TO-DAY

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 34, 17 March 1914, Page 3 (Supplement)

TO-DAY

The. fact that remains, when all others ! about Kaiapoi are forgotten is >the.i amazing confidence that its people have in it. I cannot explain, but I can exemplify. Rather more than 50 years ago the Methodists —I think they called them Wesleyans in those days—decided that they would have a church in

' Christchurch, and built in Durhan: Street. At the time that church would have held all the population of Christchurch. To-day it is none too large. We of the city have lost that spirit, we have no longer confidence in the , great days ahead, so we linger and « potter and forget those come .after us. Not so Kaiapoi. The man ;/'. from Kaiapoi does no£ tell-you what ','■ his town is, what it has been, but sticks ;* to - the i>oint that it wijil be . a much greater vplace yet'l - ' '• 'And one must. like. Kaiapoi. x 'No society as 1 yet has' striven to beautify Kaiapoi, so it is still beautiful. , Tall Lbmbardy poplars stand in stately, groups, or skirt 'the side of shady streets. ( Silver poplars, now streaked .with the: gold of the autumn, grow in clumps; and in the distance gloomy ,- pina plantations glisten darkly, in the sunlight..'."' '" Approaching the Tow Si. , All prepared us. : Once Papanui was passed the journey up was pretty, -though never realising the dignity of ; beauty save where the south branch of the Waimakariri runs. Small farms' lie on either side of the line, with here and there an orchard to show that the old • order must give place'td'the n.ewi'... ■>:-..• Past Chaney's the trees close in, and ~ the trunks of pinesj poplars} oaks, and willows flit, quicks And again ,_ few idle acres. Tho train stops at_ a bright new railway «station, red-roofed with Bordeaux

i / Quiet, and at Work. I The town seems very quiet. Presently you know that it is quiet —not because it is idle, but because so many are at work. "An industrial centre?" Yes; •but the big factory lies a little way, perhaps half a mile, without, anjj the only token of its presence is a tiny pencil of smoke that winds upwards above the trees to the \ sky, which is porcelain blue. "A shipping centre?" It has been, and will be again, they pay. The north:branch of the Waimakariri flows through the town; below the bridge is a steamer. : Ask and you will find that the inhabitant does not regard it as the sole representative of the-many craft which used to-'trade ..there, but as the first of mightier squadrons to come. You may sneer at loeal patriotism, of the.Auckland sort; but you must reverence the local patriotism that gave Christchurch its decent buildings. 7 Such local patriotism, such ; simple 'faith abides in Kaiapoi. Nor is there reason why it should not. \ The town has room to grow, it has cheap land, a low rate, it has a potential harbour, a well established industry, supreme self-confi-' dence; and further out fat lands worked by farmers who realise their opportunity. ' :.£ .;;;f .! '■'■'■ "■ Romance of Past History. In the back lies a long history—a, longer Maori history than can be told; <; in a dozen=columns: a romance rich in' tales of wreck and wrong, anxl shame and fraud, of plentiful food aird fierce fighting. It has; presumably, tales that

MOST PICTURESQUE TOWN IN NORTH CANTERBURY ; PLACE; WITH A IFUTURE, ;

tiles; and 'yon are in Kaiapoi. For some reason yet unexplained it seems to be the policy to build railway stations a little way out of the town. Nobody favours the scheme except the taxidrivers. Here there is a walk of a furlong or so to the foot of the main street. ■ -

were old when Cook came.v It has. its share in the unwritten history of th< settlement of Canterbury, it's growth a: a village, its recognition as a town, .iti birth as an industrial centre. Fifty Years of Kariapoi. : . All mi'ghV be told' in many wotds .And, indeed," it .would be worth, whih "to praise famous men and the father! which begat us." But there remains it seems, only one man who could d( these things fittingly—Mr .1. Lothiar Wilson. To attempt the task that were his were absurd; and to steal his local Knowledge an infamy. Mr Wilson is a journalist. Usually those of that trxute are not enthusiasts. Yet fifty ye&tk of Kaiapoi, writing all, the time, leaves him as enthusiastic as he was, say, forty years ago. Traditional Spirit. <& The good lands without have their share of this spirit, but largely it seems to be traditional. The stern spirit of the Nonconformist is strong in Eaiapoi; it has many churches, and the temperance movement has a great hold there. One may not agree wish the '' wowsers,'' but one must admit that 'probably a majority of those who receive the title are useful as citizens, and going steadily achieve where more imaginative men have failed. The people of Kaiapoi have been keen politicians from the beginning, and .in the old provincial days there were many merry goes. In fact, it is on record that one politician received such injuries there that he never completely recovered, though he

