Raetihi township carved by hand from the bush

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 10, Issue 469, 19 January 1993, Page 4

Raetihi township carved by hand from the bush

by Dorothy Battersby from her father Joseph Pierce Punch's memoirs. Mr Punch's father John, and Alex Bennett started the first saw-mill in Raetihi in 1893. Raetihi is preparing to celebrate its centennial on W ellington Anniversary Weekend 1993 with a mock sale of the 80 original sections. The Government purchased the Waimarino Block in 1887. Later some parts of the area were sold to prospective saw-millers and sections were put on sale to the public at prices ranging from £5 to £25 per quarter acre. In April 1893 the first settlers John Punch and his wife Rose and their three small children came to settle in the dense bush. They came from Palmerston North to Wanganui, up the river by boat, then on horseback up the 17-mile track to settle in the middle of this bush-land. A small cottage had been erected for them. It was a wooden dwelling, had a wooden chimney and a shingle roof. At the time the Punch family made this journey Alex Bennett came. Mr Bennett carried one of the

Punch children on his horse. Mr Bennett and Mr Punch had formed a partnership prior to coming to Raetihi and they set about to erect a mill about the site where Reynolds Motors stands today. There they began a business which was to last close to 70-years. This first mill cut the bush from the King Street area of Raetihi and two draught-horses hauled the logs into the mill. Bullock teams were then purchased in Palmerston North. A plant and engine was brought up through Taihape. Bennett and Punch had four mills in the centre of Raetihi - the second mill was behind Anderson's Butchery shop the third stood where St Mary's Hall is today and the fourth was in Grey Street. Post Office In November 1893, after other people had come to live in the settlement, application for a Post Office in the town was made. This settlement had been known as Makotuku but was to be ,re-named. On 24 April a Post Office opened and on the same day one opened in Ohakune.

rvecords show that in the township, things were slowly progressing. Mr Wyche has a house almost finished, Mr Bowick a blacksmith shop nearly finished, Merson's store is all but ready for occupation. Mr Punch senior is building a boarding house." In the light of such progress Mr Webberley was appointed Postmaster. Within two years the town had four postmasters, the fourth one settled down. He was also manager of Hatrick's General Store and Post Office business was carried on over the shop's counter. Money-order facilities opened in December 1895. Then a small oneroomed Post Office was attached to the store when business grew to warrant it. Bushmen and navvies came to find work in Raetihi. Pikes built a two-storeyed boardinghouse in 1894, a butchery business opened. All stock was killed in the paddocks where it was purchased. In 1896 the first school opened in the sit-ting-room of Pike's house with 1 1 pupils. Some six weeks later a one-roomed school

opened in tuc northern end of Ward Street. The school had no play-ground and the children played amongst the trees. Directly opposite the school the Wesleyan church was built. By this church there was a large stone where the children used to go to sharpen their slate-pencils. The church building was the only one in the settlement for some years. It later became the Methodist church and was moved to its present site by means of rollers,

along King Street and into Duncan Street. It is now the premises of the play-centre. The first Anglican service held in Raetihi was in 1899 with Mr Herman officiating. Phone link By 1900 the township was connected with a telephone and toll-link to Wanganui. The early settlers received their stores on a weekly basis by means of a pack-man on horseback who rode through from Pipiriki. Orders

were taken for the following week as he delivered the groceries. There were only a few shops established before 1900. The Waimarino Hotel opened in 1902. A diary factory was built that same year. This was a great boon to those who were milking a few cows and a source of income. The settlers had driven their cows up with them when they came. In 1903 the Post Office was built, later to become the Postmaster's residence. The Brethren church

was also built that year in Queen Street and the Presbyterian Church in Ward Street. In that same year the township wanted more facilities. Seven men formed the Waimarino County Council. These men had the foresight to apply to the Directors of the Bank of New Zealand asking if a branch could be opened in the settlement and by 1905 this became a reality. They arranged a suitable mail service into the area, they dealt with the noxious weeds problem and they levied a rate of three farthings in the £ on all properties. The township was developing - three grocery businesses, Ashwell's Jewellery shop, a woodturnery, a boot repairer, a hardware store, a wheelwright and a billiard saloon had opened but a fire in 1904 destroyed all including part of Pike's Raetihi house and the Post Office. It is interesting to note that the walls of Pike's boarding-house had all been insulated with sawdust. Quagmire The main street which had been formed for some years was a busy thoroughfare and in the winter of 1906 it became a quagmire. Pack-saddles had to be put on draught-horses to carry freight from Pipiriki and that year freight reached a peak of £10 per ton, an enormous amount of money in those days. In 1906 also, the Raetihi Progressive Association applied to the Wanganui Hospital Board to see if a hospital could be built in the township. This was declined. The Catholic Church was built in 1907. Priests in those early days had ridden through from Jerusalem. Meantime other mills came into being - they opened up everywhere. The district boomed. The main trunk railway line was being put through from Auckland and Wellington and as the time came near for the linking up of these two lines, people came to settle in the area and Raetihi, Ohakune and Rangataua boasted a population of 2,000. The first vicar appointed to the Anglican Church in Raetihi was a Mr Stent in 1909. The Waimarino A & P Association held its first show in 1911. The Raetihi Town Council was gazetted in 1912. The First World War 1914-18 took some of the district's finest men. Between 1908 and 1922 was the busiest in the milling heyday. At one time 22 mills were operating between Raetihi Tum to page 13

