FOUR VITAL YEARS

Southland Times, Issue 21091, 24 May 1930, Page 13

FOUR VITAL YEARS

PAGES OF SOUTHLAND’S STORY

IN THE' DAYS OF DR MENZIES

(BY

A. R. DREAVER.)

(Continued fror Captain Greig, the Harbour Master, supported this. plan. But he was desirous of seeing other improvements carried out also. The wharf at New River which had been extended from forty-two to ninety-two feet long, should be increased to one hundred and eighty feet. Such vessels as the “Titania,” and the “William Miskin” took up nearly the whole of the existing accommodation, and practically every vessel arriving at the wharf had to be removed for the convenience of these steamers. As yet no steam tug had been procured for the estuary, although sums had regularly been voted for that purpose. The pilot service, consisting of a station, a chief pilot, and three assistant pilots with nine boatmen and three boats at the New River; and the assistant ■ Harbour Master, Captain Thomas Thom- i son, and two assistant pilots with ■ four boatmen and two boats at the Bluff, would have been quite adequate providing the tug were acquired. At the end of 1862, -much dissatisfaction had been caused by the way in which the Invercargill jetty was managed, criticism being in particular directed against the levy of excessive charges. A select committee reported on the matter on March 2, 1863, and declared the grievance quite justifiable. They advised that the Government should renounce its policy of leasing the jetties and should resume the entire control. This suggestion, together with a recommendation that the fees be placed on a more liberal and rational basis, was adopted forthwith. The simplification of the system of levying charges was, no doubt, appreciated by the new arrivals in the province. That these were a numerous body is shown by the fact that the “William Miskin” and the “Titania” regularly arrived with between thirty and forty immigrants from Otago | and the other provinces. Apart from those attracted by the gold-fields, approximately seven hundred and fifty immigrants had arrived under the assisted immigration scheme. Six ships altogether had been despatched by the indefatigable Mr Morrison, and all had arrived Without mishap. Mr Duncan McArthur, appointed Immigration Agent when Captain Morris resigned, reported very favourably on all the vessels and their quota of migrants, save the “William Eyre,” which carried some cases of typhoid fever. He praised Mr .Morrison’s judicious system of selection which resulted in the rapid absorption of the young women immigrants into the homes of the settlers. The duties of Immigration Officer had become so numerous that local officers were appointed to Riverton and Bluff, these being Mr D. S. Lawlor, and Mr C. F. de S. O’Toole, respectively. Not so prosperous were the affairs of the Town" Board. Throughout the year this body was the object of more or less bitter attacks by a section of the citizens. These people not unreasonably demanded that the town should be provided with practicable roadways, and did not cease in their clamour for street lights. In the early part of the year the board did make some-efforts at clearing streets and repairing the highways, but the incessant rain, together with hail, sleet and snow, entirely nullified their efforts. To give pedestrians some measure of safety and comfort, Mr Burgoyne contracted to lay down grating footpaths, sixteen feet wide, along certain of the main streets. The gratings first started in Tay Street proved most successful, and the new board elected in August, extended the scheme to Dee, Esk, Kelvin and Don Streets while stone from the Mokomoko was broken up for the roads. In August there appeared the first few lights in the streets, a concession which but whetted the citizens appetite for more. In these works the board was greatly helped financially by the council. “ . During the year, the board became involved in two controversies. The first was over the question of the trusteeship of the Town Belt and Public Esplanade. The board opposed itself to the council, and maintained that it exercised control over this land and that the projected hospital should be built on some other site. The later quarrel was over the engineer. Mr Marchant had been appointed Acting and Consulting Engineer to the Town Board in March, but his advice had but rarely been carried out. Whether that was the reason or not, before "the end of the year he resigned, and at a full meeting, the Board selected Mr Kempson for the position from among several applicants. For some inscrutible reason this appointment was renounced a week later, and Mr Richardson was given the office. This constituted a grave slur upon the name of Mr Kempson as no explanation was forthcoming. The Board,., in spite of heated protests., would not budge in its decision, and the injustice was confirmed. Such quarrels, combined with the obvious lack of resources and resourcefulness on the part of the Board, lessened its prestige and led to its gradual decay. In the meantime the town itself had been developing and expanding; new buildings, permanent and temporary, sprang up like mushrooms on every vacant cleared section. The population of Invercargill totalled 1554 on December 31, 1862, and this had risen to 5,000 in the following December. Most of these were Scotch Presbyterians, the next largest denominational representation being that of the Church of England. The former people opened their new Church on May 15, the Revs. W. Bannerman and A. H. Stobo conducting the services. Mr Stobo’s work was rapidly becoming too arduous for his unusual enenrv, and an appeal was made for another minister for Invercargill. The Anglican Church had had additions made to it, and a new church (All Saints) was opened at Ryal Bush on March 16. Bishop Harper of Christchurch officiated at the opening ceremony, the Rev. W. F. Oldham being the incumbent. The Rev. Benjamin Drake was the first Congregational " Independent minister in Southland. Arriving in March, he conducted services in the schoolroom just after its vacation by Mr Stobo. These various denominations adopted different methods of raising funds. The -Presbyterians who were in debt to the extent of £l2OO on account of their new church, made determined efforts at wiping off this debt by personal sacrifices. The Anglicans Raised most of their finance from a series of amateur concerts, while the Roman Catholics collected large sums by public subscription. Educational work also proceeded apace. By September public schools were flourishing at Invercargill (one for boys and one for girls), Riverton, South Riverton, Waianiwa and Long Bush. Altogether there were but 165 children in attendance at these schools, the privately managed institutions claiming a fairly large number of

