge to go
on the course being 5/ -.

(And the club has certainly progr[...]THER LETTER TO THE.‘-

EDITOR OF THE WEST COAST TIMES
IN 1914 ..

in the early '6D's the Maoris found
gold at Totara Creek, 12 miles south
of the Hokitika and Mr Reuben Waite's
bullock drays and horses crossed the
Hokitika to take goods there long before
there was a house where the town now
stands. There was only a small tent
used as a store and a terry house made
at brush wood and beach timber. The
ferry boat was a large tree hollowed
out and charge for crossing was 2/6 per
heéd and 41- per horse. It was in No-
vember l~884 that Captain Leach of the
steamer Nelson went from the
overland to look at the li[...]‘brought goods by a boat called
the WALLABY and housed them in a
temporary store on the beach, on th[...]t away the point on which

the store stood, and £1000 worth or
goods was lost. other storekeepers su[...]the
wreck of his store across the river, to
where Hokltika now stands, and housed
more goods in a shed 2 chains from the
water, but again his wealth was washed
away.

Where the town of Holdtika new is
was. then one vast pile at driftwood[...]BEN HAD P08!’ OFFICE STORE,
GREYMOUTH, IN JULY, 1865 - ED).

SATURDAY JULY 29th, 1865. BY WEST
COAST TIMES CORRESPONDENT.
KANIERI TOWNSHIP

The business at[...]have ob-

tained first rate prospects - Mcnonalds
1 dwt to the dish, BURNS and party
averages %oz to the load, another party
whose name I do not know, having ‘Tito!
payable dwt[...]achinery,
the only means they have at the present
time of beating the water is by balling
with 2 kegs, which is insufficient on ac-
count oi’ the depth 18 to 22 feet. some
parties have out tall races 13 feet in
depth.

' 1 , O
WESTLAND RACING CLUB. 5. Presidents llalltllcap.
HOKITIKA. FIVE rumours.
--——-——— Of 80 Sol\'s.,l ;~'N'r\ll(l lrcorso to l't'('¢-'l\’9 1! Snv.-u‘.. and
. ‘l.lli‘l ml-so 6 :'ms. out of stzkos.
To .st-an at 3.35 p m.)
- ‘I WERTON P. D 11- ’« l.r., .l 10 12
Wwnesdays 7”‘ APP”. 1915- fsx...-.-1..-‘.’='.35‘:?...-.’.3'§,....§fi3...“[...].
U|"H(‘l_\l..\* Jocke_v......,.. P. Dmmo‘la'1.
-ll'l)i=|*l.' l)l£l’l"l‘\' Jl'D(:‘rE: - , H“
as. .1. b‘m_ith. F. Ell:-G1-v;._:ur. ’ °'“°‘“""'”*,}X;,,fl:3[‘f.§$§;,;‘,,}};?"' ‘~“‘ " 13
S'l'l'I\\'.\l{l)H: ("renm. light are-I-u 1~lH‘\'v.-, l\l'wk mp.
w. E. Williauus ttlmirman), w. Keller. o. .1. 1*. '7°"“*‘3"""""“"-" "“"“‘”~

Sellon-.. R. Fnne. I), J. ‘l“.vuu:~.
Dee, ll. A. 'l‘hmnp.-mm. (1. Ho
.\l¢-lntusll. and Dr. 'l'oI(-ln-lu1a.n

H.

H. But-laud. G.
us-smann. J. J.

A a tune[...]artian-Ro.-nplu-lo.

'l"i¢JglASl'RE'R: uox. srm-:11:‘ul“‘m‘ ll DIVORCE, T. Cagney-o11’s b.g.. aged 9 5
- ll. llutland. . ' .‘h=nsatIor_|-_(“.‘oIxntess.
HA_\'DlCA]IPER: (vLERl( “I; COURSE: I Dark lllllv. llglil. grflfill (‘I'll’[...]fttaii). R. Fane. ' “ck”-""""""""' Owner‘

T13! E-l{EE1’ERS :

W. Keller. J. J. Mr-Into.sh, and G. Haua[...]SC:\ LE5‘ :
(3 . D00.

J ITDICJAI. (‘UM ;\l l'1"l‘l'3E ;'

_.\'lc-ssrs Williams. .-\l.(-Intnrra[...]Jockey ........ . .

I DLANMENA. J. Aclamsmfs cl1.m., aged 9 3
Clanruunald-Rosina.
Dark green. pin[...]es.

--a-I PAREWANU‘I& C. Welasterk b.g.. aged 810‘
.' V

amen-Dryad more

Rose pink. purple slee[...]and terraces for miles up the KANIERI RIVER.

HOKITIKA TRAMWAY IS NOW OPEN. REVELL STREET,
NEXT TO THE BOUNDARY STORE. JULY 29th, 1865.

For the sale of firewood, piles, stumps,[...]her bush wood
equally cheap

GIBSON and WILLIAMS

HOKITIKA 186'7:Raynes

wheelwright business in '
rioreground. Church at _
‘back is probably thei

Methodist. (Alexander

Turnbull Llrary).
- - L

THOMAS BROS GARAGE ‘
LTD

39 WELD STREET
HOKITIKA

HOKITIKA and SOUTH WESTLAND
SUB DEALERS

AUSTIN Cars[...]ractors a. Implements

HOK IT! KA

Another photo or 1867
I-lokitika. This shows
gitiops in a busy Revel]

Today Hokltikit is a
starting point for your
Haast Road tr[...]ld dredge.
For further information
‘.5 write to Hokltlka P.R.0.

ABOVE: Atnunollie about 1910. mcluded in the photo are
J. Baddelny, W. siddon, Bill Jones, and Bil[...]oday. airs
using her tr" .‘e at Dunollie about 19113.,

esirr means (SEE rnoro AT LEFT)
nsusmsens. .[...]ed at
Bunnngn Bob Semple and Paddy Webb
were two who were right behind that
early movement.

Poor conditions in mines and lack oi
iacilities - in those days had to walk to
work and home in old clothes -' wet
flirouui - wet to the devil - no transport.

bio smoke-he in mines - no crib time
eatyour crib as you could - shourday
being worked. Pay was 9/-» day. No al-
lowa[...]e came later in the
Labour movement. Landed about 1911 in
this country in Auckland. Bert Fisher was
mag those who welcomed him at Auck-

First Miners Hall built in 1906.

Burnt down about 1934 or 5 and rebuilt
soon afterwards - is present hell today.

HEW-AHUI TOWN

In 1915 more was a boarding house with

2 mil sized billiard tables and could take
40 miners for meals.

~ — 4”. "".

L Mng Back At Runanga

Men slept in huts. About 18 houses for
married men.

1 small shop-general store.

In 1916.. Runanga Co-op built store» at
Rewanui. Was only a horse track toRewa-
nm to start with.

T09 mine, or Liverpool No 1 was then
operating at 2000 ft above sea level.

Present No 2 Mine we started driving
about 1916. Closed down in October 1965
after steady production.

MRS FISHER

Came to Coast in 1915 — alter NJ.
marriage in 1914.

Came to Greymouth on the 'Arahura'
boat from W[...]unanga and stopped
with the Marries’ till got a house at
Rewanui. _

Most of their kiddies childhood was at
Rewanui. There was a school up top run
by Paddy Gillan of Canterbury Education
Board - 1 room school.

I-lad never been in a tunnel before and
liken[...]ook (nee Leech}
was first then Matron Mrs McGlaugh1in.

T’.
1. .
No radio then —- had a 17’ x 17' big
front room - had the only gramophone
and somebody turned up nearly every
night - wou[...]I.

_._.L"..

'—r,':.- '_ I
in . , _
.. ,, . .1

From the collection of the late Mr J. Dolzell oi[...]se cycling races were
also popular during the big 1913 strike. '

BELOW: Canvastown - the origin[...]

‘POP LEFT: At the back of Og'den’s
bakehouze (first shop) members at the
I.O.B. gather. CI.O.B. means Irrepres-
sible Order of Bachelors).

LEFT: Da.1ze1I’s first butcher's shop
in Hall Jones Street, Runanga.
BOTTOM LEFT: Da1zell’s second
butcher shop in McGowan Street.
ABOVE: The sawmill at Dunollie. Note
the steam hauler _at the left. At the
right is a horse heading away from
the mill along the tram lines, probably

-to qollect another load of logs[...]-- b -.
ABOVE LEFT: The original b-____
Dunollie Hotel with the Druids ‘

Hall to the Ian. __ R... _ _}

ABOVE: Runa'nga's original 1;,-' _
school. January 1906. "«.~- ‘
BELOW: The Dunollle state?
mine rope road with the bush %

tram line on the left.

