STIRRING DAYS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26641, 11 December 1947, Page 8

STIRRING DAYS

LIFE IN EARLY DUNEDIN MEMORIES OF SEVENTY YEARS Almost 70 years ago Mr David Leslie, who this month will retire from practice as a public accountant, arrived at Port Chalmers in the ship Oamaru after an eventful voyage of close on 90 days. As a “ nominated immigrant ” he did not go to the. Barracks, but went to live with his uncle in the old Post Office building. In more recfcnt years Mr Leslie has collected his mail from a Post Office box practically on the site of his uncle’s kitcheri. Now that he is on the point of retiring he recalls these associations with the past. “I cannot help thinking of my first days in Dunedin, when as a boy of eight I revelled in the exciting happenings of those times,” Mr Leslie told the Daily Times yesterday. “To-day we have become very conscious of trolley buses, which makes me recall seeing from my uncle’s house the opening of the roadway at the foot of Stafford street for the first horse tram to Caversham. Picturesque Figures "Horse trams later ran to various parts of the town, and steam trams — or ‘ baby killers,’ as they were called—trundled between the Gardens and Anderson’s Bay,” Mr Leslie added. “ Competition in transport was keen, with drags, palace cars, cabs, landaus, and hansom cabs all seeking business. On race days there would be a line of twohorse drags down the centre of Princes street from Stafford street to the Exchange.” There were some picturesque public figures in those days, Mr Leslie-said.

Among these were “Scotch Joe,” the bootblack at the fountain, “ Holy John,” who did his best to convert the “bookies," and “Tapioca Jim,” with hi s tandem dofecart. Elections were fought far more vigorously in those days than at present, Mr Leslie said, one of the keenest Mayoral contests he could recall being between Mr James Gore and Mr H. S. Fish. Not many people will remember the old railway station at what is now called the Queen’s Gardens, but Mr Leslie recalls the building and the south-bound railway that ran along what is now Crawford street. The railway station was later removed to the site of the present bus depot and two platforms on the east and west sides served travellers. Mr Leslie recalled, too, the progress made in the harbour and the important occasion when the Te Anau was safely brought up to Dunedin. Fires and Trials Spectacular fires were exciting episodes in Mr Leslie’s' life. He recalls the destruction of a large block of buildings in George street, the extensive fire in the Octagon, and Guthrie and Larnack’s outbreak, which resulted in serious loss of life. The ringing of the fire bell brought everyone out of doors, Mr Leslie said, and it was a spectacular sight to see the horses of the brigade flashing past on their dash from the old Harrop street station to the fire. The sparkling greys of the Salvage Corps, under Superintendent Jacobs, also made a memorable sight, as they left their depot in Maclaggan street. “The trial of Butler, who successfully defended himself on charges arising from the Cumberland street tragedy, was another memorable episode in my boyhood,” Mr Leslie said. “ I can clearly remember the crowd that waited in Water street for the verdict. Suddenly it was announced that Butler had been acquitted, and the temper of the crowd made it plain that the accused man would not escape their vengeance. Butler was not brought out the main door, but was taken away by a hansom cab waiting at the back entrance. The crowd missed their chance, but Butler was later sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment for arson.”

Mr Leslie had little to say of his own career in business, but he admitted having taken a deep interest in the gold dredging boom, when there was a dredge to almost every mile of the river from Lawrence to the Lakes.