“TIS SIXTY YEARS SINCE”

Hokitika Guardian, 30 December 1931, Page 2

“TIS SIXTY YEARS SINCE”

NO. 2. Our last article dealt with the condition of affairs in Hokitika in December 1867. The Council met for the first rtime on (10th February 1868. The system of election was slight,y different to that followed at the present time. Only people with a stake in the country had votes, and each voter’s name, and the candidates he voted for, were published in the papers. The Order in Council by His Excellency Sir George Grey appointing the Honourable John Hall chairman was read.

The Chairman ‘read his opening address, and the Council adjourned until 5 p.m. tile following day.

One of the first items of business was to issue a proclamation, proclaiming Greymouth a municipality. Mr G. S. Sale who so far had been dubbed “Under Secretary,” had his title changed to ‘County Secretary.

An invitation to visit Westland was sent to the Duke of Edinburgh, who was then in Sydney, and an address of welcome was prepared. 'The Council voted themselves £l5O a year each as salary, The morning paper stated that this was the first tiriie (that the principle of Parliamentary salaries has evCr been recognised in the British colours. On 26th February, the Council was prorogued. They had sat for 13 evenings.

An estimate of receipts for half year ending June 30th 1868, in the light of the present day shortage of revenue, shows some interesting figures:—Half Customs Hokitika aiid : Okarito £30,000 ; Quarter Customs, Greymouth £6,000 ; Gold export duty £12,000; With oth'-’r items making a total of £78,950. .The proposed experditure totalled ■£46,642 including salaries of Wardens, Police, Surveyors and necessary buildings. Malcolm Fmser was . Chief Surveyor, and his staff consisted of seven surveyors and four draftsmen. A return showing cost of Public Works from June 1865, to December .1867, has the following items Supreme Court, i£2,567 ; Hokitika wharf, £10,355 ; Protecting river bank, £5,520 ; Clearing (Supreme Court Reserve, £1,090; Road to Lagoon town, £2,106. The second session began on June 16th, with J. A. Bonar as Chairman. We will now consult th'e West Coast Times as to ithe events occurring in the interim. It was a stirring and exciting time for Hokitika,

The weather for instance, always a topic for conversation, the one thing that remains constant as the years go on.'

Two extracts from the paper of January 6th, 1868;

“There are Maori traditions which tell us, that at certain intervals, there corrie and go yeafs without a West Coast surnni'ei 1 . We "’the truth of the legend. Rains* of unprecedented violence and continuance, floods, freshes and sea encroachments, have continued for some weeks past to render the town almost uninhabitable, under any conditions of comfort.”

Then again “we visited the wharf and beach this morning at daylight, and were sorry to notice that the flood had made snd havoc during tha. night. The 'Wharf Hotel had disappeared and the protection work at the end of Revel I 'Street was seriously breached, placing the ‘Steampacket and Spread Eagle Hotels in imminent danger.” “The escort under charge of Sergeant (Wilson arrived yesterday from the Waimea with 1,7000z5.” The previous escort on. 24th December brought down 45000z5. “Truly golden days !” A man was brought up iat the Court for .stealing a- carpet bag. The newspapers published hundreds of nanjes in every issue, of <people for whom letters were waiting at- the Post Office.

The Presbyterian Church advertised for a Precentor, at £SO per annum. On the 11th January, word came through that the five Fenians, who were prominent in the attack on the prison van were found guilty and sentenced to death.

Allen, Maguire, Larkiijig, Gould and Shore.

Also, on the 11th the Honourable John 'Hall, accompanied by his private Secretary, arrived by Cobb’s coach. Mr Hall as the Head of the Local Government of Wiestland is staying at. Government House.

On January 20th, the English mail arrived with news from London dated the previous November,, that of the five Fenians condemned for the Manchester murder, ithree were hanged, one was pardoned, and obo reprieved.

•On January 31st the Waimea escort brought in 3,5000z5.

On January 21st the H.M.S. Galatea arrived at Sydney with the Duke of ■Edinburgh. On February 2nd, 3,0000z5. of gold came from Ross. On February 6, Sir George Brown arrived in New, 'Zealand to take ov.er 'Sir George Grey’s position as Governor. On February 15th, 3,5000z5. of gOid dust came from Waimea. A letter from Waimea states that the population of Liverpool Bill’s Gully was 150, and that some of the miners were getting ldwt. and more to the dish.

Who was Liverpool Bill ? Did he make a fortune and go home.

“Where are they now I wonder with whom those days were passed The pace was a little too good I fear for many of them to last.’

What would one find nowadays of the traces of the population qf the gully? ■probably an oi’d pick, and shovel, and some dead marines.

■ “All, all are gone the old familiar faces.”

