OLD MEMORIES REVIVED

Hawera Star, Volume LIV, 14 September 1935, Page 2

OLD MEMORIES REVIVED

“HAWERA STAR” REACHES QUEENSLAND. FORMER RESIDENT’S INTEREST IN JUBILEE ISSUE. Copies of the “Hawera Star” containing references to the old days in South Taranaki history find their way to many parts of the world, where they are sent by relatives and "friends of former residents of the district now living abroad. A copy of the “Hawera Star’s” recent Main School Jubilee number, sent to Queensland by Mr James Geary, of Manutahi, has drawn an interesting letter from Mr P. J. Peterson, formerly of Spring Hill, South Road, and now of Warwick, Queensland. Writing in reminiscent vein, Mr Peterson states that when he first went to the Main School in 1870 or ’77, “Mr Mair was master. The first girl to be married out of the school was Miss Mary Holland to Mr Nichol, who has since died, and she is now Mrs Sam Corrigan and lives in Toowoomba, Queensland. I saw her last year and may be down that way soon, when I shall call and see how they are, and show them the paper. When I first went to school I had as a pal a little girl Middlemas. As I had to go on my own I needed company and the Middlemas family were on the same road as us. They -were great friends of our parents and often visited one another. They later sold out to Iredales and went to Florida, U.S.A. | “Now here is where a bit of history comes in re the dairy industry,” eonI tinues Mr Peterson. “In references to the jubilee of dairying in Taranaki it -was stated that Iredales were the first to make cheese in the province. This is a great error, as my people -were making cheese long before Iredales bought Middlemas’ place. Mufst hav,e been 1875 and were selling it to stores in Patea and Hawera. Also in that history we were not given the credit that was our due, as it was told father by a Government official that he was the first person to send butter to London from New Zealand on a commercial basis. We sent to Lovell and Christmas and later on introduced their representative when he came out to us and started him on his trade with New Zealand. Be- | fore this Lovell and Christmas wanted us to act as their buyers, but father would not take it on and I was too young, so he wrote and told them to send their own 1 man, and Mr Kowin came out to ns, and we introduced 1 him to the people of Taranaki. The young Lovells (Walter and Harold) followed next year and got colonial experience on our Spring Hill farm. At the first dairy show held at Hawera, we took second prize for export butter out of 23 competitors from all over New Zealand, including Auckland factories; also first for table butter and second. Also I won the guessing of the weight of the big cheese over 4001b5., so we had a field day. We were then running a factory at Spring Hill, butter in winter and cheese in summer. “I could tell many interesting stories of long ago, from when we went to church in the block house mentioned in the ‘Star’ to later on. I was once the writer for the ‘Star’ when at Meremere. “We are now 36 years here and I am 65 next month, so am getting on. I long to go over to New Zealand to see you all. We have had varying fortunes here and the depression caught us pretty hard, thoiigh we are now fairly right. “We are having a drought now (August 17), and continuous frosts are stopping any growth. But it will warm up next month.”