LAST OF THE OLD STAGE COACHES

Hokitika Guardian, 28 November 1930, Page 2

LAST OF THE OLD STAGE COACHES

FORLORN IN A BACKYARD RECALLS THE GLORIES OF THE ROAD. (Christchurch “Times.”) Fallen on evil days, the last of the old Canterbury-West, Coast- coaches stands mouldering away in the yard of the Empire Express Company in St. Asaph Street. Every time it hears the honk o'f the motor and gets a whiff of petrol exhaust, it must sigh for the days when travelling was travelling, and the idea of going through-the Otira Gorge in a train would be enough to make it rattle with disgust,. Paint ■worn off, leather work perished,' it'feels rather dowdy in the presence of a limousine, glittering with enamel- and pjatng, but the day it left the build-. c f s yard, resplendent in red, . yellow and thick, behind five spanking horses, it was justified in feeling not a little proud of the sensation .it caused., . They manage things better lh France. On<‘ "I the most interesting sights at Versailles is the “Museum df Carriages” in an old Royal stable, betvifsep tile Grand TrianOtl and the Petit irianoil. There otte ctlh See the gorgeous coaches Royalty used to ride in when Louis XV was on the .throne, Napoleon’s conch, sedan chairs- and other ancient vehicles. Why should pot Christchurch have its museum of, vehicles ? : Once or twice this old West Coaster has come out of retirement, and . its last appearance —tell it not in Colombo s|ft. ee t—-was to travel through Christplpirch to .advertise a cinema •film. Imagine the feelings of a - fifty-year-old coach that used to go tooling down the glorious Otira Gorge, and in its time carried -famous men' and fair women, turned into a peripatetic hoarding. There are still a few discerning people who love the past and can appreciate poetry. One,; of these is-Mr E. M. Lovell-Smith, who has made a.study, of the coaching days, and has their .history at lii.s finger-tips.' . He told a “Times” reporter something of the past interesting, history of the. old Eckmann as this particular o’d coach is called, being named after the builder. “THE HORSE-KILLER:” The coach was built in Hokitika in 1880-1 for Alex Binney and Co., a well-known coaching firm.: Determined to turn out something that would be strong and would last, Fred . Eckmann an early day coach builder of Hokitika made it on the heavy' side, and it was so hard to pull that it. was known on the road as “the. horse-kill-er.” It has undergone alterations and restoration frbtti time to titnei but Eckmann’e original lidfllwood wheels and hubs are Still there, and good for a few years yet. When built, it had a flat front, but this was subsequently altered t othe present “canoe front”, ns the flat front bent ominously one ~n the Otira when the driver put n ; int. of extra weight into, his , leg thrust. There were originally three seats inside and only one outside—-on the roof at the back. About 1884 more at-, tention was being paid to the growing tourist traffic, and as the passengers did not care about being' cooped Up inside, preferring to travel 1 outside and view the scenery, a seat was built in front. The capacity of the coalch was seventeen, nine inside and .eight, outside, but this same coach has’C&fried twenty-five passengers down' the- Otira, behind five horses. 1 • ' ••• . As the railway began to cfhe'p along the coach route contracted -year-' By year. Originally, of course, the run was; from Christchurch to Hokitika, but the Eckmann coach used to run from •Springfield and later from Broken River. When the railway was opened to'Cass, Cobb and Company had some lighter coaches built at Nelson, with three seats outside, and the Eckmattn :coach, on account of its weight, was put aside, and only took the road at jrusK"times. One day when going down the Otira Gorge the driver put more weight than usual with his feet against, the .flat iron, and it began to bend, so it was replaced by the present canoe-

front. When coaching started between Christchurch and the West .Coast there was one coach a week, later twice a week, and' later still three tittles a week. Towards the end of the period when the railway eifds were gradually drawing closer, there was a daily iservice between rail-heads in the summer months. In the early days the fare between Christchurch and the Coast was £7, and later was reduced to £5 while at times when opposition “butted in” the f:.re was cut to pieces. OTHER VETERANS. l.i 1921 the hardy old Eckmann was bought by Mr H. O. Ell for use on the Summit Road, and that is why it bears the legend on the side, “Akaroa-Port Hills Summit Road.” For a while it was run to Kennedy’s Rush, but has now been definitely retired. This Eckmann is very similar to the Burton coach, the first ever built in Christchurch —away hack in 1865 which is now owned by Air LovellSmith, and is ending its days out at Ritra rton in honoured retirement. The timber of the Burton coach was imported from Concord, New Hampshire, U.S.A., the original home of this style of vehicle, known there as “Concord waggons.” There is also one . of these old West Coast coaches in the Canterbury Museum. The wheels and under-carriage came from the United States, and the wood-work of the body was put together at Nelson. This edd •conch has a claim to fame a.s it was

the one that was used frequently to carry the burly lrame of ; Richard Scddon: . ‘ I

