IN THE EARLY DAYS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 172, 14 April 1908, Page 8

IN THE EARLY DAYS.

COACHING REMINISCENCES. A MAN WHO KNEW " COBB." PEEPS INTO THE FADING PAST. / "If there is anything we want to know B|bout postal afFairs in any particular district," said..the ' Secretary of the Post and Telegraph Department to a Dominion reportor, " we generally hand the job over to Mr. H. D. Grocott,'who takes an interest in that sort of thing." The topic of conversation was really about the carriage of mails in the old coaching days, and it reminded "the chief' of an interview Mr. Grocott had obtained recently with an inmate of ono of Wellington's homes for the'aged. The old man was consulted as ; to whether ho had any objection to his remarks being published. At first ho' had, but compromised by agreeing that tho matter could be published if his name'was omitted. Tho following is the old man's story, in his own words;— Arrival in Victoria. "I was little more than a youth when, in 1850, I journeyed down the coast from New York to the Isthmus of Panama with a number rof miners, bound' for the goldfields of the Sacramento.- We had a dreary walk across the thirty miles of isthmus, and our spirits wero not raised by a forced detention on the western coast for eleven days while ;the steamer" which was ( to take us to the golden west was' being 'repaired. Although it. was the rainy season, tho weather wo found to bo very hot and unhealthy, the vegetation being dense and the track in bad condition.' The steamer, with its freight of eleven hundred miners, eventually arrived at San' Francisco, 'and we: lost no time in making for the goldfield on tho Sacramento river."" .This"Was." in"" 1851; . On April 12j-''1853 ) ; I:' i 'left 'California in company with' abouV a' hundred miners by steamer for .'Victoria, where we arrived on July 3,- 1853. Our rate of progress may be seen in the ; circumstances . that, we took eighty-two days on a : journey which would now be covered >in from* twenty to tw-enty-i two-days.. The'.minors-were fine of their.\ class. . They ,wero workers, not loafers, and would have: nothing to do with gambling in any shape -or form. Harking back to Californian days, I may say that tho Mexicans we found to be a very treacherous, cruel lotjV and -at no/'time was it safe to go aljoiit.unarmed.: : ?

Coaching Reminiscences. • ,"I didnot continue gold-mining for any length'of time iaftermy arrival in .Victoria, ,but abandoned the shovel for tho reins, or, in other words, entered the qmploy.of Messrs. 'Cobb and Co',, tho well-known-firm of;coach proprietors.'l drove ( the coach from about 1853 or:1854 for several'years, my run being between' Castlemaino.' and Bendigo. Coaching in Victoria was .. a.'pleasure, the roads being 'With'the exception'of. tho last eight" miles into 1 Bendigo, my section was !a hard, metalled road, while . that ■ from Castlcmaine, to Melbourne was equally good. Changes in the proprietorship of tho firm subsequently took place. Mr. Charles Colo sold his' l interest-: to. his, brother and .went to his native couiifcy, America, whoro ho met Mr. dobb, the founder of ; " Cobb's Line",in .Victoria, * and African, diamond fields woro 'discovered took out a plant of coaches; 'etc.,"'-which was' afterwards sold. Mr. Cobb was a man of smalli stature, but very active and shrewd' in business. • Mr. L.. G. Cole, brother of Mr.., Charles Cole, later went to San Francisco, and I believe ho died in America. Cobb's' agents': and drivers, had bought iMr. L'. G. Colci out of tho Victorian'businass, "which was later formed into .a company,' the old name being retained.The partners" Cole Bros, and a Mr.' White,' came over to .Now Zealand and started a coaching business, also under tho name of "Cobb and Co." I remained in their employ.

Her Majesty's Escort. ' "In 1861 I landed at the Bluff from Melbourne as a servant of Messrs. Cobb and Co. (Messrs Cole Bros;) Wo had one hundred horses and_ corresponding coaching plant. .1 was at "the Bluff for three months, and was ;tlieri sent 'to' Dunedin. 1 I 1 drore the coachfrom . Dunedin through to L-ako - Wakatipu in 1862; - The .roiite -was via Tokomairiro, across- the lower' valley'to the Molyneux, ' and thrbugh-'Mataura to' the Pyramids, Elbow .(now :Lumsden), ;> tho Dome Pass, and on to /Wakatipu.-'At-' Kingston the passengers went'-ovcr;tlie Lake in small boats ,to Queenstown; where there; were gold- digging's.;';Tho journey/: occupied four-dtiysi The first night we spent 'at'i Tokomairiro, ' the second at Mataura, ahd the third probably at the Elbow . . The' Govei-iimcnt at first ran the escort to Quconstown, but being, I believe, unable to satisfactorily perform the service, a contract was entered into with Cobb and' Co. to carryit .out for'a; subsidy..' T'was .transferred to the escort. ..The,bullion was convoyed in an open waiggon, and tho. escort comprised a sergeant arid four .mounted, constables. Most of the escort passengers were prisoners. The journey .was a'very cold,bleak one* and.was' performed ;by a'five-horse team. - I am not aware' that there was : in 1862 any service south' of Dunedin other than the !one -by the 'Dunedih-Wakatipu coach. There was an

