NAPIER'S YESTERDAYS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 49, 13 March 1937, Page 10

NAPIER'S YESTERDAYS

Charles

Price

BY

SOME POSTAL STORIES &

XXIY. I wonder if we in the present day could even faintly picture civilisation without a postal, telegraphie, telephonic, cable, aud even radio and aero serviees, and yet these are adjuncts to civilisation's woJLlbeing that are all, comparatively speaking, new. The penny-post system is not yct 100 years old, nor is the telegraphie system. We have had the telephone for about half a century, and radio for rather less than a quarter of a century, whilo the air mail is ieally a thing of yesterday. Yet how indispensible all of these combined serviees have become. And as the serviees have developed so have thp f aeilities for carrying out the serviees. In the very early days of the colony; mails froni England took nearly three months, and sometimes over that time, to come out, mails from Auckland and Wellington were weekly affairs, as were the mails to some of the inland towns, while town and suburbs had a daily mail. After a few years a monthly mail service was inaugurated from England via the Suez Canal and a'little later another Home mail- service was established via San Pr'ancisco. The mails via Suez were landed at either Wellington or Auckland by Syydney boats and were transferred to Napier by some of the regular coastal steamers tradihg here or elso brought direct by the Sydney boats going south or coming north. These boats anchored in the roadstead, the mails being brought ashore on a small lighter Bella. The San Francisco mail waS usually brought here by the overseas vessels on their way from Auckland to Wellington. These vessels did not come to the roadstead, but anchored for a very shorfc time in thp offing, just long enough to discharge the mails and then pass on. ' The line of steamers in the San Francisco trade at that time was a very fine line called the Sierra Nevada Line, afterwards the Claus Spreckles Line. Some of the steamers were the Nebraska, Nevada, Florida and Sierra, all being the best of their class that had up to that time been seen in New Zealand waters. When the Sierra came to New Zealand on her . maiden voyage, she was the largest^ as well as the newest boat of the line' and was exceptionally well fitted up for passenger aceommodation. The* Sierra stopped at Napier on a Sunday afternoon to discharge the Hawlte's Bay portion of her mail, and the Bella (now a trawler by the way) was in the offing waiting for her. The 'Bella 'k crew oomprised Captain John Mabbett, skipper (afterwards a farmer at Weber), and. Alf.. Dowell, engineer, first mate and general hand. As soon - as the new vessel ranged alongside tho, small lighter, above which her deeks towered like the top of a high building, a rope ladder was lowered for Captain .Mabbett to go on board to inspeet the new ship, Alf Dowell remaimug on board the lighter to take in the bags of mails as they were lowered in slings. In the meantime the rope ladder had been pulled up on to the deck of tho bio- stcamer. But Alf Dowell also wanted to see the new boat, so hailing a brass-.capped officer ixe called out: "1 say, mate, throw down that rope ladder again, will you? I want to come{ up and see the boat." I guess you don't know that you are addressing the chief officer of this ship, do you?" "No, and I d n well don't care who you are," said Alf. "I'm the chief engineer, first mate, and crew of this boat, so just chuck that rope ladder down." ' 1 Waal, I guess you 'ro some crew, all right, but if the chief engineer, first mate and crew are- not more civil I'll spit down the funnel of this toy boat, and put the taraation fire out." ' However, the captani of the Sierra came along just "then and invited Alf. *to come on deck, which he did. But Alf. always declared that while the captain was a real dollar man, the first mate was a two-center.

