OUR THANKS, YOUR FORBEARANCE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 94, 7 May 1937, Page 4

OUR THANKS, YOUR FORBEARANCE

Herald-Tribune $ Historic Sdilvenir Nuinber CORONATION & JUBILEE To mark ihe eelebratioil of ihe Fiftieth Anniversafy of the proelamation of Hastinge as a Bordugh, and the Corpnation Of George VI. aiid (^tieea Elizabeth, the Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune to-day issdes this Special 52-page number, 16 pages being the usual Friday issue. Eleven pages comprisO the sectioa dealing with the (nighty pageant of Empire that is to take place in London next week. The remaining tWehty-fiye pageS covef the story oi the girowth of ' Hastings since the days when the eafliest piorieera had the vision to See the future that lay in the levei lands Of swamp, bfackeo add scrtih, that were then all they knew Oi .the Heretaunga Plains. The story is earried back even further, for the Rt. Rev. F. A. Bennett, Bishop of Aotearoa, has graCiously giten us an account of the Maori who dWelf here beiore the Pakeha came.

ln an historical composite, such as that presented to-day, it is .proper that 1 most attention should be given to the earlier days. References to; recent Ovents have necessarily been brief. The earthquake disaster of 1931, and the courageous ■ manner in which the : rehabilitation of . ihe town was : undertaken, belong ' ratfaOr to the present day than td m hi$torieAf survey. Some future historians Will fefer to the* yea t 1931 as one in which the self-reliance and cpurage of the people overcame adversity and moved On to greater achievements.- ! The task of collecting and putting ' fcogether the matefial for this issue has ueen a difficult dne. Many citizens bave given assistance without which only tho scantiest story could have been iold. We are indebted1 to Mr Pefcy ' ueorge, Mr Bert Tong, Mr A- Rosenberg *nd several other# for photographs oi Oid Hastings, and to ' Mf j Lovell Sindth ior portraiis and for picfcures of the modern town. Mr George i also placed at our disposal old scrap- ; books that belonged to his father, ihe: ! late Mr A. A. George. Ihe work of Mf | Chaiies Price. a veteran member oi our staft, has been of mestimabie historical value.

His Worship the Mayor, Mr G; A. Maddlson, also has been most helpful by allowing access to borough records and by reealling some salient fact# from his own personal knowledge. Mr Noel Harding, the Town Clerk, and Mr H G. Jones, assistanf-Town Clerk, have also been most ready hS supplymg information. The aUthentic acco.unt of Hastings, as he knew it in' the early dayS, supplied by Mr George Ebbett, has given substance to all the other pages. The former mayors, Mr William Hart, Mr J. A. Miller and Mr T. J. Thompson, fiot only gave us messages for publicatioU but were also helpftfl with advice and infbrmation. The Hawke#s Bay Jockey Club kindly lent photographs for reproduction, and assistance Wks forthcoming from many quarters in obtainiUg and checking all kinds of data. The staff oi the newspaper has Worked prodigiously in compiling this special number. Much mOre could have been written and pfinted did joufnalists not have to work to the inexorablev iimits of time and space. In the pressure of doing a big joh in brief time inaccuracies are bound to occurAs the first comprehensive account of the birth and girowth of Hastings this number .of the Herald-Tribune will, we hope, be of interest and historical value. To those who have helped and taken part in the task of pfoducing it we give our thanks; of those who are aware of omissione and ifiaCcuracies. We ask their forbearance.