DAYS OF SAIL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 7 December 1940, Page 4

DAYS OF SAIL

ASSOCIATIONS OF FRANZEN’S JBUILDING ONCE A BUSY SHIPPING CENTRE FAMILIAR LANDMARK TO BE DEMOLISHED If buildings could talk Franzen’* Building at the port could tell tome interesting yarns about early seafaring days at Port Nelson. But walls that once echoed the voice* of skippers of sailing vessels and all the hum and bustle of a busy trading centre will soon reverberate to the sound of the wrecker’s hammer. To make way for a road the old building must go. Its destruction brings to mind a strange contrast between old and new forms of transport. Where once 70 ton sailing boats tied up at the wharf of the shop which extended out over the water, there is now dry land with petrol waggons driving over to large storage tanks. The days of Provincial Governments, of Hercules Robinson, Governor of New Zealand in 1879, of the wreck of the Louisa Campbell on Farewell Spit, of the burning of the hulk Hero at Port Underwood in 1869, are all recalled by the history of the building which traces back to 1862. The firm of B. Franzen carried on the business of ship chandlers, sailmakers and universal providers, and, according to an early advertisement, supplied anything from a needle to an anchor. Mr Franzen had a fleet of sailing boats which worked from his wharf at the rear of the building. The depth of water was greater then than when the land was reclaimed, and a three-masted schooner used to moor there. THE FIRST LEASE Much of the information relating to the history of the firm has been supplied by Mr A. T. Johnson, who was an employee of Franzen s for 45 years. A Mr Joel Drewitt obtained the first lease of the foreshore, on sth April, the lease being for 21 years. He built a wharf and buildings, but on Ist October he let them for the balance of his lease (17J years) to Burchard Franzen, tent and sailmaker. On the Bth April, 1879, Mr Franzen purchased from Mr Drewitt the balance of his lease for £3OO and renewed it from the different holders of the foreshore. The first lease was signed by John Perry Robinson, Superintendent of the Province of Nelson. When Mr Franzen took over the balance of the lease in 1879 the assent of the Governor of New Zealand was necessary, and it was signed by Hercules Robinson, Governor. (The deeds of both transactions are still in the possession of Mr Johnson.) The buildings were enlarged at intervals to meet the growing trade, the last alteration being in 1884, when it was made into a twostoreyed building in front, with a flat canvas covered roof, which, at that time had a large awning on wire ropes which covered the living rooms upstairs. A flagstaff in the front right-hand corner was frequently in use, and what was always an object of interest was a large figurehead of a woman, saved from a vessel wrecked on Farewell Spit in the old days (the Louisa Campbell). CENTRE OF ACTIVITY Franzen’s wharf and buildings were a centre of activity. He owned a small fleet of sailing vessels which used to trade from Timaru and the bays, and about Christmas time in the early days Mr Johnson remembers having seen a dozen packed around a small wharf. Old Nelsonians will remember the Reward, Richard and Mary, May and Dauntless, some of Franzen’s fleet. The buildings being over the foreshore, the tide came under them every twelve hours and therefore birch pile* 10 to 20 feet long were the foundation. The seaworms and borers would eat the bottoms right away and though a ring of concrete about six feet up would save them for a while the upkeep was an expensive item. FIRE SCARES Quite a number of fire scares there were in a large place like that, for there were plenty of water rats to gnaw the wax matches. Mr Johnson found several lots that had gone off but had got chocked up. One day a tin of boiling tar overflowed and the brigade was called out, but the fire was checked with new horse covers. Mr Robert Levien had the two iron stores as a produce and general business and bonded store. Mr Franzen took them over when Mr Levien left to take a store in Bridge street. The buildings known as have had various owners and at times it was very difficult to get renewals for a term. The owners have been, first, the Provincial Government; secondly, the New Zealand Government; thirdly, the Railway Department; and fourthly the Nelson Harbour Board. WAVES THROUGH THE FLOOR “I have been in the shop when there was a heavy gale and high tide, and the oldest and lowest part of the building was two feet under water,” related Mr Johnson. “The waves hitting the floor came through the cracks and splashed the roof and all the wharf top was on the move.” Another point of interest mentioned about the wharf was that, when it was renewed it was with timber taken out of the hulk Hero, which caught on fire loaded with wool in Port Underwood in 1869. and was broken up for timber and metal. The wharf was renewed with her planking and ribs. The shop never had a permanent verandah but had a canvas top with an iron frame, on account of the railway passing so close. When the place was first built the road did not go out to the front of the building but was filled in later. The shop was vacated several years ago, and part of it has since been used as a storehouse. Now the new road which is to extend easterly along the reclamation will pass over the site of Franzen’s building, so the old structure must go. and a familiar landmark at the port will disappear.