THE GRAND OLD LADY

Gisborne Times, Volume LXV, Issue 10392, 9 May 1927, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE GRAND OLD LADY

!vl?v3. towxleTglances oyer THE PAST. LIFE IS GISBORNE IX THE EARLY DAYS* ‘ WE AVERE ONE P.TG, HAPPY FAMILY, Lisbon;*:-. nowadays, is once again trembled with the problem of an inat! -quatf v. ater supply and the “City Fathers.” ever and anon, cast around in search of a fresh source to supply the increr.'ii’g demands made on the .system. If is, however, merely a o.se of history repeating itself. Fif- ( years ago* even with the scanty ifOnidatitu; id’ those clays, difficulty in tills direction was a continual cause of worry. Put, at that time, it was not a question of a leaking pipe-main, for the font of the town’s supply was merely a spring, situated right in the town,'close to the position now occupied hy the Wi Pere Memorial in .-a* aacreuß “3* ■‘ t -S tUja “"gF 5 * ** fSi a£aj3ai2aaiJ«B!l 3 3 2i3aafli!flfia.

IU HI HI LI" LsA“JL" ZUHUUHJZJ! Qunv. Here, in those good old days. Gisbornians gathered with buckets and cans and obtained their daily supplies of water for washing o afT cooking. Tt was the only supply jkuc enough for these purposes, for pfi other available water was merely Trent the river or had gathered in vNJs after rain, and required boiliag before becoming fit lor* human consumption. Use- of the impure wafer often resulted in a disease comr only known then as “G.sborne fever.” When this single spring ran l.v, then. the town’s water problem luei’mc acute. •"THAT WILD PLACE,” This feature of old Gisborne days related by Mrs. John Townley L: the course of a chat on life here i:. the early days. Mrs. Townley, vbo was ninety years cid on May 6, i uriie to Gisborne, or “The Port” as i: was then called, fifty-four years ago. Prior to that she.had spent ten years in Napier, whence she had come from the Old Country. Reports often reached Napier, in those days, c L wild doings in and around “The Part’’ and this part of New Zealand vos considered a good place to be absent from. Mrs. Townley recollected that, or.lv two months prior to their leaving Napier, her husband had jokingly asked how site would like to live in Gisborne. She had replied that nothing in the world -would make her go to “that wild place.” “Yet,” remarked Mrs. Townley whimsically, “there we were, two months later, setting cut for Gisborne to start a branch of our firm. “Wo were very pleasantly surprised, however,” Mrs. Townley continued, “The people here were wonderfully friendly and wo were soon entirely at home. Gisborne townsfolk, then, wort- a very happy little family and everybody knew everybody [■M mwira mcke T-TTI iw

else. When any celebration was held, the whole town attended. “I well remember the little concerts'we used to have,” she continued. “Everybody, of course, came along and all contributed items, whether they had talent or not... Newcomers were always great fun and were usually hard to get. on-to the

platform at first. They always became alright afterwards, perhaps because, after they bad heard the rest, they felt they didn’t perform so badly alter all. " ' TRIPS CP THE RIVERS. “Another of our favorite amusements was to go for picnics lip the river. As usual, everybody joined in and we had splendid times. There were always plenty of small boats for Lire and quite a lleet often used to set out from about opposite the Wi Pere Memorial early in the morning. Impromptu concerts it'ere all the rage on these trips, too. Whenever anyone wanted a change, it was always a trip up the river that was suggested. “Of course,” commented Mrs. Townley, “we had only the rivers. Roads were too bad to go far on, and there was nowhere to go to anyway. On one occasion a man set out from town to drive to Ormond and reached there two days later. Travelling by the roads was not at all enjoyable in wet weather! Of horses we had only a few, and fewer still of traps and carts—so it was always the river.

“There were nc bridges at tint time,” pioceedec! Mrs. Townley, “and so little row-boats were absolutely -.necessary. And the river was far more attractive* in those clays and was far more navigable, too. Some of the smaller visiting craft, the ‘Pretty Jane,’ for instance, from Auckland, came right up the river, but others stayed in tire roadstead. A pilot boat went out to these and landed cargo and pnssejigers. when Hie bar was in good order, in the vicinity of the present Post Office. When the bar was bad, however, the pilot boat berthed near the Cook Memorial.

“Mail-days were naturally our great days.’'’ Mrs. Town ley remarked. "Everyone gathered about the Post Office and waited anxiously while the letters were being sorted. The Post Office, by the way, was then in a chemist’s shop, owned by a Mr. Stubbs, on the present site of Mr. E. I). Smith’s shop. Later the authorities put up a tiu shed about where the Post Office now is—just a tiny place with only room enough for a single bed, a small table, an oil heater, a few mail-bags and a chair. The man' in charge slept there and when anyone wanted to inquire about the mail, a tap at a small window and the calling of the inquirer’s name brought either a gruff- ‘Xu’ or a hand containing letters or papers. They seemed to have very taciturn officials in the Post Office then.” EARLY CHOCH SERVICES. Church services in Gisborne, fi’ty years ago, Mrs. Townley related, were carried on in a small building later placed on the site of the present Townley’s Buildings. This building had originally been at Adair Bros.’ corner, but was moved along the street on rollers. Ministers of different religions took the services cn successive Sundays and church-goers attended all services, no matter which minister happened to be presiding. The only really established church at first was out at Matawhero, where a Presbyterian minister held regular Sunday services in a small building. Gifts of land from the Government, however, to the various denominations soon led to the establishment of separate services. One church was situated near the present Kaiti freezing works and was largely attended by the Natives Here the late Archdeacon "Williams usually took the service, but was occasionally assisted by Maori clergymen. A Maori pa was situated nearby and the greater number of its inmates attended services regularly. Most of the hand now called Kaiti was then very swampy and wet. “We had plenty of dancing in those days,’ concluded Mrs. Townley, “and we thoroughly enjoyed it, even without fox-trots and the jazz. There were sawmills out at Makanri and the bushmen often • came into town for some amusement. , They were very keen on dancing and always ready for it. Sometimes we held oui little evenings in two or three rooms of a private house and a t'other times in one of the stores. Bvevbody joined in, of course, aiicl there Were always several good ; p-’anists about, with occasionally a ciolin or fiddle to make a good orchestra. Some of the Maoris canle along and thoroughly enjoyed the fun, .Iqit. later, when more r.akehas arrived, the Maoris became fewer and many of them moved away from the town to more sparsely-set-tled parts inland. “Gishqnie townspeople,” Mrs. Townley repeated, “were just one big family in those days and I think everyone enjoyed life', even though the work was hard and the conveniences few.”