People we know

Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 22, 26 August 1893, Page 6

People we know

Last week we/Presented ouryfl-caders with the “ counterfeit presentment y7of His Worship the M/tyor—yds wpelf No. 2 in our series of ‘J/reople Tw Know ” us thatpyfHxrT ex-May Pavliamen&Sry of thfi-te-wm T When our reporter called on Mr Hatch thetTEher day he invited his visitor to sit down. He also provided himself with a chair, but it is doubtful whether be occupied it during the brief interview. “Just like him,” people will say, “ repose, either mental Or physical, is not one of his characteristics. This, in a sentence, hits off Mr Hatch s quick, a’ert, not to say, jerky style. jC

Mr Joseph Hatch, tlie third son of Mr J. J. Hatch, wholesale furrier of Friday street, C'hcapsicli', Boudon.was born in Brownlow street, Bolborn, London, at the end of the thirties, and was educated—first with his. unclefthe Itrv-S_Hatch, at VVallingford.,' Berkshire, next at Southgate, afterwards ■at the ; City of London School, and finally at the Grammar School in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, where, no doubt, he had Ids share of the pork pies for which the place was famed. His first trial in business was in the shape of a year’s engagement with Mr John Hacldon, the then famous printer, in Finsbury. Hs subsequently entered the service of the porf%n*yj£YßJKl exporting linn of Payne and SousJ^Determining to give the new world a trial, he sailed from Liverpool in ISSG, in the ship Eagle Speed for Melbourne, which was reacned iu Marco, lfeo7. After a few months of real “new chum” life, he was en°a°ed by Messrs Levy Bros, wholesale druggists’ snndrymcn and gemnd importers, then°located in'the Melbourne Arcade, but who subsequently removed to more commodious premises opposite the post office. Mr 11. B. Monkman, who afterwards lived iu Invercargill, a good many years ago, was also in the°employ of the firm, in 1860 Mr Hatch obtained a position with the oldest drug house in Australasia —that o! Youngman, McCann and Company (now Felton, Grimwade and Company), and in 1803 he was entrusted with a mission to Few Zealand to report as to the desirableness the firm’s trade in that colony.'jC Be came over in the s.s. Aklinga —faro, £ls to the Bluff. Acting on his suggestion, his principals opened a wholesale business in btafford street, Dunedin, while Mr Hatch elected to remain here, ■where he was started by the firm, who also, at his request, sent Mr J. U. Hayes to join him. They occupied the premises in Tay street now in possession of Mr Thomson, grocer, and soon after Mr Hayes’ arrival, an odd circumstance was disclosed —namely, that he and Air Hatch were born on the same day of the-month, and in the same house in London, Haves being his senior by five or six "‘years. Air Hatch subsequently acquired the business of Mr Blnzer in Dee street, of Mr B. Clay at lliverton, and of Mr G. l M. K. Ch;r hT in Tay street. The last“named place w® consumed in one of Invercargill’s large fives, and later Mr Hatch’s wholesale stock was nearly all lost on the occasiop of the first Albion Hotel fire. yC * w n (- In 1806, while managing the Ei e xn business, Air Hatch was appointed pj. tmaster, and held office for a number of years. Here he made his first acquaintance with the sealing industry, then carried on chiefly by Mr James Surinam Parting from Air Hayes in 1807, Air Hatch in the following year went into the sealing business on his own account, and met with varied fortune—sometimes '’gaining, and sometimes —as was inevitable in -a "trade fluctuating -according to the. ■vagaries of fashion losing. His first ventures in this industry were made by open has and in the Nancy, a 19 lon schooner, which visited the Aucklands and other sealing grounds, and was eventually, lost when in charge of Sherburd .at New River Heads*-- About this time, Air Hatch on two occasions visited what was then little better than a terra incognita , t ie special settlement at Martin’s Bay, ani supplied the residents with provisions at a time when they were threatened with starvation, and also took a leading part in endeavouring to establish steam communication between Invercargill, Dunedin, and the West Coast. On the loss of the Nancy he purchased from Capt. Gilroy the schooner Awarua. She was built by the late Mr Price of the Bluff,

