EARLY WANGANUI.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1933, 16 December 1913, Page 12

EARLY WANGANUI.

RANDOM REMINISCENCES THE DAYS OF THE REGIIILNI, BY ONE \.n LIVED IN TilEil ■ A's/vviiie develops flavour'and bouquet by keeping,-so do yarns of the old days mellow .ami gain a "zip" in being told by one of the actors in them. . During a recent visit to ■Wanganui a Dominion reporter was fortunate enough to fail in with'old -ill-. John Pawson,' now in ills oighty-second year, who has a wealth, of racy anecdote, 'and a kindly j geniality in the telling of. his reminiscences, provided "the hearer be sympathetic. . ' . ' Mr.'*Paw'snn is a native of Donesster (lOiigiaml), and is a familiar iigure in the. town. . He has. a great respect for .Miss liradflon's novel. "Aurora Floyd." and-slai.es that ail the «haraet"rs in .the story were real, flesh and hlood —people whom lie knew : iu ..Doncaster as a-lad. lie says that he knew Steve llargreaves, anil the Karl was known to everyone." whilst I'awson) was articled'tn a lawyer,- the brother of the pawnbroker- in. the'storv.:' . : As a result | of a . disagreement with his employe:-,

■Sir. Pnwson refusal to''continue to work -umlcr him, and though his father threatened liim'jvfth the severest cast'i;;atioii,' he succedcd' in having Ins indentures, forwhieh ho h:'. !Jf■ 1 i'i sorry ever siticf. licis!'; voiiii.'i and hefldslroisj;, with the strong v.ino of adventure (lowing floe in hi:; veins, Mr. 3'av.s;m ro. ; iolv<c! to try hi.« iorimie iit the colonies, and it came ?-n pass (hat lie arrived in-Wellington early in 1858, and has a "distinct recollection of the port as it was then. Always lining a taste fof theatricals, and -being no .mean ■ performer, ho tolls intercstincly how ho came'to he offered one of his first .jobs in New ''Zealand. v < In- those days'Barrett's Hotel was the place of assembly for all the sea captains. and convivial souls "of. tins settlement, and there the assembly dances used to tal« place, which "were attended by all tlu leading; people, with Mr. Marriott (lid dler and dancing; master) as master ol ceremonies.- -. lie..', wen!.- in" 1 with t : : .friend tlio-latter, hem; called 011 to sinpr a son", dec lined, hut - that .his. f>'ie )>d (Mr. Paw son), was a simicr?- O-'ilier'nn-in he w.-v- - sMi". ■ end ohlir/cd wit!' "Kanilet.l'!it"- iV'imnuL"' s e.'uuic.-sont!. '.It. wad'. 1 .an .iiiKaediaie impression, pre/scd. to ship a»iin*.r- ! «l bru'hi.V' Harrf. t'a saw him rri-(;iii'i!tly; alter., tin's, and when lie an-

}• "nouheed that ho was going to Waiigainii,'the' proprietor olfered him £2 u ■ 'wpek to sing a.couple of songs a night. ii'As lio was thou getting £2 10s. :> week & !in'' Liixford's butcher's shop on the / .(I'iiny, his salary would havo amounted -''to £4 10s. a. week (n big wago in those days), but ho declined, and went on to ■ Waiiganui, arriving there on March 24, V ISSS. "Tho town, then," said Mr, l'awson, "stood where the Motoa jjardons are ■ to-day, aiid just consisted of the Quay. (Tnupo Quay), and the market ; square , (whore the courthouse now stands). .At that time there were pnict tically no .Maoris resident on this (tho s town) side of the river. They weve all I oyer at l'ntiki, where there was a pretty I big p:u. I can't recall for the moment < who the chief was in those days, but 1j fancy it was Mete Kingi. And tho , town—well, 1 don't suppose tkn\? were , 'more than a dozen houses on what is f now I lie Avenue —look at it now, 110- : thing but.shops and residences right up' . to St.. Joint's Hill. "When I arrived there, were two complies of the 65tli Regiment 'staj tiqr.ed here, under ' Colonel Patience. r What a.funny, old chap he w»s, to be * sure! When a party of immigrants' ar- „ rived lie used to frown thunderously qn n them and ark them what in tile devil they wanted to come here for. It was only, his joking way of greeting them, () for really he was very popular with everyone. Of course there was mi war * on t.heii, am! the soldiers were having I .a pretty good time. Tlk-. (loth was strong on amateur theatrical;;, and 1 ' was very keen myself. 1 remember the lii'st plays we !llt <J 'i. Tiiey were 'Abu;-..: ill" Brave' and the farce 'The .Last Trail-.' We had no women to-act with us, so the lady parts used, to be taken by be. 4 :; aiid young men. Jolly good .they were, too, some of /em, «poeial!y Kogtfly'shoy. "Why, I c:ui renienibjr the first professional company that cania to nlav in Wanganui. It was Cox and Foley's Company. They came up from W~lliiigton by tho old AVonga AVonga, and as . soon'i'LSit ; !fcyUdwHhe''islace C'iix '.diferec!: the skipper £'2(.l to talse them back to Wellington, but he had to go on to Auckland. Anyhow the captain had a more favourabb idea of the business to be, done here, and offered'to piv hnlf. the loss if he could have half the profttH. His offer was accepted, and at ihe end of the lirat fortnight ho was handed 1"20 it:, his half-share of the j>ri fits. 1 piayesl with them and got s guinea a night, paid nightly, too.. V.'e played in a theatre' (lie men of the regmliiit had'erected from the iimueiii of tiro first Rutland Hotel, whin!) v:au pulled down it;'make room far a newone in '53. They played good stuff, too —'Lade of Lyons,' 'Don Caesar do Bazaii,' 'Tli': Wife,' and 'The Stranger' --ail good acting plays. Later on a ■whole lot of the i-ocimcnts were hero — the IStii lil'iyal Irish),. .{Oth, Tilth, 14th, the oTt'ii, and pavt of Uie Cutli. I've kuov.'Ji something like "000 troops to Ix'i i.o Wanganui nt the one time. Later on in the 'sixties, between '0,5 and '!12, most of tho regiment.-, left the country, and tho Colonial Force;; were lelt ir, don! with the Maoris when there was any trouble. On one occasion-some trouble' threatened, and two companies of the 18th wen- sent back, either fro-n Sydney or Melbourne. The bigrcsi scare we ever got was when the Haubaus threatened to wipe 'us out. A dispatch was received thai, iliey were coming down tho river, and it wan I who tosk th? dispatch'on to CastleclilT, where the 57th was then i,u barracks. Tho Hauhaus were met bv *'the friowlly Vaugasnsis at Motoa Island, up the ■river, and defeated. A memorial of tho light stand:; to-day in '.the Motet Gardens.'- ■ i, "The officers of tho regiments_ were a very fine lot of men splendid felbttd. All very' fond of sport. Wn used to hold race meeting:; at Walker's, at Aramoho, and i.he fun at thaso mretings was worth live times the prieo tloit is charged to-day to go to a. mooting. They were fir.c times-fii'.e times!''"'