LEADING EVENTS DESCRIBED.

fßy M. Whitehead.)

As our town is about to c'elobraite the jubilee ol'the opening of Hauraki as a goldfielcT on August Ist, 1867, a brief pen pioture of Shortland in 1867-68 may be interesting for old pioneers of the field, fls well as those who have arrived since. . •

The writer did not arrive' until -May, 1868—nine months after its openingyet haxl knowledge of its rapid growth as a township and can vividly picture Shortland then) and its various inter, asting features nnd the varied charactens it possessed,, as all new goldfield lownships usually do. I arrived by the

s.s "Ta.uning.T-" at about 9.30 p.m.

The small townships of Shortknd r.nd Grahamstown wore only dimly T^hited by the few shanties and'■tents, giving one the, impression of. a small fishing village. Our steadier, lifter a voyage of some five hours' steam, landed us at tho Shiotftknd landing, there being no wharf. We simply walked ashore on a narrow plank. The first light shone from an oil lamp hung ait the front of the ''Duke of Edinborough* Hotel ait the landing, Mr Dodd being the licensee, Mho oanFmued to conduct the house in a cifediltaDle imanner for several years afterwards. A few yards further on was another lamp on tho hostel of Foafc's spacious public hovse. Besides the bar, a large room at.the back of the premises waa used for various purposes, amongst ihem a dancing hall, where men had to be content with partners of their »wn sees, for there were very few females on the field then. Still one more lamp &rA public house, kept by the popular Kate Regan. Then'" we turned Adlam's store c&rner, and we were in Pollen St. The first building, Renshaw's general store, the next BameitJt's spacious dining rooms. A few yards further on a new hotel,, kept by Ford; then the branch bank of the Bank of New Zealand. The itheri manager was a Mr fohrlstie. A few yards further and I entered a smaJl boot store which was to be my future abode for 6ome time. My employer with his keen business insight, had leased three 1 shops just erect. ed—roer<* shell*, no lining, etc—the walls of ths partitions were left open at .the top, and the rats had free access at all hours. Next door was a boardinghouse and restaurant. One could hear ■distinctly every word spoken by the owner, aMr Otto/who always supplied with each" meal a fair elice of the i'olitics of the day. AH beals wens one shilling, and good beds—mere shakedowns—wore Is 6d. On the other side of the partition wjs the only auction mast at that time. A Mr Schultz wielded the hammer' on several days of the week. Jim Gerrish acted as siboreman and general bellringer for,, the town. Shortlancl soon after had a noted doctor, whose voice was most loud and boisterous. Tes, you could never forge* Dr. Nichols 1 Voice. Proceeding further up the ''town" were shops of various sorts. A boo* shop, ,a-jeweller and watch. maker, a dressmaker, etc., a bowling alley, a butcher of "renown." so the pro<prie|bo(r himself, ThomaM Peck by name, who used, to stop opposite a "pub" and recite "I am the butcher of wmown, and I dwell in Shortland Town." (Come and have a drink!). The last and largest) building on the west side of Pollen sitreet was the grocery store of Tichfield, Osborne and Co., and overhead "The Gentleman's Club." This .building still stands, while most of the otHersJ memlti'aned have disappeari*!.. The B.N.Z. building is about the only one left; TBarnett's 1' has only recently b*en pulled down.

DOWN THE STREET,

From Butt's Hotel corner we will Wilk'aiohg. First wa6 Hamilton's bale cry, next Levy and Gold wafer, wine and spirit merchants and clothiers. Then the Karaka Hotel Mason's Tiair-drose-ing saloon, May, bootmaker, Burnett and .Levy, general ftborcs, Culpit, saddler, Wood, tobacconist, Culpit's fancy pastry shop, PenibYooK" Hotel, Wait"a stationery and library, Howoll Williams, draper ; €hen another pub at the corner of Pollen. and Willoughby streets. JS'oon after hiy arrival the apposite twc'corners were occupied by a bank, and still tether on, on the opposite side, another bank, so tha& Shortland's inter•sta were well looked after, what with pubs and" banks,: jand both were in cvi. denoe. You could-, scarcely' walk a loscn paces before someone accosted you and asked, "Are you going tot shout.' 1 One of the leading hotels then, and'for mfcny years after, was the "Exchange. 1' Alongside was -Charley Cox, the chemist, Bertram, tent maker, and Wilson/ draper, and near by Fume, butcher. i?o much for the stores .and places of business of 1868 of Shortland. Town, Thames Goldfield, soon to be known all over the colonies, and ©yon America.