irregular service from the Bluff to Invercargill to-tako mails and passengers on arrival of' steamers.;:-. There was in .lnvercargill in 1881 'only one 'hotel; ; but the township shortly after' that year developed, very rapidly.: There was at'this time-a coach running from Gabriel's to Tokomairiro under the management of Cobb and Co.,' who were also running a coach from Dunedin to the Dunstan .by: way of Hill and Taieri Plains.

The Dunedln to Christchurch Run. " I with Eomo assistants went by road from Duriedin to Christchurch in 1863 in charge of a hundred ' horses, and was eighteen days on- the journey. We • had received orders to allow the animals to take grass on . the' way when, we- came to any feed. We spent a week in Oamaru. The horses were in low fcondition, and'had. been running for-'some ' time : on the port hills, and had also been in the saleyards. Some were for' Cob and Co.'suso, and some were for sale. 'Mr firm ran-the/first coach between Christchurch a'nd|;Timaru, and . also had aservice from Dunedin to' Oamaru, and another inland, from'Oamaru. There was at that time no coach service between Timaru and Oamaru. I. am not aware that; there was even a mail service between those points. There, was vory little . settlement other than .sheep- stations on',the route. I drove for a-time a daily, mail coach between Christchurch and Kaiapoi, ~ I Was later engaged in, the service to " Leithfield, which was extended to, Hurunui at the time the diggers . came across tho,, island from the Hokitika diggings. The miners used to run wagons as far as Hurunui, and then packed their goods across to the Coast. There was no road beyond -Hurunui, and I have been told that the journey. was an extremoly rough one.' In -lSfif I brought eighteen horses and three coaches by steamer from Lyttelton to. Wellington. . ' . ■ . Wellington and Wanganul. • " In 1865-66 Messrs. Cobb and Co. had a contract with the, Government for the carriage of mails botwecn Wellington and Wariganui overland. Tho frequency was twice weokly, and the subsidy £3000 por annum for. three years. The road was divided into two sections, namely, Wanganui to the Mamawatu, and Manawatu to Wellington. /Two, drivers were employed, of whom-1 was one. At the outset we tossed •up which section each would tako, and 1 secured the Wellington-Manawatu section. Prior to > this there was no coach service between Wellington' and' Wanganui. The coach used to leave' Wellington on Monday morning and reach the Manawatu tho same evening, the return journey being made on the following day. The'second up journey was made on the Friday, the coach returning .on the Saturday. There was no township speak of at Palmerston North,,the,gria-

cipal places on the route being Bulltown, Marton, and Turakina. I do not remember thero being any place called Foilding.

Wellinston-Masterton.

" After, the coach service between "Wellington and Wanganui had been running for about a year, Mr. Charles Cole opened a lino between Masterton and Wellington. He subsequently sold 'out to Messrs. Davis and Forester, who had previously bought tho business of Mr. Skipper. Mr. Forester afterwards sold out of the lino to Mr. Davis, who later on died. Mr. John Martin (afterwards tho Hon. John Martin) had been one of the sureties for the servico. Tho line was then put up for sale. "Messrs. Davis and Forester had,, in 1868, opened a line from Wellington to Masterton, and' carried it on for some little time. Then Mr. Hustnell, who had recently arrived from Homo, came on the scene and bought, out tho interest of Mr. Forester in Cobb and Co.'s business. Rowe

was all this time running in opposition. Ho. was on the roaid long before I came in 1865. Thero was at this time very considerable traffic on the road. Previous to tho estab-

lishment of the coach service, the mails wero carried by a two-wheeled spring cart having ono horse iri shafts and one in an outrigger. Prior to Cobb's servico, about 1866-67, there

