EARLY HISTORY OF OTAKI

Chronicle (Levin), 8 March 1946, Page 2

EARLY HISTORY OF OTAKI

F. J.

Ryder)

FROM 1886 TO 1946

(By

Fifty-nine years ago last November I arrived in Otaki, and in those now far-distant days one had to go uo me ranway gooas shed to catch the coaches for the township, as no road existed on the western side oi one station. There were only three roads in Otaki at the time — the „uaen road from Katihiku through ohe township and out past the goif nnks to tne Waitohu, and one from the post office to a iittle beyond Mr. Reggie D'Ath's wool-shed. The other v/as Riverbank Road, ana once one got across to the river he could go to Te Horo, or up or down the river. . The principal white settlers were Dr. Hewson and Messrs. Bright, Knox, Udy, Simcox, the Weboers, Bell, Small, D'Ath, Jenkins, McWilliam, who was Native Mmister, Carmont, Langley, Booth, Spackmen, Fred Bills, Hancox, McCieiland, ■ Paris Anderson, Hughes, J. F. . Anderson, McDoiiald. Carkeek, Cockrell, George Murray, Jack Wilson, Jim Jones, Griffiths, Alan Carmont, Clement and Wilfred Lee, Harry Ciark, Crompton and Williams and Street, two railway bridge inspectors. The principal tradespeople were Mr. Cockrell, storekeeper, Messrs. Miller and Booth, ana McMasters, all storekeepers, Mr. McCieiland, bootmaker, Sam Patten, in the same line, and Mr. Ben Pepper, saddler. The hotels were in charge of Mrs. Griffiths and Mr. and Mrs. Thomas, while Mr. Paris Anderson was the' baker. The blacksmiths were Messrs. Hughes, H. Ciark and Crompton, the postmaster was Mr. A. H. Rollo and the school master Mr. Clement Lee, while the only minister was the Rev. McWilliams. Mr. T. King haa a fruit shop and billiard saloon and Mr. W. Smith also had a billiard saloon, while the telegraph linesman was Mr. McKay. Mr. Mark Ayre was the stationmaster, Mr. Nat. Jennings the teacher at the Native College, and Messrs. J. Wilson, G. Gordon, and A. Ferguson were the builders. There were several flax-mills — one near the goli liiiks bridge run by Mr. Elliott, one at Rangiuru, under the charge of Messrs. Shields and Power, and one, at least, run by Mr. Dalzell at Manakau. In those days Mr. Hohepa te Hana grazed sheep on land from the Otaki bridge, a good portion Of where Otaki now stands and all Rangiuru. The locality of Otaki was sirnply a big paddock. The coach proprietors were Messrs. Webber, C. Bell and A. Anderson, the wheel wright. One fiax-miil was known as Barleyman's, and was at Te Horo. Constablt Carr was the policeman in those early days, later succeeded by Mr. T. O'Rourke. Bush-felling and road-making took place after the railway line wau completed, and after the Manawatu Company eut up and sold the land belonging to that Company. Mr..Johnnie Taipua was the native member for the district, and livea in the house adjoining the public library. The first bank to open was the Bank of Australasia with Mr. Costello as manager. This bank served both Otaki and Levin. The County Council offices were in Otaki, in a building where the theatre sband. to-day, and among. the. members were Messrs. Kebbell, Hadfield, Simcox and Davies. There were only about six settlers on the Te Horo side of the river. viz., Messrs. A. H. Small, W. McDonaid, . Jim Smith, Ben Ling and Johnnie Gillies, while up the river were Messrs. Fred Bills, Jim Jones. and Booth, and across from Otaki was Mr. W. H. Simcox. In the late eighties things were ! just the reverse to what they art i to-day. There were hundreds oi ' men and work was scarce, to-day i there is _work in..plenty, and workers are hard to flnd. After putting in 18 months working on contract and wages my brother, John, and myself boughi! out Mr. V/. Bell, butcher, a.nd we - later built the shops now occupied ; by Messrs. McBeth, Cook, Eaton and Eason. In those days cricket used to be 1 played in front of the Native Coilege, while on St. Patrick's Da^ ; sports were held annually there. On one occasion there was a fire- ■ works display with disastrous results. Some people were killed, ! due, I think, to the rockets being j lit at the wrong end. .