m Last Week.) ■ pupils. It was indicative of lhe youthfulness of the province that the percentage . of pupils of school age was so small. Tne efforts of the Government to promote the growth of this slender educational plant were restricted, not by lack of care, but by its own limited size. This was not the case with regard to the hospital. In this case the facilities provided ’ had become quite inadequate. A lamentable feature of the winter months had been the fact that sick people had been turned . away from the improvised hospital on ac- ' count of lack of accommodation and of proper hospital attendants. By October, however, the new hospital was ready, and ' Dr James Murray was installed as Resident i Surgeon with Mr Dunbar McCabe as Resi- | dent dispenser. Dr Murray was the Health Officer and thus had to examine incoming ships at both Invercargill and the Bluff. His duties called him to the railway construction camps at Winton and the Mokomoko, and the gaol claimed part r his time. His hospital work suffered a good deal from these distracting and diverse duties especially so as he was granted the extraordinary privilege of the right of private practice. These unusual circumstances provoked much criticism, a good deal of which found its way into the local newspapers. The papers also contained the advertisements of numerous doctors attracted by the increasing population. The newcomers included Dr Wilson, who arrived on January I, Drs. Rowbottom and Young on April 4, Dr Murray on April 15, and Dr Ryley on May 27. The only ones who lodged their qualifications with Mr Price and were registered as fully qualified practitioners were Drs A. R. Berndt, J. T. Heeley, F. A. Moncton, R. Densham, D. J. Young, and J. F. Deck. Dr Berndt set up as a physician, surgeon and accoucheur in the Prince of Wales Hotel, and was well liked until he left for the West Coast gold-fields in 1865. Drs. Young, Wilson, Rowbottom, Collier and Rohner, after a short sojourn in Invercargill, likewise followed the gold seekers to the Coast. Dr Densham came to the Bluff on February. 17, 1863, and started practising at Riverton short!}’ afterwards. He paid particular attention to the Maoris . of that district, by whom he was held in ’ . very high esteem, and for some time he was in charge of the Riverton Hospital. . Although the population of the province , was rapidly increasing, the number of doc- . tors was more than proportionately greater . and as a result of the general healthy con- . ditions, there was not sufficient employment ’ for them all. Many therefore moved on. The province had as satisfactory a criminal record as its sanitary record in spite J of the rather mixed types of the incoming J population. There was, therefore, little of moment to engage the attention of.Mr ! Justice Gresson, who held a Circuit Court '| in Invercargill in July. Mr Justice Richj mond was gazetted a judge of the Supreme i Court of New Zealand on October 20, 1862. and on the appearance of a proclamation ’ dividing the Southern districts between ( Canterbury on the one hand, and Olago , and Southland on the other, he was appointed to the latter provinces. Another change ' occurred when, at the end of July, the jurisdiction of the Resident Magistrate’s t Courts, which had been extended on July , 1 to include cases dealing wtih sums "of , ■ money up. to £5O, was further widened to . I deal with’ cases up to £lOO. Even with j these