FIFTY YEARS OF PROGRESS

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 299, 14 September 1937, Page 7

FIFTY YEARS OF PROGRESS

Where Prosperity has Crowned Enterprise

THE borough of Carterton, 53 miles to the north-east of Wellington, this week celebrates its golden jubilee, an important event in its history. From the time the early settlers first built their homes on sections that once were part of a huge, dense forest there has been nothing fantastic or phenomenal in the life of Carterton, but it has gone gradually and steadfastly onward until to-day, although less pretentious to the eye than other boroughs of similar age, it can confidently claim to be among the most solid in New Zealand. The steady, but unfaltering, process from the rudimentary to the present state has been to the good of the town. . The future, like the past, will not be meteoric, but Carterton will not go back, for its rich dairy and pastoral lands will never lose their productivity, which is the life-blood of the borough and the keynote to its success. Education has been to the forefront of Carterton activity, and by a happy coincidence the jubilee of the Carterton High School has fallen in the same year as that of the borough, and it is fitting, therefore, that the celebrations should be carried out on a grand and ambitious scale. During this week people whose homes are scattered far and wide beyond the environs of the borough will meet again for a common purpose—to do honour to their town and school, and grip the hands of friends made long ago.

TOWN IN THE RAW

Interview With Very Early Settler SPIRIT OF PIONEERS On jubilee occasions it is well for younger generations to pause and reflect on the hardships endured by the pioneers and early settlers, whose indomitable spirit, courage, and often self-sacrifice laid the foundations of thg.pation, and gave an inspiration and a tradition to those who came after. Carterton, in common with the rest of New Zealand, owes a debt of gratitude to these pioneers, who in numerous instances left their peaceful homes in the Old Land to build a nation out of dense forest that was once New Zealand, a little land far away at the other cud of the globe, where dangers lurked and pitfalls awaited the newcomer. It is. not necessary to travel far to meet some of those early settlers or sons of some of the actual pioneers, and a “Dominion” representative in the course of gathering information on the borough of Carterton had the good fortune to meet a man who came to Carterton in ISSB, 30 years before the borough was proclaimed. He is Mr. John Fensham, the town’s oldest living resident, and the trials and tribulations he experienced are typical of those of the great body of men—and women—who blazed the trail in the making of this country. Mr. Fensliam, who, like many other early settlers, made the most of his opportunities, was but a child when he arrived in New Zealand with his parents on the ship Oliver Lang, from Gravesend, in 1858. Like many another, he left a good home in Surrey, but, in spite of having to work bard for what he got, he acknowledged to the reporter that his coming to New Zealand was the best thing that happened in his life. Experience in a country then very much in the raw profited him greatly. At an early age he had to learn how to stand on his own legs, and in characteristic British fashion he succeeded where others without that indomitable and courageous spirit would have failed. John Fensham had his seventh birthday on the ship that brought him to New Zealand, and all the schooling he received was completed before that time. For John Fensham the world was his classroom and life was his teacher. Many families who later settled in the Wairarapa came out on that ship, but excluding himself, none is living to-day. With his parents he arrived in New Zealand on September 18, 1858. and on October,6 they set out on their long and arduous journey to Carterton. Onward and onward they trudged, and at the end of the first day’s travel they reached Taita, which in these modern days of transport can be reached in half an hour or so. The next day they forged on slowly and deliberately to SHverstream, and it was about there they met the first of a series of troubles, for the bridge that, had been washed away in the big flood of January had not been replaced, and adults and children had to scramble across the river, which, because of its swift current, was extremely treacherous. After another night’s rest they went across to Pakuratahi, and the following day they were faced with the ordeal of tramping over the Rimutakas — an ordeal, indeed, for the long Rimutaka road was shockingly rough and the experience was something none of them had tasted before.

But that little party fought on doggedly, and at sundown reached Featherston. It was there they procured a pack bullock and fastened on to it two big hampers in which the children were placed. The men and women walked, and it was in this fashion that the tired little band came to Tauherenikau. On they went to the Waiohine River, which they crossed in a canoe with the help of some friendly Maoris, and on foot the party trudged to Carterton. The road had been cut through and cleared 10 to 12 feet, and •in contrast to Carterton of to-day there was not at that time any building, not even a whare, on the west side. All round there was a dense forest of majestic totara and matai. The few houses farther on were built of split slabs and totara ‘bark, while the windows were of calico, glass at that time, of course, not having been introduced into Carterton. Young John Fensham with his parents arrived at Carterton on October 9, 1858, at which time a road was being made as far as the Taratahi Hotel, which was then kept by a Mr. Thomas Rae. He lived in the swaddling town of Carterton until 1803. and then at the age of 12 he went to the Hutt in search of work. He got a job there, earning for the first year four shillings a week, six shillings a week in the second year, and eight shillings a week in the third year. The wages were small, but at the end of the third year the boy had saved £23, which he put into a home in Carterton. At the age of, 18 he took a job on a station, and later, when the sawmills were erected he started work in one of them. Mr. Fensham remembers well the big fire tha t swept Carterton on January 22. 1872, when practically every building was laid low. In 1871 John Fen sham went to work on the Brancopelh Station in Masterton, and at Hie end of five years was earning 25/- a week, bis biggest wage up to that time. The money he saved, and he was able to buy a 10-itere section at Carrington Park for £l4 an acre. Like many other old-timers, he believes that people to-day could do as he did, but. the trouble new is. he says, that too much money is squandered and frittered away.