The Railway Company's land was out up, being surveyed by Mr. Mor- j gan Carkeek and Mr. Martin. In; those days there were two racingl clubs in Otaki — the Maori Racingl Club, and one run by Europeans. For the latter I was clerk of thei course, and my biggest trouble was j to keep Maori dogs from the grounds. There was no totalisator in those days, but I think the people enjoyed themselves equally ' as much as they do to-day with totalisators. The people took their own food, while sweeps were made up. It was a picnie as well as a race-day, both being combined. For many years after the railway. was opened an annual picnic was held wh'ere Major Addington's late home now stands. The trains used to pull up and the passengers alight to take part in the proceedings. ,Usually there •were only four trains in those days

— two up and two down. On picnic days there were special trains. x nave seen the Otaki railway soaticn lengthened on three occasions. Race meetings were held at tne Rikiriki, on the property once owned by Messrs. Brignt fcrotliers, ana now farmed by Mr. Stan Elliott. During.my residence in Otaki i have seen many big fioods in tne river, the worse occurring whei. Mr. James was rescued Dy natiyes. Mr. James' home was on land opposite Mr. Roiy Hugnes' property. Two ships were washed ashore at Otaki beach. First the Weathersheld at Waikawa, which came ashore in an empty conaition, ana then the Pelonie, fully laden, neai Waikanae. Both were later floatea off. The former was bought oy the tate Mr. Fred Bright, of Otaki, anu Mr. Joe Sanders, of Wellington. I have personaiiy crossed the river hundreds of times, ana crossed it the morning Miss Anmt Gillies was drowned. Her death was caused through her horse stunibiing over a submerged log. Many people lost their lives by drowning m the river. Mr. Debreceny was drowned just above Mr. Galloway s nomestead, a most dangerous crossing — especiaily the second one. i think 'two deaths also occnrred at the Katihiku crossing. Quite a number.of natives lived here, and among the number was Mr. Jack Harvey, father of the late Mr. Kupa Harvey and Mr. Bob Harvey. Uriti! 'the 'railway' was made there were no inland roads, only a very crude bridle track to Manakau. The nrst settler to come into Otaki after the land was sold by the Manawatu Railway Company was Mr. James, already referred to. My brothers, Harry and Walter, in conjunction with the writer, took up the property now occupied by Mr. Morrah. Later on my father, brother ana partner took up the section nov. neld by Mr. Blake. During thk perio'd quite a number of saw mi'lk nave been ruri, one up the Waitohu cne at Te Horo, as weil as several up jhe Otaki river. Three of the firs. settlers to settle in the Te Horo district were Mr. Ernest Snow, Mr David Mickell and Mr. Cresweli Somewhere about this time Messiw f aylor came with George and Franl. j on the Otaki river, while Messrs Isaac and Tom settled on th: i Hautere Cross Road. The Otaki river had to be crossec j with everything, horse';, carts anc ; stock, until the Otaki traffic bridg i was built about 1891. The neares. j road to Mr. Booth's property wa. ! Riverbank Road, while the rivei ! had to be crossed and re-crossec | several times. At this time th j late Mr. W. Dodds had quite a nic j little farm on the eastern side oi ; the railway bridge, but like a lol of others lost good land through it i being washed away. On one i occasion I saw the Otaki river rise j at least four inches at one time. Ii | appeared like a miniature tida. J wave. Many, many times I was toh ; that I would be drowned c.rossinf | the river, but I knewr the river anc ! my horse, and that made a worlc j of difference. I think those drownec near the mouth of the river losi their lives because their horses were j knocked up before they reached the river. A horse needed to be In gooc fettle to stand up to flood waters.