Taken from the o_ri_ginal manuscript as
written[...]e - th
pioneer

e son of a South Wetland

Dear Cousin Isobel,

You have on occasion expressed swish,[...]to you it would seemthatthe sub-
jects available tome,that might have some
interest to you are decided[...]y. Glancing back
through the years to my happy boyhood,
when the pleasures available were very
few and[...]e no near neighbours.

My first recollection of schooling was
in our own home. The late Mrs J. Jones
being our first teacher, fonowed by Mrs
Denia, and later by Miss Burroughs, who
after leaving our school married Mr G.
Park and became ‘the Mother of Mrs W.
839118 Jnre

Mr Scott Robertson succeeded Miss
Burroughs as our teacher, residing atour
homestead until a central school was built
to suit the Ferguson family, Peterson[...]r Robertson
I completed my education, attending school
for twelve months after passing the sixth
jstgidard to study some specialised sub-

e s.

of my parentsIcam1otspeaktoohigh-
iy. Mother had a kindly loving nat[...]ss. Father
was very considerate and just, and the
time or ‘two I suffered correction at his
hands I no[...]a bark. For a number of
years I was occupied part time pro-
ducing -timber with the pitsawoutfit be-
fore I left school, and for several years
after leaving school. One of our great-
est pleasures was to have a[...]n a river island. Boil the hilly and play
around. 1 am atram (anu’_now regret)
put of our pleasures were shooting with
the shanghai andbow and arrow andthe
bi[...]young days Dad would
taine three or four‘ pack horses through
to Ross for provisions, taking up wha[...]at was
washed away. When he arrived down with
the horses he could not get across, so
he went back and procured an[...]om Urquharts and snigged it
down with some of the horses. The mail
in those days was fortnightly. In later
years when the road was improved, suf-

once a week. Long before I left school
I built myself a small cottage, which I
used until I eventually left home. The
one great occasion of the year for us
chil[...]ree.Thisusedtobesetupinthelargest
room in the old house. Where school used
to be held, and commonly called the big
ro[...]ill have
some of Mother's little gifts. I always

home ducks, pigeons, caw caw etc. I built
myself a s[...]ich I had on
Ifiainekhéanthe for a considerable time.

al over there shooting on holidays
and thinking nothing of the fourteen miles
walk, carrying my sporting outfit and
E31116.

For some tdme Dad had several‘ bas-
kets in[...]oodcrop
always resulted. Frequently in the winter
time the cows would be given a bucket
full each night[...]life Of 5

well I would be about five and brother
Jim about three. Dad had been
potatoes and it was our[...]brealclng Job
and the sand flies so I struck._IgotJim
by the handjustafterlunchtimewhenno
one was looking and lugged him right
dpwn t[...]d been was mostly worn
away or grown over. Wen of course we
were soon missed and in due course our
tracks were found and followed. Dad ar-
riving at Petersen shortly after us.Need
I say more. It was just toopain[...]k-'
ing and get eaten with sandflies.

When the school was built we of course
had to taloe our lunch with us. Mother
occasionally used tomake apieforus
to divide,’ tied up inanapkinforea[...]e a Black
bird a bit smaller than a swamp hen and
could scarcely fly at all. But had nasty
claws and were always ready to use them
as I well knew. Wen Jim had our pie,
carrying this time, but wanted to have
a close lookatthe crow.Andgot[...]nto our pie
with both feet would not go.Event-
ua11lr,‘he let'gowith‘one'cI'aw"aii'vitook;
Jim by thehandwithit.Thingswerejust
too had. We were[...]rid of
that crow, eventuany, and see the last of
111.!!!» I guess so.

The Maori hens used to be extremely
plentiful, they were a brownbird andcould
not fly, so we used to have alot of sport
chasi[...]ot eat grain;
or trouble the garden andno doubt account-
ed for a lot of grubs and spiders. Us kids
used to make gardens away inthe scrub
at the school andtalneaprldeinwhatwe
could _grow. The Maori hens always had-
ahabit of fonowing along anytracks.So
IthoughtI'n dig apit onmytrackto
the garden and cover[...]and
see what I can catch. Right after setting
my trap ready I had a catch. Mr Robert-
son. He had never come into my garden
before and to nearly break a leg in my
trap first time was just too bad. He con-
demned the trap on the spot. One winter
time we had found some waterin a road
drain thickly fr[...]inatthe
end. Mr Robertson strolled alone onelunch
time to see whatwewere doing. Whynot
take a run, andjumpontheiceandslide
I'll show you he said. He
took a runalongthedrydrainandar-[...]sed to be plentiful, often kept in cages
as pets. could be taught to talk well.
The native bat seems to be about extinct

any evening could be seen flying around,
catching insects. They used to get inside
and flutter round the ceiling and couldlight
and land on almost anywhere upside down.
T[...]he
other members of the duckfamilywhichno
doubt accounts for their disappearing.

The first bees to be[...]a large white pine tree, not very far
from the school, the honey comb was-
plainly visible from the grotmd. The hole
into the hive would be about twelve feet
from the- ground. Now this honey used to
be very enticing and I had heard itsai[...]ing youifyoukept
wen in ‘the shade in thebush.IthoughtI
would try. for a slab or two of that honey.
It was all thick scrub aroundthetree,I
procured a suitable pole as I thought for
the job in hand and shoved it wen in;
among the comb, and bees, and wrenched
it about to procure the desired result.
Wen down came showers of bee, and
probably some comb, butlwas immediate-

maldng a counter attack. -

As the pupils coming to the school
from either side were fairly evenly divided
we[...]game and used to
take it somewhat in turns. one school be-

ing let out in the afternoons say, we
would make off for home andthe Ferguson
clan _would try andcatchuponus and shove
us off the roadintotheferns.Itwas all tall
bung[...]got well away
and I made after them, flat out.Ica1fght up‘
to Enen and gave her a shove, she went
over the top end of the culvert at the foot
of the inn and disappearedfor ashortwhile
under water.

I had not thought of ornoticedthecreek
when I gave her the shove. But say, was I
anxious foradayortwo astowhat m[...]Dad wanted

a eat so dealt for one. He;al_sg witi_1_ other
goods and sundries wanted a barrel. Wen
th[...]hside
of the pack saddle and the barrelontop
wen strapped.

Well now — the cat.

Dad had a brain wave, put the cat in
the barrel, with a bag over the end,
great, couldn't bebetter,no soonertbought
of than acted on a[...]ui river the cat let out
an uneasy meow or two,thehorse got rest-
less and Puss got some more nervous and
called out some more. The horse bolted
through and scattered the rest of the p[...]on't
think he wanted it back in that barrel.

Sometime baore I lefl: school the tele-
phone 1i.ne was brought down as far asour
place. I remember quite wen our can
ring was four short rings, Urquharts was
three shorts and Ferguson two long.

I had met and admired![...]always nice and clean and tidy. _

Dad got agramophone.Iusedtogetgreat:
pleasure out of playing this over the tele-
phone for.Florrie. About the time I left
school I got a bicycle (a crude affair) and

I Theoldcoachoutirde
__ -Urquharts Waitara

PAGE 191?.‘
fig

1*?

use a

usedtorideuptoseerlorrieonafine
Sunday. With I believe our parents good
wishes. But ofcourse,Ihadnoprospectsof
a home then. Charlie Evans hadobtaineda
section ofland[...]re Iwasridofthefirst.
Wen, my first job away from home after
leaving school was putnng up alength
of fence for my brother P[...]had obtained agrant ofthesection
that thellarinarihotelnowstandson.
While Fergusons had obtained the c[...]c. shearer being. in charge of the
work, for the County Council. Ittooksome
weeksto repair,aswehadtochopoutthe
stringers ‘and smaller timbers by hand.[...]f the gang wenttoworkand
left me to my misery. I thought that it-I
couldonlygetgoodandsicklmightbe
better.

Having heard[...]d might be quite a dangerous dose. The
only thlnglcouldthinkofwastomake
sure of getting sick by having _some mo[...]

‘ ' , __, 0,...