Governing of Raetihi reviewed

By Ruapehu's mayor, Carrick Workman As Raetihi celebrates its centennial, I felt it appropriate to write about local government within the town - a town that has been administered by county councils, a town board, a borough council and district councils since 1893. Readers should be advised I amno great historian but I do have an interest in the issue, given my 18-year involvement as a Raetihi Borough Councillor, as a Raetihi Borough Mayor and now District Mayor of the very large Ruapehu District, which includes the entire Taumarunui-

Ohura-National Park area as well as all of the Waimarino District including Waiouru. I can't honestly remember why I first stood for council, but whatever the reason, I can honestly say I have enjoyed the involvement despite the pressures, hassles and the odd bit of abuse that is hurled on occasions. Through the years local government right around the country has gone through some very interesting changes, none more so than in recent times with amalgamation. Like many other small towns, Raetihi has been caught

in the middle of these changes. Now I go back 100 years and with the aid of Mr E G McDowell's history thesis of Raetihi and District (18871922); by researching minute books and pestering Mr Ross Journeaux for information on the Raetihi Power Scheme I attempt to recapture some of the history of local government in Raetihi. In the early years Pipiriki was the gateway to the Waimarino and central districts of the North Island. The only access to the area was via paddle-steamer up the Whanganui River to Pipiriki and then via a

four-foot track from Pipiriki now known as Pipiriki Road. An area of 300 acres had been set aside for the township of Raetihi and on 9 February 1893 a crown-land sale of Raetihi township sections was held. Eighty quarter-acre sections were sold at an average price of 16-guineas. Until 1902 Raetihi consisted of a single road with buildings on each side. Along each side of the road was a three-foot ditch, which in winter was filled with water. This road offered the only clear ground so all sports meetings were held on it. This road of course is Seddon Street, the town's

main street to this day - still wide enough to hold a good sports meeting I might add. The Wanganui County The greatest handicap to the development of the town in the early years was the lack of roading facilities. Raetihi was included in the Mangawhero riding of the Wanganui County Council, the governing local body being the Mangawhero Roads Board. As an outlying district, the Mangawhero riding received little attention from the Wanganui County Council. Quite early the Turn to page 15

Local government history

From page 14 settlers complained they received little or no return for the rates they paid (where have I heard that story before?). It became increasingly obvious that the Mangawhero Roads Board wasn't able to cope with the needs of the new district. Dissatisfaction with the existing system lead to the formation of the Raetihi Progressive Association. This organisation originally devoted its energy to advocating the constitution of a Waimarino County. It was pointed out that where Raetihi residents had regularly paid rates to the Wanganui County Council, the latter had spent only eight pounds in Raetihi on a portion of Ward Street. The Waimarino County In October 1902, Parliament passed an act to constitute the Waimarino County. This step was an important one in the history of Raetihi. On 4 May 1903, the Governor, the Earl of

Ranfurly, issued a proclamation dividing the new County into seven ridings to be called the Huikumu Riding, the Manganui Riding, the Ruapehu Riding, the Karioi Riding, the Parapara Riding, the Raetihi Riding and the Ohakune Riding. One member was to be elected by each Riding. The proclamation provided for the first election to be held on Thursday 21 May 1903 and the first meeting in Bennett's Hall, a week later at 2pm. At the first meeting those present were Messrs A S Bennett, J F Punch, W Harris, P Brass, H Merson, W McLeod and L S Ford. Councillor Brass was elected Chairman of the Council and one Mr William S King was appointed Clerk and Treasurer for 12 months on a salary of 100 pounds per annum. It is interesting to note that grandsons of both Councillors A S Bennett and J F Punch have served as Councillors up until re-

cently. Councillor Doug Bennett served 21 years as a Councillor and councillor Tom Punch 10 years as a Raetihi Borough Councillor. Rates for that first year of the Waimarino County 's existence were levied at one pence in the pound with properties being rated upon the unimproved value. In April 1906 the Waimarino County Council succeeded in raising a loan of £1350. It was applied to the upgrading of Seddon Street. Until that time, stumps and logs were an obstruction to the footpaths and the undrained street. The street was drained and metaled and proper footpaths formed. As a result of that undertaking Raetihi possessed a dry and almost mudless thoroughfare with wellformed footpaths. As the area developed and pressure was exerted on the County to provide more residential sections, the Council decided to increase the size of the town riding by

two-thirds. This was effected by the inclusion of a piece of crown-land amounting to 230 acres which had a considerable length of frontage on the Parapara Road. The County Council was working under great pressure to cope with the problem of road construction and maintaining the roads of a vast area of new and old settlement. The number and length of roads under its control had increased dramatically. Despite the excellent work performed by the County within Raetihi, a view was emerging that the Council could not cope satisfactorily with the growing requirements of the town. Lighting, water, sewage and drainage schemes were going to be required before too much longer. In addition the town required the administration of bylaws and it was felt there were other functions as well that could be more appropriately administered by a Town Board. To Be Continued.