PICTON.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1246, 30 September 1911, Page 14

PICTON.

THE FAVOURED POET OP MAELBORi; ' OUGH. ' A GLIMPSE AT ITS PAST HISTORY. Picton, tho picturesque port of Marlbonongh, is situated only fifty miles from tho' capital city of tho Dominion, in an tiriu of Queen Charlotte Sound. It is generally spoken of as being at tho head of tho Sound, but a glanco at tho map shows that tho sea extends some miles further inland, and terminates at the 1 small bay, in which the town, of Havelock has been built.

Picton is destined to bo tho terminus of the South Island Main Trunk railway linbf.'-" Its geographical situation and unique harbour specially adapt it for this important position. . Tho placu was selcctcd - 51s a site for a town in 1818, and was settled chiefly by emigrants brought out by / the New Zealand. Company. The -company had found itself in difficulties, through not being ab!o to supply tho emigrants with sections in,existing settlements, and was compelled to find sqmo means "of compensating them. Picton, or Waitohi Bay, ns it was called by tho llaSris, who had their pa . there, was selected as a site for' a now town, and its early population was composed principally by tho overflow from Wellington,

Buying the Site. On December 28 of tho year mentionid, Sir Georgo Grey and Mr. Dillon 801 l (who acted as tho company's representative) proceeded from Wellington to Waitohi Bay in H.M.S. Fly, and purchased the. land from the Natives. The prico agreed upon was one hundred pounds in' cash, the company, in addition, to cultivate an area of land for tho Natives at Waikawa, and in various other matters of , detail assist them in getting- their new/location quiclcly into a habitable condition. Tho terms 'agreed' upon, tho Maoris at onco moved to Waikawa, and left?-tlw bay to tho occupation by tho' white emigrants. It,is. ; jn keeping with .the"manner in which'ilio place was ket•tledlthat it should have been named Picton, faftor Wellington's aide-de-camp at Waterloo. Tho new township grew but slowjy, and it did not become of any special imi»rtance in the proviaco till tho-year 18G'{) I selected as tho' seat 'of tha 1 Provinciaf'Governmont. The population, thon began to rapidly increase, bid the additional impetus the plaoa ; received ai a' result of tho discovery of gold at Wakaxnarina brought the number of. inhabitants up to somewhere in the vicinity of three- thousand persons. But Picton was shortly to got a severe.set-back. The goldfields gave out, and -in 1865 the scat of Government was transferred to Blenheim. Government billets.must have been.-.prolific eveu .in thoso.j'days, for the/;',exhaustion of'the goldfields could hardly "account- for' the great number of people, who left tho town. 'The population rapidly fell to less than 'one thousand, and the town will probably not again attain its old sizo until the Trunk Line is completed. Tho future of Picton when this important event .comes to pass is at the present timo the causa of muck sanguinary speculation, particularly by thoso who. aro familiar with tho potentialities of tho great areas of land which the line 'will tap. The Port. As a port, Picton is well nigh perfect. Deep water runs right up to within a •few feet of the shore, and there is ample room for wharf accommodation. 1 The .■town is sheltered on three 1 sides by high vangeS of hills, and the harbour is land-, looked in a manner which renders shipping iierfeeHy safe from tho fury, of tho wildest tempests which rage, overhead. Evtni with tho small "extent of railway ■loading to the port and the competition by tho, rivcr-bo-ats from Blcnhoim, tho shipping is becoming very considerable. Largo, quantities of frozen meat, wool, chaff,''peas, tallow, hides, , flax, hemp, and other products of Marlborough aro shipped in quantities which increase each year 1910 no fewer than 819 vessels entered the town chiefly depends. During the year 1910 no les3 than 819 vessels entered ■the port. The total tonnage of this shipping lVas -130,681 tons, and the vessels were manned by crews which aggregated 87,285. Steamers up to twelve thousand

tons can berth alongside the wharf, which, it might be remarked, is contiguous to the railway yards, and only about a chain from the post and telegraph officc. At present the wharfage accommodation is altogether inadequate tho heavy trade (hiring snmrner, but this disauvanl.vo is mow being remedied. A ferro•tuicreic wliarf, six hundred feet in !oii?th, is being built by the Government »n the western side of the harbour. The work is well advanced, and already loyal ['ictnnitos are exhibiting prido in its possession. "Have you seen the new wharf? in one of tho questions tho sightseer at j'ictou is askwl many times during tho day. Tho enthusiasm is Lniectiovs, and

