IN THE OLD DAYS

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 34, 17 March 1914, Page 1 (Supplement)

IN THE OLD DAYS

The land of North Canterbury was so good that very parly in the history of the province it had drawn men to it, and ■within a within, adecade—there were men who had taken, up great blocts of land an& were already ebnsidermg how they might stock them, get more

men to work~tnem, and procure food for, themselves and their followers. First /there- was. .Kaiapoij ,an,d "by "about 1858 . there was Eangioxa. ' Fqllowing English Traditions. Mr John' Sansom is Mayor of Eangiora.' Let him tell the story. With his people he was in Kaiapoi in 'SB. For a few months only they stayed there, and then they went - forward to Eangiora, through the wilderness, following the English tradition of pushing the fron-tiers-further out. .They went in a bullock "dray drawn by .ten beasts, driven by a nigger called "Blatek Charlie." For th*ee miles they lurched through the flax and rushes -of the swamp, land, and then ft truck they towed' behind the waggon capsized, and they went on without it. The present rpad is * direct. In those days it wound »und by Ashley, so that the fords might fee easier. I'J 'ill! -W fll ».'>. ii'i . • , t,. -Beginning with, an Hotel.. , There were a very few houses there, 9ft usual the 'settlement beginning with

, interesting early chronicles,

an hotel, a bush license held by the late Mr'G. Hanmer, which was a mile below the,present town "and opposite, the spot whjere Mr W. Buss's place was after--■wards. The next hotel was "the Red LiO& held then by-the'late Mr poster. The i Plough Inn was a small place in the west end, held by the late Mr Solomon Stevens., '' The Junction' did not come until early in the sixties, when it was"- kept by the late Messrs John and William Sinclair. Another hotel was there also, but has now gone, entirely. There were some shops in 's§. The first was opened by the late Mr Black, of Kaiapoi, who put in as manager Mr J. B.^ilson/who is' still alive. The late Mr W. Sahsom opened his store- at about the saml time, *ahd the late Mr Henry Blackett commenced then also. Mrs Bean. , commenced business Jn. a fancy snppythere in the west end of, the; town.. Mr William Barnard.was also- in business, in the town. But, taken all in all, the. town-Was merely a grouping of scattered families*' The land taken in those days,: and aV far back as v I851; was in'faiiiy large lots. For example, the block on which Mr Sansom's shop howstalids was leased to the late Mr Crosby Ward in a 50 -acre block.'' The First industry. The sawmilling was the only industry in the early days. The only sound, heard was. the ring of the axe and the hum of the pitmen's saw, and the scream of the kaka (long since gone from Canterbury), and the musical call of the tui. About one mile, frpm the town was the Rangiora Bush. -There was no chance then for a big mill, as the timber country was' let in comparatively small blocks, each surveyed by the late Mr C. J. v Boyes. Husbandmen Arrive. • The farming industry followed on the heels, even if was not of the same,time,

as the bush work. , The first plot of wheat grown, in the district was raised, Mr Sansom says, by the late Mr Crosby Ward, the ground being ploughed with a wooden plough said to have been borrowed from the late Mr O 'Connell, of Mt Gtfey. The land being broken> there was a difficulty in the sowing, of which process ,ali, seemed to have,. o, pheerful. ignor,-,> ance, ; who: iiad seen men sowing by hand at Home, Offered his services, and it was by him that the

earliest grain was sown. The Seconal, crop; in the district was grown by t\ip: late Mr William Ivory, on land that lia% been spaded over in the autumn, loft to? crumble through the winter's frosty' and spaded again in the spring. crop was about 100 bushels to the acr% and was sold by Mr Sansom at 10/- pos bushel. So one sees that the newost proposals as to intensive farming are really a reversion to ways which are so old that they have been forgotten. Disabilities and Difficulties. The Mayor. goes, on to tell of the difficulties that stood in the There rode into old Rangiora a small farmer called Watts. He was mounted upon a e ' Jerusalem pony," so .they called it then —an-upstanding jackass. He asked Mr Blackett about a small plough, and, having ended the bargaining, said he would take it out*to his place two mile's away without' : further .delay. That pioneer borrowed three yards of rope and secured the plough- to the jackass's tail —well "clear of its heels, —and so towed the plough to his place. And on '"■■'■ '••..,., ~.- ■■--■■■:.!-: :- 1 ■>>':■ ■';■*■*?■*':; >■■'■<■-'■