PAGE 21

in the sport 0! chopping there is a place
for everybody. There ereeventsfor child-
ren; events for old timers. But the latest
was at Dobson when a publican’s shop
was held.
RIGHT: Here they are lined up at the
barrier and eager to start putting. lra
Beatty of Brian Borv Hotel, A. Sehaetfer . ’ “
of the Dobson Hotel, Gordon Phillips od’ j
Revingtons, Ron Kells oi Cobden, and _- .
gain? Dickson one time of the Teremakau . ~. 1
e _ V
BELOW: They're off. And as they swing
into[...]oe-
-in fact for some a long long way to go. :
BOTTOM: The judges piacings go up and ,3, ,
lt’s all o[...].
go up next and it's all over that hard as. ,
chopping. Thai: was the best bottle otwest ‘ i _,
C[...]' .,-
-.4-or " Q ' ' " '

On page 40 of the March 1966 issue 0! ‘Looking at the West Coast" were photos
unidentified cricket teams.

These player -have now been named thanks to information from Mr Bill Wilson of
Hokitika, Mrs Tom Rochiord of 8th. Westland and Mr T. P. Williams.

1. WEHEKA TEAM: BACK ROW: Fred Williams (Jun), Ted Foley, Tom Merritt. Milton
Heinz, Harry Williams, Lawn Willi[...]tain), Pat
Williams, Viv" Robinson.

2. BRUCE BAY TEAM: BACK ROW: Bob Thompson (Send, Billy Wilson, Alex Wilson,
Bobbie Thompson (Jun.), Ernie Wilson, Andrew Scott. .

FRONT ROW: Tom Rochford (Sen.), Bert Wilson, ‘Les Addison, Dan[...]The photo of the 6 children at the bottomof P. 40 has
W1iliams:- Mary Scott (Mrs Kerr of Ch-ch),
Sullivan,[...]Ivor Scott, Louie Condon, Kath Scott (Mrs
O’Cal1aghan of Greymouth), Gloria Scott

ABOVE: Still going strong in the cho1 winner of the south Island 12" standing
chop. (Clive Slln'lI.)n9l‘Vllle, Darcy Sey-
mour th[...]st popular events or the day
were the kiddies’ chop, the 8.1. 12"
$ia:i!ilpion,nandTht;'ie publicans’ chop kg

e po . s s 9. good. move
make ‘the[...]

Sometime later, Joseph Jay imported
a car, and then in December 1904, Joseph
Hambleton of the Dispatch Foundry im-[...]an four cars from Eng-
land. The Star reported (3/12/04),"These
horseless carriages may now be seen
about our street[...]sily,
and at a pace of from 8 to 20 m.p.h.”

Although the first car did not make its
appearance until 1903, there had been
motor cycles on the Coast for some
time. Mr Fred Harley. who still resides
in Greymouth, had one of the first motor
cycles, and by April 1903, Harley and Co.
had been appointed local agent[...]he
borough oi’ Greymouth speeds were
limited to 10 m.p.h., and corners and
bridges had to be negotiated at "a walk-
ing pace". It is not known how rigidly
these rules were enforced, but there were
often complaints to the newspapers and
the Council of “reckless motorists en-
dangering lite a[...]orted. An-
other regulation on the Coast was that
horns or bells should be sounded at
corners or sharp bends. If a mot[...]the
cattle were safely passed. Motor cars
meeting horse traffic where the road
had a bank down one side were required
to take the outside running, presumably
in case the horse was frightened by the
motor car.

The early motorist had to be his own
mechanic, and it was not until 1910 that
Schaef and Son established G1-eymouth's
iirst motor garage. For some time prior
to this thou , other firms such as cycle
dealers and egineers had been carrying
out motor repairs. The new garage how.
ever, had three cars, complete with
drivers, fo[...]ct

of making old tyres equal to new." (6.8.
23/8/1910). It is interesting to note that

in 1912, "P1-att’s Red Label I’etroleum
CONTD. ON P. 24

B[...]vsn
first car. Mr Albert W. .
Schaef’s Peugeot photo- 1-
graphed in Wellington .
in 1903. (by courtesy
Len Schaei 01 Grey- .' ’
mouth).

, ash

PAGE 23

In 1904 Mr Joseph HAMBLETON or the Dispatch
_ _ i _ .[...]in!

_. a

LONDON
Aug. 17th 1904.

masaow. They put it on board steamer at Glasgow at

£6-047. per ton and the through freight to Greymouth
is 85/- that would be £7-15-0. landed in Greymouth
Ballast £9-0-0. leading from Burnside.

(Here is an interesting comparison tram the past
tor Auckland‘: new iron mill - Ed.)

LONDON
Aug. 22 1904.

There is plenty of cheap motor cars for sale from
£40 for 2 seated to £125 for 4 seated quite asgood

4.. '-[...]r wagon. Not the one you saw
the one I bought is :1 Motor Bus to carry Opeople but
by taking 0!! the[...]t it in the passenger business between the Gilmer
Hotel and Hospital. I have also bought a nice motor car
for myaell. _

the road on 29th May,

.|..! 1912. (‘by courtesy Mr
. ‘Bill Kennedy, Grey-
outh).

LONDON
Sept. 16th 1904,
You may tell Fred Harley that I shal-lbe able[...]From - the
Peter Hende collection
comes this photo of his
motor buggy at the Wai-

taha Dairy Factory,
about 1913.

cars shown on this .

page were 3 of the first 4‘which .
Mr Joseph Hambleton brought to '-
Greymouth in 1904. _»y
At the right of the top photo can .3.
be seen the partly assembled ' --
body of the Humber. " 3’
in the photo above are Jack}? .
I-lambleton and Daisy Hambleton ”,
{now Mrs Fred Harley) in the 1 ,
Humber. At the right are Mr I:
Joseph Hambleton[...]an), Jack and «palsy ::
llambleton. The car is a Hortu. '

The first m[...]etween the town and Karoro,
and began in December 1911. It proved
so popular that a second larger bus wa[...]was later
taken over by Kennedy Bros. At the some
time, a horse bus, or palace oar con-
tinued to run in opposition. The buses
went out as far as the Australasian hotel.

By 1914, then, the motor was no
longer a novelty in Greymouth, though
of course only a few people knew how to
drive a. car, and even fewer actually
owned o[...]trips as
far away as Nelson and Christchurch,
of course drivers were ‘supplied.
There were no sealed[...]FT: Here's one taken at the beginning
‘it otthe 1930's. In‘ P. E. RobinsondKara-
. _, mea stands proudly beside hisownmotor-

car - a Ilaxwell (by courtesy Earle
Scarlett).

Next month this magazine s[...]issue. , _

‘ The present editor will continue tomb-
lish tourist and historic material from
time to time as the opportunity occurs -
this could be in either book or magazine
form. .

Initiall[...]that will help. It
so then contact Gordon Hewitt, 15 Domain
Terrace, Greymouth.[...]hataroa and his descendants -
duriug the recent school jubilee. The car "
was a 1horse driven ’ of course no front brakes. Last am; the
.. -_ V ‘ ' 4[...]outside the Aust- am y was all in the car was in 1937.
temptation for cyclists and motorcyclists .3 , ,5... I, ,4 '._ 9313” car ' _ .

to ride on in preference to the much ‘R ‘ mm” H0“! (photo wink '

rougher roadway. Motor taxis had joined . sters Ltd). ‘

the horsecabs in plying for hire around ' ' ' * ’ '
the town, the first being that od Kennedy
Bros. in May 1912, followed some three
months later by Mr H. McG1ashen. (See
photo JP. 31 May issue Looking at the
West Coast). Motor garag[...]ere catering for motor-
ists’ needs, and other shops too had
caught on to the motoring craze, and ad[...]s that this had. If any person can help
him with photos or information, his

address 1 62 Marlborough St., Grey-
mouth. - Ed.)

ABOVE: Another photo oi’ members of t n '3 t
the Northcrodt family[...]'

.. 3,. ' - -. .1‘? ".

. ~. ,-.. _ ’ ~ .- - I - .. '-. - _
I _[...]n {?) by Ted Cossey
across the Okari River. The
2 horses seem to make light
work of the model "I". (by

courtesy of Mr Mitchell, ~ ' '- " '
Okari). ‘ _ I[...]coilectton of Mr Sam Lockington, Wesioort. Around 1930 in
Broadway, Rsetton. Is it 3 Singer - the car on! course?

LEFT: From Mrs F. Hayes of Cobden comes this 1922 photo on the summit oz
Arthurs Pass The vehicl[...]

ABOVE RI[...]n Bennam,
Pat Nolan.

‘ ABUVE: Okariio in April 1867. At the
right is Kohuamarua Bluff. From asketch

Chinns household approx 1913-14; Mr;
Ferguson (nee Janet Shearer) was a pupil
at Bob Ada1nson’s household approx 1904,

RIGHT: One of the many group
photos taken during the weekend.
There were also lots of unodflcial
photos taken.