extensions the Resident Magistrate’s t • work was not excessive. [ I Adequate provision for those meriting . ! the displeasure of the Courts became avail- . | able when the Invercargill Gaol was com- [ ■ pleted early in the year. The Gaol was . j proclaimed on February 6. and Mr T. K. 1 Weldon became Commissioner of Police in . September. Concurrently with this ap- • pointment there appeared in the Gazette i a set of rules and regulations for the con- . duct of the gaol. The prisoners were for- [ bidden tobacco and spirits, while singing [ and loud conversation were proscribed. - The ; ordinary daily bill of fare was composed (thus: —three-quarters of a pound of bread, . I half a pound of meat, half a pound of ; ' potatoes, half an ounce of salt, half an i i ounce of soap. Prisoners working off sen- ' ■ fences involving hard labour were granted 5! an extra half-pound of both meat and • [ potatoes and two ounces of sugar. Solitary ; confinement cases were granted one and a i half pounds of bread daily with water ad • libitum. The visiting Justices were granted • wide powers over the conduct of the gaol i which they were to visit weekly. The first i visiting Justice was Mr Jackson Freeman, i w'ho was appointed on July 9. His labours ■ were later shared by Mr Ileale, appointed I on September 23, and Messrs H. Whitton, ! IW. H. Calder, D. McArthur, and N. I Chalmers, appointed on October 31. One ■ hundred and seventeen prisoners were re- , ceived in the gaol during this half-year I ending September 30, and these were pracl tically all cases of lesser importance such i as larceny, assault, and drunkenness. There , were no serious crimes whatsoever. It Is ‘ interesting to note that the persons suffer- . ing from lunacy were herded with the : criminals, probably because there was i nowhere else to lodge them. ’ Although the record of crime in the ; Province was a meagre one most of it was ; directly due to the influence of the. gold- • ! fields. Much activity was evidenced in the " neighbouring fields during the whole year, . there being nearly ten thousand miners > working there at one time. Large quan- ■ tities of gold were regularly despatched by s the escort to Dunedin, by way of Pyramid, . in spite of the inconvenience caused by i winter floods. The Southland gold escort, which had established quarters at Winton, . did not prove a success. It Is reported that, ; on its only .effective trip, three ounces of ■ gold were brought down protected by six muscular policemen bearing drawn swords. ; Foiled in its attempt to partake in the i gold harvest, the Southland Government ■ had its attention drawn to coal-mining. > In February, Mr James Steele wrote to the Superintendent informing him of his belief ’ in the presence of a coal mine within thirty i miles of Invercargill. The Government, : doubtless thinking of .its railwav system, > was keenly interested, and the sum of £5OO • was voted to the discoverer of coal easily " accessible to Invercargill or Riverton. This , was not immediately claimed, but work- ! men engaged on the Bluff Railwav works cut through a seam of bituminous coal which gave an indication of the source ’ from which much wealth would later be derived. At that time the discovery was ! not of particular value because timber, the ' universal domestic fuel, was plenteous and cheap, while there were as yet no industrial undertakings requiring coal for fuel. (To be continued.)