HISTORICAL SKETCH.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1608, 27 November 1912, Page 8

HISTORICAL SKETCH.

RISE OF THE WELLINGTON POST OFFICE. SMALL BEGINNINGS. Tho following: historical sketch of the Wellington i'osc Office was prepared by the Piratinaster-Gciieral with a view 10 its being euiUouieil in his speech at the opening ceremony.- As Mr. Rhodes was by indisposition tioui attending, vne material was notuseu, but it is a veiy .complete and interesting record 01 the progress oi the Post Unice in WeilingLOll; . "Tho ceremony of -officially opening this new General Post Office .buikiing isi_uiinore than local significance; tor this magnificent structure is designed to bo the home of tho administration-of the Post, and Telegraph Service.of the Dominion for very many years to come. Notrn our day and generation a' similar function take, place. It ■is perhaps;, not inappropriate at this time that I should maite a- brief reference to tlio buildings which have served as tho scene of postal and telegraphic activities, in this city in earlier tlays.'- - "Following oh the arrival in Britannia, now Petone, of settlers under the auspices of the New Zealand Company, and their removal to Wellington on account of serious . Hoods in the Hutt Valley, a post office was established oil June I, ,18-10, under the postmastership of Mr. Thomas Paton. That the volume of postal business -was very- small is seen in the fact that the total postal collections at Port Nicholson between that date and December 31 following were only : <£52 Js. Id.. The post office was, in the following vear, placed in charge of Mr., afterwards the Honourable,; W. B. D. Mantell, Mr. ■Mantell-s management of his office is noteworthy for-, the-sturdy independence in which he .went- liis way-despite".the attempt of .the .officials at Auckland, then the capital city, to, r.ender him submissive. Tho principal bone.of contention, we are told, was .the failure to provide, appropriations for office accommodation, at Wellington. It was apparently a matter of no concern .'to the Government that the lease of tho office was about to expire, Mr. Mantell's duty was to find accommodation, and if tho Government would not pay for it, ho must. "Eventually after, an animated correspondency resulting in a reproof from Mr. Shortland, who was administering ,th« Government', 'a house was rented. Early in 1 the currency of Mr. Mantell's postmastership, the. structure ;'was. destroyed by fire—an accident which'involved thr.' appointment of a commission, to 'inquire into the 'circumstances; This post office was a "Native-built '-building: of Jarge size," erected, in 1840,. and the inquiry into the catastrophe-gives - an idea of the style of buildin^'in-,which the busness of tho office ■was conducted;; sMr. Mantell,-in the course of.'tis evidence,- said-. 'I found. it absolutely neeeisarjvifi'bm the. inclemency, of. the weather ahd- .the -dilapidated, .state of the lionise, to have & stove,--the toitoi of which the . walls' were'-composed ' being ; in such a -wretched state that the pips .and other-animals \were in the practice, of finding an- entrance:, there.' . Passing -,on from what may; be described as the raupo aire to'the'age of wood, we find the post office-in 1843 to have been situated at the corner of Mulgraye Street and Thorndon Onay; . It was;,rented in. conjunction"' with church and : .courthouse ;: authorities, and the rental was .£IOO per-annum, of. which £20 was charged against the-post office..' How lon'sthese'nremises'were occupied we know hot. JWe do-.kiibw,- however, that the office''.wasi.subse(ihently in -n. building'. In o!d_ Customhouse Quay,C at; ,the ;fdot- ;.«f. faw'sh Street.,and-in the hear neighbour-' hood of the wharf at that-time.

Officials of the.Forties. "In the early forties there had been appointed' as clerk.in the' Auckland PostOifice one who : was destined'to. play an important part in-thc'early postal history of Wdlmgt.on,,, v This.,yas:,^lifl. ; Jobn->Ea);r Hoggard, who, some time-afterwirds- ihad been transferred'to Wellington, .where lie practically' performed.the duties of Postmaster, although the Collector of Customs .was nominally in charge. For some time Mr.-Hoggard was Acting-Postmaster,. and was confirmed .in ;tliat position : on- August 17, : 1853. Mr. Hoggard appears to have to somo.extent been in a-position of control over' the offices at .Lyttelton and Otago,.,as Well as Wellington! The year 1851 is noteworthy by ;the appointment of . Mr.. I'etre, who...'.was .'.the first Postmaster-General,,'-as ive-.now .understand. the : appointment to be: that is to say, lie was. appointed for',,the purpose of. supervising a number of principal offices and . acting as an intermediary between the officers of the Department, and the Government.. That'the. position was not an affluent one, is seen in the instance that when a, responsible Government was established :and the first meeting of 'the.General- Assembly, took place.- iii 1854.,. the item in. thelEstimates of file. PostmasterGeneral's; salary was struck out. In .'ISSB an extensive fire occurred iii Wellington which almost crippled 1 the settlement. Among the buildings destroyed was the post office. The next home of the post office was a building dn Willis Street, a little to the south , of the 'Evening Post* office, and in recent years used as a boot shop. The next building acquired is interesting as being the first to occupy the site .with;.;which the. history of-the -post' office- has.,for-'.so many -years, been associated. ..A photograph'taken in the late fifties show's that at the head of the. wharf there stood a' one storeyed-' structure of insignificant 'appearance; These premises served the. purposes of the Department until 1862. In tho Departmental report of that year we read: 'At Wellington a new post office has been •very ■ recently, erected by. tho Provincial, .Government., It stands on the land lately reclaimed, from the sea .near Lambton .Quay. It.is centrally' situated, and from ;i(s'-. proximity to tho new deep-water wharf House, it affords every facility-for the landing and shipment of ;mails:v : The building is of wood j it is conveniently .arranged, and affords all the accommodation that will be required for ' several years. It contrasts strongly with, the collection of small, low, ill-ventilated rooms called post offices elsewhere.' This building accommodated both the postal find the.Customs staffs for;twenty years. A prominent feature-of the structure was tho polo and the time-ball, by means of which the publio wero mado acquainted 'with the : solar time. This time-ball was subsequently removed to the Railway Wharf,- where it continued to be. used for ..many years.

