A PIONEER TRADER

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 220, 23 January 1911, Page 3

A PIONEER TRADER

MR. CHEW CHONG HONORED. About litiy representative men, the majority of them very old residents oi the district, gathered in the Town Hall on Saturday afternoon for the purpose of making some slight recognition of the valuable services rendered to Taranaki settlers in the early days by Mr. Chew Chong. The proceedings took the form of the presentation of au address, the text of which has already appeared in our columns.,

The Mayor {Mr. G. Tisch) in making the presentation, stated that he bad only been asked to do so that morning. Personally, he had not been asked to sign the address, or contribute towards it. This he would have been pleased to do, as he had a very intimate knowledge ot the work done by the recipient. He remembered in the early days of the seventies the hardships Taranaki settlers had to undergo. There were no roads or bridges, and the people lived in whares in a very primitive way. Money was very scarce. Fungus-gathering, and the sale of the fungus to Mr. Chong, enabled the settlers to keep going, and he well remembered the difficulties they had to contend with to get it dry, but when dry it was pa-t.'.ed into town, and was exchanged for goods of all kinds. He recognised that this industry and Brown's mill had been the means of saving many settlers round the district from ruin. In conclusion, he was pleased to see so many met there to show their appreciation, and hoped that Mr. Chong would still live many years to remember this occasion.

Mr. Okey, M.P., said there were many settlers at the present time who recognised the benefit that Mr. Chong had conferred on the district. Thirty or forty years ago they got 4d per lb for butter, and then had to taKe it out in groceries. In 1870 Mr. Chong started business here, saw fungus and recognised it as a vegetable used in his own laud, and with great foresight sent a cargo to China. . The venture proved successful, with the result that in 1878 the fungus exported amounted to £70,OUo—n.<.:'e than the dairy industry at that tin " produced. This showed the benefit Mr. Chong conferred on the district. If it had not been for this, many a settler could not have held on. Fun-gus-gathering was a work which the women and children could do on the section, while the husband was away earning wages, which at that time were ss? per day. It was not only in the fungus industry, but in the dairy business that he deserved commendation. Mr. Okey then read thn following extract from the New Zealand Times:

In IS7O Mr. Chew Chong settled in New Plymouth, and established a store, other stores being subsequently startea at Eltham and Inglewood. His main sphere of activity was. at Eltham, for it was here he became the pioneer of the dairy factory movement in the province. In erecting a dairy factory Mr. Chew Chong took a risky step, for it was a matter of great difficulty to secure a competent butter-maker in those days, the refrigerator was unknown (control of temperature, an essential feature in the modern factory, being thus impossible), separators were crude affairs, transport was difficult and costly, and the butter had to ,be shipped abroad as ordinary cargo. However, he was a man of exceptional enterprise, and having been appealed to by the settlers with whom he was doing business he approached the work in a bold manner. Perhaps the best indication of the up-to-date nature of his enterprise may be gained from the following description of the factory given by the first Government dairy instructor in the year 1888: —"Chew Chong's Factory.—This is one of the best butter factories I have visited. The machinery is good and in firstclass condition, and everything about it is thoroughly clean. The machinery is driven by a water-wheel. There are two Danish cream-separators, each capable of putting through 150 gallons of milk per hour; one box-churn, capable of churning half a ton of butter at once; and a lever butter-worker. The waterwheel is inside the lower part of the building. The butter, when churned, is taken to a space between the wheel and the outside wall to be made up. When the wheel is in motion it causes a current of cool air in the place, throwing at. the same time a spray of water in the air, which assists to cool it in hos weather, a method invaluable for buttermaking. The building of a tunnel to bring the water to the wheel and plantcost over £700." It is told by old settlers as an instance of Mr. Chew Chong's versatility that the contractors for this tunnel were on the point of throwing up the work as they could make no progress, when Mr. Chew Chong took a pick, went into the tunnel, and showed them how to go about it. It was in 1887 that the factory was established, a notable period for the industry. Being the year of Queen Victoria's jubilee, Mr. Chew Chong named his factory the Jubilee and registered the word "Jubilee" as a brand for his butter. It was a success from its initiation, notwithstanding the difficulties which had to be faced. Fortunately, a good butter-maker was secured in the person of Mr. Sydney Morris, now manager of the principal factory of the most important buttei'niaking concern in the Dominion, the New Zealand Dairy Association. The first year suppliers could only be paid 2d a pallon for their milk, but the following rear 3d a gallon was paid. Speaking to the writer on the condition of things at that time Mr. Chew Chong said Sd a gallon was a good price under the circumstances, as there was no Babcock tester, and it sometimes took up to 35lbs of milk to make a pound of butter. The first shipment of the factory butter realised 24s a cwt more than did the milled butter shipped by Mr. Chew Chong at the same time. The cost of marketing was expensive in those days. Vtoads were bad and railage freights were high. To rail butter to Wellington cost £3 4s a ton (afterwards reduced to £2 ss, providing four tons were railed at the one time), and this, of course, in ordinary trucks. To-day the butter is carried from New Plymouth to Wellington in insulated holds by coastal steamers at lis a ton. Then without the aid of artificial refrigeration the high-grade butter of the present day could not bo manufactured, and it could only be shipped in a united state as ordinary cargo. That the butter Mr. Chew Chong turned out was of fine quality for the period is fully proved by the fact that "Jubilee" butter' gained the leading awards at the South Seas Exhibition at Dunedin in 1880, including a -diver cup, presented by Messrs. A and T. Hurt. The history of Mr. Chew Chonp hi the dairy business is very similai

