GREYMOUTH IN THE.SIXTIES

Grey River Argus, 4 December 1913, Page 7

GREYMOUTH IN THE. SIXTIES

(Continued). .The late Dr. Achcson loomed v] abou 1871 \nother. Di Little, knowi or heard of in GTeymouth. and man] old diggers will no doubt icmembe him "Dr. GiattcnV a lelcition ot tin celebrated ,lloni\ Gra.»ten The Docto for some reason chose a heimit* hfi and lived and died such. He was nl ways, despite his infirmities, read] at am moment to assist or attrtw those requiring medical skill, ,j.njrl # thi was a yen dimcult matte! - u/»ct ir the days 1 >pc,ik of, because there «ck no roads, rail^axs^ etc , and „ journe> to Greymouth for medical and meaw two 01 three days' dela\ Many ,\ man, woman .and child gnu their livc^ to poor old Grattcn Nc one ever knuw his histon. and he hac 1 no confidant One peculu r incident happened at h.-, death He requested that a certain packet of papers which he described, b<? buried with him This, ot course, was reverentk done, but none ever knew then contents The Justice Department consisted of magistrate and pol'ce with the usual "accessories The late Mr lloito.i Revell was Magistrate and W. iden His first court was held at what was then and probably now is. known as '•Revell's camp, the snip between the Hospital and lagoon down to Satvvn'q Creek This, about iR6s A\as .11 woik. Ed by the mineis Why the\ never went into and along the terrare m ? mystery as it is all black sand and full of gold. Thfv left th^s and 'went bark along Mar«?dm Pood \u\. The late Mr H.'rrv Kenrick ws? th« clerk of Court 1 and "old G£urle\ M bailiff. A son cf Mr Kcmick is now -S;M. in the North -'Island. 'Mr Tom KcnucV some \enis nrteivards became Warden's clerk Mr TTain' Kenrick was anpointecl a Magistrate The legal profession wa? lepre^entrH h\ a film in Went" Q tr^et mmci "Ree«..'" The Utc \V. H Perkins i?ur eSosed the pinctirc fr^m h'm The next on the scene the late Su Arthur Guinness He hurnr o^+ h 1 ' 5 shingle opposite the old Court Efouse (now 01 late Cr untv Chambers) but afterwards shifted camp to an office in "Pluns Budding 1 -" m Tamu> «p* The thiid m the- field w?/ Mi \V. >! Newton, now of Timnm. He built the first house in Mount -'Street. The police foire wns under tVw> charge of Inspector James. The rank and file consisted of Constable Keating (about 6ft 6in. hijrh). Bier Mar Flanajran, Ca^hicn (Dublin DtM. Lodpre and Sergeant Mollpi The 1?\---tCr was troope 1 • ar 1 " fine '^nr'-irc^n of the cayalrv ofHceT The man with his horse and assistants was a nerfect mod°l and n ]>loasurc 10 look at The sergeant had n fine fiiyure. v->s. \"ri handsome, and would h^ve ' lOO.VH. -well in anything In those days "the byes 1 ft ere vcr\ much in evidence and the sight of a bc>b\ was to most of them, like a red ia_> to a bull, and were 1 ie the- 1 n fc " "1 ru'" *on<; snni"«eriblo I were the result. One giant from the la -"1 of Saints was "Bisr Tack Whelan " He got "Dublin Dick on one occasion 'nc**" g-avc him the "d'vO of a bating,' 1 foi which Jick was duh tned md lu^^^fi Physically the froce wese fine men, btu som c of them were jiwful ; wasters. There wer" 42 pubs in full suing besides numberless sl\ siog «hops two licensed dance houses, and besides these am pub could run the dance business '<nd mauv avnileri themselves of this means of earning an honest mist. Reaular dance girls not bemq availab'e, the lady friends of Mrs and Mr Pub were invited, i'nd the invite was ahv<MS accepted. U a matter of fact the invite, was ,a standing one and duh lfvpondfd to. Thei r were three pubs in Cobden and three or four in what ''was then known as the North Suit, about vhcic the rrescnt rjorth breakwater is- At that time there was quite a larere townshjn there. The principal hotel (the Melbourne) was kept by old Jamie Tohnston. Tt stood on the present site of Ke r ttle Bios ' store The next in importance was Gilmer and Sweenev's, afterwards Gilmei Bros The Whaif Hotel near Custom House Q trept was kept by Jamie Middeltdn with Gilbeif Stew^art as chi/?f mate, two of the finest men ever oeated. TJie T'nion 7iear the Bank of New Zealand was kept by "Joe Kilgour." Shecup and McKint\'s are of course well known to the present generation The present site of the Bank of New Zealand was occupied by a pub owned b\ old "Coutauche, (grandfather of Andrew' Hairison. jQf JSTelson Creek) One of the employees is the progenitor of some of Gre\ mouth's, high-toned aristograc\ The Cosmopolitan v *»s' K-or»^ h\ Daddy Maxwell, a typical Yankee frcm Boston, snei a real white man. When he left home an old Darker "Pap" a servant -of the family, insisted on following the fortunes 0^ !ps mi* r r and went with him all over the Cahforniari. Austr<)l'"n a"d Yew 7er»Hid goldfields- Old Pap died in the Grey Hospital His grert resile forj^ais was to- get b^ck to the Staler The niesenc \lhirn Hote.l uas kept by "Tonks and Hughes." The\ also had the Fmnire at Westnort. Thc\ dissolved partnership, Tnmiti\ Tonks retaining the Albion and Hu<rhes the Em pire, wh eh th"\ Tesprrtfvr'K lan for mam a cars Tonics for many jears lan a "Tat" on the Melbourne Cup and it was o.it.on.sed fiom all p^its- of Australia and New Zealand Th-c G*»m ing Act killer! it. The ] a *« T B \\ n ters for some time had the I'nion Hotel and subsequ* nth the Albion The x White TTfrsc w "- fiist inn 1"v t'v* 1 te Jas. avlor. of Preston Road In connection with thn> hotel a\ps i hnulin" alley and shooting gallen kept by old Joe Croft. , The Burgees Sullivan, Lew oncl Kclh ga,ng*werq then on the warpath, and old* Joe pot wind that they intended to raid his shooting gallery. He thereupon remoVed all the guns to a private residence where they .emamed for a considerable time. The Club was first kept by, Daddy Hunt, who lei it to Jack Bulstrode

When Jack's time was up, 1 think n was taken bj Louis Secbeck. Hunt afterwaids letook possession and Tan p it till his demise Ashton\s, The Hin bernian and the Commcicial were thice y of the m>an> hotels then catering for r the public and- arc no doubt rememe bered by mam of the present old Grey, r itCfe .The Lake Wakatipu was in Rich c mond Quay and"kept b\ Bill King and I- the Mis They were both noted for y then riounds avoirdupoise The next d -down D.ch,mont] 'Qauv was the Or>--5 adian, kept by GarrvjPope Then furn ther. Along the Royal, kept by J \. c Whall (for year^ aftei wards Town v Clerk) He sold out to Jamie Howie t The lattei afterwards* took the Masonic at the corner of Waite Street, formerly kept by^Bill Clarke Old Dan Buggy kept thetNiagara in Johnston Street. There was another shanty close to jt but it only lasted a short time Almost opposite the Niagara Was the MontC7uma, wnich T have before mentioned. This also ran a bowling alley At the corner of Richmond Quay .md Johnston Street was the Golden, Eagle, kept by Tamie Cattle. Poor Jamie was done to death at Aifney St bridge and his body thrown into the lagoon. There was' a one-e^d hostel down near Arney Street, kept by Mat CallCn, an ex-detective. At the corner of Arney St. and the Quay was the Cove of Cork, presided over by Geo. Martin Tie afterward* became a skipper and was drowned at seat Be_ low Arney Street were two or three hotels, one, the European^ kept by Fhe late Gerard Mueller, tobacconist. At tne end of Richmond Quay were several buildings built up on piles about five or six foet high- The tide us^rl to, run under them from the lagoon in a' large natural gutter on water course, which was the chief bathing place for the very small youngsters who could not swim. The Old Man flco-1 '-/of 1872 rook Richmond Quay (from Trvhn^ton down, over the bar and- ruined every street in the town Houses, with thf smoke in many in-*"ince-s coming out of the chimneys, cats and fowls on them, and cattle,- hr-r«;e<;. pigs <nc were seen going down the river. Such an enormous quantity ,of trees and timb^i went over the b^r that it foiled a barricade or crown" on the bcarh fully 12 feet h' ; gh. pnd n 1 - many through. When it got dr\ youngsters and others used to <=et fire to it ,>r><-l enormous fires burned d^n and night for mam a lon^ <l-\-\ afterwaids. Mixed with the timber were pianos, and household q-ood<; and furniture of all kind. This \vas "the most disas tTOus flood that evci hr ppened in Gre\mouth or perhaps ever will happen Westport at the same time v as clean wiped off the map by the" Buller river. The first chemist was the lSte J W. Parkinson. He gave itup and went into the bookselling, etc. This he cai ried on for mam ve?r<* on M?wher.i Quay, two -doors below Albert Street, with "Bob" at