BELOW: The old school at Whats.-
roa built this side of Mr Butler .
(senior-'3) house. The photo was.
taken by Tait Bros of Hokitiica on
25th March, 1888.

ABOVE: By cou
Okarito School”

Jack Paganini teacher Ms E ldt Bett M .1
Friend, Jim Moo’die, Henry Heyeldlffe ’ y come’ wk Heve[...]0 CASUAL MEALS
0 GENERAL STORE
O FROZEN FOODS
I T1!’ T0? ICE CREAM

— Clean Rest Rooms --
Phone 121 Franz Josef

_ Mary Osflvie. Bert fr[...]rn Alps. Collectslxelitisigotfllu
rocks, then sittomdacalnpfirehaeook
__ them. But first at al[...]

-vfif
Ll
-H5

I
-n.
L
‘Q

in.

RIGHT: The hotel at Whataroa run
by Mr and Mrs Mann. Dostopand
say 1111110 11 you are passingthrough.
They can offer excellent[...]. '

BELOW: Memories of Whatarozfs
first Rugby team 01 1934. John J.
Nolan, Jim Walsh, Malcolm Me.
Bride, Bert Friend, Bob Vincen[...]Qufllan, Eric Vincent, Jack Nolan,
Dave Vincent, Jim Nolan, Jack
Walsh. Absent were Bob Hyndmen,
‘Po[...]. Whataroa
This Xmas

BELOW: Pupils of Whataroa School
some time between 1928-82 with

headmaster J. Clague and assistant
Miss D. Caldow. (by courtesy G.
Northcroft)

BELOW: The Anglican
Church many years ago.
Who can put" a year and
model on this Chevrolet

“[...]BELOW: Sunday morning and a

happy Catholic congregation gather

outside the Church of ‘[...]er
O'Connor.

This church was built in the early

1930's by Bob Clark. Volunteer

labour was used to set the D1198

at: the Waitangi river flats. First

._ pries[...]n, vmo cune-

out here straight from Ireland.

".1 '~..

§‘.‘.’5'pf.§s7[...]modern headquarters for our
transport division. Phone 535

Whataroa or after hours 525 _
and 755. "[...]

A WEST com PIONEER”. By no Graham

In the 1860's iir John Maunder Langdon
and his wife, after[...]rave folk. They sailed from.
Southampton on their 18 weeks voyage in
a ship called the EAGLE SPEED, t[...]ral chests of good clothes,
were mostly lost. Any how, silk dresses
and top hats would have looked sad[...]e lucky to be able to get a
flax whare. This was shortly after the
Maori War. There were no electric heat-
ers or washing machines in those days,
two flat stone with two iron bars put
acr[...]wa born.

Auckland had a splendid climate and
one could easily see that she had a great
future, but people were very unsettled at
the time-I am writing about.

As —assisted_ immigrants m[...]it. As the gold
rush broke out on the West Coast, homes
andlandwereleftinamadrushtothe
Coast. Later wh[...]and all were to travel -to the Coast
as soon as a home could be found for
them.

My father was very clever w[...]r was
£50 a ton and other things in proportion.
Thousands rushed to Maori Gully and
other places. Som[...]s
were found. Gold was in abundance and
everyone thought it would continue.

Then the man of my story[...]comfort, somewhere
on the Arnold Flat. The woman whoho'

has the best dinner before I promise."
The man[...]through the day, then
he let the water race for £1 a night. Not
bad for a new chum!

I just wrote about the Maori bringing
birds. My mother was busy with the
housework just after reaching Maori
Gully. Eleven Maoris arrived, each with
a gun on his shoulder, with birds tied to
the gums. some had livin[...]the men
departed, but they kept up the supply as
time passed.

At first everything had to be carried
on[...]ugh
dense bush cutting -their way as they went.
A horse was unheard of. No doctor was
available nearer[...]h
was then canvas tents and huts. As there

were thousands of men looking for a
claim, with no comfort[...]lives and were never heard of
again.

About this time the Kelly Gang was
operating. Kelly saw a woman i[...]was going.
She said she was going to scrub the
Catholic Church. He gave her a half-
crown and passed o[...]ch, which they
did and passed on. The gang would shoot
anyone so‘ great was their greed for
go d.

M[...]epipecasewasarevolver
int’hedim light.

A man, whose son I believe is in Grey-,
mouth still, met the gang. He was in rags,
but with as much gold as he could carry.
Kelly askedthe manifthere wasany
chance[...]shave."

Anothenstory is told of Kelly. He was
s01!1etorobahouse.Ashebrokeintothe
housethe woman rushed up to himsaying,

dying. win"[...]he doctor?" Kelly consented but the
woman little thought he had come to’rob.
the house.

Mr Olsen, of Kaiata, was one at the

early boatmen. At one time, after a very

hard day's work, Mr Olsen sought a bed

*0!‘ the nisht. After trying for a long time
one hotel keeper said, “You can share a
room with two[...]fellows
were no other than two of the notorious
K811! $1318. Mr Olsen carnetonoha.rrn,but

his two room mate[...]ing what is now called Dobson. The bush-
rangers thought Mr Dobson hadthe gold on.
him and murdered him without warning
only to find afew shillings, apipe, and[...]eace. It is said that
Sullivan, wherever he went, could always
hear footsteps after him.
- Maori Gully became a prosperous town.
It only lasted for a short time, as the
gold petered out. The only ones who made
lasting money were the storekeepers and
hotelkeepers. The diggers worked hard
and the others[...]quite a common thing for a dig-
ger to get to the hotel andgivethebar-
tender a bag of gold saying, "I[...]ses
the water failed to reach the claims.

At the time of the Maori Gully rush
there were hundreds, if not thousands,
about the Grey Valley, Red Jacks, Half
Oun[...]ressed
up in ladies clothes. Ladies did not wear
shorthairinthosedayssoawreathof
wild flowers was put round the head of
‘the yo[...]a splendid dancer
as many of the diggers were, of course.
The young men crowded round the so-
called la[...]d, one of the
men uprooted a_large nuggetofgold, show-
ing a dint in it made by the pickofthe
former o[...]haura, as the Arnold
was not bridged then. Alarge house was
built andapunt madetocarryboth
horses and passengers across the river.
An'overhead[...]gers wishing to go to Reef-
ton, or any of the up country places, were
ferried across the Grey River by[...]meal cost 2/6, to be taken over the river
with a horse 2/6, and a single person to
cross the river cost 1/-. The timber to
build the house and punts was sawn on
the place, a number of m[...]if-
ferent points were washed out to sea.
At that time there was a cemetery at
Kamaka. one flood washed several cof-
fins out to sea.

one stood and watched pigs, horses,
sheep and cattle being washed down the
river. It was a sad sight. After that time
the Arnold River was bridged, also the
Greymouth[...]l drum and‘
often enjoyed eating some of it, although
there own home was so near.

A mile from the Brunner is a
plac[...]otted about where the Blackball
road is made, and houses along the river
side where the road wasthen.[...]shafts.
The remains are to be seen at thepresent
time, but most of the shafts are filled up,
as they we[...]e water, which was over sixfeet deep.

It was the time when crinolines were

fashionable. 'l‘he skirt[...]iners lived in a but about
half a mile from their home. The two
eldest children decided to visit these[...]rother
and sister reached the diggers hut in
good time and had agooddiimer, served
in billy lids, as no[...]tes, knives and forks. When
the children returned home there was
a scene of consternation._Men and dog[...]nd. They hunted tiu
night for the missing child, who‘ had
travelled over most dangerous places.
The[...],
unharmed and unhurt. she said when they
got her home, "I took my pinny off for
my pillow." The man who found her had
a piece of Christmas cake with him[...]rst to'
get machinery, about half a mile from the
home of Mr Langdon. One could hear the
stampers going all night and it was a[...]low Dobson. The punt stuckonthe
falls and it took horse and manpower to
float it off. Then they reached Greymouth
without further mishap. At the present
time it would be easy to remove such
loads by big lorr[...]ne
was started and several others, the stam-
pers could be heard for a great distance,

A lot ofgoldwas[...]ered, but the
metal being of little value at that time,
not much trouble was taken about it.

Whe[...]

I

R‘ ' “.

M“ PAGE 89 '

SORRY! 1

We Don't Do Shoeing? '
—-But for Modern Fofk

HAVE YOUR CAR RA[...]WED

DEYS

PANELBEATTNG
snsmourn T

PICK UP THE PHONE AND DIAL 6546[...]”.__v_ —- _ ’ Lfifi
ABOVE: Today there are hold-ups too. Sometxmes
a_ whole 15 minutes while a razllcar or goods train
crosses,[...].

