STRATFORD.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 25 June 1924, Page 10

STRATFORD.

—♦- SOME EARLY HISTORY. At the opening- of the ne-.v Post 01iiee at Stratford, tlie Postmaster-Gen-eral (the. Hon. J. G. Coates) gave some interesting particulars oi' the early his>toiy of the town. Tlie following extracts were taken from his statement : A post office was opened at Stratford on August 1, 1878. The postmaster was Air G. N, Curtis. His successors and the dates of their appointments have been as 'follows: —Messrs J. McLaren, January 1, I 860; T. AY. F. Marsden, July’l, 1880; T. N. Grange, Decernber 10, 1888; \\ . H. Harrow, April 9. 1S84; R. V. Lloyd. February 5, _1883; W. A. Brow n, March 25. 1886: W- H. Peat, September 8. 1880; 1. Bragg, May 17, 1888; I Paris. April 20, 1889; H. Daniell, April 8, 1891; T. W. Eapley, September 1, J 893 • J 5 j Pickett, April 1, 1901; C. E. Nicholas, January 25, 1909; S. G. Stanton, Eeln rmiry 27, 1911;. AY. T. Goad, April 1. 1919; G. 11. Cooper, March 11, 1920; G. AY. Woods, November J, 1920; C. K. Holt, December 1, 1921: It. Peebles (present postmaster), March 8, 1924. In addition to the postmaster, the staff now consists of a supervisor, ten clerks and telegraphists, a supervisor of the telephone exchange, three exchange attendants, two exchange clerks, one exchange clerk and messenger, two postmen, one messenger, one chauffeur, and four message boys.

Air Pickett subsequently became chief postmaster at Timuru, and Air Goad, Mr Cooper and Air Holt are now chief postmasters at Hamilton, Invercargill and Oainaru respectively. 1 A telegraph office was opened in 18/9. it money-order office and a savings bank branch were opened in 1882. A postman’s delivery was established in 1896. A telephone exchange was opened on October 18, 1899, with 3o subscribers. The hours of a-ttemd-ance were from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. There are now about 420 subscribers: and the exchange is open continuously. . A telephone bureau was opened in 1899. The northern half of the borough of Stratford and the country lying to the north and west, originally known as the Waipuku-Patea Block, -was purchased from the Maoris in 1873, the natives reserving for themselves about 400 acres to the east of Mountain Road and along the north bank of the Patea River. The survey of the Wai-puku-Patea Block was carried out by the late Mr Wilson C. Hursthouse, and by Air T. K. Skinner, assisted by Maoris. The old AVhaka-ahuranga forest path, or highway, used by the Maoris,? traversed approximately what is now the eastern boundary of the borough. Within the southern boundary of the borough another pathway, also of ancient origin, branch off from the Whaka-ahuranga track, rejoining it at Kairo-a-, near Lepperton. after passing through tae bush two miles to the west of the railway aud through what is. now Inglewood.' This track was known fh-st to the Taranaki pioneers as “Nairn’s Track,” after Mr Charles Nairn, who, with a party of natives, re-opened it as a stock track m 1842; but, due to the scarcity of food along its course, and to the difficulties and delays involved in the crossing of many creeks and rivers, it soon again fell into disuse. It is, however, better known in the history of Taranaki Province as “The General’s Track,” a name which, arose out of the exploit of Alajor-General Sir Trevor Chute, officer commanding tlie military forces during the Maori war ofglß6o-69, in marching on Alataitawa over the track in his operations against the rebels. The incident is said to lie the only occurrence connected with the Alaori war that happened near Stratford. An indication of the difficult nature of the feat was given in the Alajor-General’s report to His Excellency the Governor (Sir George Grev). It stated, inter alia—

“J. moved early on January 17, 1866, with a force of 396. entering the forest from the clearing of KetemaraY For a short distance our advance was unchecked. as we Avere traversing a good dray road leading to the A’iliage and the. cultivations. These Avere destroyed, and a tew rebels were seen retreating from the ivhares. From that point our progress ivas slow and laborious in the extreme, and the difficulties ivhich we had to contend witli ivill be better understood by your Excellency ‘ when I inform you that to accomplish a distance of about- 54 miles, the force Avas eight days actually on the move, and never less than ten hours in any one day. I. thus found that I had' been quite -misinformed as to the length and nature oi the track, Avhicli had been represented to me as practicable- Unpack horses, except at one or invo places AA'here slight impioA'enient avow Id be required. So far from this being the case, there were no less than 21 rivers and 9(1 gullies, the precipitous banks of many of which presented formidable obstructions to our advance, and required great labour to make them passable; and, except for about tAVO miles niter entering the forest, Avorkiug entries in advance Avere constantly employed in cutting doAvn trees, supplejacks, etc., to admit oi the passage of the pack animals. In addition to these obstructions, the Aveather, Avhicli had been fine for the first three days, changed to continuous rain, Avhicli increased our difficulties in crossing the gullies, and necessitated the construction of corduroy roads OA'er swamps, Avhich might othevAvise have been practicable.”

Supplies ran short; and for tAvo davs before the ami a- a l of the force at- Aiataita.Ava on January 25 horseflesh aa;is issued as a ration. It is stated that the intention avus for the Alajor-General’s to unite Avith t aa o companies of the Taranaki Bushrangers at the crossing of the Patea River, roughly along the eastern boundary of the Stratford borough, but that, owing to the tAvo forces tolloAving different routes, and to confusion caused by the natße guides, the projected meeting did not- transpire.

