ABOUT THE TOWN

Chronicle (Levin), 3 August 1946, Page 3

ABOUT THE TOWN

T. S. D.)

SHANNON SIDE-LIGHTS

(By

i ™ I After a recent sports gathering a 'number of local and visiting |sportsmen got together for a small social evening at which many humorous items were given by budding entertainers. The highlight of the evening came when a sportsman, well-known in the district, was rendering an item, typical of the recent power cuts,- illustrating how members of a certain family, blow out the candles after the lights come on again. He gave one jor two very good examples and wa;-. ! about to exert himself when, ! unfortimately, liis upper dentm-es I took the opportunity to desert their jmaster to seek refuge under a sea. I some three or four yards away. j This unrehearsed incident was lundoubtedly the highlight of the jprogramme. Speaking of dentures, ! or false teeth, as we mostly know I i.hem, we read that some people jbecome very proud of their false ! teeth, and for this reason should : never argue as opponents may ; uhreaten to "knock their teeth down their throat." This is callec .jwallowing their pride. The ownms of false teeth are sometime jmbarrassed at dinner by a requesi L'rom the ■ hostess to "pass your piate." Under these circumstances, it is essential to pre,serve grcai poise and true dignity. Thc bes! mswer to the request, naturally, h ,o raise the eyebrows in courteous :nquiry and murmer, "Upper oi lower?" We reifiember an old lady who ; had a parrot, which spoke ver,\ 1 •veil, but unfortunately, had kepti oad company during his younger days and 011 the most unexpected ^ccasions used words not quite •.uitable for his surroundings. , avery Sunday the old lady would I •over up the cage, removing the : -.over again on Monday morning, | .hus preventing the bird from swearing on the Sabbath. On# , Wednesday morning she saw uie tocai minister comlng towards the house, so she hurriedly replaced ' .he cover over the cage. As ine minister was about to step into the ; iving room, the parrot remarked: , Tt's been a short week, hasn't it?"

I And now for some early history j of the Shannon district. The land on which Shannon now stands was i opened up as a result of a grant of ! 215,000 acres being received as an Lendowment by uthe Wellington and I Mariawatu"" " ' RailwaT' CoYftf^ny ! under the Railways Construction : and Land Act, 1881, which author - iised the company to proceed with • the construction of the railway i irom Wellington to Palmerston 1 North. This line had - been comI menced in 1878 but, after £33,000 Inad been spent, mainly on cuttings i and tunnels at Paekakariki, a lchange in Government in 1879 saw a change in policy and the work i Dn the line ceased. ! In 1881 a joint stock company jwas formed and a contract to conI struct the proposed line from Wellington to Palmerston North was signed with the Government on March 22, 1882. Under this contract the company received the endowment as stated above. "This had an important effect ! upon the railway," states Mr. T. {Lindsay Buick in his book "Old i Manawatu," "for under the original | survey it had been intended to jsweep across the Horowhenua "disj trict to Foxton, but the company |now naturally decided to divert the j line to their own property and | make the northern terminus at ( ! Longburn." I The construction of the railway . [ proceeded steadily, and on Novem- 1 ! ber 3, 1886, the last spike was ; driven by His Excellency, Sir Wil- ; liam Jervois. On November 29 of the same year the first train ran ! through from Wellington to Pal- 1 merston North. The land about Shannon wa? • sold by auction on Tuesday, March! 8, 1887, the terms of the sale being ' such as to attract all classes oi' j people — tcn per cent of the pur- i chase price being required as a , deposit. the balance to remain on ' mortage for seven years, bearing interest at five per cent. A furthei t condition stated that the purchaser , had to expend by his own labour, . or otherwise, an amount equal toi ten per cent. of the purchase money, or in lieu thereof he could : pay in reduction of the mortgage i oen per cent. of the purchase ; money. A plan issued for this sale; with some of the prices realised I i marked on it shows Ehat prices j from £1 5s to £2 15s an acre were j paid by purchasers. Settlement proceeded to a great! extent and the township was j 1 named after one of the directors ; 'of the company, like some other j towns on the new line.