IN THE EARLY DAYS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 490, 24 April 1909, Page 7

IN THE EARLY DAYS.

: ;:OF:;;WEUL!NCTON; o . OLD. SETTLERS. 'ON; '''THE'BEACH> :■■ ■■■;>.■;:■;:■■■■■ .tl?r;;A;. , R;;::Cim'rist! , .' ■<■ \-"'x :'- : ■ I ,J :Th'is:;narr'iitiv'a;' ■ \.wili '; riecessarily: number .of '■digressions, 'and! :as .I.:am-;\viiting 'entirely:'from', memory,' J must ask. s .pardon:for any'.omissions...:.: : Stand; ing at Pipitea Point, below tho old Maori ..Pa,.one'.-.'iglancbs. across the liaruour.to the north.,!-wherb.:. the : old Ngahauranga Hotel, kept by,.James; Then, turn-, ing to tho sbiith nnd walking by memory, ono' passes tho. old Rainbow.Hotel at Kaiwnrra, •kept by David Caldor and his threo'sons. 1 hpn^again, south.fr.oni Pipitea Point, past tho old courthouse'which was situated below tho 1 Maori Pa : and abovo Olapham's Hotel/ Ciose. by was.Mooch's slip, a son of the proprietor of- wliom is still in business in , Wellington, in tho firm of G. Allen, Meeoh, : and Co. Like his neighbour, tho boat-builder,' Meech and Allen were thorough types of tho l/uglish waterman. ; Nothing would go down with them.unless:it was English. ■ At, tho corner which now leads to Hill Street was John WaldcnV oyster saloon. and above it on the hill .stood the old Thistle Inn, kept by Mr. v Cooper. :This Thistle Inn, which a still gives its name to a hostelry'situated in tho vicinity; was one of the oldest in Wellington. Opposite to Walden's was a store, kept by Mr. M'Beth, whoso descendants have long, since left Ayellin£ton to settle m Ran{vitikci. This-store, however,' was noted: tor ono of' its einployees, Fred. Ateheson, wno earned his bread as'a grocer's assistant, and vrith-Maciah fed, v/Eo lived near Jacob Joseph's-' filled in his spare tiino time with practices which in the present day would have earned him the name.of a Labour Agitator. When Dr.\ Featherston came into power as Superintendent of: tho 'Wellington Province, he'took the .measure of these two men, and made Ateheson inspector of;police,' and Reed superintendent of the Terrace Gaol The Royal Hotel, a little further on, was kopt by German Brown, a man of gigantic proportions, whose son James still lives in Wellington. . . .." ■,: . ■■'■ ..

