THE GRAND OLD LADY

Gisborne Times, Volume LXVI, Issue 10473, 31 December 1927, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE GRAND OLD LADY

•E-IR3. TOWNLEY GLANCES OVER THE PAST.

LIFE IS GISBORNE IN THE EARLY DAYS’*

“WE WERE ONE. BIG, HAPPY FAMILY.

Gisborne-, nowadays, is once again troubled with the problem of an iii-ad-qnati- v. a ter supply and the “City Lathers,’’ ever and anon, cast around in search of a fresh source to supply the inerca-ing demands made on the system. ft is, however, merely a case of history repeating itself. FifI•/ veara ago,' oven with the scanty population of those days, difficulty in this direction was a eontimial cause of worry. Rut, 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 m the town/ close to the position now occupied by tiie Wi Pere Memorial in

.fiend’s Qwiv. . Here, in those good old days,. Gisbornians gathered with buckets and cans and obtained their daily supplies of water for washing <> ad’ cooking. Tt was the only supply pure enough for these purposes, for ail other available water was merely •from the river or bad gathered in wells after rain, and required boiling' before becoming fit for* human consumption. Use of the impure water often resulted in a disease commonly known then as “G.sborne i’erer.” 'When this single spring ran low, then, the town’s water'problem became acute. •'THAT WILD PLACE,” This feature of old Gisborne days v.as related by Mrs. John Townley i-i the course of a chat on life here in the early days., Mrs. Townley, \.Lo was ninety years old on May (3, c a.mc to Gisborne, or “The Port” as it was then called, fifty-four years ago. Prior to that she.had spent tin rears in Napier, whence she had come from the Old Country. Reports often reached Napier, in those days, of wild doings in and around “The Port” and this part of Now Zealand v is 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 she would like to live in Gi.-borne. 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, howevef,” Mrs. Townley continued, "The people here were wonderfully friendly ami wo were soon outire'lv at- home. Gisborne townsfolk, then', wen- a very happy little family and everybody knew everybody

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

platiorm at first. They always became alright afterwards, perhaps because, after they had heard the rest, they felt they didn’t perform so badly niter all.

TRIPS UP THE RIVERS. “Another of our favorite amusements was to go for picnics up the river. As usual, everybody joined in and we had splendid times. There were always plenty of small boats for hire and quite a licet often used to set out from about opposite the Wi Pc re .Memorial early in the morning. Impromptu concerts Fere all the rage on these trips, too. Whenever anyone wanted a c-hange, it wits always a trip up the river tlmt was suggested. “Of course,” commented Mrs. Townley, “we had only the rivers. Roads were too had 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 wo had only a few, and fewer still of traps and c-urts—so It was always the Ever. _ “There were no bridges at tint time,” piooeodod Mrs. Townley, “and so litt’e row-boats were absolutely -.necessary. And the river was far more nth active in those days and was far more navigable, too. Some of the smaller visiting craft, the ‘Pretty Jane,’ for instance, from Auckland, came right up the river, hut others stayed in the roadstead. A pilot boat went out to these and landed cargo and passepgors, when the bar was in wood order, in the vic-

inity of the present Post Office. When the bar was had, however, the pilot lioyt berthed near the Cook Memorial.

“Mail-days were naturally our great days,” Airs. 'Townley 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 Air. E. I). Smith’s shop. Later, the authorities put up a tin shod about where the Post OHi-e now is—just a tiny plncc with only room enough for a single bed. n small table, an oil heater, a few mail-bags and a chair. The mail' 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 CHURCH SERVICES.

Church services in Gisborne, fi'ty years ago. Airs. 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 ert 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 Matnwhero, where a Presbyterian minister held regular Sunday services in a small building. Gilts 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 Haiti 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 land now called Ivaiti 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 Makauri and the bushmen often, came into town for some amusement. . They were very keen on dancing and always ready for it. Sometimes we held otu little evenings in two or three rooms of a private house and at‘other times in one of the stores, Eveybody joined in, of course, and there were always several good pianists about, with occasionally a violin or fiddle to make a good orchestra. Some of the Maoris came along and thoroughly enjoyed the fun, but. Inter, 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. “Gisborne townspeople,” Mrs. Townley repeated, “were just one big family in those days and 1 think everyone enjoyed life', even though the work was hard and the conveniences lew.”