and in 1887, when in command of Capt. Drew, was the means of rescuing the survivors of the ship Derry Castle from the Auckland Islands. yC Soon after his arrival in| Invercargill, Mr Hatch, who had done good service in Melbourne as a volunteer, took in hand the drilling of our first fire brigade. He also joined the volunteer service here, but always preferred drill to the responsibilities of a non-commissioned officer. He also assisted in establishing the Chamber of Commerce in 1863, when the meetings were held in offices occupied by Messrs Dalgetty and Rattray, under the management .of Air J. McDonald. He established Irere'tne first bone mill, and afterwards combined with the business soap-making and engineering works, Mr Beal carrying on the soap-works, and Mr Henry Ballans the fitting shop. In 187(5 he began the manufacture of sheep-dip, introduced to his notice by Mr Logan Wilson, who afterwards sold all his interest in that industry- to Mr Hatch, the latter taking over the material and plant at Ryal Bush. During the height of the rabbit plague he attempted the manufacture of bi- ' sulphide of carbon, which was then regarded as a sure and certain cure for the ills that afflicted squatterdom. The experiment failed, largely owing to the expert imported from II ome for this special industry proving totally to make the compound. This was a heavy loss, both personally and to the district. Mr Hatch was virtually the first exporter of rabbitskins from Southland. He had men out in all directions, and handled some hundreds of thousands of skins each year. Selling the Awarua for the Rarotonga trade, in which she ended her days, Mr Hatch became the owner of the ketch Gratitude, for (he oil industry—for which jjurpose it would have been hard to obtain a better vessel, combining as she docs speed, strength, and safety. She is chiefly engaged in visiting the Macquaries, where Mr Hatch carries on the most southerly steaming works in the world, and in which there are now about 2S"inen engaged. Referring to the a3vai&igss that would accrue from despatching expeditions to the Antarctic, a subject now receiving great attention, Mr Hatch remarked that years ago he brought the matter before a number of citizens, suggesting the establishment of a company to carry out the project. The proposal fell through, but the subject has never been lost sight,,ML by Mr. Hatch, who, only last. year, while in Auckland, was offered a suitable auxiliary screw vessel, ex-missionary ship Southern CrossA iutmough a very busy man, Mr Hatch has one way and another devoted a great deal of attention to public business. He is a life member of the Athenaeum, and served on the committee in 1575-76, and subsequently. 'Hie Hospital also had his services in the same capacity. Ho was likewise for years a member of the old nominated licensing benches until they were super - s ded by the elective committees, I ‘'of one of which he acted as chairman. Although a lifelong teetotaller, he claims to have discharged his duties “without bias,” dealing out evenhanded justice to all concerned. 1 ncidentally, it may be mentioned that Mr Hatch’s temperance career began in 1851, when he joined a society connected with the Baptist Chapel in Bedford Row, London, of which the Rev, Baptiste Wriothelscy Koel was the pastor. He afterwards became secretary of the Halford .-quarc Association, Islington, and on arriving in Melbourne was appointed one of the hon. secretaries of the Russell street temperance association, of which the Hon. Richard Healcs was president, and held the position while he remained there. In 1873 Mr Hatch entered the Municipal Council as the representative of Third Ward, and was elected Mayor forLLB77-7S term —the ante-honorarium period. 'Muring his term a dispute occurred in connection with the proposed purchase of the gas plant shipped on the Ann Gambles, which came to grief at Tewais i’oint, and Mr Hatch, on seeking reelection, was defeated on this question by a small majority by Air Geo. Lumsden. The negotiations for the purchase of the. plant we;e, however, continued and completed by the incoming Council. At a later .period Mr Hatch re-entered the Council, and once, during Mr daggers’ mayoralty, distinguished himself as a stonewaller, speaking for six hours and a quarter on the question that a resolution passed by a full meeting should not be rescinded by a small majority at a poorly attended meeting of the Council. His side carried the day, and one of the local papers remarked that “Mr Hatch spoke for six hours and a quarter without a drink of water —no easy task,” jL >C. In 1881 Mr Hatch determined to serve the State in a jet higher capacity, and contested the Invercargill scat with Mr H. Feld wick, by whom ho was defeated. Returning to the attack in 188 J, he reversed the decision of the electors, being returned by almost as many .votes as were recorded for Messrs Feld wick and Lumsden combined. While in office he worked energetically to bring Invercargill to the front. In 1887, when he was one of five candidates, he was defeated by Mr Fcldvvick, ami afterwards returned to the municipal arena as the representative of the Third and South Wards. He took an active part in the establishment of the Invercargill|tramways and other public institutions,-ntiTT'te-rln j U i'll iiiiinl a led rim, is InfilWu r T ,,v,, ’TrH“ ■another light-in tlio paigirr tC *■ Mr Hatch was married at Castlemaine, Victoria, in 18G9, to Miss S. A. Wilson, second daughter of Captain Wilson, and has a family of .three daughters and four sons the eldest of whom is well known as the secretary of the Star Sailing Club and member of the City Band.

While in the House of Representatives, MiHatch did his IWwibest to redeem Invercargill from the charge of being entitled to the designation “ City of Blazes,” although it must be admitted that so far as he is personally concerned he has had no reason to quarrel with the name. On no fewer than eight occasions has he been “ scorched,” viz. ; —(1.) J. Clarke’s fire, Tay street; (2.) Tay street (north side, from Hawkeshaw and Hunter’s eastward) ; (3.) cottage at Mr Hatch’s works, Tweed street; (4.) Albion Hotel fire (wholesale stock, Esk street) ; (5.) Dee street, Rodgers’s buildings ; (6.) phosphorous scare in his present premises ; (7.) cottage in Liddel street; and (8.) fire in cargo of lime on the Awarua. With an experience of this kind it may readily be imagined that Mr Hatch warmly embraced the movement for a water supply, and fought hard to establish a gravitation system from the Dansdale when Mr Gordon visited hme in 1877.