his farm there were only two animals, the said donkey and a cow. A child guided each, and another followed the" plough. This man raised record crops of pptatoes. He had got his seed by, cutting, each, potato that was ; p«eje,d fpj, eating, And setting them in-littite bosesioftfloam, so that they might live-and'thrive-before being planted out. Coaching Fifty Years Since. ! The first coach which ran to Eangiora, went by way of Woodend, driven first by Black and then by Bean, twice a week. In '62 Mr W, Sansom, the Mayor's brother, took on the contract.

The Cobb and Co, coaches came up from Otago, and were on, the road early in the sixties, running to. Rangiora, .Kaiapoi, Oxford, and later to Hawlsswood, much further north, the last 20 miles of that trip the mails and all else going by. pack saddle. The five-horse coaches ran through until '7l, when the railway came. Advent of the Railway. About its coming there are many tales. The old scheme was that the line should go through Woodend, and miss Eangiora. Even half a mile of -line

was laid following that idea. The lato Mr W. 11. Porc'ival fought hard for Rangiora, and at last he won. He was a very Hick man, ill with diabetes, and the day that the railway whistle blow for the first time of a train coming into Rangiora, he went to his gate and watched. Then ho went inside; and ho died. Flax-milling. Flax-milling began early in the sixties. Mr Dumergue, with him the lato Mr Crosby, took up the business, and tried to grow flax from seed, but soon found that tins was by far too slow, and had perforce to resort to the method of propagating by the splitting of roots. Their venture was near Bennett's at that time. Other places were tried later, but Mr Sansom says that money was lost upon each. Road Board Administration. The town grew, and a Road Board took charge of its affairs, Mr Henry Blackett being its chairman for years. Mr Blackett introduced the system of drainage which has made the district what it is now. Certain farmers who were con-

cerned contested the'innovation each inch of the way. Those who favoured it were encouraged by the late Mr Maude, j and persevered. < They won in Christehureh, and the case was taken on appeal to Wellington. They won there, and, strong in the knowledge of the Provincial" Government behind them, were ready to take it all <m to the Privy Council. But that was, not necessary, and the great scheme-nthe magnitude of which is in danger of being,forgotten—', went through to its ultimate feuccess. . v Small Holdings—and Churches. Farming was making headway too, and

the small holdings that are still a feature of the district were increasing in number. The first combine,, Game in '64 or'.'6s, brought by the late Mr Bobinsoif Benn.,. The churches in.. Bangiora, as in the rest of Canterbury, were co-eval with the settlement. For the English Church the Eev. Mr Dudley came in 1860, and by his efforts had a church up in two years. For the Plymouth Brethren Mr Mannering held services a.t the home of Mr Good, sen. The Baptists were taught by the late Mr Ivory,. The late Mr G. Booth conducted the services of the Methodists;

giora, and for* a place to sell fats it can hold its own with the city. The monthly horse fair keeps up," and prices though they have dropped there as well a* elsewhere, are still; worth while. So far al' Eangiork itself is ! concerned; the yards might be enlarged' with advantage to both buyers" aid- sellers. For margins Oxford is as good as anywhere in Canterbury, which is to say that it equals all New Zealand. Many of the best fat lambs go from the Oust. Primary Industries. , The industries are all of the land, and declares that, judging by results and

.perhaps unfortunately appear to be ' standardised. Very lately there has been a small boom in dairying, and up towards the Loburh, as well as in better !;' known lands about the place, this has been recognised as the coming'game. Recently at Woodend between fifty and sixty acres of suitable land changed hands at £7O per acre. This, of course, was an exceptional case, as good average agricultural land can be had at . from £2O to £3O per acre. A stock and i produce expert, who knows ajtl the Dominion and a good deal of Australia,