TOUCH AND GO

Gisborne Times, Volume LXV, Issue 10392, 9 May 1927, Page 5 (Supplement)

TOUCH AND GO

MR. H. WARREN’S TRIP TO ~ GISBORNE.

b REDIT SYSTEM IN FULL SWING

WORRIES OF THE EAIILY

SEXjLERS

With so many terrible tales of tragedy aioot “with reference to Gisborne’s early days, it was hardly the place one would imagine anybody in search of a quiet and peaceful life would hasten to settle in. Yet it was that incentive winch brought the late Mr. My. Warren, Salisbury ltd., to settle -here away back in 1873. He had come out from the Old Country to Auckland and had been engaged toi about five years in a sea-farin° r life on the coastal vessels which trad° ed along the East Coast from Auck--1 J ■ ,v e t,ien settled in Gisborne and, like - most of the eariy residents here, was able to throw some interesting light on the life of those early days. A DISASTROUS TRIP. ‘•My last trip on the coast,” said Mr Warren to an interviewer, “was the most exciting of them aif and .-.was what finally decided me to settle in Gisborne. I thought it was 'quite time I leit the sea. We came down from Auckland in a small cutter which bore the name of ‘Wau.’ On hoard was a load of miscellaneous stores for Mahia and we made a good trip down, passing safely through the passage between Portland island and the mainland and heaving-to for the night..- A southerly gale sprang up and we were forced to run Cefore it. We couldnt beat outside Portland and had to ran the passage inside in inky darkness. It was a wild time and oiteh wo thought hope was gone, hut, finally, we got through, damaged but afloat. There were several big holes in the hull where we had touched the rocks and our position was serious. The distress signal was run up but, for about five days, we saw no other vessel that could help us. By this time, we , were nearly opposite Waipiro Bay and, at last, managed to draw into shelter close to the land. Meantime, our .owner had given the cutter up as .lost and was travelling along the coast in search of some survivors. Our skipper went ashore, borrowed a horse and set out towards Gisborne. Just below AYaipiro Bay, he met our owner and there was quite a celebration when the true state of affairs was explained. Anyway I had had enough of the sea then, and decided to try Gisborne for a time.”

Mr. Warren went ashore at Waipiro Bay, where there were one or two pakehas and a number of Natives. Mail day was the only excitement for the settlers and that occurred, roughly, once a fortnight. The Coast road then was a mere fcottraek, starting at the Gisborne end, on the eastern bank of the Turanganui river—-across which travellers had to swim their horses — 7 and running along the foot of what are now known as the Kaiti hills. TROUBLE OVER LARD TITLES. Working conditions in Gisborne, Mr. Warren went on to say, weie really good, though the pay was very small. Food, clothes and rent were then far- more reasonably-priced and a man could keep a wife on about £3 per week. Land could be bought very cheaply, but the trouble was to get a safe title. Time and again, big sales were put through, hut it would be revealed, perhaps months or years later, that the seller hadn’t the slightest claim to the land and was just making a little easy money out oT a trusting pakeha. Land with secure titles was also verv cheap and sections where Messrs. Williams and Kettle now have their premises sold at £3O. When the Validation of Titles Court was set up. there was a •great improvement and prices naturallv became firmer. Mr. Warren was present at Tolaga Bay when the first sitting of the Land Court was held there. The Maoris made a gala day of the occasion. but some of them were much sadder, when the dnv closed and they had found that hood winking the white man was not possible on all occasions.

new arrivals had to REPORT TO POLICE. Every newcomer had to report to tkc police within twenty-four hours of arrival, or ho was haled before Magistrate Nesbitt and fined a guinea." He had to take his rifle along; with him and swear allegiance to tins Crown and also promise to attend drill at least once in every three months. The Court House waythen situated on the site now occupied by Adair Bros. Almost every resident had a horse and these were allowed to graze anywhere, for there'were no fences. Wbn some mounts were required, it was necessary to borrow an animal tram a friend and round up all the beasts about the particular place, •where the required mounts were thought to be. The whole bvtncn would then be driven into the phanirock yardj* the required ones picked out and the rest set free again. The “Shamrock” was a boarding-house on the site of the present Gisborne Hotel and was first run by a C aptain Dalv. Later, Mr. Andrew Graham took it over and turned it into licensed premises. All banking was done through Napier and., as it often took between five and six weeks to get a reply liom that town, the credit system ' u as largely in vogue and ( a great amount of dealing was carried out simplv on the strength of a man’s word. Captain Read’s bank-notes -were often seen, bub of real cash there was very little. A EIRE Ti’TrjvfTTNG TINDER - difficulties.. Outside the town, houses were few and far hetweo". One t ] ,e firohßl ran- M" - A 1 JibhVs who town • an T A Vped ; Wft h- of hers ’ ’ .lpokimmediately wberawgATevy • agitated; say in w: th-+ iCyjvr.hicgdaco burning —end so R prgved to. bo ; .. ‘•Our 1 edntipyed Mr. “was situates? * n the middle

of Gladstone Road just opposite Mr. F. Hall’s shop now is. We had an old manual engine and everybody joined in to give a hand. There was sometimes a shortage of wate,, but there always seemed to be plenty of beer. Occasionally, at a file, the tanks ran dry and there was no fur-, of water near at hand. 'Vo had to stop and wait for the tanks to fill up again, if they -.veie connected with a well, or if they wore simply filled by rar'ii ; »v-dter, we had to wait around and see that the blaze did not spread, in either case, that was when the beer came in and u 0 ceitainly needed it too, after slogging away at the okl pumps. BIG BLAZES. I “There were some big blazes at tunes. A building on the site of liedstone’s block in Lowe Street caught and a heavy wind carried the flames and sparks to places nearby. Wo stopped all these before they got going properly, but some sparks lodged 111 the shingled roof of the old Masonic Hotel. That started and we put a ladder up to get at the flames. All old man named Dawson climbed up and somebody else got ready to send buckets of water up to him. When Dawson got half-way up the ladder, he became worried about the height and stayed there clinging tight. We couldn’t get the buckets past him or get him down until it was too late and the flames were beyond ns. The hotel was burned completely. Another big blaze was when the block now occupied by the Loan and Mercantile Co. down to 'Adams’ shop went in one flare-up. Mr. Andrew Graham owned a large, place on Messrs, Williams and Kettle’s site and that went one night. This particular fire spread right through to the Masonic stables, but we saved those and other places round about. TE KOOTI SCARES. • “Te Kooti worried us a little,” Mr. Warren remarked in conclusion, “but be never actually got back here, though there were plenty of rumors of his intended return. At one time, troops and volunteers were guarding the whole road from Mnkauri to Ormond. Settlers out in that direction all left tlieir homes to the care of the forces and came into town. Had the okl rebel reached here, it is, doubtful if he would have got away alive. One man, now living at Mangapapa, who had lost relatives in the Massacre, stated publicly that lie would shoot the rebel chief on sight and d— the consequences. He would ha% r e done so too and nobodv would have blamfld him in the slightest.”