AN INTERESTING JUBILEE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14813, 17 October 1911, Page 8

AN INTERESTING JUBILEE.

THE BANK OF NEW ZEALAND. GROWTH FROM THE DAY OF SMALL THINGS.- . Fiftt years ago yesterday .the Bank Qf -j New Zealand opened business in Auckland in small premises.near where Messrs. i Hutchinson Brothers, Limited, .now have their Queen-street shops. The bank had then a staff of five; to-day the business of ; the. bank is transacted by a staff of 76, 'in large and up-to-date premises, The flag flew from the bank .yesterday;; proclaiming the « jubilee of the institution, which has made enormous progress during its life of half a century. . .','". ";■;,For the opening'.'.of; the bank 50 years" ago, a two-storeyed -block *of >• shops ' was " transformed , into , adequate, i if.-; not ? ornamental, banking chambers, and '■-. the bankcommenced business. The staff . consisted : of Mr. Alexander Kennedy (manager), , Mr. H. B. McNab (accountant), Mr. ; G.J S. Kissling (teller), • Mr. ' J. '•; W. : '■ Chisliolm ; I (ledgerkeeper), and Mr. G. W. Basley:) (junior clerk). >;. Since that day ■ Messrs. ! Kennedy, McNab, and ' Chisholm have passed away, but. Messrs. Basley and Kissling are still in business in Auckland, though they have-retired from the service of the bank. - In conversation with a Herald representative yesterday, Mr. said "The Bank of New Zealand was not the first banking institution to be started here. There was the Oriental Bank (which closed down shortly before the Bank of New Zealand started operations), the New Zealand Banking Company (which, did I not survive long), and the Bank of Auckland (which also had a short life). Other banks carrying on business ; which are-now flourishing were the Union Bank, the Bank of Australasia, and the Bank of jNew South Wales? From the day the Bank of New Zealand opened business was brisk. All the business in connection : with"; the Maori war was transacted by the bank in the original premises. - It was some six years before the banking business was transferred "to where the : present bank premises stand, . Q>ut the volume of , business necessitated an increase in staff every year. ;'. All the money coming from the Imperial Treasury for the payment of the troops engaged in the Maori war passed through the bank, and the number of depositors rapidly increased. After the bank removed to. the site of the present building, a the business continued to increase rapidly, and from time to time the premises had to be enlarged and altered to accommodate the rapidly-growing staff. Several years i ago the present imposing two-storeyed structure, which ranks as one of the finest banking houses in the Dominion, was constructed, and to-day the business of \ the bank requires the employment of 76 men, as against five men iat its inception—a strong indication of the progress of the Auckland branch of the Bank of New Zealand after. 50 years* operations.