was no coach servico between Wellington and Masterton. Our' servico was twice weekly.' Wo left Wellington and Masterton! at 6 a.m. and reached our destination by 6 p.m. and reached .the Tauherenikau or Waingawa river was iri flood. After. Messrs. Forester and Davis ceased connection with the . service, -1 drove for Messrs. Hastwell and Macara for about nine or ten years. Maca'ra took my place as driver at the time the emigration scheme was in full swing. The coach used to leave Masterton on Monday, return on Wednesday, then down again on Thursday, and go up on the Saturday. No Maori troubles were experienced on tho line. Tha Hutt of Fifty Years Ago. "The Hutt in the sixties was a fair-sized township, and the Taita, Silverstream, and Upper Hutt were also settled upon. Onwards there was no settlement until you reached Mungaroa. At Featherston thero was one hotel, kept by a Mr. Abbott. .The mails were small, and those contained in brown paper envelopes proved a source of much anxiety to tho driver' owing to tho probability -of ; their being lost. On one occasion, when the Waingawa river was high, some of the' mails ■ were swept out of the coach. Amongst the contents were two envelopes, each bearing a bank-noto for £10. Mr. Bunny, .who was concerned in tho loss, offered a reward of £10 for tho recovery of the remittance. .A Maori •eventually picked up,tho. mail lower down, tho river and secured the reward.. During the time the Hutt bridge was swept away, the rivor had to be forded, but it was necessary at, flood-timo to have coaches meet on either bank of the river for. the transfer of passengers. With the exception of the section from Olarovillo to Waingawa river,'which was composed of clay and bouldqrs, the road was very good considering' tho country it passed through. The only trouble I, over had on tho Rimutaka was on account of tho wind. On ono occasion

I got two beautiful black eyes through stones striking my face. It used to surprise rao how the horses could faco the wind. Tho southerly was always a. mild wind, but tho north-easterly l was terrific. On. 0110 journey

I had four men and a woman with a child in arms as.. passengers, and on coining to what was well known to ho a bad point in the road tho men jumped out of the coach.

I remonstrated with them, but they insisted on walking. I gave the woman some cushions and told her to-sit on the floor of the coach, which. she did., On rounding the point I heard the, wind coming, and put the horses' heads to it and' held fast. Tho . men laid down and . held on to tussocks or whatever was nearest. , Y/e got through all right. In all my coaching experiences I am thankful to say I uover had an- accident. Harr.v Death had a contract for carrying the mails to and from Wellington. Macara, who camo from Auckland, was .> at first, employed >by Death. , . . N Bstween Patca and Nsw Plymouth. " After my time with 'Messrs. Hastwell and Macara 'oil tho Wellington-Masterton linej I drove for Mr. Andrew .Young between Patca. and New. Plymouth .for two -yearß. The service was twice-weekly. I never had difficulty', with the, Natives,. although 'they wero very troublcsomo in somo other respects. '-They would not allow'the contractors to build stables. This necessitated a thirtyinilo coaching stago. Nor would they permit Government to erect the telegraph lino between Opunake and Stony River, in consequence of which telegrams were carried over the gap by messengers. Tho lino had not been erected when; Pleft ,that district. On the coach-' we always carried a native inter■protcr between Hawera and New Plymouth. Ho was in the employ of Government. Mr. John Hoggard once.came through with mo from .Pateal-.'to. enquire' into, ail applicationfor a post office at Inglewood. This was tho last time I romember having' seen him. •■ . Ekctahuna and Pa'niatua. ' These places were settled, principally by Scandinavians, during ( tho eniigration era. During tho latter part of my coaching diiys I was driving between Mastert'on and Wood-, villo. I used to. make the northward journey on.oiie. day and return tho next. It was a very good- 1 road,- but from Dreyorton northwards it ran all the way through bush country. .Macara drove the coach through the Manawatu Gorge. The coaches which met mo. at Woodville used to' como through from Palmerston North and Nupier 'respectively. The opening of sections of railways gradually pushed the coaching services into less populated, parts of the colony. The run to Woodville was -the last in .which I took any part. Exposure during many years resulted in severe sciatica,'in my right hip, which rendered my 'brake', leg uncertain,. and although urged by Macara to continue my occupation .as driver, I decided to discontinue 'coach-driving before my infirmity led to ail accident. I look back with mingled feelings -to .tho varied experiences attending my life prior to myi entry- into,.this' comfortable Homo nine years, ago.""