Incidentally, just what is wrong with waiting 15 I
I
!
-l

0-...

NO 'I”TO‘VVN'r[...]You probably always com-
plain to the boss (or wi1e)that you're overworked
anyhow,
Next time enjoy that rest and relax.

BELOW: In those good old days there were on-
doubtediy hold-ups in crossing the river. Take
the passengers over; then all the provisioné,
harness the horse up; perhaps a quick beer;
then Dobbin would plod 01! taking‘ the tram through .
to Kumara. (Alexander Turnbull Library). _ f
_ _ _ ,

Residence 7741

and RADIO
SALES ortd SERVICE[...]DOWNE5 & MCLENNAN Ltd.

Meckuy Street, Greymouth
Phone 7191

Besigned and Made to Your Re[...]

PAGE 41

THE FRANZ EOSEF GLACIER
FOR ONLY 35/-

Our Frame[...]iced at-—

35/ - and 65/ —

F. H. HAYES LTD.

HOUSEHOLD FURNISHERS

124 MACKAY STREET PO. BOX 35
GREYMOUTH PHONE 6418

onzeesra ms! norm».

*1

FAR LEFT: . . . when
Guy Menzies passed
through[...]es, Jean Mc- _ ‘
4 Manaway, Mr D. R.
Dowel! (by courtesy Mrs _ .
Ron King, Greymouth.) ‘ A _ _. _-[...]. The first _. - ' ‘J-‘4-'. . . . ._, xi‘-=1. «
3:1‘: ;_‘;r”L;’;mvg'1';:1howroom for F’.
' Waiuta Hospital. " ' 3' ‘Mes Ltd‘ ‘
RIGHT: . . .WhenHa.rry
.Lauder visited Roto-
irf \ manu in April, 1924, to

see his relations the
Vallance family. (by

Junction oi Salton arm aha llain

courtesy Mr A Greyvailev Roads.

c

gf WINES, ALE[...]--nu

ETABLING.

REGEIVING STORE.

-———-an

Hour: and Drama fir Hire

Im-

Goods paoked to all parts of the
district.

Well Done Tokoroa...

. 0 . ,1 , . »
ABOVE‘: Who remembers these ex- ;___'_; - :_, ._ ~. ...r - '[...]area. These are the foundation band rotunda was. 1,, _
members of the Tokoroa West Coast- Boundary street, Grey- . P R01’ mETRES"-‘-
ers Club WW“ 11°“ has 55 m°m”91‘5- mouth. Today it is in ‘ ABOVE AND BELOW: Butdxers old and butchers new Hiide- 1‘ -'— ‘ . =.;t::
BACK R°W= Jim Smelds ("ice Pres-)v . pretty Dixon Park —- . = brand and Co of the 1890's is ablg change to the modern shopof
John Keene, Garth Jacobs, Reg Mc- _ have you been there ' Mawhera Mm C0 Ltd mTa1m,1 st Grgymoum
Grane, Ernie Becker Jnr. (President)[...]~ .
John. Campbell, Gordon Lee, and a - - Ednam¢-1,0150“, xgmta)
visitor whose name was not registered.
MIDDLE ROW: Ernie Beck[...]rendt, Peter Keesing, Alva
Clark, Morton Cameron, Jim Munden,
Colin Becker and Harry Hill (vice
Preside[...]ub has already had a most
successful Barbecue and hopes to hold

a Cabaret very soon. (Tokoroa. Photo
Service).

,-_-- -4-.-.-=4.-~:-:_'-[...]Ltd.

Tdinui St. Bright se..
6revmwth- Cobden.

Phone 7102. Phone 6245.

be done but get a candle and sit up till
morni[...]d
healthful compared to it. I never shall
forget those horrid creatures sitting on
the table on their hind legs and eating
every scrap and crumb they could find
and fighting with each other. New Zealand
is a terrible place for rats, they say
they go about in shoals under the grolmd
and have their exists (sic) h[...]ay light re-
turned, and as soon as wehadhad some
hot centres, and some nasty bread and
butter for which we paid exorbitantly
we bade adieu to the accomodation house
to which we had so looked forward as a

quiet[...]le. One lady very well known in
Christchurch but whose name I have for-'

gotten told me tersely, she[...]e I was always

. in dread of the moment when we should

reach that ill favored river. But to it we
ca[...]h.
It was not only a rushing massofwater
but the whole was a mass of high
boulders. There seemed not a place for
a horse to put its foot. They were heaped
up, in masse[...]ance of leaping waves,
splashing and dashing, as though it defied
every thing and every body. I wen re-
member, that I felt quite rm-nerved, and
almost hoped that my husband would con-
sider I could not pass it. Far from that,
he imply treated it[...]taura for instance in which they reckoned
at this time 36 lost their lives in a year.
There were no brid[...]must turn.
and face. He went up and down for some
time hunting for the best place as he
thought,

was to come next, and how he was to get
over, seemed to me, impossible. But
Scott followed with a whip and if he could
make him scramble over he would. There
was to b[...]d. The absolute crossing I cannot re-

and he shouted to Scot some
order I felt I could do any thing,.and we
all scrambled for it, is w[...]narrowed and narrowed and at the ac-
commodation house, there were already
high hills on either side[...]d grasses, and one can
scarcely realize that from time to time
the earth has been raised and also that
the water[...]long sand
spits. In parts very deep, so that the
horses had to swim and those who
crossed went into a ricketty old boat.
It seemed[...]ss. Whilst Nicolas and Scott
each rode and lead a horse. They went
far down the river, until a proper[...]a halt,

it would not be worth mentioningonlyto
show that was still very
-vicious. It was said there was great
difficulty to shoe her and so it proved,
but well I remember I thought she had
killed the sheer. She gave him a tric[...]side of the thigh and quite
disabled him for some time. Then again
on our return journey. We met Mr (blank
left here) son of the bishop of Christ-
church and he was leading a mule whil[...]readful kick. She was a vicious
little beast, but how she worked all
ready, always first indeed would[...]d hit of damper, and by the end of
our journey N. could make her do any-
thing. '

I-think it was the a[...]ver. The river
very wide, the borders all immense
holders the road had been carried some
thirty feet a[...]ly going
on, and naturally having met nothing
for hours we continued rormd the elbow
of a projecting h[...]t at the bend
we saw the coach advancing. They of
course could not turn, and we had come
some miles on this na[...]wheel
brushed my dress, luckily not touching
the horse for a swerve would have hurled
us both to the bottom. These are minor
d'fficulties but for the moment[...]only the
sensation and the stare the mengave me,
who were passingby. A man on horse-
back in such places seems to have so
much more control over his horse.

Evening was begirming to draw in and
N. bega[...]camping place, not
an_ easy matter, when you have horse
to find food for. One could pitch ones
tent anywhere but the finding of goo[...]iver bed is the principal road and
the river from time to time makes a

carried away
all' loose earth and its li[...]better still some green
tussocks which your tired horses sniff,
and stop at, then you think how lucky it
is to be so forttmate after a long day'[...]tting out your colors. The
day itself is far too short, but fatigue
comes and night is then a blessing.

Nicolas at last settled, and as for some
time we had travelled it had rained, I
felt glad indee[...]settled put a mark on the bank and waited
half an hour. In that time the waters
had risen so considerably that he saw the
situation was dangerous, and without
further consideration told Scot all must
be rep[...]the treacherous snow
mountain rivers, that a- few hours would
make into rushing torrents. so every
thi[...]om the rain’ that it was
as much as N. and Scot could lift it on
to the pack horse, who simply groaned
at its weight. As for myself I was[...]tiff and tiredIwas.Buttherewasno
help for it and though darkness had set
in on we must trudge for safe quarters.
We had a wonderful incentive however for
N. had been told that at some distance o[...]d which we now struck again
was a surveyor's iron house but how
many miles away the men who told us did
not seem to know. Thee poor fellows
t[...]ttle consequence to
them. They are either full of hope and
going to the goldfields, the Eldorado of
so[...]an old rugrolled
tightly which they put over one shoulder
and under the other arm. This with a few
shi[...]e thankful if it rains not, and they
are dry. Oft times they have a faithful
dog who shares their vicissitudes and
has to swim the riv[...]ford them often high above their
knees. Faith and Hope carry them for-
ward. So the measurement of dis[...]never ask,
only perhaps for some matches for they
could not get along without their solace
— the pipe.

