IN THE EARLY DAYS

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 32, 8 February 1915, Page 14

IN THE EARLY DAYS

WHEN PEOPLE KNEW THEIR NEIGHBOURS LIFE AND COLOUR IN BUSINESS AND SOCIETY

In the Wellington of '65 the people were a family of which the members knew one another well. The arrival of a stranger was a. subject of gossip in and out of the taverns, just as it is to-day in many a New Zealand village which is destined to become a town of importance. Eugenics Societies and other organisations for the improvement of the race, morally, spiritually, and physically were not even a subject of academic speculation. The citizens "lived along," and tried to avoid the open drains in the dark streets by night. The condition of public opinion in those days can be seen in this line attached to an advertisement of the Freemasons' Tavern, in the first issue of The Post, Bth February, 1860: — " N.B. — Free-and-easy every night; good skittle ground on the premises." By "free-and-easy" was meant a "Bing-song," and jollity and "laughter holding both his sides." The spirit of the times is also revealed. in this paragraph of let July :— "We notice by an advertisement to be found elsewhere, that mine host of the Ship Hotel, having secured the services of Miss F. Rooke and Mr. Chandos, who will appear nightly in their highly popular conu'c duetts and sentimental songs, has opened the Olympic Theatre behind his well-known hostelrie as a music hall, to which the price of admittance is" the large sum of nothing. * We doubt not that this new place of amusement will ba much sought after." The town was not over-policed. Apparently a single constable had the whole of Lambton-quay for his picturesque beat. The Post remarked on Ist May: — "Yesterday morning, about 10 a.m., the policeman on duty on Lambton-quay .found a, drunken man with a. box of lucifers endeavouring to light hi« pipe amid a_ heap of shavings collected at a house in course of erection. Were it not for the vigilance of the officer, tho most disastrous consequences might have resulted. " The arrival of a barber was an. event which stirred the town. Thus The Post stated on 28th September :— " Tho following rather complimentary -paragraph appeared in the columns of our contemporary of to-day ; — 'Among the number of all classes, tinkers, tailors, soldiers, apothecaries, ploughboys, and, we are afraid, we must add thieves (judging from the late burglaries), who are flocking from the other provinces into •this one, we notice with pleasure the arrival of a member of another and very

necessary trade— Mr. W. Taylor, a well, known hairdresser and perfumer, from Nelson. Mr. Taylor &at at the feet of Professor Browne, in Fenchurch-street, London, and having passed his noviciate, has come to open a hairdressing and shampooing-room iv this city. In bidding him welcome, our best wish is that he may find none of us Nazareneu.' " After a month's practice on hair, Mr. Taylor saw scope for further enterprise, recorded by The Post thus: — "A want long felt in Wellington, but unknown in all other civilised communities, is about being supplied by tjie enterprise of Mr. Wm. Taylor, hairdresser, who announces that he will in a few days enable our citizens to enjoy the luxuries of the warm bath." Even a horse liad a chance to be a "character," according to this advertisement of 18th April: — "Ono Pound Reward. — Whereas, some person did, on Sunday morning last, take my grey pony, and ride him apparently with a very bad saddle, having materially injured his withers, the above reward will be paid on conviction to any person giving information of the offender. Mrs. (Old) Smith. N.B.— The horse, a short-tailed grey cob, is well known. Thorndon Flat, April 13." Therefore one is not surprised by the banter of a report repubhshed by The Post of 6th July, the narrative of the Wellington correspondent of the Southern Cross (Auckland) : — "A ball is an event in the 'Empire City' -which serves as a standing dish for gossip in certain quarters for months after it has occurred, and, as a matter of course, instead of creating more social harmony and fewer bickerings, an everlasting source of argument is given to those who are particularly ambitious of appearing to advantage on such occasions, and who most pertinaciously adhere to the _ superiority of everything connected with their individual selves. I do not know for what object this grand ball was given, but it was, 1 believe, intended to be in some way complimentary to •Government officials. - Nothing under £150 per annum, it is said, was invited, and all those fellows who were in tho habit of smoking pipes in tlie street, and who had been seen twice during one week coining out of— (a wellknown inn) were not considered eligible for invitation,, 1 *