In those days > every thing was all thoroughly primitive. The and a few leading men hud {^considerable amount of energy and enterprise. The town neither possessed ay fire brigade, 1 water supply, nor gas, nor even decent footpaths. As for the roads, Pollen St. for instance, vhy, empty drays often gut stuck in. the innd, while the 'tooib. paths wore ailmost impassible. This, however, was . soon to be remedied by the ''City" Board of Works, when o substantial wooden footpath was laid down, ■ tlie cost being largely borne by tho owners of the stores, «tc. Amongst other * n<?«dful works agitated for at

"Butt's darnier," where, by tlfo 6ye, aH our grievances were aired, was the making of Pollen street from the Jvaraka Oreefc. This was carried out by the then Provincial Government, iftnd: it must be admitted thuib the work was well dome." It was a considerable time before you could journey from &hortlnnd to Grahaimstown without getting v»b feet, as there were no footpaths so pedestrians must endure "this) jdiiscamfoxture or .else ride along the beach by the Bus.

Reaching there • several small stores ha-1 been hurriedly erected in the tough colonial fashion. In the main streets, Brown and Owen, several public houses too were doing a fair business, judging by the number for such a small scattered town. A considerable amount of mining was going on up the two creeks, the Moana-Uniad and Waiotahi. At the Shortland end mining was .principally confined to the .Kanikn Creek and Msrphy's Hill, now know as the Urnii. Rich patches of stone were boing brought in by prospectors, and cosily disposed of to the local chemists, who crushed; them by meuns of the pesikd and mortar treatmienlt.' Miner's wages were ora^y 40s per week, and several men who were married journeyed \to their homes at Auckland at the fortlvght's end, the steamer fares being low. Many xti itheso men worked a full share in the mine on the half-share sleeping system, so had to Hva practically on £1 per week, but provisions and meat were cheup.

FIRST BATTERIES.

Up to this time,i 1868-69, there wore only two or three batteries to crush the prceious metal. The earliest, I think, was one managed by Mr Slanders, jup the Hape Greek. To give the reader an idea oi how scant were the buifdings in Pollen St. Central, there wai only one wherje Hi&theringtons now stands, and in the next block Mr Grigg was the first to build, on the j>rc'gorrt site of I. Brown and Co.

Now in few remarks respecting prominent men of that time. Pre-eminence must be accorded to Mr James Macku.y, jrnr, w&o at the first was Warden and. General Government Ageat. lie used to tell 'the story of how the Waiotahi /and Moanataiari creeks were first thrown open by the Maoris for goi*d mining, etc., which showed what great influence he had ia dealing with native affairs. Mr Mackay influenced the lending chiefs in the district, getting them to make certain grants -of land in th« township of Shortland, such as sites £or the several religious bodies^ and the Thames Hospital, all of whicli were given the freehold of the land. Several of the ministers, including Father Nivard, served on the Hospital Board, all working together most harmoniously in the good cause.

Regarding doctors, well, we were well served. There was Drs. Sam, Merrctit, Nicholls and others, ever ready to iiclp the sick and poor.', Th*> postol service was not quite .the thing. You had to call at tfie office, now the Land Court building, and wait your turn. For some a friend of mine, by name O'Reilly, expected letters, but the invariable answer was nothing for you. Reilly became at hyst, so

decided to post one to himself, when, Lo, thera were no less than four for him ! However, he passed it off as a joke, O. Ho Avas very particular that the 0. should be prefixed to Reilly. Business people wearied of the delay in the delivery loi plotters, so combined together and appointed the well known Charlie* Rowley to receive and deliver their letters, Charlie receiving one shilling per week for «nicb service from each olien'b. Charlie was a great politician in hia way, and always smoked a nice fat tigax. The town very eerly was well catered for by way of amusements. The American Theatre, adjoining Butt's Hotel, was always well patronised. The Mworis were all in clover, receiving large sums of money for 'nin. ers' righs Teas, and spent the money very freely. We often had a number of line big-made men, chiefs, visit the town, coming from Obiuemuri, Pinko, Gsroniandel, and other settlements. To »ac wnd hear them was a treat, finely tattooed chiefs «-nd chieftiaaiessos, greaib or;.tors many of them. J. Mackny waa always in evidence, as ho w<vs a treat Maori scholar.

