LATE MR. C. R. CARTER

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 299, 14 September 1937, Page 16

LATE MR. C. R. CARTER

Monuments to Generosity and Love of Town

Carterton owes a great deal to the late Mr. Charles Rooking Curler, after whom the borough is named. This author, traveller and statesman was born in March. 1822. in the County of Westmoreland. England, and as a young man he took a keen interest in far-off New Zealand mid drew attention to the new country and its possibilities in a series of letters written to the newspapers. In March. 1850, alter his marriage, lie sailed with his wife for New Zealand in the barque Eden, anil, landing at Wellington, he commenced business as a building contractor. Later he became interested in the Small Farms Association, and took up a large area of land at what is now known as Parkvale. From 1860 to 1564 he represented Wairarapa in the General Assembly, and after a few years in Carterton he left for England, where he wrote a number of books. Apart from being a traveller and a statesman, Carter was also a great hook-col lector, especially of New Zealand literature, his collection of which is now housed in the Turnbull Library. In 1895 his wife died and he returned to New Zealand, where a year later he died and was buried in the Clareville Cemetery, near to the town which he had fostered throughout a full and adventurous life. Generous in his lifetime. Carter made provision in his will for a number of worthy objects in the district, and Carter’s Home, Carter’s Reserve and the Carterion Library owe their existence to him. Carter’s Homo for old men is quite a feature of the borough. It was founded some 30 years ago and has accommodation for 12 persons. A condition is that the inmates must be over 65 years of ago. They have to find no money for their keep, and are permitted to use their old age pensions in any way they please. The home for this and other reasons is a much soughtafter place. It is necessary to have lived in Wairarapa South for five years to qualify for admission to the home, but men who have not that residential qualification can become eligible for admission upon payment of £lOO. The home is controlled by a committee of management, consisting of the mayor of Carterton, the Anglican minister, and three borough councillors. Another monument to the generosity of the late Mr. Carter is Carter’s Reserve, one of the finest public reserves in the whole of the Wairarapa district. In the summertime this is an extremely popular picnicking ground, and its vast clear acres, surrounded by beautiful native bush, make an exceedingly attractive sight.

LIGHT FOR WAIRARAPA History of Electric Power Board MANY VICISSITUDES Carterton is the headquarters of the Wairarapa Electric Power Board, which supplies power to the various townships in the district.as well as to the outlying countryside. On March 20, 1920, by notice appearing in the Gazette, the Wairarapa electric power board district, embracing some 1996 square miles of territory, was first constituted, and the first meeting of the hoard was held in the Dalefield Dairy Company’s buildings, Carterton, ou May 8, the members of the board having been elected by the boroughs of Masterton, Carterton, Greytown and J’eatherston, and the Martinborough Town Board, and by the Masterton, Wairarapa South, and Featherston counties. Two of the original members of the board, Mr. It. .1, King and Mr. W. Howard Booth, have without interruption represented the boroughs of Masterton and Carterton respectively since that date. Mr. J. C. Cooper, of Masterton. was the first chairman of the board, and was succeeded by the late Mr. J. IV. Kershaw in 1924, who occupied the position until his death in 1931. The late Mr. T. V. Moore was the next chairman, and was succeeded by the present chairman, Mr. A. Campbell Pearce, in 1932. The original scheme for a supply'of electricity to the Wairarapa was first concentrated on the Waiohine site, but after this had been fully investigated it was ultimately abandoned in favour of the present: site at Kourarau. and the linal selection of this site marks the beginning of the real development of hydroelectricity in the Wairarapa district. With substantial loans authorised by an overwhelming majority of the ratepayers of the district, the board proceeded with energy to let; the various contracts for pipe lines, power hoiis'c surge towers, dams, poles and materials for line construction. Realising that no revenue could be forthcoming until the electricity flowed through the meters in the consumers’ houses, the board also embarked on a vigorous house-wiring policy of its own. and let by contract the wiring of blocks of houses, in order to ensure that as soon as the power was available it would be taken by as many consumers as possible. That great day for the Wairarapa when the snap of a switch flooded many rooms with light, arrived on December 20, 1i923. when the plant was ofliffially opened by the late Sir Walter Buchanan and the Hon. Mr. Anderson, representing the Government.

From that day on the prospects of the board appeared to be very bright, but progress had continued at a steady rate for only twelve months when the disastrous storm and flood in December. 1921. completely scoured out the dam and flooded the power house machinery with silt and mud to a depth of several feet. As the main Government supply from Mangahao was not then available, those consumers who had come to rely on the Kourarau supply were considerably inconvenienced for some weeks before the plant eoiilil be again brought into operation. In June. 1925. the Government supply from Mangahao was linked up with the local supply at the Waingawa substation, and in January, 1929. the supply from Waikaremoana was linked un with the main system. On October 1. 1934. the board, in common with many other concerns, suffered heavy loss as a result of a particularly severe wind storm which dislocated practically the whole of its distribution and caused damage running info thousands of pounds. Its revenue had. however, become so buoyant that it was able to meet the whole of the storm damage out of revenue for the year. The Wnirnrnnn power district is a typical rural district with a comparatively small population, and very few industrial concerns. It has always been the policy of the board to give a maximum of service in the country districts without imposing too heavy a burden on the towns and more closely Settled areas The record of the reductions in charges that have been made and the number of miles of lines erected, clearly demonstrate that this policy has been successfully carried out.