"AUNT ALICE" AND THE PIONEERS

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 150, 22 December 1945, Page 6

"AUNT ALICE" AND THE PIONEERS

Sir, —The article in Saturday .night's issue of the "Evening Post," on the passing of the late Mrs. yon Stunner ("Aunt Alice"), stirred me deeply and awakened many memories of nearly 40 years ago. I was invited by the Wesleyan Methodist Conference to undertake pioneering work in the new settlements o.f North Taranaki and the King Country- Arriving there in 1908 some difficulty was found in securing accommodation for myself and horse. Eventually "Aunt Alice" placed a room at my disposal and grazing for my faithful animal. By this contact we began to form an estimate of each other and to appreciate human values. Some time after this introduction, the family moved on to bush-land on the Waitangi Plains in the Ohura district. "Aunt Alice" asked me to direct their removal through the Okau and the Kotare Bush, which I knew very well, and had many danger points. I have often seen the pack-horses stumble and with their load fall into the creek a hundred feet below, with broken backs. In this family trek there were four or five children, cattle, ponies, fowls, and household requirements, which included a piano needed for the home in the bush so that the mother could teach her children the elements of music. Te Waitangi could not boast a school, so "Aunt Alice" served as schoolteacher for the district, as well as many other social duties she was called on to perform. All these duties were carried out with grace and charm that won the admiration of the bush community.

A few months ago, while on a visit to Wellington, I was pleased to receive an invitation to call on her and to renew our acquaintance after the lapse of 36 years. It seems now that I, too, must be a senior after these many years of pioneering service in Church work in back-country areas in the north and south, east and west coasts of New Zealand. However, the experiences 1 have had have been worth while in forming friendships which time has not withered. Among the best friends I have known in New Zealand, I place "Aunt Alice" in the centre of my picture gallery. T salute her in passing as a woman of indomitable courage, a great pioneer, a rare soul whom it has been <*ood to know. —I am, etc., (Rev.) MOSES AYRTON. Methodist. Minister, Wellington, December 17. 1945.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

"W.II.R."—The butter ration is still ooz per person per week, but for Christmas a temporary restoration to Bnz applies for a

month by mnldnK Coupon 8 valid from December 1 to December 25.