In 1877, following a decision by the Taranaki Provincial Government .to establish a town where the Mountain road crossed the Patea Hiver, steps were taken to prepare the site. The native reserve was transferred further to the east; and after the boundaries of the proposed township had been roughly marked out by Mr W. H. Skinner in June of the same year, contracts were let for the felling of the bush on the northern half of the site. The following felled timber had been burnt, Mr E. S. Brooks, Government Surveyor, coinmen cod the survey of tlie cleared portion. After consider;,hie debate, the place had been named •‘Stratford” by the Provincial Council, after Shakespeare’s birthplace. Stratford-on-Avon. The street names, which were the names of leading characters in bis works, were recommended to and approved by the Council.

The first person to establish himself in Stratford was an excellent type of pioneer. Mr Charles Stewart Curtis, of the firm of Curtis Brothers. Mr Curtis, in 1877, pitched a tent on Mountain Hoad where it now joins the Pembroke road. Digging into the sloping bank ol a creole, lie established an oven for baking bread, and close at band erected a, store made of canvas stretched on a frame, of rough saplings cut from the

nearby hush. He built also a “gallows” tor suspending meat. Air Curtis’s store served the surveyors, bushmen, etc., until his firm removed to its -sectifcms ill Broadway, purchased at the first sale ot town lands. Tlie first recorded sale lands was made on August 31, 1877, when*a few lots were sold. In January. 1879, however, a large number of sections were disposed of at a more successful sale. in June, 1877, a start was made by the late Alessrs A\ . Bundle aud \V. Shaw on the erection of the first bridge to span the Patea river. It was built oil the same site as the present ferroconcrete structure on Broadway, and was a substantial wooden bridge, the timber for which was hand-sawn on the spot. The. bridge was opened for traffic early in 1878. prior to which time the usual nine log had acted as the surveyors’ and bushmen's means of crossing the river. Early in 1880, railway communication was etablished with New Plymouth, and in 1885 with Wellington. In the year that it was established, the Stratford Post Office was served by mail from New Plymouth, only once weekly, on Tuesday evenings. At the beginning of the following year (1879), mails were being received at Stratford from New Plymouth thrice-weekly. By January. 1880, this frequency had been increased to daily; and during tile ensuing twelve months it was further increased to twice, daily. Stratford now receives mails; by railway travelling post office from New Plymouth three' times daily; from Wanganui three times daily; and from Wellington twice daily. As far as can be ascertained from the records of the Department, the Post Office was conducted 'at tlie railway •station by officers of the Railway Department from about 1880 until. ”1893, when the Post Office was placed under the control of a permanent officer of the Post and Telegraph Department. In 1895, twenty-nine years ago, the Post Office building which has been in use up to the present was erected. In 1912, the necessity for additional accommodation in the ’ building came under notice ; and in the Estimates for 1913-14 the sum of £3ot) was voted for additions and alterations. In 1914 it was decided that any additions to the building would be only a temporary expedient, the accommodation being by that time altogether inadequate for the business, and it would be more economical in the end to erect a new building. In 1914-15 the sum of £IOOO on account was voted for a new building; and subsequently this was increased to £4OOO. The work was held over for the war period, because during that time the Government building programme was practically suspended owing to the abnormal conditions. After the war was ended, consideration was given to the question of erecting a new building. The site of the existing building being too small, .a new site was secured. In due course it was decided to invite tenders for the work. The successful tenderer was Air J. AY. Aldertoii, the contract price being £20,835. The Government jias done its share in providing a handsome clock tower, and when the. clock is placed in position the people of Stratford and visitors to the town will nave a constant reminder of the noble sacrifice made by those gallant lads from the district who lost their lives in the defence of their country. In 1913 tlie number of letters, postcards and other articles posted was 639,861., and, in 1923, 640.613. In 1913 the number of letters, post-cards, and other articles delivered was 558,506. and, in 1923, 687,310. In 1913 the postage revenue was £2474, and in 1923 £3656.

in 1913 3656 money-orders were issued, of the value of £18,243, and in 1923 3184. of the value of £23,017. In 1913 1771 money-orders were paid, amounting to £BBO9, 'and. in 1923. 1782, amounting to £12,544. In 1913 3783 savings bank deposits were made, amounting to £54,188, and in 1923 4565, amounting to £101.495. In 1913 1749 savings bank withdrawals were made, amounting to £40,728, and in 1923 2262, amounting to £83,925. In 1913 33,815 telegrams were forwarded, of-the value of £1244, and in 1923, 24,394, of £1996. In 1913, the number of telegrams received was 30,736, and, in 1923, 28.300. In 1913, the number of bureau messages forwarded was 21,064, of the value of £493, and in 1923 50.279, of £1603. In 1913, 40,676 bureau messages were received, and in 1923, 51,772. In 1913 transmits numbered 14,461, and in 1923 34,222. From the insignificant beginning of the town, when Mr Curtis erected his canvas store on Alountain Road until the present time, Stratford has propressed rapidly, more especially since the opening of tlie railway in the district. The town is the natural centre of a fertile district and a- principal centre of the dairy industry in the Dominion.

For sonic of the foreging information the Department- is indebted to Air AA r . M. Skinner, of New Plymouth.