Quite recently the Otaki Stati School held its diamond jubilet when many of the children of thf pioneer settlers were in attendance One in particular was the youngest of Mr. Jam^s' family, who called tc see the writer. He said: "Do yoi know the first time I saw you, Mr Ryder?" I said I did not, and h. reminded me of the time I rode uj: to his father's farm and he asked if I would buy his pet lamb. To hi surprise I said I would, and offered 12/6 for it. He stated that hif mother bought him a suit oi clothes for the 12/6. He was then eight or nine years old ; now heT i": 1 sixty, and to-day he may get a sliirt for 12/6, but it would be minus th suit of clothes.- In those days wage were low, but clothes and food wers dirt cheap. When butchering thdearest meat I sold was 4d per lb for rump steak, underqut and pori, while I sold hundreds of quarters o lamb at 1/6, 2/- and 2/6, and evei then some people thought I wa dear. I mention this to show wha high wages have -dene — they havf put up the price of everything. Th-. true value of money is the putchasing power, and not the amount we receive. During my residence in Oi^aM i

have seen three hotels built — the Railway, the Jubilee and the Central. I have also seen five churches built — Anglican, Methodist, Pre'sbyterian, Salvation Army and Gospel Hall. All survived except the Salvation Army, which closed many years ago. I have also seen the. big Maori Church strengthened, while concrete supports have been erected sinee I came to Otaki. The pulpit has • also been altered; previously the pulpit was on the old English system, being a sort of upright box just large enough to accommodate the preacher in an upright position. There are only about twenty houses now standing that were here when I came. During the period three old land-marks have disappeared, the most noted being the old iron mast of the "City of Auckland," which was wrecked with its load of emigrants near the mouth of the Otaki river. Many years ago a hole rusted through the bottom of the mast, and children used to amuse themselves by lighting fires and seeing the smoke come out at tfre top. Several years ago the mzJst corroded and fell into the ; water, never to be seen again. The old flour mill on Mill Road has also disappeared, and also the big agricultural shed, later used as a wool shed. The shed was built on the old English style*, and one could j drive in a loaded cart with sheaves j of corn, and then drive out on the opposite side. The corn was , threshed by flail, possibly now better known as an Irish combin'e. The big Maori Church was built by manual labour, before eithei horses or bullocks were in existence in New Zealand. I understand that the bulk of the timber came from Ohau, floated down the river to the beach, and then pulled overland tc where the building now stands. Thousands of natives must have taken part as every one of the high. broad flats represents the eentre of a huge tree. One of the outstandIng features of the famous building •was the erection of the three big poles in the centre of the church. I think a "false" pole, made of hundreds of small poles, must have been erected first, and, when well stayed, blocks and tackles were made fast to the top of the false pole and the first big pole pulled from that. I am told that the piece of timber that runs from one end to the other was hewn out of one tree. as there are no joins. To scet

that huge piece of timber on top of those three huge poles must have been a gigantic task, -and very few indeed who look over the church realise the amount of '"scaffolding that must have been used, nor does the visitor realise the size of the two trees, one at each end of the building. This eri'ormous tree must haye been the same width at the top as at the bottom. The like of- such trees cannot be found in New Zealand to-day. During the time I have been, in Otaki I went north to' the ■ •g'reat kauri forest, and there T hac^ ' the -pleasure of seeing the giar t kauri tree which is almost flfttee'n feet in diameter. It has a lovfely barrel without a blemish ur\ d is about sixty feet high. It h'as one of the prettiest heads fckat ever a tree possessed. I have setved one term on-' the Otaki Road Board, 25 years on the •Horowherrua County Council, sixteen op. the Palmerston North Hospital Board and one term on the Coranty Council in Wairoa, Hawke's Say. Nov/, I can claim to be a pioneer of the Otaki district, and except for a lame leg I am, like Johnnie, Walker '£iwhisky, still going stl'ong.