EARLY WHAKAMARA

Hawera Star, Volume LII, 18 November 1932, Page 8

EARLY WHAKAMARA

SCHOOL DAYS RECALLED LIFE IN A SMALL SETTLEMENT Stories of the days when butter was sold for 4d a pound and Taranaki “wool” (fungus) was gathered by the settlers and exchanged foigroceries were related on a recent evening ,hv Mr William Edwards, an ohl resident of Whakamara and one of the first students at the Wliakanuira school. The farm he now occupies was originally a soldier’s grant purchased by his father from one of the militia! about IS7B. In that year Mr Edwards’ mother voyaged by boat from Wellington to Wanganui and came on to Hawera by coach, his father bringing stock along the coast, the trip taking approximately three weeks. “Our first home in Whakamara was of pit-sawn timber, and the pit can still be seen on the, flat below mv present homestead,” said Mi* Ed- „ wards. “I can remember that it was not so much the sawing of the timber as the task of raising the logs on :to the trestle that gave the hardest work. Often it took days to get the logs into position.” The settlers lived in constant fear of the Maoris, the womenfolk , even hesitating to light a- fii*e in their kitchens in case., it should- attract attention. Mr Edwards recalled that during this unrest horses were kept saddled near Mr A. E. Langley’s present homestead in case of emergency. One day the speaker visited the, Maori pa which existed almost opposite Mr R. Wills’ present homestead. It was on that occasion that he received the highest fright of his life, for the natives ' showed every sign of hostility and the women and children ran out and spat at him/ The Edwards family was in residence six weeks when the majority of the settlers were ordered into Hawera for safety, the remainder taking refuge at the Manutahi blockhouse. Many Maoris were depoi'ted at that time, being handcuffed in couples and shipped to Wanganui, thence to Dunedin. Mr Edwards presumed thatthese w ( ere the most unruly natives, who were removed as a lesson to, their respective tribes. Whilst still discussing'the state of unrest that existed Mr Edwards mentioned the remains of the tall pai-niarire pole at Whakamara, a portion of which is l at present on exhibition at the school. Accord-

ing to records the mast' .was' of rxmu, four or five feet through the butt. The Maoris had felled it ill the bush about a mile away, and after squaring it had hauled it to its vantage point. It seemed that the tribe at one time had come in contact with a whaling vessel, for a “go-ashore,” a threelegged iron pot used by sailor's on a hunting trip ashore, was cliscovered some years ago on Mr JJuckrell’s farm.

Some of the old families the speaker remembered were the Scotts, Buekrells, Milhams, Wallaces, (lanes, Duirs, Thomas, and Williams, whilst the Allans and Williams were big landholders - across tlie Pokomoko Gorge in Meremere. Access to Whakamara in the early, davs was bv a track past Mr Travers’ place and from Manutalii through Mr Taylor’s. This brought the speaker to mention that one of the difficulties was to obtain regular supplies, one man bo knew often walking into Manutahi and carrying home a 501 b bag of flour on liis. back. Gradually road conditions improved and the store carts came out from Meremere. on the Pokomoko Gorge Road. Mr Edwards’ father carted the timber for the Victoria Jubilee Hall, which still stands to-day as part of tlie school, and also carted the timber for the old Pokomoko Gorge bridge from the mill at Normanby. In 1878 the 'Hawera. school was a small two-roomed building surrounded by high fern. In 1880 Mr Edwards enrolled at the opening of the Whahamara ■ school and when it closed in 1884 he went to Manutahi, four miles away. He remembered that Alex. Duirs rode to Hawera and back every day to attend school there. “From my mother’s letters 51 years ago J find that wool was 6d a lb and butter 4d a lb. Usually everything the land could produce was exchanged for groceries,” Mr Edwards continued, “very little cash, ever being handled. “There was any amount of shooting in .those days and Marsh’s place at Mokoia used to be overrun with wild pigs and native birds. I have seen the trees black with tuis. Peaches planted by < the Maoris grew proiifiely where Mr Hughes now lives and in the Pokomoko Gorge, hut one year they took a blight and died out/’ Mr Edwards indicated a huge rata near liis place that had been standing • as dry as tinder since lie was a- hoy. Comparing modern social life with; that of the early days. Mr Edwards said that the settlers looked forward to their bush picnic with rounders and other games and to the dances held occasionally in their own homes. Mr and Mrs J. W. Scott had a piano, and to possess such an instrument was the stamp of quality.- On rare occasions -whole families would make an excursion to Hawera in their block drays, taking meals by the roadside on cushions and boxes brought- for the purpose. “It took a whole day,” said Mr Edwards, “for it was not a case of speeding at 60 miles an hour then!”

When the railway was in course of construction between 200' and 300 men were encamped, the work taking two or three years to complete. The contractor paid his men Is an hour and three shifts were worked, some of the men anxious to earn big money working a shift and a* half—l2 hours. Board cost 14s a week.

When 10 years of age Mr Edwards worked for Mr G. Buckrell felling bush on contract at £1 an acre. He gut an acre in a week, but experienced men averaged about three acres in that period. Ho lived alone in a tent, which had been advanced by the storekeeper together ’ with certain utensils. It was mentioned that many settlers grew their own wheat and a threshing mill travelled the district. Very often the grain was sent to the mill at Tawliiti. near Hawera, to be ground into flour. [