to tliut of many another proprietary pioneer in the industry. When the wave of co-operative dairying carried all hefore it he struggled gamely for a time, but finally had to close the doors of his factory and three creameries, having failed to persuade the co-operators to take them over, with the result that his buildings and plant, which cost £3700, did not realise £4OO. Altogether Mr. Chew Chong calculates that he lost £7OOO (it the dairy business, for during

the Inst few seasons his plants were in operation he had to pay very high prices to retain suppliers, and the dwindling supply did not permit of the creameries being run at a profit. His

stores were n.ore profitable, but bis '. losses here were heavy, sir. he was si gen- | erous trader, and this was taken full advantage of. The connection of Mr. Chew Chong with the dairy industry is ! an honorable record, and if any man deI serves national recognition for his clI forts on bi half of a primary industry it lis he. Though his services have not attracted the attention of the outside' world there is not a man of any long experience in Taranaki who does not > hold him in high regard and honor him for the great part ho played in the development of the province." Mr. Okey said he was pleased to see this gathering, though they could not possibly do Mr. Chong the justice he deserved. Mr. Chong, who apologised for not being able to speak English thoroughly, feelingly replied, thanking those present for their kindness in thus remembering him. He then gave some very interesting reminiscences of the past. When he arrived in New Zealand, he said, he knocked about the South, Island for three years, when he came to Wellington, recognised the fungus, went into the trade and made a good profit'out ol it. Other Chinamen and many white people then engaged in the business. The Maoris used to bring in cart loads every day, and one day a- Taranaki Maori tola him there was plenty of fungus in this district, so he came. One day in the third week.he paid out £OS cash for fungus at the rate of as per bag. Then numbers of people went in for fungusbuying, including Messrs. Newman, Humphries, K. Cock, King, and Shuttleworth Bros,, and from, thirty-five to forty bullock dray loads used to come in every day. He then started stores at New Plymenth, Inglewood and El* tham. He had purchased forty kegs of butter, which ho could not "sell in New Zealand, so he sent these to England. He lost money, as freight was so dear, and the butter only realised 4t\ per lb. The butter was "velly bad," only fit for cart grease, so the agents informed him. Mr. Hulke, of Bell Block, advised him to get a pair of separators at £95 each. He did so, and started a factory at Eltham in 1887 with the registered brand "Jubilee." The first butter he sent Home realised 05s, whereas farmers' butter brought 70s. In 188'J he sent twenty boxes to the Exhibition at Dunedin. He never thought to secure the prize, as it took' about a week getting there, but he got first prize and second prize. The Crown Dairy Company also took prizes. In fact, six • prizes came to Taranaki. When he was told that he had secured the prize he thought he was only being laughed at. A coincidence was the fact that a Chinese flag was Hying over his butter, although at the time it was not known to be his. The papers could not understand it—they hud never dreamt that a Chinaman coidd besit an Englishman or an Irishman, and. he got enquiries as to his methods from all over New Zealand. The first year he gave 2d per gallon, for milk, and lost on it, as it was too expensive to manufacture, though butter sold locally at Is 2d and Is 3d. Next year he had to give ad per gallon, butter was a bad price, and he lost over £ 1000. While there were fewcows he was asked to erect creameries. He erected three, but when cows were plentiful' they started co-operative factories. He had to give y 4 d per lb extra, for milk to secure trade, and. "even then ho could not get much. He lost over £7OOO. He stuck at it for sixteen or seventeen years, but lost over £7OOO. He thought he had been treated very shabbily. Why did not the co-operative people buy him out, even if they had only paid half the cost of his plant? As a matter of fact, they said, "look at Joll and the Crown Co., they are making fortunes," Well, he lost his. His ten separators 'were sold at the foundry for 2s fid per cwt. He had done the country good, because since the establishment of dairy factories the value of land had grown like a mushroom. He was very pleased to accept thi3 memento.

The speaker sat down amidst applause. It is understood that sUps are being taken in other centres to recognise the benefits resulting to Taranaki from Mr. Chong's industry and enterprise.