OLD-TIME SMITHY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21911, 21 September 1934, Page 14

OLD-TIME SMITHY

FOUNDED 89 IYEAKS AGO ''tipi FORGE STILL IN USE 'ill LINK WITH EARLY AUCKLAND ® ' «| Throughout 89 years of change, in which hansom cabs have given place to taxicabs and horses have heen al-*S most replaced by motor-cars, a blacksmith's forgo has continued to shower its sparks within a few feet of a bnsy ffS Auckland street. Debonair young men in light trousers and tall hats no longer dash up on horseback to the smithy door, and the smith, if he pauses to look out, sees little else but one electric traincar after another, yet still the bellows roar their daily tune, ' for work is always waiting to be done. The smithy stands back a little way from the footpath at the top of Parnell Rise, virtually on the same spot it ffS occupied when it was established in 1845. Its present owner is Mr. G. D. Cowan, who year in, year out, has heard the anvils ring for 58 years. "It is 58 years ago last July since I was apprenticed here," he said yesterday. "I was not 12 years old then. It was heartbreaking work for a lad on the beJ. lows." Founded in Cottage Mr. Cowan said ho believed the ►smithy was established by a Mr. Snooks. He could only speak from memory of what he had heard, but he believed that from Mr. Snooks it passed to the hands of Mr. Pierce. Then, he thought, it was" acquired by Mr. Allison, who passed it on to Mr. G. P. Fowler, who was the owner when Mr. Cowan started his apprenticeship. It was about 30 years ago that Mr. Cowan became the owner of the which he believed was the oldest of its kind in Auckland.

Originally the smithy stood on what is now a small yard between the footpath and the present structure. It was a four-roomed cottage with the interior walls removed. About 35 years ago Mr. Fowler built the present smithy on land immediately behind the converted cottage, which was demolished. "In the old days I used to shoe 300 horses a month," said Mr. Cowan. "All my shoes are hand-made and I used to make the lot. Now I shoe only about 40 a month. The tradesmen in Parnell had over 100 horses between them. Now there is not a butcher or a baker in Parnell who has a horse. "We used to start work at 6.80 in the morning and go on until 5.30 in the afternoon. If the work was not finished then, we carried on until it was finished. Shoeing was the mainstay in those days, but now we have to do general work." Modern Machines Installed To meet the requirements of the general work which present-day needs de» mand, the smithy has undergone a change, although it has not lost everything of its picturesque character. The anvils, hammers and forge remain the same, but the old-time hand bellows have yielded place to electric blowers. Electric lamps hang from the blackened ceiling and machine-driven drilling machines and shears have lightened some of the drudgery which the oldfashioned blacksmiths knew.

A reminder of the old days is the remains of a wooden shed which stands in front of the smithy. This shed formerly housed the hand reel of the volunteer fire brigade, of which air. Cowan was captain for over 29 years. No hitching posts remain to tell of an order which has passed, although a hitching ring is affixed to a verandah post of the shop next door to the smithy. "The work has become more interesting with present-day demands," said Mr. Cowan. "It keeps yow thinking all the time." The years had not robbed it of all of its old romance and he by no means sighed for the old days to come again.