The. First Big Building. "In 1880 it-was found necessary to pro. vide further increased accommodation, and competitive designs were invited for the erection of a new building. This buildin" was designed to accommodate not only the ,staffs' of the Chief Post Office and tllo local tolegraph office (which until that time had beeii stationed in a building contiguous\ to the post office); but also, the post and telegraph.,head, office which had been amalgamated; on January 1, of that year, with;l)r::Lemon as .Superintendent of Electric-Lines, -and Mr, 'W. Gray, as.-.Secretary. . OT^JPosfr '.master-General of-the day was bir -Julius Vosel; The tender of Messrs.- Barm and M'Dowall at' £22M was accepted,;and the new office wa-s first.. occupied on-April 4 1881. Three years later a fire occurred in the portion ■ of the second story occupied :by the. telephone exchange staff, and rapidly spread until the whole building on the north side was a mass of flames. So badly was the building damaged that the only rooms untouched by the flames were those on the ground floor on the Routli side, occupied by tho Chief Postmaster !>nd the Chief Clerk.; In tho restoration of the building opportunity was taken to remedy defects which had previously existed, and business was resumed in the building on April 30, 1888. In the occupation of the structure which Is now being vacated as administrative and local offices of the Department we may be said to have., passed from the age of wood to that of brick, For twentyeight vMTS. tho building was the centre '"of post ami telegraph life. .How widely extended the ramifications of the Department have since become is, seen by tt 'perusal of tho many classes of publla service it now performs. That tho re- • venue of- the Department should hare increased from -£28i,2 , i5m 1884 to ,03T,-710 in 51911-12--" gives somo indication of Hie rapid-expansion-of busliiOßd. ' : "I -desire -here to pay a tribute, to the splendid work dono by the eontrplling and other' officers in. tho Uays gone by in laying the foundation of .a Department, which haa throughout onjoy-od puwlo ooiifldenWt In bo I would name tka lata m*

■William Gray, who filled tho highly responsible -position of Secretary- for tho lon's period of 33.ye.aiis. I also name the late fir. 'Lemon, the Into Mr. J. IC. Logan, and tlio late .Mr. -Thomas Rose.' These Inside many other officers gave a life-long scrvico in the interest of the Department. "Wo aro to-day passing on to another era in tho Department's history. Brick is .making way for yet moro endurablo stone, concrete and steel, symbolical of the ever-deepening foundation tho Department has in tho concerns of tho peoplo. [The new building is hero described in detail.] "The old building is being renovated for use-in conjunction with the new building. The old telegraph counter will bo 'used for the. payment of old-age pensions, and other parts of the ground floor will provide a room for tlio Chief Postmaster, a dispatch room, a telegraph messengers' , room, and a room for the receipt of parcels in large quantities. Two largo goodslifts will be used for tho conveyance of heavy packages of letters mid parcels to the letter-carriers' room in the new building. The first story will bo occupied by tlie old-age pensions branch, and the floor above by the-staff of tho Inspector of Post Offices and of the Dead Letter Office. The remaining space is being converted into a Departmental muniment room and a dining-room for tho use of officers. This arrangement, though it will servo the needs of tho Department for many years to come, cannot be regarded as final, since the site occupied by 'the old building will ultimately bo required for tho completion of the original design of tho new building. "It only remains for me to express tho complete satisfaction of tlio Government at tho manner in which tho contractors, Messrs. J. and A. Wilson, have performed their work. <

"It is also gratifying that the architecture was the work of an officer in the Government service; and great credit is due to Mr. J. Campbell, the Government Architect, for designing this handsome building, which forms a valuable addition to the public edifices in this city." Numerous officers of the Post and Tele,graph Department expended a great deal of labour in preparations for tho opening ceremony, and naturally they were very much disappointed at the fact that the weather, which the Mayor mildly described as "inclement," made tlieir efforts of little avail. It is worthy of note that the weather was equally, bad when the foundation, stono of the new Post Office was laid, about two years ago.