Night was fast closing in — and it was
a really dark night so our horses all kept
weu together though one or other was
more tired than another yet t[...]rd and keep near each other. The fate
of the pack horse was the worst for he

. 5 PAGE 43 " ‘-~‘[...]ther
side. It seemed interminable, and one or
two hour's travelling slowly, without light
and very tired, appeared endless, so
much so that I begged we might camp.
But there was no grass for horses and
no water for ourselves, and N. was de-
te[...]we saw in the distance a slight glimmer
a. fire shouted Scot - Yes it was a camp,
and now our fatigue was forgotten we
pressed on, and in half an hour camp
(sic) to a tent a camp fire and about half
a dozen men. No surveyor’s house. Was
there such a thing — and where — and how
far-. These men were the road makers,
and they told us that half a mile on we

should come to a break in the road to turn
in there -[...]f
breaking my neck. My small side saddle
bag some how .had slipped Imder my
horse, and as I turned him into the bush,
it was swi[...]ty confused condition at the
door of the surveyor house. Yes it was a
real house a corrugated iron house with
doors and windows and at the side a long
corrugated stable for a number ofhorses.

My husband called out and Mr (blank
left here) came to the door. He at first
thought it was his own horses being
brought in and was surprised to find
st[...]ne a lady. But immedi-
ately we were all made "at home" and
never was a house before so like a

alace ‘to me. Wet and tire[...]cloth, for supper
was just about to begin; And although
Mr (blank left here). and Mr Aitkin with
their[...]g, not exactly
a Christmas one, but one far more whole-
some, where the plums are very distant
from ea[...]entered, and was dished by the man,
(the chef of course) in the dining room
and served steaming hot, and it was really
a most delicious pudding, and its sauce
was the best of appetites. We could not

The latter proposed riding with us to
Hokitika and showing us the way, because
when the coach road came[...]er our comfortable breakfast, we
were soon on our horses, which were
quite frisky after their good nig[...]e was no shelter save in the
bush, now at least a coule of miles be-
hind us, and on our left only brus[...]must.
Mr Aitken assured us it was not far,
but he could have ridden fast we were
hampered with the pack horse and my-
self now very tired and exceedingly he[...]d to rise
as high as myself mounted as I was. The
horses .were frightened and the pack

horse bolted inland over the tangled
brush wood, Boo[...]and we were all wet through.

It was a moment of horror for me, and
when we came to a stream that flo[...]foam rushed up and
raised the water very high, my horse

would not face it, turned jibbed, and I

having no courage could not make him
take it. I determined rather to fo[...]me round
the waist ‘and seizing the reins of my
horse carried me across just between
the surging and rising waves. It was a
horrible moment, and I thought it must
be the last for our party. Nicolas by
this time with Scot came up with the

pack horse and we pushed on again,
the storm still continuing. As theflashes
of lightning came we could make out
the wild coast and see the mountain
ra[...]in! At last we did
spy a single glimmer, and all shouted

“there it is", and we stumbled on over
the[...]g light, it
vanished like a will 0 the wisp. What
could it be, where was it, was it imagi-

nation? Nic[...]ness, it was a small hut, but

no lights. As each horse came to the
little place, we began to talk and[...]. The poor lonely soul, so
frightened, at hearing horsemen riding
up, and all alone in that dreary pla[...]ic)was
going about in this district, one wondered
how she even had the courage to remain
in such a place. Possibly her husba[...]and had an open fireplace, with wood
burning, a couple of boxes for seats and

a table, and in the co[...]ft a trail of water so soaking
wet was it. We had hoped to have found
some shelter here for the rest o[...]not possible, we were

four persons and then the horses could-

not be left out side in the condition they
we[...]as it
were taken breath, we turned out again.
Of course there ‘was nothing to eat or
drink, for wet and tired as we were we
required some hot tea and to take off our
soaking garments. Having[...]the last few miles, and I think in
about another hour, we had reached the
desired haven, but not yet[...]n street ran parallel with the
sea, and we passed house upon house of
course all wooden (there was but one
brick chimney in the place and that be-
longed to a gentleman who had taken his
bride from Melbourne from a good home,
and had given her the luxury of a brick
chimney.) All the houses were small
drinldng place (sic) and just slee[...]t out the
proprietor, a queer looking individual who
eyed me up and down, and then informed
me that his house was full and he had no
place for a woman. That[...]r small stores.
Presently we reached quite a smarthouse
with a flag staff in forth ('2). a doorin
the middle and a window on each side. A
palace for the neighbourhood with an
upper storey. Here we topped, I in
brea[...]hler of Melbourne."
"Yes," was the reply. Well of course I
will put you up and then came all sorts
of explanations and my husband who was
always very sociable to every one, re-
membered how he knew him well as a
waiter at Spiers and Ponds in Melbourne
and at once made himself quite at home,_
to the delight of the owner ofthe inn. A"
big[...]I
carried in my little wallet. As soon as’
the horses were stabled for they really
were here put under cover and could lie
down and get some oats. Then N. made
his to[...]be sure) but whatever we had
was really nice and hot and good coffee.

The proprietor ,did it a[...]us or rather we"
sat altogether. It was so funny how in-
terested these rough” men were with us,
and how really polite and attentive in
their way to me, and for the week we
stopped there I always felt how softening
the presence’ of a woman was to such
hard working men.

The house was really a good sized_
wooden one and had an[...]of this passage were
small rooms or cublcules we should now
call_ them. There was only a’ bedstead a[...]to, and rejoiced to talk
about Melbourne and old times and was
longing to be back in Victoria again. Ou[...]not know what population but there
were 90 public houses, but then nearly
every house was a public one for drink-
ing. There were a few nice residents.
About a dozen I should say. Mr and Mrs
(blank left here) also Mr and[...]he two or three fami-
lies that we were there and how quickly
did those two or three ladies come to
see me, and welcomed me most hos-

. . ~‘_.«<3-:}3-

.5:

pitably. I was quickly taken to their
houses, also only wooden. The lady with
the brick ch[...]aps she was away. All these
settlers had come by steamer and looked
upon me as a wonder that have riden[...]anaged to be
quite smart. We had quite a pleasant
time, and whilst Mr Chevalier went to
Greymouth and ot[...]nd to
me. Scot had plenty to do to look after
the horses, and to look after the diggings
and he wished[...]which I-loidtika stands and watched the
diggers who were working all along the
river banks. This rive[...]be away. A
God forsaken place it seemed, and one
could never imagine it would grow to
be a big place.[...]or a boat.

We were all in one boat I think about
10 of us, and were heavily laden indeed
I scarcely[...]les and re-
turned to Mr (blank left here) little house
to a much enjoyed fire and supper; From
I-loki[...]a'.re for our return journey. The
fiords North of Hokltika were not known
‘in those days, no vessel had been near
and none had entered them. There was
no steamer to undertake this journey,‘
and it was unappr[...]ong there. Nothing of
any importance occured, our horses were
all in good condition and the mare so
fr[...]tal.

Whilst in the town, we met the two
drovers who had given us the piece of
mutton, their only piec[...]shed to thank them, so he took
them into a public house and ordered a
good supper and beer for them an[...]s experiences, and were
we all promised (sic) and hope to meet
again in some part of the world but tha[...]next day we went on to Alexander’:
accomodation house and it being rather
early we only got some ref[...]of the lovely fern
trees, and as they lay, they shot forth
their lovely green feathery fronds. It was
uch a beautiful sight, in those deep
glades, with giant trees over hanging
foli[...]es would we camp
for our midday meal and rest for horses,
and now they generally found some fresh
past[...]never mentioned the number of miles
or about the time such and such a pass
would take. The result was t[...]turn journey got into difficulties
with regard to time. The distances were
so much longer than he had in[...]ineer of the Road and
knowing each mile no doubt thought it
quite short when once made, compared
to the time he saw it as a wild entangled
bush and brushwood and motmtain torrent.
For such a wild and difficult country, it
was a wonderfully good road and my hus-

4

her up.
time that they shall leave such surro1md-
ings.
alas

All these people only live for the

for the horses, and what next mightdetain
us. To push on we[...]Arthur's pass on the Otira

end to end for these horrible men had
murdered a very great number of men[...]ways expecting to come upon the
smalraccomodation house. Night crept

. in and darkness seemed" doubly[...]ng
and rushing.

