EARLY DANNEVIRKE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1031, 21 January 1911, Page 14

EARLY DANNEVIRKE.

MR. C., WRATT'S IMPRESSION?. INTERESTING. JREMINISCENCES.-" Dannevirke as; a' -place' name- in New Zealand was unknown .before 1871', when .it was decided to settlc'tho present Dan-, nevirko with - Continental! pioneers, and ijv any casoft.docs not appear that anybody'had.'any idea -that tho .place would ever grow into a., town. I It ..was never, •intended in tlio -first- placo .'to -tun,'tho railway- lino through t-ho town. .'.The route ivns first laid through -tho Tipapakuku Block,, about as-mile and a-half ■east of-the present railway-station, 'but owing to tlie.fact.that_a_.good bottom for piles for bridgerbuildiiig'. purposes iyas unobtainable on 'tho Mangatera 'River, the liifo was eventually' brought .over its present area.; It is also stated, fhat.'a contributory factor to the deviation was an alleged promise to. the Danish and Swedish pioneers that the railway ;should- run -past;-their, settlement; There is.no doubt,,however, that-the old .line of railway formation was abandoned for what proved to be a cheaper road of construction. Even then, Dannevirke narrowly missed having a railway station. The first assistant railway engineer, Mr. Moody, indeed, located the station on its present site; but a timber syndicate having acquired land at Tamaki, and having some influence, the railway station was gravely deposited there. Danuevirko was not at tho timo even honoured with a flag-station. To Messrs. George Wratt and Company, practically the first sawmillera in t-lio district, belongs tho credit of rectifying the error committed by the powers that were. This firm had a timber yard

near the site of the present bell tower, and tlicy applied to the Railway Department for a_ siding • to bo constructed where Benzio's privato hotel now stands. Tho siding was constructed, and later was used by the people as a flag-station, until, under' pressure of public opinion and petition,, the Government built, a railway station on the present . site. Some lather interesting history of the district is given by Mr. J. Georgo 'Wratt, r a New .Zealand born and bred colonist, now residing in tho town, and healthy-and--well at the age of-about sixty: years.,- Mr. Wratt saw a good deal of-the -Wellington, 'Taranaki, and. Nelson and Marlborough provinces., in tho days of "his -youth and-early-man-hood. Be; was born in Nelson, but lived as a Tjoy a short distance from the scone of the Wairau massacre. Ho repeatedly talked with those who had escaped the hatchet at the Wairau massacre, and his uncle, who was . on tho Calliope when Te llauparaha was a prisoner there, often described to him 'the Maori Napoleon as a smellful old ra-scal.-' Later-in life, Mr. Wratt met Titokowaru in the JJawera district, and titill later ho saw Te Kooti go.,through' the Dannevirke district.on his way to. Wairarapa. Mr. Wratt came to Dannevirke in 1882 in company with Messrs, Matthew and W. Henderson, and with a sawmill plant, which they, brought through tho Manawatu Gorge. Theso tlireo were tho first people in the district to start milling for building purposes, -although. Mr. ,H. M'Kenzio had .previously .done^sonjo;'.cutting' with an timbpKiqr'thc .Mangatera' '.and iYiliakarua-tapu-jrailway.: bridge.

- A Dormant .District. . . {.! Although. this- -place 'had fthen been 'settled-about nin& years-'by'/its foreign emigrants it had not. progressed very much. Nobody had; any -faith in the future _of ' tho; place) everybody talked Woodvillo as the-making of a great junction town,, and' as sections in. that town were selling for.,as .much .as.£4oo or- £500, it can be. very easily 'sioqd that, very little thought was be•toiv.ed upon ,tlie.bush settlement,- sixteen; miles farther .north.- Mr..Wratt',s first recollection of-tho wasla roughlymetalled. road, (now. High' Street), flanked by. stocks of.sleepers for aboutjthirty chains..' Tho , land..'had 'been : cleared from High--Street back ,to'tho.'railway, lino fprmationi. :, 'but the rillage(;M!aßVfa'r-_tjicr-;iiway, n'ear'.,wdiei:e';tlib North; School ■is tiventy-a'cre. bldck.had; been ;butiu|),into ;quarter of an' aero sections :for .'town "building purposes,. \rhilei extending all .around were -tho . forfy-acre sections. 'High' Street' was, known as the Main. Coach Road,-, nearly. 'all'the present;bor-' jough-.area was covered .with fallen timber, ; ahd on.many sections even now-tho massed" stumps, afford a '.very' good -iridi-. ciitidii as,to -the heavy/manner. tiib country >.was timbered.' ' 'The. pre-.- • seiit was all green bush, and wild, pigs .'were plentiful, [ill 'oxer -tlio forests'.. Mr.. Rasnnissen'had a sto'ro ,at. tho'settlement.' Mr,' J. con'tractor,.was also there, and there wero possibly somo ! twenty slab whares,. in which rosided tho foreign immigrants.,' Of thesei' Mr. Wratt remembers' Messrs. Qle, Christophersou, J. Halyorsen, Jacob Bok, Hans Peter Jensen, Beriit Amundsen, L'arsen'; Fargeiy . "Black" .'Millqr, Eiersen,.; and Neil- Magnusson. Then there were also Messrs. H. Carlson, J. Allardice, and V. Rasmussen. A resident who was in tlie district long before the settlement was formed was Captain Hamilton, of Mangatoro, whose name has lately been well_ before, tho public in connection with his petition to Parliament regarding the loss of his property to tho Bank of New Zealand. Of those mentioned, the following still reside in the town: Messrs. Ole, Christopiierson, Hans Peter Jensen, C. Neilsen, H. Carlson, and Bernt Amundsen. Mr. Jacob Bok resides in Norsewood, Mr. J. Halvorsen is in America, Messrs. Larson, Farger, and "Black" Miller aro

