Stories of the Past.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXV, Issue 10392, 9 May 1927, Page 7 (Supplement)

Stories of the Past.

'' tu SMITH IN REMIX' AITS. MOOD.

rvn. OEXTS relating TO cn massacre.

vp'VG- OF SMUGGLER IN BAY.

rV rs GET BIG FRIGHT AT >- vl ‘' J (-IR.CUS.

Wrie-'i’fiih'' well-informed, bright, i • 'Vestin'-, and one of the most aI l‘! rcil residents of Buslimere. is w- W AY. Smith, whose husband jr I’* 1 ’* Id, model farmer and one of ? Post known amongst tlie early fen. in il.i» aistriot. i

I Mrs Smith, who was a daughter lof Mr \y ni. Griffin, of Auckland, def h, mv a visit to Poverty Bay Ito see her cousin, Mrs W. King, who lived at Alakauri. She returned hero two rears later and, in 1871, R he was married to Mr Smith, the cerenmnr&akmg place in the Argyll Hotel. AjFHHd, Mrs Smith had the oTcat nrsiai'tune to be bereft of her Jmsband. ... , Sreakiug ol their early experiences jn tliis district. Mrs Smith said tluvfc Gis 1 v;'iii- at the. time of her" arrival v,n> s;.iii under martial law and sh’c ivr.s the first white woman to take i.;. residence at Patutahi. after the Me-sarrc. Her husband had landpci at Auckland in 1862, proceeding to 1 lav. ice's Bay, where he had en<Tfl<r,rt in entile ‘ raising. After a brie; seel! at the Gabriel’s Gully gold field', "he had returned to Hawke’s feav, but in 1861 he came up; and feettlod in Poverty Bay. |ME. SMITH IX TIGHT CORNER. | the Hauhan rebellion broke out In the following year, Air Smith s •plans naturally became upset, for lie at once joined the volunteers. He irst i f all saw service at Waerengal.hika lindcr Oa.pt. Wilson. During the engagement Air Smith had a I-ei-v narrow escape. With others he |vas engaged in trying to prevent the f-ebeis from obtaining their water liippla s, when a reinforcement of 2GO itrong from Opotiki for the _ rebels aimed up and the party had literally ;o cut their way out through them, >nly half a dozen escaping. The deportation of 1 e Kooti and a huge lumber of rebels to the Cliathanis iad followed the quashing of t!ie reicllion. . , . . Wlwii Te Kooti and Ins party reamed to Whareongaonga, Mr Smith, :ogother with Air Thelwall and others, joined the party sent to Intercept them. This proved an ill-fated nissieu and the rebels, after moie : .han holding their own at Paparatii, r o t awav inland. Returning to his arm on "the Plats, Air. Smith worked m industriously and successfully till he ia tel ul JXavem’i?r 10, 186 S when he awful AfjjJfHOcre occurred. On that light, he’happened to be at Air Parer’s, assisting with the shearing and n luw.ring the firing the whole houseiold left the oremises, taking cover n the send) till daylight, when” they :ame on to Gisborne. Air Smith liavng to carry Air Fred Parker (then a nero h-v) 'most- of the way. -Again Jr Smith took the field, remaining l itli t.ho fo: cos till 1870. JHi BRIDE'S CHOICE. In ; • Air and Airs Smith, then ewlv married, went out to live at i'aitaria. Patutahi, which her liusmd had taken up. Those were not i' any means days of luxuries, acirding to Airs Smith. There were n jeweller ’s shops in Gisborne then ud when a young woman got mark'd her choice of a present was ither a side saddle or a serving lacihn •. Be!ore the Massacre, Caplin Head had been the only draper, le was reputed to have kept everyliing except coffins. He used to et in a large consignment of drap•y every now and again and one civ who had eight daughters usual- | got the first pick. After that Mr ln’isfall started.a store, hut he sold lit to Kinross and Graham. [Touching upon financial matters, ills Smith' said that when she came ere there was no hank. Capt. Read las the great money king and., used Is iv. n hank notes, a facsimile of finch, thanks to the courtesy ' of lTrs •Pinitli, appears in this issue. k r?-.’ rn tez rn rs

(lie Bin.lv of N.Z. was the first to hen and its banking chambei was Ji a corrugated' iron. store owned by . apt. Bead. Mr Kirkton was. the A anagcr. Next came the Onion Sank and its premises were on the jresent site, Mr Von Daldeken beig the first manager. The Bank f N.S.W. started in the old Comt ouse when.it was at Ada r Bros, oraer. For a long time, thei e n eie nly these three hanks. , iSob ?,I !oJd cash Capt. Bead s notes hut imself, hut they passed lound tieeL When the "Union Bank started, • . ohnson °Brcs. Major Westrupp and ' Ir Smith were reported toMie^be, . ,nlv ones not under an obligation xo . Apt Bead in some form or anothe . FOP, NON-DANCERS-i \ s to the amusements provided in j he early days, Mrs Smith said that ho Xars laughed when sherccnlld a visit paid by a circus. .It .rranged for the occasion ; j . lakelets ■ should 1 sit cn one side and lie Maoris on the othci. ■ burse < l the performance two ‘downs lime out,on stilts and befoie o , - ; .puld say “.t'ac-k Robinson the ■ ilaori side of the enclosuro u< , , •v! Perhaps the most, enjoyable lances were those, held, in the .’ourt-house. The music "‘as - l - 'lied bv a hurdy-gurdy and those : " o ■ . ■■ c.

I .who qouldi not dance had to take turns in producing the music. OnC'day Airs ’Smith, amongst others, witnessed a rare incident in the Bay. Air King called Airs King and herself out and said~‘ ‘Have a look here. You will see something you may never see again.” They saw a boat coming in and a cutter going out.- When they came together a man on the cutter painted on the larger boat a dlroad 1 arrow throe time? on either side. The cutter was a revenue cutter and. the large boat the “Ringleader.” She was said to have had liquor aboard and Capt. Read, her owner, was fined £SOO at Auckland" and lost liis vessel. “ALL KILLED THERE.” Questioned as to Air Smith’s nar row escape on the night of the Alassacre, Airs Smith said that the previous day her husband had been mustering sheep on tlie Parker’s property. That night a Alaori came along and said: “All killed there” (pointing to Alakarakn and Afatawliero). “Kooti down and killed them.” Dan Aliinn had an injured shoulder and had told him he had been shot. Airs Parker said they should all get away, but Air Parker reproved her for being an alarmist. Air Smith joined! in with: “Well, I am going, at any rate.’ They had hardly got over the river when the rebels arrived, calling out to them: “Come into the river. Komati, Komati.” As to the AlaS'Sacve, Airs Smith said she had been told that, on the Sunday? All Blair, a storekeeper, had come into the church and told the men to he ready' to go out as Te Kooti had landed at Whareongaonga. She understood Te Kooti had gone away with very bitter, feelings ainst the settlers on the Flats, particularly Alessrs Goldsmith and Wyllie, and that he had come hack determined to slay them. On the night of the Massacre, a Maoi-i saw Te Kooti on Ali AYyllie’s verandah at his home at Torua. She told them all to clear out- and they crossed the

river to Patutalii. The 100 acres granted to Jimmy Wilson on account of the loss of his parents was, later, sold by hini"to Air Smith.