The ascent is steep and the pack horse

under the overhanging foliage which is felt i[...]or heard a sound. Dobson had not
told N. that the house was on the other
side of the river, and it was[...]wn on
either side to mark its way even in the
day time. Dark as it now was, Nicolas
managed to get on the wrong side of
these rough land marks. But his horse
so cleverly discovered the dangerous
stone and[...]o join its companions. Now we were
again all four horses together and on we
went to be quickly rejoice[...]t
of a light — and one that did not go out
this time. We had reached the welcome
little accommodation house called Racy's
(?) store, and a bright little house it
was. There Mr Ray ('2) came out and
there w[...]uch a life. l-low they
possibly ever took it, one could not
imagine. She had a girl -help, and was not[...]d the desolate
feeling at night amidst this wild tho’
grand scenery made me shudder. Here
we were at once made most comfortable.
A hot good upper of ham and eggs,
such luxuries, and s[...]th her tili quite late telling her
all the none I could think cf and cheering

we only waited from time to time whilst

N. sketched and we had a long and.

OONTD[...]scrub, and patches of
snow. Boulders rounded as though worn
by water and by wind and one could
imagine bleak winter snow storms raging
and whi[...]turn a picture in fact it was

with difficulty N. could satisfy himself by
slight sketches.

Here the W[...]TON'S LETTERS

Dear Mr Campell.

MANCHESTER
Sept. 14 1904

Mr Matheson left me a few days agoto go-to In[...]in. London a motor van to take the place of

the horse and dray.

I think it will reduce the cost of

working £2-0-O. per week I bought it for £81-0-O.
The duty and freight I expect will bring the costto

about £ 140-0-0.

Altogether it is worth trying for ifit

d[...]st. I have also bought 3 motor
speculation

(see phoHOQTERS

We Pay the
HIGHEST PRICES
for all types of Wild Game

PHONES: 5190; AFTER HOURS. 5446, 6240, 5083

WEST COAST NATURAL
FOOD SUPPLY

Phone 5155

Kennedy ros.
Greymouth

SHOP I. G. A.

SHOP I.G.A.

Peter
Sweetman
For
Groceries

SHOP I.G.A.
SHOP I.G.A.

SHOP I. (3.41.
SHOP I.G.A.

SHOP I.G.A.
SHOP I.G..A.

SHOP I.G.A.

SHOP I.G.A.

SHOP I.G.A.

PHONE‘ 5520 GR EYMOUTH

SHOP I.G.A.

of[...]t still it did not make me vomit. But
in about an hours time I felt quite well
and went to work. I always feel[...]n timber carted to its
destination by H". Norman who used toown
the 100 acre block beside Petersens
section. I also wor[...]Hercules.
I applied for and was given a lease of
133 acres beside ouroldfreeholdproperty
long before I was of ago. Mr W. 'l‘hlele
Jnr_is now farming this area. ,

I held this for some time, but as Ihad
no means could_ not do anything with it.
Bar doing a little clearing on aholiday,
or very wetday,whenDaddidnotknow that
I was[...]on I explained that I had no means and
working at home most of the idme I could
not doanything.Headvisedmetolethim
send down the necessary _wire, staples,
etc., "and he would wait until Icouldpay
him.Statingthatifthewirewasonthe
ground Bad[...]n of a
day or two when I arranged for Peter to‘
118113 mg. ' .

The fencing by myself took some time,
having to get the posts and distribute
them, als[...]cnthetopmostbranch
of the highesttree about. Andhecould
sing some. I should say the sweetest
songter of all our birds. On his __
being finished he would waste no time_
coming down to me, following my every
move, and[...]i_t
sawing timber up Johlmy Walker's creek
again. Jim and Iwe cut the timber for C.
Glasses first house at Mount I-Ierculese
also a shed for Mr Robertson andfor Fer-

‘cut-of the bush. (11.
Hence photo). _

_ sons, and others before leaving the Wal-[...]lob. Ibought agreymarefrom
Jack Deakin. The first horselownedulack
was camp mates with Jim _ Davidson.
Davidson was Flor-rie Urquhart’sbrother.
Shortly after this Ialso purchased afew
small cattle from Petersens andfrom time
to time increased my herd.

I decidedtoputup mycamponmY0Wl1
section after finishing the pitsawing at
Little Wanganui and not go back home asl
was usedto do. It seemed tomethatas
Dad did not seem inclined to expand as it
were, take up more land, that there was
too many in the old homestead.-, So -I set
up on my own section. Well Da[...]oss under the Ross doctor
and several weeks’ at home before Iwas

- reasonably able to work. My savi[...]o get him to paythedoctor's bill.
Good old Louie.Ihope he knewhowIap-
preciated his help. I feel sure he did, for[...]an appreciation of our years
trading together without any frictionwhat-
soever. He used to supply me[...]himwhileliv-
ing in my old cottage before I left home.

A couple of years after I had started

amethat was ratherhighnpand

. 5W1nE11'|€
Jstuckthesharpheeloftheaxeinto

inside of th[...]h,
knee joint set, or grew togetherin\a
and even though the cut was

I could not get along without a
crutch. And it looked like I would have to
go to the hoqiitalfor some sortofan oper-
atio . When I met wi[...]to carry on

with and improve the place. I got a horse
and tip dray and occasionally would get
some work for itto do, the wagethose days
wee l6/- for horse, dray and "drive.-
Eight hours work no travelling time or
other concessions. The usual pay for a.
workman was 9/- a day of eight hour and
he had tofindthetools he would .

And I certainly believe that if these old
rates of pay could have been maintained
we would be reallybetteroffandamore
contented community. '

In between times I could get some pits
sawing to do. Also I always used to keep
a few telephone poles cut and fluted atthe
road side. They wer[...]ver them and help with re-
pairs.

afford it. One time I had a sailor
chap with me for a good time, he had
been down in the South with a polar ex-
pedition, he was very interesting and -a
useful chap.

After holding the 133 acre section for
several years, and getting it[...]enough
to obtain a lease of 200 acres, an area of
19 acres being reserved out of the block
for a Maor[...]d
kept on increasing my stock. I spent
part of my time for a year or two spend-
1ng_ Government grants on the district
roads. Alas for some time I kept the
Wanganui River crossing open for traf-
fic. I used to have to locate suitable
fiords and clear the roadways to same,
so that dray traffic could get through.
Also after every rain I had to rid[...]inddo
all urgent repairs. I had to have a saddle
horse with me the whole time. Iused to
get either ‘9/- or 10/ - per day of 8 hours.
Nothing apparently for the horse. I car-
ried on with this for a couple of years
and gave it up.

Just before the buil[...]locally
by the settlers. I had well over thirty
thousand feet out at this time myself.

When it _was decided to build a dairy
fa[...]r shifted to Mr A.
Wall's -property by my brother Jim and
C. Lucas, where the totara timber re-
quired[...]ganui bridge was cut.

Later I purchased another steam plant,
and erected it on my place beside the
main road not far from where P. Han-
sen's house now stands. This mill was
in operation unidl I[...]property.

As I have above stated I sold out_ the
133 acre. and the 200 acre sectionstoHan-
sens. But some time before doing so I
purchased Mrs J. Hendes (my aunt's)
homesteadof 55 acres. She had been run-
ning a boarding house, but her trade had

practically disappeared on account of J.‘

Adamson starting to cater for travell[...]oss. so
I purchased the property and have made
my home on it. I then had about 75 head
cattle, several horses and over 100 sheep
which had mostly to be sold;

I started a[...]ghtly service through the
Wataroa district, put a team the road
and did most ofmyowncal-ting.Ihad
also bought out a steampower flax mill
at wataroa. '

To be quite sure that the engine driver
could not hold up the mill, I sat for and
obtained the necessary driver’ licence.
Iput on a manager, MrA. Ward,who knew
9. bit about this class of work and he
also[...]eemed wise to close down.
Mrs Ward ran a boarding house to cater
for theemill gang. Needing a tip dray[...]paddock for
bleaching and drying. I had to take ahorse
and come up home here for one. Mr Ward
advised me to take amare[...]saying she ‘was suitable to ride up,
and as my team was busy carting-in flax,
I did so. V

_C°m1l1E up one afternoon, and starting
back next morning[...],
As I was going tocrossthe riverthe lower
Way I thought I would let her have a drink
before I came to the river. so stopped her

in a bit of a flat water hole in the creek.
When I wanted to start up aga1n.SheW0l11d
not shift, but volunteeredto lie downinthe
water. Well I could getnowhere, andinthe
end I had to get on the back ofayoung

horse I had tied. on and ride six miles-

across the river for one of my ownhcrses
and six_miles bac_1§1Ias I cross.