-sooner or'later-the visitor is compelled to walk round tlio harbour front and view tho structure which is in course of erection. Tho sizq, and durablo nnturo of tho structure are evidence of the faith in I'icton's futuro that exists in official quarters. Whon this wharf is completed, the largest steamer which visits New Zealand waters will bo able to berth comfortably alongside it: It will, of course, bo equipped with the necessary appliances for handling tho ships' cargoes with the greatest facility. Local Industries. Picton has several important industries, including an up-to-date malt house, in which considerable malting is done for export. Another industry of importance to Picton is tho boatbuilding business carried on by Mr. E. E. I/ane. As tho dis-

tributing centro for the extensive ana rich country in the Sounds, and as tho depot for tourist traffic, there is a great demand for motor boats. It is estimated that thero aro over two hundred and fifty of these useful and swift little craft in use, and tho number is constantly increasing. Almost ever}' homestead through tho Sounds has a wharf crected for the convenience of the motor launches. Their advent has contributed much to tho comfort of settlers in the Sounds, and has undoubtedly added to the progress •of the,; town ■ itself. So.'important is this traffic-considered that there is a proposal to ' pierce" the Onahau Neck, hear Picton, with-a . tunnel to givo the, launches access to Pelorus Sound from Queen Charlotte Sound—but of tho Sounds more anon. Picton was raised to the dignity of a borough in tho year 1876, and tho first olection. resulted in the return of Mr; Thomas Williams ns Mayoiy-ahd tho following gentlemen as councillors:—Messrs. James Smith, Georgo James, Thomas Phillpotts, James Iloins, William Dart, I Donald M'Cormick, John Godfrey, and | Alexander Duncan. Mr. James Alexander was the first Town Clerk. At the present I time Dr. W. E. Redman is Mayor, and tho council is composed of Messrs. J. RidI doll. S. Fell, C.Peek, J. A.'. R. Greensill, G. Maitland, G. A. Smith, jun: : ; T. Pugh, A. Clinch, and A. J. Bush. Mr. J. Blizzard is Town Clerk. Fine municipal buildings, ..including Council' Chambers, rlnstitiitijfahH 'Pnbjic'R'eJitiiflft Room, have b?on erected in High Street. The estimated~ii'rea,~ including the Town Belt, is 510 acres, and. the capital value .£228,949. Tho population' is approximately fourteen ~ hundred, andL thero, v aj;e no than jthree,.4iundr{fl anil "Tho general "rate is 2J (I ."'in the £ on tho •unimproved value, and ; there are special rates o£_ one per cent... on., the Tnteable value for water,.and one-third of a penny on the unimproved value for drainage. The .latter rate, however, applies to a small area only. Tho streets are well lighted with acetylene gas. Picton was the first town in Now Zealand to use acetylene gas for street lighting, and the experiment has proved successful; both .as; regards economy and':ffficiency r of tho light'. % Tho town lias a jyhich is equalled by few 'towns in New Zealand. The water is drawn from the clear and sparkling Waitohi Stream, at a point about three miles distant, and the splendid pressure of one hundred and twenty pounds to the square inch is obtained. An area of two thousand acres has beon reserved as a watershed, and tho road to it runs through very beautiful scenery. With such an excellent water supply the town is well protected against fire.

The council recently raised a loan for tho erection of a bridge from the town to Victoria Domain, on tho eastern side of the harbour. This work has been completed, and is much appreciated by tho residents and visitors to the town. Tho First Settlement in Marlborough, A. few miles, from Picton is the historic old" settlement of To Awnite, which in Maori means "little river," a name which was probably given to it on account of the smnllnes.s of tho crock which flows down the valley in which it is situated. Te Awaite was the first settlement in Marlborough, a whaling station having been founded there by Captain Guard as far back as 1827. The placo grew with comparative rapidity, and when Colonel Wakefield arrived in tho ship Tory, in 1839, as agent for tho New Zealand Company, it contained no fewer , than forty houses. During tho first year after tho establishment of the depot, a whaler named Thoms married a sister of tho

cannibal chief To Rauparaha, and lived there. Another person closely associated with tho early history of To Awaito was Captain James Heberley, who navigated tho Tory, which was the first ship to enter tho channel. His descendants, and tho descendants of other pioneers, notably Jackson and Norton, are Jiving in tho vicinity to tho present day. Te Awaite has witnessed somo stirring scenes connected with both tho white population and the Natives. The early whalers were a. rugged, set of men, who faced danger and death and "who" were as careless of their spiritual as of thoir temporal welfare. When the Dev. Mr. Ironsides first .Tjsitcd tie ffittlemoat ia^

1841 and enjoined tho men to observo tho seventh day as a day of rest, his words wero lightly received. "This is To Awaite, Sunday does not come here," they jokingly told him. The intense earnestness of tho missioner, however, eventually won for him tho respect of every member of this and other settlements in tho province, and ho exercised great influence over them. Whaling is still carricd on at To Awaite, and the ancient settlement, with its whalebone fences and other curios, is well worth a visit. Queen Charlotte Sound is frcoly discussed as tho site for a naval baso in New Zealand. For this purpose it possesses many natural advantages.' It can be very strongly fortified at almost any point, and would afford safo harbour for any number of ships of tho greatest sizo. It is so situated that a fleet located in its waters could command Cook Strait, and it also has the great advantage of being within a few miles of Wellington. All Marlborough is united in the effort to bring the future naval baso to the Sounds, although there are differences of opinions as to the exact spot which should bo selected.