Economy was the cry with the Canterbury Provincial .Government in 1868,

the same as it is to-day. In 1867 the expenses of the Government were £2OOO and the 1868 estimates reduced them to £350. - The Superintendent voluntarily relinquished a third of his salary, which meant £SOO a year saving. The Secretary relinquished £3OO and the. Provincial Solicitor £250. - There was a lot of talk about the Westiand Councillors dividing £I2OO a year amongst themselves. Travelling expenses, Yes : —‘Salaries, No:— One writer says “£I2OO a year for a week or two’s holiday in town occasionally. Surely every patriotic mind must glow with indignation at the thought that public men (who come forward professedly to serve the common cause), should sink so low as to sell for gain, that wh ch ought 'to be given for the;.public good of Jail. It offers a temptation for the vi.bst demagogue to compete for the post of honour, which by this resolution is reduc'd to an ordinary scramble.” However at the following meeting the motion was rescinded, and they were paid a guinea a day and travelling expenses.

February 28th another oOOOozs. arriv’d by the escort.

Another paragraph : “Sullivan (the murderer) is on board the Phoebe be:ng conveyed from Nelson for safer custody in Otago gaol.” The Borough Council met ('Shaw, (Mayor) and proposed to spend £21,500 on the streets.

The capital value Was £85,571 and i'&m £4,278, Tile Waimfea correspondent reported tihr;t ■ Targe numbers of miners wore leaving for Maryborough diggings, but.' a good dual of gold was being obtained at Fox’s Creeks, Red Jacks and Liverpool Bill’s Gullies and at Italians, Maori, German and Callaghan’s gullies and at Piper’s Flat, Quinn’s terrace, and Kelly’s terrace; also at Fims Lead and Lninplough. At the Hau Hau, one claim working a false bottom about 15ft above the main bottom, got 160 ounces in one ■week and totalled 462 ounces. 35000z5. came from Waimea on 13th February and the Ross escort arrived on 20th with 15000Z.5. . 359 dogs were registered in Westland during the month of January 1868. 3CO ‘persons attended a .tea meeting to celebrate the opening of the Presbyterian church in Stafford 'St. on- 13th January, the Rev. John Cow in the chair.

3000ozs. came from Ross on 6th in’st

?‘The yield of gold for the month as shown by the Customs returns, is quite up to.the average of the last 18 months, being 18,3300z’5. Estimating the Grey district at 10,000ozs. we have a grand total of nearly 29,0000zs for the County of WpshLa.nd during the month of February. On February 28th there were 64 males and four females in the Hokitika gaol. Tancred Street drain was a burning question. A number of people died of fever, and the Town Council would do nothing, . On March 4th all the male inhabitants of the street, went to work with shovels to fill the drain. Two prominent citizens were arrested, and incarcerated for some hours, bail being afterwards accopted,

When they came before the Magis tvate they were fined Is and costs. On Monday, March 9th, the West Coast Times gave an account of a demonstration of the day before in connection with the so called Manchester ‘Martyrs. 'The number of those who formed the procession was variously estimated at from 170 to 200. “Our reporter counted 190 men and three or four boys.” There were several banners bearing appropriate devices. At about three o’clock the procession swelled to 720 men 50 -womien and 20 to 30 children, returned to town, headed by the band, and four men carrying a trestle, on which was laid a Celtic Cross and behind 'which walked 'the Rev. M. Larkin, Roman Catholic curate, Waimea. Th?y marched up Revell St., turned into Tancred St., and so on to Gibsons Quay and along Wharf St. and into Revell •St. again, and then down Revell 'St. towards the cemetery, without once halting for refreshment, ai'beit, the men looked jaded and weary, after the long march of well nigh fourteen miles on one ol the warmest days of the season, and along.a soft and dusty road. ■Shortly before four o’clock the vanguard of the procession on horseback, wearing green sashes arrived a t the cemetery gates, took them off the hinges, and the procession marched in in the following order : The trestle bearing the memorial cross, borne by four; two choristers. in vestments. Rev. M. Larkin in full canonicals, chanting the burial service in Latin; ladies and other processionists. A large banner of green silk bore the following inscription emblazoned in gilt: ALLEN. LARKIN. O’BRIEN. God save Ireland. “ ’Tis Treason to love her, and deadly to' defend.” The Rev. M. Larkin addressed those present, stating they had come to erect a Celtic ‘Cross to the memory of their martyred fellow countrymen. After his address the company dispersed and the following memorial was erected : I.H.S. .ERECTED. By the inhabitants of Waimea and Stafford Town, in loving memory of the Irish patriots, William Allen, Michael O’Bi'ien and Michaei Larkin, who were executed at Manchester and buried in the yard of the New Bailey prison, 'Salford.

November 12th, 1867, Requescat in peace. God Save Ireland.

When this was erected all withdrew, the gate "was replaced on its hinges, and the sacred ground resumed its still and solemn air.

The issue of March 10th reported that the memorial cross was mysteriously removed on Sunday night, and that during the day it was found in 'he adjoining bush and re-erected. On March 11th, 1868, an advertisement appeared “A meeting of gentlemen favourable to the formation of a Volunteer Rifle Corps will be held this evening at 8 o’ctock. ■

This was the original formation ot what afterwards became the First Westland Rifles. They were drilled by Sergeant Wilson, the 'leader of the gold escort.

Our next article will deal with the attempted murder of the Duke of Edinburgh, and the subsequent proceedings in Hokitika. -