I carted some loads of fibre to Okar[...]ll I
put £50 into a shipping company, called
the Hokitika Shipping Company.

our luck was out, our boat was wreck-
ed. We got another. It went onthe beach
at Hokitlka, up North Revell Street. our
finanoes evide[...]f my last orders was for 45 sacks
of seed, at one time. As there was alot
of horses in use carting milk to the fac-
tories there was a lot of horse shoes re-
quired. I used to need not less than 50
set[...]m I would fit and nail on for my
clients. But the hours were too long_.Often
I would get no sleep at night (too tired),
and in the day I could not ride onthe
dray and drive the team because I could
not keep awake. So would have to walk
and drive them from the ground. I had
not nearly enough .time_for rest. I used
frequently to cross the Wataroa[...]e lower ford. Going
down the dry creek and many a time I
run considerable risk as I just used to

chance a ford. Drive in and hope for the
best.

situated, being 'a little too near home,
barely 20 miles.

PAGE 49

Paddy Purcell ‘ap[...]ll sorts of
goods is always.dusty and hairey with
horse hairs. Often late and wet. Not at
all a pleasant caller to drop in at any
time in all weathers with several horses
to be cared for also.

I hesitated. But in the end I made the
Purcell's home my stopping place. I can-
not express my feelin[...]had Iwas always welcome. Prob-
ably in the winter time I would arrive
long after dark, probably wet, and[...]a lantern, to
help fix the dray and unharness the horses,
feed boxes, paddock and so forth all set
for the comfort of the team and in the
home everything to make me feel welcome
and comforta[...]lax mill from
Mr Henry Burroughs he asked me if I
could find a job for H. Rollett who had
been with him for some time. Harry
Collett had a very hunched back and I
did[...]certainly never regretted it. There
was always a home and work at my place
for him. He worked for me[...]to look after my place in my absence, and
put any time he wished, every three or
four months, he would c[...]p them and anything
else which needed doing, very honest and
reliable. He never fail to send me a
card at Christmas, or rather the family
I should say.

‘ A chap at Kokitahi I had advanced so[...]e financial

Three early motor bikes

residence.
photo).

outside the Hendes ferry

(H. Hermie

I have always liked horses and work-
ing them and have reared on the place,
a number of splendid-heavy horses. Also.
some light horses, and in most cases have_
broken them in myself. One of the most
difficult horses I ever worked in the team
was one that was never satisfied but when
it was[...]his habit, the worse it be-
came.

I have had it choke itself inthe harness
and fall as though shot and nearly upsetthe
team. It was really only fit-to work by it-
self so the load could be regulated to its
strength, but I had no single horse work.
It was sold to a sawmiller up northevent-
uaily, and I heard no more of it. ~

Another horse I had would come along,
and reach about to get its winkers on, and
want to get into its place in the team. I
have never owned a horse bad to catch. I
had a. hack one time that even if he was
a long way dovm the paddock, if he heard
me call him, hewould come home, andwait
at the door without being tied up, even if
he'had to wait an hour or so.

One of the sorriest accidents I ever had
happen to a horse was caused by tying it
to a barbed wire fence.[...]vely
hack that I had reared on the place, a
half thoroughbred. Jet black, with a white
star on his for[...]ken in nicely, but if.

tied up for any length of time, he would
get restless and occasionally pull back[...]paddock working and there was no way to
.get the horse over to him, and no.p1ace
to tie him but to the fence,.which was
new.

W[...]. Very soon afterwards I said to

i 4‘.‘.--1--. ‘:7. “W .
cnarne that Ibetter hurryiback as I not-, _ o__t_u,,1n the gluck I called at a
iced my horse was getting restless. ’We‘ll"1'ii'ie'ii'd' a'ce riot m miles from here.

before[...]e seated

side of the post, and before the wires-
could be out he had the sinews andflesh
torn away at the back of both knees and
the joints cut into. No hope at all for him.
I had to take the saddle and bridle offend‘
carry them home on my back, fording the
river, and leave Glass to kill and bury.
him. I have lost other fine young horses

and older ones, but nothing that cut me.

to the heart like this. Well I miss the
team, they were friendly, honest and
willing workers, and many is the hard
day[...]t down and out, they-
seemed to know. Many is the time I have
gone out to the team and had them crowd-
ing round, shoving one another away to
get to me and offer their friendship and
sympathy. I should say that the horses
assisted greatly in my business success.

I h[...]nt at my
work a bit harder to forget.

Worked the horses at times for their
companionship and in a sense making
wo[...]ng my work
well, never doing anything in a slip-
shod way. Always, doing my best. _

And I undertook j[...]s to what end?

I realise now, have done for some
time. That I have failed. Failed to pro-
vide naturall[...]come mm the world naked, so must
we leave it, without possessions.

You might ask, when and how did I
realise, that I had. failed. I have only[...]little gathering. After-
wards, I drove two girls home to their
destination. Somehow, from this after-
noon, I have fully realised, I had some-
how falled. Failed, because I did not
realise until too late my mistake, I'had
been thinking of nothing but my home,
business and work. I had been making
these thi[...]ll do I
realise now that soon the work of my
life time will be scattered to the four
Winds. ‘

You will not wonder I think how I came
to build and name the little show boat.
Later purchasing my fishing outfit and
bui[...]ries, was out
of reach and going to destruction.

How I raced along the sand to try if

ssible, to int[...]oper and found the water too
deep and rapid and I could ford out no
distance.

I was frantic, for m yea[...]recovered it. It just
seemed impossible that this couldhappen.
Some would say. divine interventiomlknow[...]finished. That danger
has passed close by so many times and
not destroyed. Is there some object not
reve[...]and injured not. Is there to be one last-
trial. Time and opportunity, for a last
and final chapter before the reaper calls

to go back some two short years. one 50 add Finlsto thisrecord.

' Like a scene from early
America is this old photo by

' _-Harold Hende, showing the
U.‘ one time I-lari-Hari accom-

..,.._..._.... _..[...]ervice from
Zip Appliances

Call at our Showrooms and inspect
the Zip Range of Home Appliances

Get you FREE Copy of Zip Recipes
as[...]In ‘Go West for Gold’, published in December 1965, was a
plan of the town of Goldsborough on page 19. This plan had been

‘signed by many of those folk who had been born in the town. This
is the list:— '

J. Cuff 1869

I. McGrath 1872

L. Tomasi 1874

Philpo Martini Oct. 18 1880
William Hanrahan 1880

W. M. Routhan Jan. 4th 1881
J. Routhan Sept._ 26th 1383

J. Goodwin 1885

J. Gambirazzi 1890

J. Manzoni 1890

Gordon Griffiths 1892 Maori Gully
Mary Ann Curtain 1897

A. J. Gehn 1898

M. Arnerich May 8 1899

Kitty Lanixe 1900 (Mrs Nailer)
H. Arherich Nov. 2nd 1901
Jean Macdonald 1905

(Mrs J. Crowe)

H. Steele 1907

A. J. Biddington 16/4/1907
Michael Kelly 1907

P. Tinetti-16-3-1908

M. F. Hanrahan 1909

Brier Raewyn Gibb Sept. 20 1952

(last baby) ,
B. Davies, P. D. Cook, S. Cook, S. ‘
Day, J. A. Henderson, A. J. Mc-
Neil, Jim Taylor, T. Lovell, Bob
Jones. The original signed plan is
held in the hotel at KumaraJunction

Kathleen Bernhardt 23-6-9
(Mrs Holstein)
W. Routhan 1910
D. J. Steele 18/2/10

Clark Carry 1911

A. Griffin 1912

Martha Routhan 1912

Edward Steele 1912

L. Tinetti 21-10-1913

? Roberts 1914

M. C. Smith 1914

Greta Kenning 1915
(Mrs Symons)

Thomas Gordon Steele 1918

Roy Francis Roberts 1920
Bert McMulla.n 1920

M. Roberts 1922

Leo Roberts 1922

Ali McMulla.n 1929
Shirley Steel 1939

E. J. Steele 1942

t

I

Thomas Edward Roberts 1911

Janice R. Dalkie Mar. 26 194

‘Coast over the Otira

AB[...]nstration in the
Greymouth Electric
Power Board showroom 1 - a. -»
in Greymouth. Jennifer ‘I
Bennett of A[...]._. .,._-- .~n..

using Zip appliances. ‘t’ '1
BELOW: '

WHERE, -;. -
WHEN, and WHO: ‘
any reader identify this
photo from the collec- ' '
tlon of Joe Divis? Let's
hear from you - write i
to the editor, Box 321, '-‘B

Greymouth. ll. '7'

5 .
'=**- grac[...]— ’ ‘
why, I have forgotten. _-
Oh dear. (photograph
by the editor). -

_i

question - is this pram
ancient or modern?
Could be either couldn't .-
it? You just keep on
guessing. ‘ _
BELO[...]elby’s collection is
this view of Kumara in
the 1900's. Stop and -
have a look at the old '[...]