AN OLD TIME, ELECTION

Now a. word about a certain ©lection This was i'or the Superintendent of tho Province of Auckland. Williamson v. Gillies,, 1 think. Tho day for casting your vote arrived, and it was ''open' voting. This was before the Government gave tiie people the ballot. The polling booth M^as tut the Courthouse at Shortland. -Various beta were made, as usual, aa to which candidate would win! One, Rowley Long, volunteered to enter the polling booth, and record bis vote in favour of a certain Candida bo when, if successful, he Mas to receive the sum of £10, the money fto be spent at a certain publichouse. Rowloy got in and recorded his vote fairly e->.sy, but how he go* out it is supposed he , never knev. However, at the tims of writing this he is still alive, and in fairly good health. At, the same election certain men. took charge oi the polling-booth, and for , a considerable lime held the forty permitting only the right colour to,re9ord their votes, One Hugh Coolahan, played', a prominent part, in this notorious election. He was always a prominent politician, but has joined the great majority, liko many other pioneers of 1867.68.

Coming back to the prospects of t)re goldneld ait the dates already nieji. tioned. it may be said that ©very man owning a share in a mine had groat expectation' 1!, and honestly believed lie was going to make a. rise. Men could get a good prospect up the several creeks and hills by panning and washing the Bits of quartz obtainable, so believed they were in for a good timng. All were full of hope so long as such fair prospects were in eight, and they could get "tucker.'' The unemployed at Auckland had speedily found their way to the new goldfield,' men mostly who knew nothing whatever about manual labour, «uch as using a. pick and shovel. But what matter, tliey resolved' to try their luck, for Auckland, since the departure of the Imperial troops, had bad a great slump, .and hundreds of men could not get employment. But eeon after Thames was open for goldmining tliere • was a change for tne bettor, and business improved quickly, resulting in quite a stir amongst business people, and there was in a short time a general improvement in the appearance of the shops in Queen Street. New glass fronts were being put in, and money and trade increased, so that some of the old" firms in Auckland opened tbranehes at Shortland or Grahainstown, and were soon doing ■ a fair, cash business. The firm I represented were amongst the successful ones. WTiy } the first Christmas trade we literally s<vld out, and I took passage by the ".Enterprise No. 2," reaching town about 4 a.m., roused up one of the firm, proceeded to the town shop, packed a oa.se- of anything we could lay our hands on, took "French leave" of the lend of a butcher's handcart, and away down to the wharf to the steamer, which was leaving for Shortland ait 6 a.m. I then had a couple of dayl^ holiday at Auckland. Many of the small stores carried a light stock, which was quickly turned over. Yes, a succe>s<s.fuf business could then, be run with one-tenth of the stock which is needed in these times. People did not worry much about the latest fashions, etc., and were much more contented.

Any of the old pioneers will remember li&w in 1868-69 men " flocked to Thames. I witnessed the landing of 150 fine stalwart miners ffom the West Collet who had come direct to Shortland on the "John Perm." It was an eyo-opencr to many of us to see such a fine body of men, who had been on alluvial gold at Nelson, the. Grey,

Buller. and Hokitika, full of hope, as

miners generally are. But, poor fellows, iJjbey soon found out it was no "poor man's field." Too long a process for euch men finding first the reel's, then the -carting and nrushing, and in many cases could not eventually save the gold, so they gave the field a triai' in tho neighbourhood of Punga tflai, but soon gave it best, gradually leaving the district for new fields.

MINISTERS OF RELIGION

It may interest some of my renders to knew the names of the ministers of religion on the field in the early days. The Anglican Church was represented by the Rev. V. Lush, the Methodist by Rev. G. Harper, the Roman Catholic* by Rev. Father Nivard, Baptist Rev. S. Wilson, Presbyterian, Rev. Jas. Hill, Congregational Rev. R. Laiehley, Pri. mibive Methodist Mr Manning, each showing considerable energy in their efforts on behalf of the Kick and poor, and all being highly respedbed for their work's sake.

HOW WE REACHED THE' FIELD

Previous to any wharf being erected ait the Grahamstown end of the gO'ldfields, passengers from there were taken on board the steamer leaving for Auckland by whaleboats, but it was 6ometimos unp!eajfci.nt travelling in small botit®, so generally passengers preferred to board the steamer by tho tender, tho "Maori Chief," a flmt-bottomed iron steamer wliich met tho "s.s. Taurangci,'' tha main passenger steamer plym<^ between Auckland and Tlr.ui'nes.