lived on for twenty years or so. The newer-generation itt Kaiapoi has seldoa* stuck to politics as they are in essential —the tides of this cause and that have swept this while past • have been represented by that r negative virtues, the- Hon. jDilfid, Suddo. Curiously, they are keejn l poll* ticians, and will listen as carefully interrogate as skilfully the Hon'. W. F. Massey, as the Oppositionist speaker who comes into their midst. They know

what tbey want, ami equally - definitely "what they do not want. But they are prone to let it go at that. Keen Sport Lovers. But" this may suggest a rather solemn township. Quite wrong—Kaiapoi has many sides. -. The* old Kaiapoi Rifles wan;to. a'notable'success-.- The . Cjire Rowtng.iClub. has been one of the big names. Hockey started there, and the men "as "well as the ladies were never a team to be neglected. The bowling green with its pavilion with tiled roof would be a credit to a city. The cycling track is one of the best in the. Dominipn, and while in other parts eycling seems dead, there it has most comfortable club rooms and rather speedy riders. Swimming, tennis, football, all have-their devotees; and many motors ride its roads. Its Working Men's Club is a proverb. The social side of Church work is never forgotten. The Territorials and Cadets have, been praised by General Godley, and a Rifle Club shoots on the range. If a resident is dull, it is because he is most unsociable, or because he would be dull anywhere. . A Haven of Best. Trains must be caught if one would go back to town, but a sense .of repose conies swiftly' after an idle hour in that soft air. With time to spare I followed an alluring track, which led along a grassy bank: by the side of the river. There was no wind,Nhardly a ; breeze. The track ran past the poplar j which is everywhere, past. orchards ! where apples grew red and golden; and !

the leaves thinning for autumn suggested the -country; tKough one of the largest factories of the land kept some four hundred people busy only a mile away. Really, Kaiapoi*|p4ght become" a rest place for those "wfjro are wearied of theclanging of gongs. ■ ; . ' Figures More or Less Eloquent. But to return, to the town itself. Kaiapoi has a population of 1850 people, according to the Town Clerk. Of these 393 are ratepayers, and there are

647 rateable properties upon its rolls, i representing 450 dwellings. The area of the borough is 10*20 acres, having an annual rateable value of £11,1.63, a capital value of £154,328. A general rate is fttruek of 1/6 Ain the ,£. Thete is no special rate,, for this m found sufficient to -coven all"; The Council has gone in i for municipal enterprise, and\ has ; its I own acetylene gasworks*. In 1908 a special loan of £3OOO was raised for the purpose of establishing them; and the special rate authorised then has not yet had to be raised. The gasworks have paid from the start, and the Council has saved money by buying its supplies of calcium carbide direct, and in j large • quantities. The borough has 56 lamps, each run at an annual cost of £4 10/-. The cost of gas to private is 5/6 per hundred feet, a j hundred feet of acetylene being equal !to 1000 of coal gas. One hundred and fifty persons subscribe to the gas company, the Council paying the cost'-of reticulation and the laying of pipes to a distance of 30 feet from the street boundary. The Coronation of King Edward VII. was celebrated by the getting of a municipal swimming bath supplied by artesian well, running 50 gallons" to the minute. All school children go

to that bath free while they are iii charge of their teachers, and on other occasions pay Id merely. There is a band rotunda, situated now in Eaven Quay, which has been, moved from Darnley Square. It was put up by public subscription—Mr Eichard Evans

the list with £so—the everwilling council paying the balance necessary. . Municipal Reserves. It ' might be ' imagined that the council draws great, wealth from reserves. It does not. Its ehi&f property is a reserve ' situated f' at Dromore, by Rakaia, in the Ashburton district, of 2000 acres let mostly for sheep farming, and worth roughly about £8 per acre. It brings.