away, while Messrs. Bernken and Pierson are dead. - Strange Bush Stories. • Mr. Wratt tells one or two curious stones of early Dannevirke. There were several tragedies of the bush at the thno of the first settlement. Olio man once started to rido from Mangatoro over to Dannevirke. Ho disappeared into the bush, and .neither he nor his horse was ever seen again. In another ease a '{Scandinavian disappeared in the forest, and seventeen years later his skeleton was found on Mr. D. Barry's property, , and' identified through ~a Droken nose. .Possibly the most interesting story of theso happenings was the case of Jlarius.Christopherson,;the fo.ur-ycar-old son of one of tho pioneers... Ho, strayed into the bush, and although search parties were out for days, they, were unable to find him. A day or so later, a settler at Tahoraite saw. tracks,. and. following thorn, up, .came upo'n .tlie child lying almost dead. The. youngster' had been without any.■special, for nine days, but, wonderful to relate, still lived, and, what is more, survived his terrible experience, -and • to-day is a bridge-builder working- somewhere about the-district for the Government. In still' another instance, two children were lost, and only one was found. Lost Chancos. If any one of the early Dannevirke settlers had had the gift of second sight, he could have made a fortune with ease. Messrs. Wratt and Henderson bought the whole area, extending from the present bell tower site to the present post office site, nine acres, at £25 per. acre. This same piece, now tlie business .centra of tlie town, is valued.-at from\£2o to £80 per foot. The forty-acrcscction, where now tho Masonic Hot-el,.stands, Was offered, together with'forty head;of cattle, to a resident for £450, and refused. Somo residents. swopped good sections : away for building sections, at Tamaki, and thought that "they • had made a fine bargain. Even when tSe timber industry started, and the . town .was* having a .prosperous time, the general opinion was that tho bottom would falUout of-the place when tho sawmilliiig ended. ■ Roughly, the sawmill business lasted twenty years, ajid-ono mill, Tiratu,.owned by Knight Bros., .was. still in existciico. .. ' ■ • •• Tha First Advance./ ; ihs'.-first' 010-Christopherson's, just, opposite the present ;-beli* tower site. It was bought by a -syndicate, ;and - subdivided, and sold again. The first; business place sold .was that on wjiich the "D.Q.A.','- now stands. . 'When. Messrs. ,AVratt : and : Henderson bought .the Ji.e.ll [tqwcr?post . office section .-.t-hey- cut.an acre .off for ,a ; timber - yard near, w'liere. Benzie's' now stands, 'aiid, divided -tho property, - Sir, Hendcr-;son-taking the northern,, and "Mr. Wratt •tlie southern, .endr-. -It was -Mr. Henderson jyhp forniedr.Statjon .Strdet, which .'isj now . tho'main entrance to the railway station;:- The first schoolmaster was a ■.Mr. Tehnant, who was followed by the . Rev. Mr. Robertshawo, Anglican lniiiis-ter;-.wlit>, still resides -in.the" place. The ■first business 1 premises erectcd 'in High 'Street, were . built' for .a - hawker,' and then Mr. Wratt constructed _ono for a ■ tailor.V :■/, ■ 'V"-;: v ; ' AVhbu ;Mr.'. .Wratt-first came to 'Dannevirke the place, was under the lccal government control of the Dannevirke Road Board, of which body ho was chairman for five years. Later -there was a town board formed, and in 1892 the place blossomed into -a borough. Itwill bo.seen that in a very short space of time Dannevirke made very rapid progress. It was practically a very thinly-scattered bush / settlement in ;18S2, while in 1592 it was a borough. In this progress are traced the effects of the timber and sawmilling industry. Allardice's boardinghouso was converted into a hotel in 1883. About 1885 or 1886 Mr. Charles Baddeley "shifted his hotel at Matamau to Dannevirke. That building was the commencement of and J now forms part of the well-known 1 Andrews' Hotel.