DISTRICT NEWS

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXII, Issue 4731, 21 December 1938, Page 6

DISTRICT NEWS

KAWHIA SOUTH PIONEER FAREWELLED. PROGRESS OF SALEYARDS. At the conclusion of the directors’ meeting of the Kawhia South Co-op. Saleyards Co. Ltd., held at the office of the Company on the 16th inst., the meeting took on a social aspect for the purpose of farewelling Mr. Harry Shaw, who is retiring after 27 years’ service on the directorate, having served continuously since its inception. . Among those present were Mr. H. Shaw, Mr. G. Gordon (chairman), Mr. J. P. Wright, (immediate past chairman), Mr. P. C. Rose (secretary), and Messrs. R. Neely, E. Phillips, R. Miln and E. E. Smith. Mr. Shaw was presented with a handsome goldmounted pen and pencil set.

Mr. Gordon called upon Mr. J. P. Wright to make the presentation. In doing so Mr. Wright spoke of the arduous times in the early days when progressive settlers had come together to found the Company, a step that had proved to be a boon to a widely scattered area, and in the helping of which Mr. Shaw, then in his prime, had helped along so enthusiastically and had since steadily assisted in guiding its destinies. The present was a small token of esteem and goodwill of the directors.

The chairman supplemented and enlarged upon these remarks, speaking in the highest terms of Mr. Shaw’s yeoman service, and he was sure that Mr. Shaw had thoroughly earned a respite. Speaking for the Board, he wished Mr. and Mrs. Shaw years of good health in which to enjoy the respite they were now taking. Other directors supported these remarks. Mr. E. E. Smith, newly appointed to fill Mr. Shaw’s place, said that he clearly remembered the days when Mr. Shaw’s family was young and he v/as closely occupied in working a pioneer farm. Mr. Shaw always made time to attend to and push on the project of the saleyards. On rising to reply Mr. Shaw received an ovation and musical honours. Mr. Shaw stated that he regarded Mr. Richard Thomas, of Te Anga, as the father of the yards. Another of the first batch of directors was Mr. J. Smith, of Marakopa. The occasion brought vividly to his mind those colleagues who had passed on— the late Mr. Arthur Fairfax, the first chairman, the late Mr. Charles Haylock, the late Mr. William Shaw the late Mr. E. C. Stanley, the late Mr. H. Derecourt, and the late Mr. P. Ross. All these men had shown a wonderful spirit and energy in helping to surmount their difficulties. Once going, the yards had never looked back, and it could be regarded ,as the district’s greatest asset for marketing their

stock, which, he was glad to say, had generally earned a reputation of being of a high order. Light refreshments were served and the meeting was regaled with early reminiscences of droving stock to the nearest saleyards—Ohaupo. Marketing in the Pioneering Days. Following the presentation ceremony to Mr. Shaw at the Te Anga saleyards many stirring tales were told of the task of getting stock from the Kawhia South district to the nearest saleyards at Ohaupo—at least a week’s trail and a fight most of the way across bridgeless rivers and estuaries and over roadless and sometimes trackless wastes, only to face, at times, a very poor reception under the hammer for their travel-stained lines of stock. They found the Waiharakeke and Hauturu estuaries particularly difficult and, on an occasion when a flood occurred, Mr. J. P. Wright had been carried away with his horse and nearly lost. On another occasion someone conceived the happy idea of taking the cattle across the harbour on a pontoon. All went well for a while, then the poontoon got out of control and capsized and it took many days to recover the cattle again. Often after a trail over fern and through bush a tally would be taken at the end, and a large proportion found to be missing, necessitating many days’ work to go back and recover them. Many of the incidents recalled were not wanting in humour.