THE OLD BRIGADE

Greymouth Evening Star, 29 June 1922, Page 3

THE OLD BRIGADE

INCIDENTS OF PIONEER LIFE. MR MEMORIES.

(By

“Delver”).

When Time who steals our years away Shall steal our pleasures too, The Mem’ry of the past will stay And half our joys renew —Thomas Mooie.

Time has exacted a toll of years from Mr Fergus Barrowman, Senr., but he is blessed with an active memory that carries him back to those stirring moments when he and his adopted country wer e young and renews for him vividly the joys and the sorrows —of the days that were. Many times Mr Barrowman has given “Star” subscribers the benefit of his valuable reminiscences and an account of his earliest experiences always affords much pleasure. It wa s in 1864 that Mr Barrowman arrived at Bluff in time to spend Ins 19th birthday on New Zealand soil. The vessel which brought him and his friends whs the barque Pana (Captain Nichol) passing heavy with a tonnage of 620. The passengers when overhauled' were to be taken to Invercargill in a smaller boat, but many, includiim Mr Barrowman, decided to walk there and see a little of the country. At that tim e the work of constructing the Invercargill-B u line was in progress and the party met not only the navvies engaged on it. but also many diggers “swaggin- it” to Bluff on the first journey to the Picton rush, then at its height. Incidents of this interesting period are still very fresh in the memoi} of Mr Barrowman. who is not above fellin'* a few stories against himself. It was not long before he experienced the hospitality and good fellowship for which the diggers were famous. A partv of diggers approached him in Bluff and proposed that he should join their party. “I might not have enough money to hold out until you strike gold!” said Mr Barrowman. “That doesn’t matter—we have plenty and we will see you through ! ’ was the good-hearted response. Only that he could not overcome an innate disinclination to link up with strangers, the newcomer would Lave eagerly accepted the offer, but under the circumstances he declined it after politely acknowledging his gratitude. The Maori war was then at a. critical stage and the belongings of the immigrants were carefully watched in case they contained firearms. In good time Mr Barrowman’s luggage, eanie under the eagle-eyed Customs officials’ notice and knowing l>.e had ‘‘forbidden fruit” in the forms of a revolver and ? a double-barreled gun received as a present from his brother, very naturally he did not like losing them so I he watched the Custmne house officer marking the boxes after examination, with a chalk mark. Mr Barrowman dabbed thi s mark on the chest with the firearms and it was passed. The officials in those days were apparently not as their successors of to-day. The fact that the streets of Invercargill were sponsored by very sober Scots made them none the less precarious to cross. Mr Barrowman found that it was quite a feat to cross one of them, the mud wa s so deep. ‘ The story was told of a business man at the upper end of Dee Street coming to his shop door one morning and seeing a man's hat on the middle of the street. He made his way across and picking it up found a man’s head underneath. He helped the man ' tit, and was asked by him to give him a further hand—as ho had a horse down there!

DOWN ON THE FARM

Life in the country, of whicl 'hBarrowman had a taste, was not without its merry moments. On one farm on he worked Mr Barrowman related that he had to tackle caiiin with a bullock yoked up m the sL U like a horse. It was an animal that would not back under any consideration, but the new driver was unawaie of this and went to great P a ” ls to “back” it. The long tussle between bovine stubboraess and the mastery of man wa s too much for the stationowner, Mr Gall who revealed ns . - in- place behind a whare by a shull peal of laughter. He °ver to the scene of the trouble The shafts of the drav being up in the an he k d bollock past the wheel, made it L°na over and PUIW over it Then Mr Barrowman made for the gate, but not knowing bul lock lingo” could not stop the whec_ from colliding with a post. He seized the bullock by the horn s and Reeled him through. Before five o clock the boss rode out to where a number of ploughmen were at work and brought them in earlier to see the ‘ new feller steer the bullock through the gate bv the horns. 'it was in ,1864 that the bailiffs were in the office of the Southland Provincial Government, which spent the finances recklessly. Mr Barrowman’g first entry into gold-seeking was in 1865, when thwas a rush on the beach near the mouth of the Mataura. The Maoris were carrying the sand over the ridge and washing it with a pump. Mr Barrowman tried his first prospect on a shovel, but although there was quite a ring of gold it was so fine that on the advice of his more experienced companions, who had been on fhe Molineaux, it was decided to give up hope of securing payable quantities. OLD TIME TRAVEL. The call of the West Coast came with a telegram Mr Barrowman received from his brother, who had been in the first rush. If-. wa s no easy matter to travel here in those days. Boats were few and far between and wV Mr Barrowman decided to leave fo. the Coast he found it necessary to tramp a good part of the distance to Dunedin. He had many experience.