first lieutenant Another of the staff was Bill Dale, a relative of the, firm's who remained for many year'^and then went to Melbourne There was another stationery .shop next-door tci the "Old Ship" A t \be corner of the Quay and Albert Street. And it was kept by Poter Shannon (biother-in-law of the late John Bourke Roche). Shannon sold out to one, Ba\liss, the latter le sold to John Bourke Roche Ba\liss \vnt to Reefton and ran papers, etc , for \eiis The first paper published was .of coure the "Argus'' The proprietors weie the late Tag Kcir. Tohn Arnott. and Jack Keogh Th rt letter A i not r^mhun long. He sold out "t<y the othcis. The chief edit~T \> ->«; if T *■*>_ member rightly, Allen F. Stark. Thtf chair was afterwards filkd by the lati s W. H. Harrison -(father of mine host Charley, late of Wellington) who for some time represented the Grey in the House of Representatives, and was during his editorial career credited 1 with being the ablest man in that pr.r- ' . ticular line in the Colom After the 1 decease of Mr Harrison, th* gan -was for a short time, filled b\ Mr Apted. 1 who could take am nosit on "■> t he j j printing line from the "devil" to,] editor, and often did- He would never < see the office "stuck," and was one of c the finest men w r ho e\er v^ile/i, i| "stick" and one of the chief "stays" , I of the Argus until his decease. The 1 editorial mantle was, shortly aftet Mr c Harrison's decease, placed i"^n *Tie c shoulders of Mr Florence McCarthy, '< whom evervobdy knows Mr. Arnott, 'J when about 20 yeaTs oM was advised c hv his medical att/ndanf to "get" as the only chance of seeing this world r for the next six months. He- "got" to T Dunedin where he was engaged at his'^ profession and afterwards went to the. 1 Coast, and with the otheTS started the[ "Aicrus." Instead of dvinf at ? n ho ( lived to over 70. Doctors are not ia- 1 fallible. ' The next paper "The Star" was ' sta-rted' by "Snyder" Brown with three sons, Monte (the second name I have \ forgotten) and George.' Mont« tH« ] son, was afterwards wdl Kaowtf ill c over New Zealand as advance agent T in the theatrical line The Br<- « i's -^ sold out to Alex Reid, from Hokitika, ( a very pronounced Scotchman (par- t ticulatlv the pronounced.) I never t heard Scotch pronounced wrh «-uch « vim. Alex was ereat on Shakespeare ( , and gave recitations at the' Volunteei j Hall, "which, could he have heard them j £ would have made Shakespeare turn up ] his^ toes. From Reid the "Star" pass- f 'ed into the hand" cf/foc*Petric v th < Jack as runner up The "StaT J> fiist , , emerged from a little bit of an office ; lin Waite Street and the press was ] about the size of a mangle. I remem. t ber it had on top. an immense "Gold" f en Eagle" with outspread wings. 1 Of all those who in- those days were i connected with either paper, I think \ 1 Harry Brimble and Tom Coy are the < fmly survivors Tom is in Western ' Australia, and Harry is still in the , Giev. The rest lnve ?H passed the . Greatf Divide. Another well-known ] member of the "Argus" staff was ( Jamie Black. He was bookkeeper and 1 ' general jactotum. He died many years _ ago and his position was for years - afterwards occupied by "Bot Wilson "

The auctioneering business was ie presented by Donald McLean, \vh( migrated to Timaru The late Dav Girdwood wwars r his clerk and took ove the business in partnership with th< late Billy Lahman^ Their premise< adjoined the Wharf (now the Royal Hotel. -^ Auction sales were chiefly of cattl< which came from Wanganui pei s s Wallabi (old Captain Lees) and th< St. Kilda The latter did not reman long in the- trade, but the Wallabi ant her skipper were better know than B 1 Masse\. Connected with the Wanga nui cattle trade was Tack Seaton (r Seaton and Davidson) Taelc spent th< best part of his life m Grevmoutr and Westport looking after the busi ness whilst Davidson attended to th« cattle raising, and buying at y W 7anganui. The sale yards were in Boundan Street, near the end of the police pad dock and it was quite « field dfu for the joungbters, to get on top oi the and watch the tun with the wild cattle and all Ore\ mouth was ou when the Wallabi of St v Kilda arnvec to watch the cattl" beine: landed- The\ a\cic slung ovci the side and ashore where •the^ were