HARD WORK AND POOR PRICES

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21328, 22 November 1934, Page 8

HARD WORK AND POOR PRICES

Early Struggles of the Settlers LACK OF MONEY AND EXPERIENCE Many difficulties and hardships were faced by the settlers who took up land at Cheviot when the big estate was subdivided. Comparatively l few of them were well equipped either with money or experience for the tremendous task of carving homes in a district which was at that time poorly served with roads and bridges. They were great-hearted men and women, and, undaunted by disappointments and failures, poor prices for sheep and wool, they persevered until, with remarkably few exceptions, they were established farmers. Early settlers in the district on whom a reporter called this week, were reluctant to talk of their first struggles. Transport was one of their main troubles. Mr T. Stevenson, of Spotswood, went to his holding from Flax- ; ton in 1893. "I don!t know what the

young folk of to-day would think if they had to go through what we did then," he said. He had great difficulty in obtaining feed for his horses. All the chaff was brought from Waipara—a three-day trip with horses and drays —and the oats came in through Port Robinson. In some places there were roads, and in some there were not, and in the winter the roads were mostly mud. The chaff was not pressed, and it took 80 bags to make a two-ton load, which made the drays top-heavy. On one trip Mr Stevenson's dray capsized twice, the first time when he was trying to avoid a hole in the road, and the second at the Benmore bridge in Cheviot. Usually he went on the trip with a neighbour, Mr Beckett, and they helped one another through the bad places. After the railway had been formed as far as Domett there was a considerable improvement, though a trip to Christchurch involved leaving home at 3 a.m. to catch a tram at 6 a.m. The train returned to Domett at 8 p.m., and then there was a two or three hours' drive home. Thrift and Economy Mr T. H. Wilkinson first landed in Canterbury in 1879 and eventually settled in the Cheviot district in 1894, He drew a section of 100 acres in the second ballot and has lived! on it ever since. "Things were very bad for the first few years," he said, "and everything I could produce off the farm was worth about nothing. I am

afraid the .people of to-day, even the poorest of the unemployed, would turn up their noses at what we had to face then. The settlers had to be thrifty and economical. Thrift or the lack of it made all the difference in those days, and still does, for that matter. Some of the first men here started at 10s a week, and saved money on it. The chief concern of the Land Board then was the half year's rent. If you had it, all was well; if not, then there was trouble. I think there were fewer failures then than now, with all the detail they go into. I can only remember about four men who had to. go off." To illustrate the difficulties of transport, Mr Wilkinson told of the experience of the three Barnes brothers, who wanted some seed potatoes. They set off with three drays on the 15 miles trip to Port Robinson, where five tons of seed had been landed for them. The new road to the Port was not finished then, so they had to go down the hill known as the Cathedral. They also had to climb it, which was a great deal worse. They left on a Monday morning and returned on the following Saturday afternoon. "I would be frightened to say how many times they had to load and unload -those drays to get the potatoes up the hills," said Mr Wilkinson. "I cannot remember what sort of a crop they had, but they did get some return for their labour." The Earthquake Mr Wilkinson has a vivid recollection of the great earthquake, which almost ruined the village of Cheviot and seriously damaged the original homestead. It was on a Saturday morning at a quarter to eight. Mr Wilkinson had just walked out of the house after breakfast and was in time to see the kitchen chimney disappear and the range roll out of the gap, down a bank, and into a swamp. The bricks round the copper broke away, and the topper, undamaged, was left inverted on the debris. Furniture was flung about the rooms, and all the crockery was smashed. It was impossible to walk,

and cattle and horses were thrown. The trembling after the first shock ■ lasted 48 hours and then on the Monday there was another major shock. After that the trembling stopped. The : only casualty was a baby, which was killed when a sod house collapsed. Mr John Auld has been 41 years on his 300 acre farm. "To long," he ' remarked with a smile. Mr Auld landed at Lyttelton from the > ship Lady Jocelyn when he was 17. The passage took 102 days, and the first land sighted after leaving England was Lyttelton heads. His first job was ploughing at West Eyreton, and then he "kicked about the stations" in the 1 Amuri district before going to Cheviot. Low Prices The first few years were very hard ' for the settlers, and more so for their wives. Lack of capital was the main trouble. However, they were a splendid type, honest and hard working, and they stuck together. For the first two years he got 4d and 4>]d for his wool, and drove lambs to the Rangiora market, where they fetched 2s and Is lid. "Still, we had our pleasures as well as hard work," said Mr Auld. "Good theatrical companies used to come up from Christchurch, there were races and sports at Christmas time, and a. good few picnics and dances. Real old-time dances," he added. "None of your fox-trots and three-steps." Both Mr Auld and Mr A. A. Down emphasised the difficulty of obtaining

firewood. There were no trees about, the settlers had to plant their own, mostly from seed. Not a stick was allowed to lie about. Coal was expensive and had to be brought from Port Robinson. Mr Auld said that every Government that had been in power had been good to the Cheviot settlers.