Another story. with an American flavour, and relating to somewhere about the same period. The captain of another of the same line of San Francisco steamers, the Nebraska, got ofi! at Auckland jand came overland by coach to Napier via Wairakie and Taupo, then picking up train and coach for Wel- . lington to xejoin his ship, which was boiug taken down the coast by tho first mate, The captain was takcn into the Napier Post Office (then a very small affair) and shown over the building.. "Waal, I guess this baby town of yours must get a hustle on sometimes if you can get away much mail from this little chicken-house. Say, I wouldn't be surprised to see hens laying in those little nest boxes you have for letters." "Oh, we keep a Henn on the premises," said the Chief Postmaster, Mr. Johs Grubb (the chief clerk at that time was Mr. John Henn), "but we don't keep our hen for laying, for you know male "(mail) hens don't lay, but if you have a better postal clerk in any part of the States you are at liberty to cacklo about it." "'Well, that's darned smarfc of you to put it that way, and I hope I haven't ollended the hen or rooster or whatever you have in the office. It was only because everything in this town seeins so small. Why, the biggest thing I've seen in this little counfcry so far is Ncd Lofley 's moustacho. You know Ned Lofley, of course." Everybody did know Ned Lofley, propprietor of the Spa Hotel, Taupo, and kaew his moustache, too. "Say, I'd just like to fit that moustacho on to some of our ranchers in the States," said the American. "I could pick -out quite a few that would pay plenty of dollars for that moustache." ' ' If you would like to see the brother of that moustache, just come into the next building," said Mr. Grubb, and he took him in and introduceil him to Mr. J. J. Dennan, of the Deeds Department, wbo-se military moustache (which he , could tie at the back of his head) .was

his glory and pride. The face of the American captain for once took on something like awe. ".Glad to meet you, Mr. Dennan," he said. "If cver you come to tho States, don't forget to bring that moustache of yours along. I shail mention you and Ned Lofley to my friend Mr. BJhineas T. Barnum. Phineas collects freaks, as you may Know, and to have two moustaehcs like yours and Ned's in oue small country is a frcak, that's what it is." I very much doubt whether Mr. J. J. Dennan cared about having his magnifieent upper-lip appen.dage deseribed as a freak. Considering the many disadvantagcs under which postal ofiicials, and mail contractorl, laboured in those days, it is a splendid monument to the credit of all concerned that postal serviees were carried out with such little disruption, and with such wonderful regularity. Whether delivered to the country districts by coach, pack-horse or train, the serviees were maintaine.d with splendid punctuality and in all weathers, sometimes under the most trying conditions, and also at times at considerable risk of life to the mail carriers. The most outstanding thing about • deliveries in those days was the initiative shown by postal staff, mail-car--riers and others in meeting emergencies. In the country, if a coach broke down or could not get through a flooded - river, horse3 were requisitioned from nearby settlers, and the mails packed to their destination. In the town, if a contractor for carrying the mails to the station or Port failed to turn up to schedule time, other means of transport were hastily called iu. I have in an article published e®mc time ago deseribed. how on one ccasion the driver - of the express,, which was supposed to carry both the mails and the Hawke's Bay Heralds to the station had ovorslept, and at five minntes to train time the mails were on the footpath outside the Post Office, and the Herald bundles on the footpath outside of Church Lane, and of how a milk cart outside tho Masonie Hotel was commandeered and packing mails and Heralds on anyhow just caught the train. On another occasion, just after the eariy morning train had left the Napier station and before it had gathered up spced, I saw Harry Eogers's waggonette galloping .along Munroe street and A.' E. Israel of the Napier mail-room staff, wil'dly signalling to me as I came along Station street. I xan .up to th8 cab, when Israel flnng a pxviate mailbag (the Bevd. S. Williams's it happened to be) at me, and shouted, "Guar'd's van!" I caught the bag, sprinted along Munro street to just past the stationma'ster 's house and flung the bag right into the parcels part of the van, the door bping open an.d Guard Bees Watkins, busy arranging parcels in their place. Jtt the point from which I threw there is only a few yarads between the railway line and the outer fence, but it was a lucky shot all the same. When I got back to the cab, : Israel said, "Did you manage it, Charlie?" "Yes," I said nonchalantly, as though it was an every-day incident for me to throw mail bags into trains when .they were travelling. "But what happened?" "My junior put the Bev. Sam's bag -vvith the Pukahu mail bag, which goes via Havelock instead of with the. train papers for Pukehou." "But didn't you check your bags?" I asked. "I did, but only by numtfer, aua I must have miscounted. However, you have saved me a reprimand and a fine. I hope to be able to return your kindness some day." Other incidehts might be recalled, but this article is already long enough.