OLD TARANAKI.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 July 1921, Page 10

OLD TARANAKI.

SOME REMINISCENCES.

HARDSHIPS OF THE PIONEERS.

Palmerstofi North, July ]5.

Mr. John Cheyne, who now resides at : Utuwai, and who was one of the earliest' drivers of public conveyances in the Taranaki district, has just revisited that portion of the country, where he was much struck by the changes which, have taken place. Mr. Cheyne arrived' at Wanganui from the Olil Country in 1863, and shortly afterwards moved on to the Taranaki district. He was one of the first mail contractors there when roads were practically unknown, and the bulk of the country was standing bush. He continued on the road until Cobb and Co’s, coaches made their appearance, and was for some years in that firm’s employ as a driver. His reminiscences, given to a Dominion representatives this week, should be-of interest to those who have only known the ■district in what he calls the ifiore civilised times, with its tar-sealed roads and motor-ears as means of locomotion.

When he started driving there over forty years ago, there were practically no roads, only tracks cut out of the virgin bush, through which it was difficult to get anything on wheels, on account of the depth, of the mud. At that time, Mr. Cheyne says, he saw the site of the present township of Hawera being felled out of the bush by a man and his wife. What is now the mountain road between Eltham and Hawera. was all standing bush, and the track cutthrough it was either axle-deep in mud or formed of corduroy. From there to what is now Ngaere and on to Stratford and Midhirst was not much better. So deep was the mud in some places that the horses had to be taken out of the carts, led around to the other side of the holes, and then all the spare chains were hooked on and the vehicle was drawn across the bog. Later on, when the railway was running as far as Stratford, Cobb’s coaches used to connect with it there and went on to what w T as then Te Ngaere, where the horses were stabled behind a large kauri log. Often when the animals came in it was almost impossible to tell their coUr owing to the mud with which they were coveted. As is was also impossible to do anything with them the same night, they had to remain with the mud caked on them until next morning, when they were hosed down and scraped. In thosft days what did duty as townships were few and far betwean, and settlement was very sparse, while in some places it took a whole day to do six miles with a bullock dray with less than half a load. Recently Mr. Cheyne revisited the scenes of early adventures. He wa& taken over many of the roads in a motor-car by a county council chairman, who knew that he had travelled over them constantly when they were in the state described above, and who took considerable pride in showing him the advancement made. Th visitor was astonished at the transformation, declaring that the roads in the majority of cases were as good as town roads, while the manner in which settlement had gone ahead impressed him greatly.

ADVERSE CONDITIONS. Mr. Cheyne pointed out that the early settlers had a good deal more than bad roads to contend with, as there were practically no conveniences of any kind. A settler on taking up land had to cut a track through the bush to his holding, and then probably live in a tent for a considerable time until he could fell timber and rig up some sort (X a house for himself and family. He then had to fell the bush off a sufficient area of land to allow him to graze tw/> or three cows with the help of the undergrowth which they got out of the bush. “People nowadays might well ask how these pioneers made a living,” said Mr. Cheyne. “It was not living, but merely existing. From their cows they made so-called butter, for which they did not get 2s 3d to 2s 6d per lb. as has been the case lately, but only from 3d to 4d per lb, and this they had to barter to the storekeeper who supplied them with groceries, etc....”

As one who had often travelled on the railway between Midhirst and New Plymouth, Mr. Cheyne bore testimony to the fact that on Saturdays especially it was a very hard job to get a seat in the second-class carriage on account of the number of women with their baskets of butter which they were taking to the store, or who were returning with their weekly supplies. This went on for some years, until many of the settlers got more of their country cleared of bush. The falling of the bush led to another source of income. Live fungus grew on many of the larger logs, and this was gathered by the mothers and the younger members of the families, while pater-familias was felling more bush, and the product was eventually sold for about 3d per lb. Tn spare time a small section would be surrounded by a "dogleg” fence, in which to grow cocksfoot for seed to sow the land asIt was cleared.

FIRST BUTTER FACTORY. There wefe no silk stockings or farilev blouses on the ladies in those days, said Mr. Cheyne. Not only did the settlers have hard times, but the storekeepers were at their wit’s end how to dispose to advantage of the so-called •butter which was eventually packed in 5611) kegs. This was not to.be wondered at, when it was remembered that when many of these receptacles were opened they emitted anything but a pleasant odour, and more often than not a large, junk of salt was fouM in the centre of the keg. If the same stuff were placed on the market at the present day it might be classed as secondary cart grease. It was not until Mr. Chew Chong started the first butter factory at Eltham that dairying matters improved, and as far as Mr. Cheyne could remember he was rewarded for his enterprise by having six suppliers for the first season. This was not very encouraging, but when the settlers discovered that they could get hard cash from him on the 20th of each month, instead of having to barter their butter, the supplies increased year by year, and to this enterprising* Chinaman (now deceased) Taranaki owed a debt of gratitude for having started an industry to which the province owes so much.