PAPERSPAST

Ka tīmata te puta mai o te Mataura Ensign, mai i te tāone o Gore i Murihiku i te 10 o Haratua i te tau 1878. Ko te tangata nana i tārai ko Joseph Mackay. Nōna anō hoki te nūpepa o Milton e kīia nei ko te Bruce Herald. I āhei ake ia kia tino kaha taua nūpepa, ā, i tēnei nā ka haere ia kia tautokona taua nūpepa e ngā tangata kaipakihi rongonui o te riu o Mataura.

Nā tētahi o ngā hoa kaipakihi o Mackay, arā, ko George Renner, i whakaaro kia tāpaia te ingoa o te nūpepa o Kotarangi (Scotland), arā, te Northern Ensign, hei ingoa mō te nūpepa nei. Ko te mahi a Renner rāua ko tana hoa kaipakihi a James Sinclair, hei whai ake i ngā kaitango koha, i ngā kaipānui hoko rānei mō te nūpepa.

I te marama o Here-turi-kōkā 1882, ka hokona e Alfred Dolamore te Ensign. Ko ia hoki te kaiwhakaputa nūpepa i te tāone o Milton. I ngā tau ki muri i tīmataia e Joseph Mackay te Southern Free Press ki Mataura, ēngari kāore i ora tēnei nūpepa i te taha o te Mataura Ensign, ā, i pērā anō tērā o ngā nūpepa whakataetae, a te Gore Standard.

I mua hoki, i mahi ia i ngā nūpepa e kīia nei ko te Nelson Evening Mail me te Southland Times. Ka tino tere te piki o te kaha o te Mataura Ensign, ā, ka whakaurua e ia he hoa kaipakihi anō, ā, ko tētahi ko tana tungāne a Howard. Ka nuku taua nūpepa ki roto kē i tētahi tari nui kē, ā, ka rahi kē atu anō te rohe e kapi ai. I te tau 1895 ka mate a Dolamore, ā, i muri atu i tētahi ahi nunui nei ka ngaro katoa te tari, ā, ko te mīhini tā nūpepa anake i toe. Ka nuku te nūpepa ki tētahi whare hou i te tiriti o Mersey, i te tāone o Gore. Nō te marama o Paenga-whāwhā i te tau 1906, ka puta mai ia rā taua nūpepa.

I raro i te kaiārahitanga o Dolamore, ka mau tonu te kaupapa whakaputa tuhituhinga mātauranga. I taua wā anō ko tētahi o ngā kaimahi o taua nūpepa nā, ko tētahi tonu o ngā toa mō te tuhituhi kōrero o nehe. Ko James Herries Beattie (1881-1972) tana ingoa. I hangaia e ia ētahi tukunga kōrero e pā ana ki te tāhuhu korero o Murihiku. I hopukina e ia aua kōrero mai i te kōrero ā-kanohi me te tuhi anō hoki ki ētahi atu tāngata. Ko te kaituhi "Uncle Phil" ko William Gilchrist, te tumuaki o te kura o Gore ki te rāwhiti. I tuhi ia mai i te tau 1891, ā, mō ngā tau nui ki muri hoki. Ko tana mahi hei whakakaha i ngā taitamariki kia tino pai ake tā rātau tuhi.

I te tau 1920, ka whakatūria te kamupene whakaputa pukapuka, arā, te Gore Publishing Company, ā, i nui tonu ngā kaimahi o te nūpepa i mahi i taua kamupene nā. I te tau 1973 ka tīnihia te ingoa o te nūpepa rā ki te Ensign, ā, e haere tonu nei i tēnei wā hei nūpepa e tāngia ana ia rā, ia rā.