Jit £7OO per year. Other areas, reserve;! bu t not productive *of •"" revfemW, include Barnley Square, tbe domain, in area about 12 acres; and though it is. hot. the property of the council, ; th ? Kaiapoi. ParJi._ It "is", managed- by a ; committee'of. representatives' the spotting' ;bd.lrcs,' r was purchased by public .subscription" aiid. the -issue of j debentures/ which "in .course '.of time f were paid off. " ; *■ *. - - • The Town Clerk says that* there are always dwellings going up, and the values of property have increased j always steadily and slowly, never going- back—they had never" gone back]

in 20: years, and stood very solidly to-cjay-# Cm the coast the council, has,' control of 275 acres of land. It Ms not power to permit, but it v has liberty to at, the erection - of about 25 "hiits/" Many of these "huts" were very modern and satisfactory dwellings;. The council draws about £lO per year out of the price of rights to camp,. but spends far more money on.the place, the levy, .being merely a matter: of showing that it has still control. The council has provided two artesian wells, and fine places for the use of picnickers, though it has not yet gone jas far as the Ashburton authority \ which put up sleeping accommodation r for strangers at the mouth . of the river. Much .more practical is the reserve of 50 acres about a mile out of town on the North Road, where rubbish, night soil, etc., is deposited! ' " / . The water supply is all artesian, and the drainage for the lsost.part islstill surface to, the Waimakariri River. The price of another system would be.about £40,000, according to estimates received, and the town is not yet in a position to pay it. Nor does there appear to be any immediate necessity, as a full often an uvO-flow, can be got anywhere in the borov.gh at 50 feet. ■ Kaiapoi has npty known • the unemployed;-,, trouble for many years, though somewhere back in the past it had much attention from the man who declared that emigratiqn. was a complete failure, and New Zealand a dream merely. That was so long ago that the ordinary citizen knows nothing about

- —3*3 it. The Borough Otnici! has "for work'frdm- the whom are ever seen about. l£* were wanted for a job it would be to get them in. Kaiapoi. - " " jj? - " - - " Gtheir. Activity*.' " . ~ ', TEe fire, danger is fought by; Jt (ary brigade with a of 24. s The 'superintendent or the J#rj>; '~~£ gade is also engineer,' and attends te .th'e \% lighting plant and the lamps. * same connection lies the public."library, "vj which in addition to its free reading room lids 100 members at 8/- per year.-"7*l It'is controlled by a committee" ap "^

pointed by the council, each member* of the committee taking turns to seinte as librarian, so'that .that *side runs.!with-'< out cost to the council. The inception, of the present library-has a tale of its, own. A loan was raised for £3500 to' erect quarters for the Fire Brigade'amL the repair of the mainjbridge. Those tilings were settled, and there remained a balance. The Government gave a subsidy of £250 in commemoration of the coronation of King Georg> * The, old library gave to the council;it*.pro-/ perty on Raven Quay, which was converted at £1.03, and the council .paid 1 the difference in price out umL Rents are very, lew inEaiasoi.";A workman's home, the Town' Clerk says,, costs about S/ r per week; and .a 'goo?li house of seven or eight rooms, 1 if-.any' such was empty, could be rented, afc 35/-. At such prices it certainly jdoes,: not pay to build, but they finite .possibilities of Kaiapoi urb of Christchureh for the man wfiosev hours- are reasonably regular. - i * ■> 'T '**' ,An Honourable 8011. , r • ,>" J&uspoi has been a borougit .siaW--1868. The list of the mayofs mean much to the man who looked backward and realisod \rihat**Wi past has done for the names on the board' in the room are -those *of "men who- IjJoW, worked for the years to come an!d'tfa>te v done things that "will live whefr i&ey" themselves- are."' forgotten,Hall, JS6S; Joshua C. Porter,' 1$B9~: Charles Dudley, 1870-71; Edward V GV; Kerr, 1872-1876; John W. Ellew, 187j£\' 187S; G. H. Blackwell, 3879-l§#lV' Caleb Smith, 1882;' Edward< Parnlijon y ,' - » V".'-."» ■ ,■

.1883; Richard Moore, 1884-1888; 0. Howson, 1888-1890; Reuben Blakeley, *1891; W. iDoubleday, 1892-1893; Edwin , Feldwick, 1894-1896; W. Doubleday, 1897; J. L. Wilson, 1898; Edwin Feldwick, 1899-1901; John Daly, 19021904; Alfred Pearce, 1905-1906; J. H. Biackwell, 1907-1911; R. Wylie, 19121913. The list may seem a dull one, consisting as ; it dpea merely, of names. But it is in reality an honourable roll of the names of men chosen by a thoughtful township to help on that town, and by so doing add to the ■worth of an excellent provincial district.

ship of 25. A portion of the land used was purchased, the balance being given by enthusiasts. Situated close to the town, on the west side of the Waimakariri, it has room for eight greens, and has been improved by the addition of a fine pavilion. The membership has now risen to above 50, and the Mayor (Mr R. Wylie) is this season's president. Mr J. A. Mealings is secretary, and looks forward confidently to the most successful year the club has yet had. Bowing. The Cure Bowing Club has a great record behind itj it was Cure that won