looked ,>ftei hv the numerous stock and boat men in attendance The cattle uere'.extr A meh wild and mam hvl veu r^i tow escapes from themj*- In the early da>s the cattle wcie hnded at the point where the rivei and 1, o,< on ion THfc landing place was shoitlv afterwards shifted to the uvei beach, opnosite to the present railw ay station 7 For a considerable time they wcie landed on the river bank neat Tchnsion Street When the cattle were slipped fiom the slings boatmen wefe always in attend nnce to head them for the light shore, many of the v attics «-heep and iti^s •would make fcr Cobden shoie and often got awa\ info the bush The drapen bus'ness was ropiesent. Ed by J. S M. Thompson (afterwards Smith and Thompson, and latei Thompson, Smith and Barklc\) The premises then ad oincd the Bank of New South Wales The ne\t was John Manson and Co (iioa\ Gittos) managed In Mr Piancis K< ut, who died about 1884 The next was F and G F Bullen, afterwaids \V Kilgour (Fred's pater) The shop stood on the rjre sent sjte oi Perkins's stationer shop The ne\t Thom r s and M^cßea^h. The next uas Skoglund and Puicell (afterwaids G Puicell), at the corner of Johnston St. and the Quay Ironinongeis were McLean Bios, and Rigg. of Melbourne", with E Masteis as manager, who afterwaids purchased the 'business. He died in ISBI Mrs. Masters and R. Forsyth afterwards cai ried on the business in partnership. I Another firm was Morns Lev}, late of Reefton. His premises were at the corner of Richmond Quay and Boundary Street. Butchers were Hildebrand and Webber on Richmond Qua>, one door belo\r Jc-hnston Street Gus Hildcbrand carried on the business for many \ ears On his own. At his decease it was acquired by- the present holdci } Mr Jesse Steer. The next was the London Butchery, conducted by Wallace Woolfc, at the comer of Boundary md Mackav Streets The third business was Isaac O'Donnell near Waite* Street aftei wards conducted by "Bill MoTris." * Theatres, etc. were as plentiful as mushiooms. The fiist m importance ft as Joe Kilgour's in the Union Hotel. This, foi years the chief theatre. The next was. at the corner of Matt hera Quay and Albert S tect and wab kept by Old Jack Harris, an Israelite. It was also used as a fiec and eas\ in connection with the hotel. There was no charge 'for admission, and any one was at liberty o contr.fcute a song or other item, and waiters uere in attendance to piovide liquid refreshments to those requiring them. Needless to say there were 'nore refreshments than , items. The place was afterwards ta- ' ken by one, Motgan, a Welsh harper, and one of 'the finest players who evei left the land of the leek. Some ver\ fine singers fiequtntcd the^e'free and easics^ well-educated \oung- fellows who left home in search of fortune and adventure, and thought they weie likely to find the philosophers stone in the new Eldorado Needless to say they were disa/ppomted. There were two regular dance houses Each had a large stage but I never saw anything- but dancing- carried on, tHe stages being utilised by the orchestras. The chief 'vdance house "The Victoiia" was first run by an old French amn and his wife When the Franoo-Gei-man war started they packed up and off to the Fatherland The house was then taken over by Ben Gough. The next dance was in Boundary Street

about six doors from the CoTnmercial Hotel, and was captained by Big- Pat Crawford. 'The girls for these dance rooms were imported from Australia 'and ' Tasmania. They were lured over by ads. beautifully alluring, but when they arrived they were confronted with the real business. Most of theni went into' 'it at once, but many refused' to j enter either place Some of Gre\•meuth's noble aristocracy are the progeny, of girls employed at one or other of- these dance houses. There was another free and easy at the corner of Boundary and Gresson Streets and one at the corner of Johnston and' Gresso .Streets- The latter was run by Mf F.'Pelling senr. Another noted free and easy was just near Purcell and SkoglundVat the corner of Johnston St. and Richmond Quay and was kept by Dan Munro (Ee^-leg Munro) irom the -fact that he had a wooden leg*. ~ ~ t Merchants were"D. Alcorn and Co., Bull and Sons., b'olh firms "were on Richmond Quay below Arney Street. One of the young- Bulls was drowned from an old tub of -a boat whilst crossing- from Revell's Camp to where the abattoirs now stand. Further up the Quay was Harry Giesekmg (father of mine host Jack), then came W. G. Gledhill, then \V. JT. Coates, the latter a few doors above Johnston Street. He shortly aferwards removed to Werita Street where he le. mained for many years. Then came Glenn Bros.j in Albert Street.