IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32050, 26 July 1969, Page 9

IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS

On these pages last week there was a photograph of an old wooden i thrashing mill —Anderson. mill No. 52 on the way to the Museum of Science and Industry at Perrymead. Still in 'working order, it is being restored for the museum by the Society of Rural History. This week 83-year-old Mr Jack Crump, of Hororata, who spent a lifetime among traction engines, threshing mills, chaff cutters and road haulage waggons in the district, recalled that about the last job he did before going to World War I was to haul this mill from Christchurch to Hororata behind three waggons and a traction engine. It was then brand new and he thinks that this was in 1915. Mr Crump was then working for the late Mr T. B. Jones, of Hororata, who had two threshing mills, two

chaff ' cutters. 12 road wag: gons and six engines—fpbr McLarens and two Fowlers.' Mr Crump started Working for the partnership comprising Mr Jones and Mr Tom Patterson at Hororata towards the end of 1907. He began steering engines and learning to drive. About May, 1909, he went to Christchurch to obtain his “ticket” to drive an engine from the marine inspector. There was no practical test involving driving an engine —he had to have >a medical certificate , and to answer a

series of questions. He remembers the. inspector pulling his leg when he questioned him about what he would do if he had

trouble feeding the boiler with water. The inspector quipped that he would save himself a lot of trouble if he first checked to see that there was some water to pump. The Jones-Patterson partnership was dissolved soon after Mr Crump joined the organisation and thereafter until 1938, Mr Crump worked for Mr Jones, until he died, and then he took over a threshing mill (the one in the photograph last week) and also a chaff cutter and an eight horsepower McLaren engine. He sold the chaffcutter to Mr A. B. Calder, of Halkett, in 1962 and the mill to the Morrisons at Darfield in 1963. Mr P. T. Phillips, also an old mill and chaffcutter man who was alongside Mr Crump this week when the old days were being recalled, noted that Anderson mill No. 52 was notable for the fact that it was about one foot lower than other mills in use at the time. Consequently, it was easier to feed. Mr Phillips put in a season feeding the mill and another season bag sewing for Mr Crump, five or six seasons feeding for the late Mr Jones, and many years on Jones’ chaff cutters. Mr Phillips will be 78 years old next October.

Mr Crump recalled that his old mill, built by the late Mr H. C. Ell, who was in the employ of Andersons, had had two suction fans to help dress the grain. When his wife, whose father, Mr J. Hore, also

drove traction engines for Mr Jones for many years, cbm-, mented that the old mill used to “run like i top,” Mr Crump remarked that the secret of a sweet running mill was a well balanced drum and he then drew an analogy between threshing mills and aeroplanes. For three years Mr Crump was overseas during World War I in France and Egypt with the New Zealand Rifle Brigade—including two winters. jn France which he will never forget. He says that they used to be able to pick British and German aeroplanes by the sound'of their engines—the British places had smooth-running motors like q mill with a well balanced drum, while the German planes had a “whoo, whoo, Whoo” note—a surg-ing-sound that came and went and which was even familiar to soldiers in World War H. While he emphasises that the header harvesters of today do notdo the job that tire old mills did in preparing a clean sample, of grain, Mr Crump sensibly sees that the header represents a- much easier way of handling the harvest It has made the job very much easier compared with the times when men might have to labour on the mill from early morning to midnight and the mill required a team of nine men and a cook to operate. But there was a spirit about the old mill teams and Mr Crump recalls a feeling of sadness when at the end of a season some of the reliable men that he had worked with had to leave.

In the early part of his career with traction engines Mr Crump was on road haulage and in his early days before World War I a major job in the area was hauling steel, cement and pipes more than 30 miles from the railhead at Coalgate to the site of the power station being built at Lake Coleridge.

In those days there were up to 17 traction engines on the job polling supplies up to Coleridge.

For road work Mr Crump was a great admirer of the 10 horsepower compound McLaren engine, although he

says thdt they Were too heavy for soft paddocks. On the Lake Coleridge run they proved their superiority,-he says. ... ■ . 3 .' i ! There are, of course, many stories about the competition between drivers drawing their loads up to Coleridge and then coasting downhill to Coalgate again. Mr Crump recalls that loading up would be completed on the previous day and if the road was in fairly good order the journey to Coleridge would be completed the next day, but if for some reason the going was a bit sticky it would take a part of another day to complete the trip and then run back to Coalgate.

Mr Crump remembers that once when he reached the "please shut the gate sign” near the sawmill just outside Hororata about 8 a.m. there were 13 engines in front of him. By about 5 p.m. that day he was out in front

He recollects that when an engine out in front was belching yellow smoke, a sure sign that the fire grate was blocked up and the draught was not getting through it it could be quickly overtaken. Mr Crump also carted wool,

gram, rencing materials, coai and general supplies in and out of stations on the north side of the Rakaia and he also carted wool from the Iron shed on the north bank of the Rakaia, about 33 miles from Hororata, where wool was deposited after being pulled across the Rakaia from stations on the south side of the river with eight good horses to a waggon with 10 bales.

An eight horsepower engine with two waggons behind would bring out 60 bales at a time, he recalled, and a 10 horsepower engine with three trailers, 90 bales. Mr Crump remembers on a special occasion bringing 120 bales on four waggons behind a 10 horsepower engine out of the iron shed cutting. Frequently the wool was hauled to the scour at the Acheron before being carted to rail.

Mr Crump recalled, with a chuckle, an occasion when he sought to pass another trac- • tion engine veteran. Each 1 time he drew abreast with the 1 other outfit the driver began '■ to drive his engine hard '• again and he could not make it , However, with the wind

blowing across the path of the other outfit Mr Crump found that if they stoked their fire hard as they came abreast of the other engine they sent out a pall of smoke that encircled the other engine and its crew, and one or two such bursts caused the other man to pull off and give up the unequal battle.

About 1921 Mr Crump left road haulage and in a season when driving an engine for Mr Jones on a threshing round he said they would have handled up to about 80,000 bushels.

The accompanying photograph’shows Mr Cramp on the eight horsepower McLaren that he took over from. Mr Jones after his death. The photograph was taken on the day that he parted With the old engine —it was ihen taken over by BoWmah’s at Riccarton.

Mr Crump said he did not know if it was correct but the last he had heard of his old engine was that it was doing duty supplying steam to a tomato house at Brighton. Looked after the old engines bad a very long life and were very reliable, he said.