HORSE AND CABLE

Evening Star, Issue 23335, 3 August 1939, Page 17

HORSE AND CABLE

FORTY-TWO YEARS' TRAM SERVICE ENDS RETIREMENT OF MR ROBERT FORSYTH A TRIBUTE TO THE PUBLIC Forty-two years a is the proud record- of Mr Robert Forsyte of Kaikorai, who recently retired. from, active service. Possibly Mr Forsyth would still; be a gripman on the Stuart street .line, but just , after that line was taken over by the City V Corporation. Mr Forsyth fell seriously 1 ill. , He has lately recovered, but his illness has enforced his retirement. To-day he looks back over 42 years of ■ faithful service, with the added satisfaction of knowing he was one of the best-liked tramwaymen in Dunedin. When Mr Forsyth came to the city from the country he owned two teams of horses, but a bad injury received on the football field forced' him to give 'these up. He could not give up his love for horses, however; and he. became a conductor on the horse trams which ran - from the city to St. Clair. He'enjoyed those days, although the life was hard and the hours long. ... Wages,■ too, were low: he earned 27s 6d, but this was added to, by commistfoxr, conductors being rewarded with an additional 3d for every £1 in fare

collected. He was on both single and double-decker trams, the latter requiring three horses to pull them. At intervals throughout the day the horses had to be changed, and sometimes some lively interludes ensued when horses possessed of as much temperament as a.him star became fractious. It .was a case, of harness them as best one could, and .take care of those flying hooves I Sometimes there _ were hold-ups through “power” failures when the equine temperament got the upper hand before the tram reached its destination. Holdups, too, occurred through the habit those horse trams formed df jumping from the lines. The rails were none too evenly laid, and in themselves consisted of single iron rails without a flange. Not much of a jolt was required to cause a derailment, and passengers became more or less used to this, sort of thing ■ after a while. One of those jolts gave Mr Forsyth a rude • awakening—literally—on_ a night when he was feeling “ all-in ” after an unusually, long and trying period. Standing on tne top of a double-decker he against the parapet, and dropped into a doze. Game the jolt—and Mr Forsyth was toppled over the side of the decker to fall flat on his back in the middle of the road. The passengers were much more perturbed than Mr Forsyth, who was uninjured and saw the humour of the situation quickly. RIVALRY ON THE PART OF DRAGS. Competition in those days was very keen between the trams and drags—vehicles capable of holding approximately a dozen passengers. These drags would line up beside the trams at the starting place at the corner of Manse and Princes streets and the drivers would entice intending passengers their way. There was a Mr Kennedy who was responsible for despatching the trams, and he used to make every endeavour to get the trams away a minute or two before the drags were scheduled to leave. Then would ensue a race to the next stopping place, drag and tram going “ hell-for-leather ” to pick up the passengers first. The drags' usually won, because they could travel faster, but the trams were capable of ■ carrying three times the number of passengers. Mr Forsyth’s closest companion in those days was, Mr W. H. M'Kenzie, to-day manager of the tramways department. ■ “We were mates together,” said Mf Forsyth to a * Star * representative yesterday, “ and he deserves the position' •he holds to-day.” Mr M’Kenzie was keen for Mr Forsyth to remain with the corporation, on the Stuart street.. line, but. Mr.. Forsyth’s illness decreed otherwise. Three different services ran in the days when Mr Forsyth entered horse trgms—the city (or horse) service, the Mornington service, and the Roslyn service. The two latter were cable lines, and were, in Mr Forsyth’s ©pinion, rather preferable to the horse trams. TheroadS everywhere were not good, and in wet weather became quickly churned into mud. _ It was anything but “ fun ” attending to fractious horses, or changing relays, when the ground beneath was a sea of deep mud. ADVENTURES ON MORNINGTON LINE. In 1899 Mr Forsyth forsook the horse car? and joined the Mornington Tramway Company, still as conductor. A special early morning tram was run then to convey coal to the power-house from the city, this being towed up in a lorry-trailer. Tho Mornington Company had a peculiar method of issuing tickets—indeed, strictly speaking, tickets were not issued. A passenger paid his fare, and the conductor tore an unnumbered ticket from his block, but instead of handing this to the passenger he thrust it in his own pocket. At night these torn-off tickets were handed into the office, and h conductor’s takings had j to agree with the value of the tickets handedl ini There was no check if tickets became lost. While with this company, Mr Forsyth had the ugliest experience of his career. One night while the tram was standing at the Mornington terminus he took a stroll a few yards along the road, which was then bordered by shrubs. Suddenly a man leapt nut at him and struck him a terrific blow on the head, knocking him uncon-