CHANGING HORSES. It used to be a', two-day , journey from Canterbury over to Hokitika by the Eckmann. Starting from Springfield' the .first change was made at the Springs, a sixteen mile stage, over Porter’s Pass. At the Springs there \ was merely a stable.and headquarters for,' the groom, with a paddopk to grow oats The second change was made aft Craigieburn, Lake Pearson, where the passengers could get some excellentscohes made by the groom’s wife and a cup of the inevitable tea. Next stop , and'change was the Bealey, passing the Cass Hotel, which at one time was the half-way house between Christchurch and the Coast. The night- was spent at the Bealey. Next morning early the coach set out again, forded the Waimakariri, and went through, thd famous Otira Gorge, at the foot of which the travellers had breakfast.., After breakfast the journey was continued to Jackson’s where horses were j changed. There was another change at j the Taipo, where lunch was taken. The Taipo was one of the most serious o'f the several rivens the coach had to ford, and in bad weather it was necessary to keep a coach on each side, the river being at flood times quite unfordable. 11l the very early days they used to travel down the Teremakau River bed until they came to Old John’s accommodation house nnd go up the Waimea to the Kawhaka accommodation house, where horses were changed,the last change before pulling into the yard of the Empire Hotel at Hokitika,, Tlie Kaivhnka building is still - standing j but all the other changing-stables, once household words with travellers, have gone the way of all wooden building?.. Five horses changed at each stage meant a large, number of animals, even in those days the upkeep' 1 of the' service ran into:a lot*df money. , SAFER THAN MOTORING. ' While the Eckmann had its share o'f the perils of being stuck up when rivers were in flood, it had a fortunate career. In these days of so many motor accidents it is interesting to know that;all the -time. the. ’ coaches were running to

and from the West Coast only two lives were lost through accident. In making for safety the king-bolt played a conspicuous part. It was a long iron pin that ran through the front, part of the coach and held it to the front wheel carriage. In the event of an upset, the bolt,, which was loose , would fall out, and the body of the coach would remeain where it fell, instead of being dragged. We still to-day speak of a man “being the king-pin” of some concern, but most of us have forgotten what the pin actually was. It was in August; 1923, that the Otira ; Tunnel was opened, and that event drove the old stage coaches off the ; road. One or two of them are still to die found in odd,corners, like the Eekjjnann, the one: in the Canterbury Museum, or the! one belonging to Mr :Lovell-Smith, Shut most of them have

probably; gone jwest —not preisely like the famous “one-hoss shay” of Oliver Wendell Holmes, but still gone west. ,

DROVE THE ECKMANN

Some rare 'good whips have driven the Eckmann coach. Still surviving i are Mr Jack Rountree, of Ashburton, 'the oldest '.surviving coach-driver, who ; drove it ini the days wlTen the nui' 1 was j from Springfield; and the following • who drove 1 it after the railway>termi;mus moved up to Broken River— Mr J. ißugg, now driving for Messrs'’Holmes ■ and Son, St. Asaph Street,' Christchurch; Mr W. Rugg, of/ Massey ■ Street, St. Albans; Mr W. jCampbell, ■ who‘lives on the West Coast;'; and Mr Joe Searle, Neville Street, ‘.Spreydon. Mr J\ Rugg, who is sixty-Jfive, hut looks ten years younger, is fit'll of anecdotes; of the old days and the old drivers. ; He it was who, at the l ' request of Mr liiovell-Smith, arranged some years ago a‘‘.trip by the Eckmann) coach from . Christchurch to the Coast, over the old ‘roads, and using the old stopping-plac-es, as Mr Lovell-Smith wished to reconstruct the scene just as it occurred in the pre-motor days.