The fast and favourite p.sr. Enterprise No. 2 } (is slie was .always called, landed till her passengers and oargr; at tho Shortland landing. This boat drew k'6« - water, so could always get up the

Kauaeranga river,

L'oneidoorablo agitaition was on tho tapis at GrahanistoAvn for a wharf, and ftvontually a narrow pier was erected st doep water ait Tararu, ait a point near the Homes in that village. This 1 was a great boon fo>r the goldfields, as large steamers could lie at the end at all hours of the tide. I said large steamers. Old residents will bear me out when I say that both the "Royal Alfred" and "Golden Crown" were at tha* time considered large. Certainly they wore fairly swift, four hour boats, leaving Auckland daily at 11 a.m. and returning back from Tararu at 4 p.m. Thames

was never better served for passenger traffic than then. A line had been laid alongside of the road, on which ai small engine with two carriages met the stwimer daily. No cargo' was carried by this fine of steamers, but the "Enterprise" and a number of cutters and schooners looked after cargo.

My readers may ask* why was such fai _ admirable scheme discontinued? Well, tho reason was owing to the bleak position of the Taiaru wharf in stormy weaithcr. It Mas constantly being washed away. Then tlie railway track

ditto, and again—well, do> you \know that Thames has sometimes been boom^ ing, and again it has not always been high water. Those who have lived here for 30, 40, or 50 j^ears know all ;tbout this. Yes, tho" tide has gone out very low sometimes, and yet wo never seemed to have lost heart, and here we are to-day- expecting something to ■ happen to again revive mining. And if not, well, then wo will .farm sheep or cattle or do something else.

Gruhamstown in 1867-68-69-70 hid any amount of energy and enterprise, and if the townspeople could have secured the freehold of their business sites it might have still been a flourishing town, but the tradesfolk got tired of paying High rents for leasehold pro, perty } aaid moved to Shortland end or went elsewhere, so to-day the business has mostly drifted to Pollen St. O'en. tr.il } Avlillo old ShoTtiand townsiiip, mostly owned by the Maoris, is in a like predicament. The Maori won't s^li, mad the Pakeha won't lease, so mont business houses that were there have moved nearer the centre of the town. Strange is it not, at first Shortland was pulling against Grahamstown, and visa versa*, and now the business centre is in the centre of the town, as it naturally should be>, perhaps.

I can only recall a> few f>f the business people ■ at> Grahamsi/cxwn, but the majority were men of enterprise and energy. Patterson, grocer, and--..Finlay J jewellery whol a>re still amongst iis, bul many other sturdy men have passed away 3 such as Sammy Coombes-, An. thoncy, of . the "Governor Bowen,'' while some have established businesses in other towns. Marshall, draper, MtO.ulj tinsmith. Most old id entities will remember "Tlie Greatest Wonder oi the Wor.d' iSt«To } where one pound notes of tluir own were issued as advertisements. Space forbids only mention of how volunteering was taken up enthusiastically In both towns, including the Naval Brigade, under men like Murray/ Wilciman, McCullo>ugh 5 Lucas, Potts, and others.

Looking backward over the last 50 years it must be evident thau the Thames goLdfleld has won an honourable position amongst the towns of the Dominion of New Zealand. Many thousands of pounds have been speut in goldmining, finding employment ' for thousands of men. of various trades and professions, who have built up a large town, possessing most* of the advantages of most modern s cities; and alt/hough for the time being work In th 9 mines is very limited, yet, as an old icsidenit I think that with increased facilities for saving gold 3 the time will como when the field will yet yield a rich return for capital honestly invested. Meanwhile the town has ait htind thousands of acres of land suitable for grazing cattle, small and large, which on'y needs to be taken up to pay handsomely. The Thames district is capable

of supporting a much larger population than ever it- had, even at its height. . The opening of the Haura'ki Plains is .1 fine object '.esson as to what can be done with land, considered ps

almost useless at one time, but which now ...l-auks as the finest land in the Do.

mision, yielding the finest caittle and produce to bo found anywhere. The

present and coming generations have nothing to fear if they are prepared to adouslom themselves to hard work and steady plodding, and no one will grudge them a, rich reward •■ for thVir honest labours. The writer now bids you all—pioneers of 1867-68, and others—the

best wishes that man can wish for liie fellows, and "may you live long and

die happy. 1'