ABOUT THE TOWN

Chronicle (Levin), 20 July 1946, Page 3

ABOUT THE TOWN

T. S.

D.)

SHANNON SIDE-LIGHTS

i (By

The weather over the past week ' has been such that there has been 1 little of interest about Shannon, j most local residents being con tent i i to stay indoors and enjoy the com- J ,fort of an open'fire, or perhaps do | 'those little odd jobs aooui tho \ house that do not warrant the ' calling in of a skilled tradesman. ; The other day one of the local j i handy men about the house was ! •not satisfied with the way the por'celain hand basin in the bathroom |was functioning; it seems it had 'developed a leak around the plug. 'Armed with a couple of over-sized j spanners, tliis amateur plumber ! attacked the pipe with such vigour i that the bottom fell out of the job. j or rather, the basin. Now as lie has • ,his morning wash in the kitchen j sink his wife has to listen to the t sad story of "Why isn't there a \ plumber in this town?" We don't wish to bore readers J with "shaggy dog" stories, but a j Jocal man about town has two dogs, | one a rather large animal of doubtful breed, and the other a very small edition of the fox terrier variety. The smart manner in which these dogs co-operate in time of emergency was illustrated • in Ballance Street the other day. A black sporting dog owned by one of the town's leading citizens, was cnjoying the luxurv of a delightfui coupon-free sheep's head, when ■the tv/o scavengers approached with evil intentions. The fox terrier made a bold dash at the sporting dog, who was so amazed at the , attack that he took his mind off his lunch. In a flash the large 1 animal of doubtful breed rushed in and gathered up the sheep's head and disappeared down Venn Street 'Tlie sporting dog still has a look of bewilderment over this co-opera-tive effort. Readers may be interested in a few firsts in Shannon's history. The first store was built by Mr. Grey, and was situated in Nathan Terrace near where Mr. W. Gardner's house now stands. The first post office was in Grey's store. In 1894 Mr. Oldfield built the first . hall in Shannon. In 1902 there was a heavy flood up from the Manawatu River. It ( was so high that a passenger train from Wellington was detained at j Shannon for the week-end. A: Ihumorous incident at the time was! jcaused by a local Maori celebrity, ! •Tawa by name. He offered to findi : accommodation for - those "who could not get in at thc hotels. He ; told anxious passengers that there , was plenty of room in his bed for j everyone. When asked where he j lived, he informed them, "Under | the macrocarpas at the school house; plenty of room in my bed." ' The first sawmill was situated in Vogel Street and was owned by Mr. Campbell. Later Messrs. Schmidt and Saunders took charge. This mill worked most of the timber in the vicinity of the township. Later, Messrs. Prouse Bros. started a mill on a property known as "Te Maire" on the old Foxton Road. Here. kahikatea was milled and sent to 'Sydncy. Other mills operated on the Heights property and at Arapeti. Early flaxmills were started by Messrs. Vickers, Williams, Lind and O'Connor. Tliese mills were situated between Sheehan Street and Otaru Road. Mr. J. R. Stansell liad a flaxmill at Makerua, opposite the school. Mr. Birchley owned an early flaxmill across the river from the old Foxton Road. A brick kiln was built by Messrs. Smith Bros. off Graham Street. "Bricky" Smith later moved his kiln to the Main Road, opposite the present railway house. The first policeman in Shannon was Constable Bree. On March 1926, thc local school was broken into and ten shillings and a box of aiibs were stolen. August 22, 1917, :saw the first municipal elections in : Shannon. The first newspaper was : The Manawatu Farmer and the editor was Mr. W. C. Nation.