AN AUCKLAND CENTENARIAN

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1821, 21 April 1888, Page 3

AN AUCKLAND CENTENARIAN

ELECTIONEERING REMINISCENCES. The Auckland "Herald" has been In-' terviowlng a resident at the Wado, Mr Maurice Kelly, said to be 104 years eld. With tlio exception of a Blight weakness m the anklei and hla via on b-'ing im pairol, the veteran ia etill hale and huarty. Mr Kelly i 3 living the life of a reolaae at the Wadp, hia only companion being a grandson of abuut 14 years of age. On the '' Herald " representative visiting his home with a friend, a week ago, the old man wan dubious abont being Interviewed by a newspjper reporter, hia career having been a eornowhat chequered one. The grievance resting upoa his mind jant then was the increasing taxation. Lke the typioal Irishman, he was " agin the Government." •' Why," said he, " what with property tax, highway rates, and county rates, it would take the Bank of England to stand it. They'll oven sell your land for the rates. It's the most vegabono Gov'mint that ever wan." II ay leg eaßed his feelings by a lengthy denunciatory speech, he wes at length Induced to come back to more paraoqal inhere. According to the old mm'a ittttoment he was born on Jinuary lit, 1785. and consequently passed into hia Lo4t.h year on the l<t of January last Ho waa born l.i Q Teen's County, Ireland, md brought up ia the Roman Catholic alth, os his parents 'had been before lim. His father was a poasant farmer, *nd * tenant on tho estate of Captain Fiiz;nauricB, The family consisted of hlrteen Bonn and one daughter. He iae had an eventful career, and settled m he Kalpara diatriot before the eatablUhnent of a Government m the o- lony. Fudging frim his narrative, his longevity a not due to the nbslemloueneßs of his lablts. During his narrative, "the old nan (oays the reporter) pushed ceres* tho able the bottle of ' square ' from which 10 had been bolpipg himself before onr arrival. My companion interposed ♦he emark that the reporter was a Blue Gibbon man. The old man's jaw foil, md he said, more m sorrow than In mger, to my friend, 'I thought, Mao, rou were a friend of mine ? ' 'So I am,' eplled Mao- ' And yet,' said the old nan, ' you brought a Blue Ribbon man to ny house. Young man (eyeing the eporter), unless you take the ribbon off ,nd have a drink, I won't tell you another ilooming word " Tho reporter apoloretioally pleaded that he had not tak< n he bit o' blue for himself but for 'another fellow." "It's no exousn, j 7ouug man. no excuse," he retorted ; 'I've been drinking grog for eighty-Blx rears bud look ut m.-. " Ho then wondorod iff lato his oheery romlniscenoeß. On the establishment of provincial inßtfutions Mr I£elly took an active part m jolltloal affairs, During the first Suporluioudenoy of the late Mr John Williamson le sat In tbe Provincial Council as reprtlentative for the Northern Division. Maurice oould not be beaten at a polling looth. There is a time-honored jest mrrent about his polling the bullocks at ;he Wade, but few people regard it as nore than a joke, though it was a matter )f sober fact. At one olcotlou, though ie was ojrofully shopherded by two agents )f the opposing candidate, he managed to )ut them on a false sc<?nt, and during ;hoir absence, though he had only five )oiia fide electors to work upon, he uauagod to poll 125 votes* Ho polled 14 imps over himself. He had a whare about LOOyda from the polling booth, where various suits of cloth;. a were kept for gumJigger's, m which they could exercise the privilege of " voting early and often " A lumber of gumdiggers' wives also voted several times, and Mr — 'a daughters cut ,htir hair short and polled at three itationp, tho Wajde, Mahuraogi and the Sot Springs. A.t one election, whore the returning officer, a stranger, arrived at the Wade he [old him the polling booth was at Wainul. Off tho officer poßted, and before he found out his mistake and returned Maurice had polled fifty bullocks Tho process was to get an olostoral roll, christen tho bullooka aft9r tho n&mea on tho roll*, and poll them by batches from tho slips. A partisan official never asked unpleasant questions, and never s»w more than was convenient, At one of these contorts a poll clerk, who did not know tho simple-minded Patrlaroh of the Wado, remarked to him that "ho had hoard the Wade was an awful place for personation." Maarloe replied with n Bmilo childlike and bland, that "ho didn't kno«v ; he was only a new chum, and had just coma In from Mutukaau." Iv ths) firut Buporlntendency eloction, Oblonrl Wynyard v Mr William Brown (of the firm of Brown and Campbell), Mnurlco pvoaounoad for tho soldier, and the " old woman," as ho phraiod It, for t!ie mcrohisnt The late lion Thoa. Hecdsrsonsont a letter to Mrs Kolly (who was regarded as th» groy m>tre of the Kolly team), asking her to do all aho oould for Brown. Maurfoj thua recounts the sequel : — " When she got tho letter I had polled 18 to 20 votes for Wynyard. On reading the letter she carao out with vengeance iv her oount'.-nanoi', and gave mo a kick on tho oontro of gravity, which sent me hoadover hoola under tho otaircase. By the time I had picked niyßolf up, sho had 22 polled for Brown." His rule wae nover to fight with a woman, but to givo her besl, Ho alwayß voted straight, and only took one man's money, 1 telling him right out whether ho would , vote for him or not. Thoro was at thia | election six men lying pretty woll druuk In a paddook who were afraid of the " old woman" but would not vut> without his sanctioo. H-3 poled three for Wynyard and three for Brown repeatedly, as well ns Bomo bullooke. Tho result wa3, when the poll closed, that both oandidatss had 42 votes oach. and ho O)uld not do fairer than that. Ttho last election m which the veteran eleotlonooring agent took an aottve interest, was a triangular duel for the Superintendenoy be'-weon J. Williamson, J. M. Darftavillo, and 11. H. Lusk. Maurice looks baok upon the gool old days of polling bullocks with pardonable pride, and regretfully remarked that the voting was " now all meßsad up with the newfangled notions about the ballot," whloh prevented local talent from displaying itself.