scious. Fortunately the gripman heard his groan, and rushed up before the assailant had an opportunity of getting away with the money-bag. “ Tho man was never caught,” stated Mr Forsyth, “ but the incident gave me a great fright. I bought a revolver and I carried it with me for years after that until the law put a stop to my doing so. I was neyer attached again, however.” He still carries the scars caused by his teeth hit? ing through his lip. Until early in 1903 Mr Forsyth remained! with the Mornington Company, but he lost his job when the powerhouse and plant were completely > destroyed by fire. This fire obtained such a hold that three houses were also destroyed, and in the end! the City Fire Brigade had to enter the Mornington Borough and assist in quelling the fire, a thing that was not generally looked upon with favour by either the city or local bodies—but had! to be in that case. Conductors, in addition to wages, also obtained a commission on that lino. Mr Forsyth said he was never greatly in favour of the system, for it meant that a man who was more popular than an associate collected more cash. This applied, of course, to the sale of concession tickets. An unpopular conductor sold very few. whereas a popular man would sell them in hatches. Most people who have travelled on the Stuart street line iu recent years have got to know and like Mr Forsyth very well, so it will not be hard for tbqinto appreciate why he sold- concession tickets in very large quantities. Following the suspension of the Mornington line, Mr Forsyth obtained a job as conductor on the Stuart street line, which by then had been opened. He quickly became gripman, retaining that post for 14 years. In 1918 he fell a victim to the influenza epidemic and had to return to conducting for a period, due to the shaking up he received. In latter years, and until his retirement, he was again gripman. His long period on the Stuart street lino was a most happy one, he maintains. His associates we’ - e fine men and'worked together as' one great family. In all the years he was on the line it was never considered necessary to appoint an inspector, and the City Corporation is to-day carrying on tho tradition established,_ and is not setting up an inspector in authority. VIGNETTES FROM 36 YEARS. Several things remain uppermost in Mr Forsyth’s mind over the years of service. The man who attempted to obtain change for a half-sovereign, and might have succeeded had not some other passengers observed that the coin tendered was a sixpence. . . . The fanner who sat on the running board of the tram instead of the seat and yelled blue murder when the tram started and dragged his feet along the pavement. . . . The woman who screamed her head off the first time she. went over the Littlebourne dipin those days much steeper than it is to-day. . . . The High School boys who repeatedly persuaded Mr Forsyth to bring up loads of pies for illicit “ feasts ” in the hostel, but that was yesterday. . . . The snow storms which meant running the cars all night long to keep the lines clear —keeping them running until his eyes were almost starting from his head. . . . The very drunk and very obtrusive passenger who finished up in court because another passenger reported the abuse hurled, at Mr Forsyth. ... A few things among countless others; A SPLENDID PUBLIC.

Above all, Mr Forsyth remembers the public. . “ I must say in all my years on the trams I have never found the public as a whole other than splendid,” he said. “ I had no difficulty with my passengers, who were always obliging and sympathetic; in times of worry they were extraordinarily, sympathetic.” Sometimes the outside public caused trouble, liked to place obstacles on the cable tram lines, on one occasion even going so far as to place a heavy sleeper across them, Fortunately nothing more serious than derailment ever resulted from such stupid actions. Mr Forsyth is looking forwax-d, to happy days on the bowling green and in. his garden, although, to judge by the amount of snow lying on his allotment yesterday, gardening will take a “ back seat ” for a while.