When the railway line at Masterton

At first known as Three-Mile Bush, Carterton was later named after Mr. C. R. Carter, who at that time represeated the district In the General Assembly and the Provincial Council. The original settlers of Carterton were men whose capital chiefly consisted of stout hearts and strong arms. They were set down on ten-acre plots on one side of the road in the midst of dense bush, and given work in clearing the line and making the road on toward Masterton, which was settled earlier. All the land on the other side of the road was taken up by one or two absentees, and thus the incipient town was handicapped from its commencement. Its progress was slow and painful. The settlers and their wives worked manfully and cleared their little holdings, erecting small, but more or less comfortable, cottages, planted orchards, got a cow or two, and struggled for independence. There came a time, however, when despair and terror seized upon the whole community, for a bush fire in a high wind swept the settlement from end to end, destroying houses, orchards and fences, and very nearly some of the people themselves. This apparently overwhelming catastrophe, however, was a blessing in disguise. The fire was so thorough that serious danger from a similar cause in the future was impossible, and subscription lists were started throughout the colony to assist those settlers who were completely ruined and could not assist themselves. Carterton thus rose Phoenix-like from Its ashes, and progress again set in with more perceptible results. Several sawmills were built in the bush surrounding the settlement, and these, while giving steady employment to the settlers, cleared the ground for further occupation. Grazing and dairying followed up the sawmilling period, which the railway line running through the west side of the town very greatly developed, and now the whole district is a network of farms and there is a lively business area.

was opened about 1880, it was thought that Carterton was going to be the main part of the Wairarapa, and as a result there was much speculation in land. ’ Mr. Fensham was paid £lOOO cash for his section at Carrington Park, and with some of that money he bought several other sections of land. But the slump came, laud values decreased. and three or four years later the same Carrington Park ground was sold for £5OO. Mr. Fensham, who has a fund of information about Carterton, had a very good word to say of the Maoris. At various times he lent them money, and he always found them straight. ‘ I would rather trust a Maori to-day than a good many white men,” he said.

There are eight prosperous dairy factories, and these have given a wonderful fillip to settlers and settlement, to workers and to traders.

Carterton was founded about 1859, and was for many years governed by. a local board, consisting of a chairman and five commissioners. The first commissioners were Messrs. W. Booth. H. Callister, C. R. Carter, R. Fairbrother, A. Campbell and William Vickerstaff.

The borough was formed in 1887, and since that time the town has been governed by a mayor and councillors. The area of the borough is 1281 acres, the population is 1915, and the unimproved rateable value is £88,900. The minute books of the council make interesting reading. For the month of August, 1887, it is shown that accounts amounting to £3B/12/9, which included wages and everything else, were passed for payment. For the same month 25 years ago the accounts amounted to £223/18/7, while for August this year they totalled’£l4B3/18/2. Also in the minutes of 1887 it is shown that there was a credit balance in the bank of £7; to-day there is a credit bank balance of £lB2l/9/10. From a struggling, straggling line of small settlers, Carterton has grown into a place of considerable importance. It is the headquarters of the South Wairarapa County Council, the Wairarapa Licensing Committee, the electoral district, the .Wairarapa and East Coast Pastoral' and Agricultural Society, and the Wairarapa Electric Power Board. It has a racing club and a trotting club, and there are numerous other sporting bodies. Sawmilling was one of the first industries, but for many years farming has been the principal industry, and the dairy factories turn out large quantities of butter and cheese. The town and surroundings are flat, but the eye is relieved by the lofty Tararua Ranges in the east and by the Maungarakei Ranges in the west.

Throughout his time in the district there were no troubles with the Natives, although at times when bands of them passed through the town with guns, tomahawks, and spears the white population experienced anxiety. John Fen.sham’s life is typical of that of other early settlers. He came to the country at a young age, and now, although he never earned more than seven shillings a day, he can enjoy the twilight of his life in peace, comfort, and security, and can reflect happily on the fact that while playing his part in the settlement of Carterton he has set an example by his labours and thrift which the rising sons of the township might well follow.