. t Th6 old'courthouse nearby was the scene of tho trial and condemnation of Col.-Sergt. Collins, who murdered Ensign '. Alexandor.* Tho story of tho crime is a tragic one. Tho two' soldiers . .wore colour-sergeants in-the 65th regiment, and great friends until Alex- ■? ,»e-? s Promoted., ■ After, his promotionin 186 a ho adopted an overbearing manner to lus erstwhile chum, until the latter, goaded to desperation, shot him in Wangamii. : Close by the courthouse was the old Government Houso, where Sir George Grey resided. , Looking towards Hill Street calls back :to_my momory anold landmark—the old. Curiosity Shop, kept-by.■• Mrs: Smith, whoso daughter married Robert Kent, bookkeeper in tho office of the , old "Independent'" at that timo owned .by Mr. Ti W: M'Kerizie, an old einployor of mine. Adjoinino-, was the stationer's shop kept.by Mr. Carpenter —a man loquacious in speech and eccentrio m dress and bearing; Without his presence, rendered picturesque by hie long hair, no pubho meeting was complete. ■ On tho oppor site corner was the store of Salvator Cimino a quiet,'- reserved man; '.whose son "is at present in business in the city. Pat. Brogan, an old soldier, who saw service in the Maori wars, kept a shop nest door. Icoino to a,-corner, knowu'as Brandon's, which recalls the old lawyer, later , member for Pbrirua, in tho old .■Parliaments;'. ' . : ■ ■ ■: Nest, came a 7 row-. of . shops, Cook, tho. -tailor, .Picket, ,'. the', draper - (a gonial -follow), -Allen,; tho chemist, and btafford,\ .the tailor. Next came Susited's Hotel, ; where Baron 7 Olsdofl: Was killed in the artajnakes-. o c . .*• >ii . or '58, next to W. Hort Levin's 'store- and wharf. After that ,camo Mimhe's painter's 'shop, ! Taino's >rocery and! Butt and Richard's photographic studio. Tho forerunner' ;of, the Gear dmpany a butcher named ling,; kept a shop near by..: In- order there were ltemington, .woodturner,;: ■' Maxton, - baker,' Hornblow coopej-j. aiasppj draper-;' and .another IMasoii who had a lamp-shop and smithy, White, tobaccomst, :the Criterion. Hotel, , W: Clark, draper, B, Levy, storekeeper;:.; TonljsJandv.Lewers drapers, the l< 'George Moore, storekeeper. Tho next two buildings bore well-known names, A. Warburtpn, who kept a fancy goods.store, and Jacob Joseph. . Watkinsi (ironmonger), Waldin (lolly-shop- , keeper), M. Wilton (butcher) came next, with ' Curtis s drapery and merchant establishment (where the writer was born). The South Sea Hotel, kept by Georgo Wall, was next _ - door, .with .■ Kane ■(a draper), Armstrong (saddler), Webb (cabinetmaker) and Peter Laing, a jovial baker, whoso assistants, Jack Maginnity.. P.. M'Ewen :and J. Churchill,, earned on the business afterwards 1 wo doors further on, past W. lowland's store, and Poulton's tailor's shop was tho "Spectator ,: office, > owned .by tho Hon. ;W. Stokes. Brady,; a- shoeinakorj had in s ■■, ? m E Io y ■ a famous • swimmer ■• named Cosgrove,- .who;-.- at' one timo sivam from tho Gridiron, next; to the present Queen's Wharf, to Wilkinson's tea gardens at Oriental Bay. By Poulton's was Robert Hart, a solicitor; who m 1865 went over to Nelson as Crown.Prosecutor in the trial of tho outlaws Burgess, Kelly, Sullivan, and Levy, for tho Maungatapu murders. Theso scoundrels assaseinated Ben Battle and four gold-buyers,' Matthew, Ponteus,' Dudley, and Kcmpthome. The cvidencoof the case publislicd in pamphlet form by the Nekon " Colonist'.' concluded with a" graphic description of tho osecutaon, .written by Mr. D. M. Luckio, the. only gontloman connected with the case who isnow alive. Colonel Pitt, the late Attorney-General, 7 defended Levy. Sullivan saved his neck by turning Queen's evidence. : Tho beginning of 'E. W. Mills's big ironmongery establishment was-; a shop, iusi next to what is now the City-Buffet, while W. Barraud; chemist, and J. H. Shaw, watchmaker,, were close by. : Another row of shops including Solomon -. Levy's millinery store Mrs. Santo's confectionery '■ shop, and tho stationery shop kept by that fine old gentleman, Mr. Marriott, ended at Wrigglcsworth's photographic studio; later taken over and known for years as Wrigglesworth and Binn's. WJ-igglosworth was the soul of amateur- theatricals in Wellington at that time. Lipman Levy, (Storekeeper, and' after G. Gawlor's tailor's shop and tho Crown and Anchor Hotel, camo Hanneky, ,a; German watchmaker, who met his death in a. tragic manner. Just opposite where the Duko of Edinburgh Hotel now stands was a ■ deep pool of water, and as Hanneky was returning homo oiio nighi, with Boulton, the Hon. W. B. Rhodes s bookkeeper, he tumbled into this pooljjand was drowned, ■ A well-known character, in tho: person of Mr. 'Johnson, arandfather of Mr.

H. J. Oakes.wcll known in musical circles at tho present time, had his place of business close to tho "Advertiser" Office Next to Johnson's was'tho'office of tho "Advertiser," owned by E. and J. Bull. At that time there were two papers in Wellington both of them iri-weckhes. An eccentric storekeeper named Linley lived close to the "Advertiser" Office. This individual at one. timo created quito a sensation in tho city by hoisting tho French tricolour ovor.his shop above tho Union Jack Ail officer of tho warship Victoria, at that timo in the harbour, noticed the misplacement, and quickly cent a party ashore; to. remedy it. Where tho Bank of New South Wales now stands was tho Courthouse-. , Just'before coming to PHmmer's Steps, now occupied by The Dominion office,', was .the old Athenaeum, .with Mr. Duck as caretaker.and librarian. Then, as now,. Barrett's Hotel, ono of the oldest hostelrics of early Wellington, stood.at the foot of the stops. Past Freeman's confectionery shop and the bootahops of J. Kershaw ami W. Blaker, an old identity, John Warmoll carried on business ns a draper. '■■''•■ ■ ■ '. ■ Now I have come to the end of my journey, for hero is Clay Point, at that timo'tho boundary of tho "Beach," nearly 60 years,ago.