on the road and was fortunate enoug, to meet at a hotel in Propituna Gorge an old Australian digger who imparted some very valuable information as to the best methods of winning gold. Travelling was anything but joyous. The first stop on the coach journey was at Tokomiro, which was made at dinner time. The envy of the passengers, was aroused by the promptness with which the coach-driver’s wants were catered for while . the hungry passengers waited in famished desperation for a great length of time. The dinner, when it did arrive, was not five minutes on the table befor o the call “all aboard” fell on thenastounded ears, and insulf. was added to injury by the fact that the innkeeper had taken the precaution of previously collecting 3/6 from each diner. The passengers snatched what, rood they could before boarding the coach, some seizing the knives and forks, apparently to make sure of obtaining their money’s worth, The day attei Mr Barrowman arrived in Dunedin, a romantic, escape from the reclamation works was made by two prisoners. They took a boat and got across to the'peninsula when the police blocked their escape at the narrow isthmus The escapees had confiscated rifles and put up a desperate fight. A shot from the police killed one, and the other entrenched himself behind his comrade’s body and kept firing until the police ultimately re-captured him. ON THE OCEAN WAVE.

The voyage to Greymouth was by no ■ mean, euw. Tim Stormbml, , which Mr Barrowman boarded was taking a large company of soldiers who were under General Chute. Thej were mostly “Tommies main of whom had their wives with them. In addition to the large military com- • nlement the “Stormbird” carried also a large number of diggers and the overcrowded state of the vessel was such that it took three or four sittings at table to feed everyone. Trouble was threatened on the first evening when orders were given by the third mate that all lights were to b<> put out. Cramped for space to lie or even sit in comfort, the diggers were squatted about the tables conversing with the soldiers. The mate was told that the passengers wer e not going to sit in the dark all night, and he left and reported to the captain. This dignitary then gave the order personally, but with no effect. All expected that the sailors would be sent to extinguish the lights and in that ease the soldiers told their civilian companions to duck under the tables , one doffing his belt, showed a gigantic buckle. “This is <>ur weapon.’ he declared. But the sailors did not come and the company yarned all night in .the flicker of the lamplight. Wellington in those days had very poor wharf accommodation, and such was the velocity of a gale when they arrived in the port, that several {date glass windows in the town were smashed to pieces. The wharf was a frail structure and owing to the state of the weather the ship was ordered away from it, for fear of {lulling it down! Their arrival at Wellington was welcomed bv the “Stonnbird's” civilian passengers, as the soldiers left the vessel there and the result was that the diggers had plenty of room. Ships’ passengers in those days were transhipped to a little steamer when arriving off the bar and taken bv this vessel to the landing place, which was among the shrubs which grew whore the steam cranes now stand. Greymouth at tha + time had not long passed the canvas stage and was just showing signs of growth into a moderate town. It was a quiet place but interesting as a further instalment of Air Barrowman’s impressions will show. For instance, there was the hypnotic sea-captain whose {lowers of mesmerism were indeed wierd. He made fools of many men and one victim followed him to Greymouth, bent on vengeance. But the hypnotic eye of the old sea-dog took all the punch out of him and in a short space of time the vengeful one, at the bidding of the master mind, was doing “shimmy shakes” at the corner of Tainui Street for the benefit of a huge crowd. EsEsmtfK/icagj naraug latu watan