- They afterwards opened v a retail store next to N Shedy's pub, and seubsequently sold out to the late Sam Roulston. Then came old Jamie Taylor's Jiear the corner of Mawhera Quay and Albert Street. There was no building at that particular corner ■for some time afterwards. The first building there was a pub and was occupied by Bill Spillaine. Later on it became Hallenstein's drapeis- The .next merchant firm was" Kennedy Bros.. in-Tainui Street, with Ralph Debosta opposite, At this time (1867) the buildings on the East side of Tainnui 1 Street were 'built on high piles, as the place was *'a r swamp. The swamp was subsequent ly filled up. The whole street was afterwards (in 1872) < raised about 3ft. 6in. and building also on account of floods • The roadway at the junction of Tainui and Mackay Streets wa s a regular lagoon and we ivou.ngsters used to sail boats on it. The next merchant was the late P. M. Griffin. His store was on Mawhera Quay about four doors from the present Royal Hotel. Banks were the Union , (manager, Mr Buchanan), Bank of New South Wales (Gilbert King), and Bank of New Zealand (H. S. Haphan). The present site of the latter was originally "Coutauche's Hotel," the Bank being next door. '--'' l * SFORT. The first race meeting was held at the course constructed on the river bank about 200 yards from the lagoon mouth. The committee applied for and obtained from the -Government the present site, the first meeting being held there in 1869, and 'at which yours truly was present. The grandstand was then on the bank of creek •above the bridge- There was no road from town, only a track. Everything was taken up the river to the course by boats and then along the creek to the bank of the grandstand. 4 Most people walked by the track, but many went m the boats and it is a wonder none was ever drowned several had miraculous escapes. Crossing the .river at the mouth of the creek was infinitely , more dangerous than now. Tor three or four years after the new course was opened' one could only see about half the rape, one half of tlie race track being obscured by bush, and the southern end of the course in flood, the track was under water or so boggy, as to render the racing exceedingly dangerous. In fact the races had to be postponed more than once- on this account. Boat racing was, the great New Year's Day' event, but was never very satisfactory on account of the turnings The river s in those days was, particularly at high tide, a splendid broad sheet', not the shallow bit of a creek as at present The finest rower over on the river was a 6ft 4in. speciman, named George Jackson. He was a boatman, in fact the whole family followed the occupation. They were all giants, girls included. George was an .ideal rower and had he been differently constituted would no doubt have been a world's champion. Mr G. Allport, of the Marine Department and Mr A. iF. Foot (father of Fred Foot, "of Wairoa, solicitor), old Dick Collins (signalman) and Jamie Stewart (the milkman) were prominent rowers in the 'sixties, and the present ChiefEngineer Mr. R. Holmes^ did a great deal»of rowing and sailing on the river and lagoon. Sailing races did not take place until about 1872, and were first introduced by the late Dr. Morice. He was an enthusiast on sailing-, had two yachts and other boats, and was on the river every spare half. hour. The- chief builder of boats was old Wilhelm Wilson., of Albert Street, and there is no mistake the old fellow understood the art of constructing sailing vessels. Regarding athletic sports, these were nearly always held in the camp reserve. The chief runners were the Twohills, Dave and Nod, (Pat floated along about 1871), Tod Webber, Bob King, Bob Howe, Jamie Ranger (Jamie the Ranger), Jamie Rankin, "the Heaphys, , (Joe, Dick and Bill), Dan Buggy ,and- others, the nattfes of whom I have forgotten. i (To be Continued-); f