NEW SCENES FOR OLD.

Taranaki Daily News, 1 February 1916, Page 6

NEW SCENES FOR OLD.

- GLIMPSES OF EARLY NEW . PLYMOUTH. LANDMARKS DISAPPEARING. - AN INTERESTING INTERVIEW. Many of the landmarks which link the early days in New Plymouth with the present are rapidly being swept away by the waves of progress which sweep over the town from time to time, and fewer and fewer are the signs to tell the visitor that New Plymouth is the iscene of a wealth of historic happenings of remarkable interest. And as the yeaTs roll on the ranks of the pioneers who knew the town in its primitive days become thinner. The past, and all it means, is fading, but it frequently happens that one of the early settlers, who has been away for many years, will return to the scenes of his youth, and revive memories of pictures in New Plymouth which are little known to the resident of to-day. Such a visitor to New Plymouth at present is the Rev. Josiah Ward, of Carterton, who is the fifth son of the late Rev. Robert Ward, who landed at New Plymouth on Augast 28, 1844, and was the first Primitive Methodist minister to cross the equator. The Rev. Josiah Ward's memories of the early days here are varied and interesting, and in an interview with a Daily News representative yesterday he spoke of the remarkable contrast between the New Plymouth of to-day and the settlement of his youth. Mr. Ward «as born in New Plymouth, and his early youth was spent amidst the atmosphere of war and hardship, and he tells of a settlement of strange scenes. New Plymouth represented everything military, for in those days the war-like temperament of the Maori had not been subdued. Hills and valleys, covered with growth for the most part, stretched away from the sea coast, and on the high hills blockhouses and forts stood guard over the cluster of white dwellings and primitive shops which rested in the valley through which Devon street now runs, whilst tracks led here and there about 'the settlement. Picture this scene in the area bounded by Cover street and Queen street, and you have the aspect of New Plymouth as Mr. Ward knew it in his youth, and as the pioneers saw it when they anchored off shore opposite where the railway station now stands.

THE TARANAKI WALL. "Within that area stood the settlement of New Plymouth, and it was surrounded by the Taranaki Wall," related Mr. Ward. "How many people of today know of the Taranaki wall? It was a deep trench —the outlying fortification against the Maoris, from whom attacks were apprehended—and it ran from the sea up Liardet street to about where the electric light station stands, then curving round Marsland Hill, and extended down to meet the sea again about the site of the Terminus Hotel Marsland Hill was a military station, while Flagstaff Hill (opposite the railway station, and now removed) was an important military point, and a forcp of soldiers and sailors was stationed there. It was not possible for all the families to live within the boundaries of the Avail, but from Marsland Hill and Flagstaff Hill sharp look-outs were kept, Rr.d I remember how we who lived outside the wall were told that when the Maoris approached two guns would be fired from Marsland Hill, warning those outside to come in and gain the protection of the fortifications. All this is clear in my mind now, and I cannot but notice the remarkable contrast of today. I was here for a little while about twenty-seven years ago, but this U really the, first time I have been around the town since my youth here. Everywhere I notice splendid progress. Fine streets, blocks of larger buildings, and the whole area within the wall thickly-built upon by a town which extends into parts which were covered w.Hh 6crub when I was a boy. Marsland Hill alone stands as the last relic of the old settlement. There is not the slightest indication of where the Taranaki \vall ran around, the town, Flagstaff Hill has completely disappeared, and the Huatoki stream, which used to run through the settlement at liberty, and which formed a large lagoon where the centre of the town now lies, I has been kept to a strict path and is lost under buildings and dwellings."

HISTORY UNMARKED. A visit by Mr. Ward to the port at 'Moturoa revived interesting recollections. When Mr. Ward was a lad his father decided to" go to Auckland, taking his wife and seven children with him, and the journey from New Plymouth to the Manakau was one of hardship. The party left here in a cutter of nine tons, a nd j after many trying experiences 'the Manakau harbor was reached' in some six days, while when Mr. Ward revisited New Plymouth -twenty-seven years ago the journey was still far from a pleasant one. He had to go from here to Waitara and there join a small steamer, which took very much longer than the steamers now running. Visits to other parts of the town brought back equally interesting memories. The Te Henui bridge reminded Mr. Ward that it was on the original bridge across the river that his father stood on a chair and conducted an openair service, which was the opening of his ministry in New Zealand. The group of buildings consisting of the Central School, the Education offices and the Technical College reminded Mr. Ward that this was Poverty Square transformed. Poverty Square was the military parade ground, the scene of public functions, and the "common" on which the settlers congregated. He recollected that it was on Poverty Square that Major Herbert received the flag of the Volunteers, remarking that the flag was as safe in the hands of the Volunteers as it would be in the Tower of London. "Most people," added 'Mr. Ward, "lave heard something of Poverty Square, but it is a spot of such great historic interest that it is a pity it is not marked in some way. The scene of Fort Stapp, on Wooleombe Terrace, is another place T went to see, but all signs of the fort have gone, and a single snrub stands on a, plot of ground amidst dwellings and streets to mark where the fort stood. This spot is not marked in any way to show its historic importance, and I think this is n great pity." Fort Niger and Fort Cracroft were also visited by Mr. Ward, while Germain Square, now occupied by the Coronation Hall, brought back memories of the quaint square of four buildings which stood there. Altogether, New Plymouth provided Mjr. Ward "with unbounded pleaIW9I te dUwyaring amidst the new