EARLY OTAGO HISTORY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20290, 24 December 1927, Page 2

EARLY OTAGO HISTORY.

CONTRASTS WITH PRESENT DAY. Written for the Otago Daily Times. By Old Identity, V. In a previous article mention was made of the old Criterion Hotel days and of the happy crowds of country men who gathered there on special occasions. Many of these visitors found their way to the Club when it was established. The head waiter went there, too, and was much liked by many of the' old Criterion habitues who had changed their town resort. For some of them he would do anything, but not for all of. them. He was a “ character,” and bad his off days, out not often—only after, perhaps, a weea s holiday, when it took him a day or two to fall into the common round and daily task again. It was on one of those occasions that he met his Waterloo. Up to that time he had been getting on famous y. After rather a strenuous time, Club full for days and its staff short-handed, William received a few days’ respite, which led to a tcartul cropper on his return. A wellknown country member had arrived, who had contracted a habit ol saving “Ah!” before and after any remark—in fact, he could not carry on a conversation without using it. One morning William was on duty at the breakfast table when this gentleman came in. After saying good morning to all present the visitor turned his eyes to Willianvand said: “ Do you know, waitah, that there was a flea, ah, in my bed, ah, last night, ah? ” All present were listening, but they scarcely anticipated William’s reply, which was as follows: “Indeed, sail! Then 1 think, ah, you may be thankful, ah, that it wasn’t a bug, ah! ” A gentle titter rippled round the breakfast table, which, when William had gone from the room, broke out into uproarious laughter, ihe matter having been reported, the committee had to take action, and the services of a good and clever head waiter were lost to the Club. William was rash, and but for a spirit of boldness prevailing after a short holiday, he could never have so far forgotten himself, as on most occasions he was the beau ideal of what a man performing his duties should be. Many of the members of the club wished the matter overlooked,, but, as the one to whom William’s satirical remark was addressed was obdurate, nothing could be done. . The captains of the intercolonial steamers of those days, bringing passengers to and fro, were a fine lot of men — Carey, Wheeler, M'Farlanc, Kennedy, Cameron, and others. Their task was by no means an easy one. The shore lights and signals were not those of to-day, neither were the compasses of that time comparable with the up-to-date article of the present time. Up to about 1875 the masters of ships were allowed considerable latitude in the matter of time. After that, however, a time-table had to be adhered to as strictly as possible, and this added much to the danger of coastal traffic. The habit of-standing off‘a point or so on a dark night or in foggy weather was discountenanced by those in authority, and the unwritten law of keeping up to time was established, provided, of course, that dangerous risks were no', taken. Shore signals were, however, much improved, and all led up to the splendid conditions that now exist. It was always anxious work for these captains trading up and down the coast, and it said much for them that there were so few tragedies, hampered as they wore with faulty instruments on the one hand and the need for keeping as near to their time-table as possible on the other. Directors, too, found their liabilities increasing, the old order of things was passing, more capital was being put into ships and the management was tightening up to an extent that the older captains felt very much. The free and easy days had passed, ana the responsibility of commanding the big gor and better ships that wore coining into vogue sat heavily on them. The same experiences were being gone through in Australia. A rather amusing story was told relating to a citizen gathering on the newiy arrived Rmgarooma at Melbourne, to celebrate the arrival of what was then a great advance on any pre-existing ship of Messrs M'Meckan, Blackwood and Co.'s fleet. The arrival of this steamer had to bo celebrated in a manner befitting the occasion, before she started on the intercolonial trade. The chairman of directors, Mr Blackwood, was at that time in Eng land, and the duty which would have beer, his, was allotted to the-vice-chairman, Mr H , a largo shareholder, who, though a fine man, was not given to making speeches of the kind that were looked for on such an occasion. He had -not been brought up in that way; in fact, his vocabu lary was limited, though very forcible when necessary. To the surprise of his friends the opportunity of filling the chair was greeted by him with enthusiasm. He took plenty of time to get his speech prepared, his brother directors in the meantime somewhat anxious but all hoping for the best. The fateful day arrived. The Bench, the pulpit, law, and commerce wore represented in large numbers, but no ladies were present, space being limited. The vice-chairman responded for the company, fairly surprising everybody by his eloquence. The effort had, however, apparently overtaxed his memory. For he had summarised the history of the company from its small beginnings, tracing it with cartful but sure stops from the time of vessels of the Aldinga type, for instance. “ Think of it, gentleman,” he said, “ and think of this memorable day with this representative gathering of citizens of oui very fine city, all met to cel©brate the arrival of this beautiful ship resting on the bosom of this fine harbour, gentlemen—-just like a thing of life, he meant to say, but ho went to pieces just there. The effort had been too groat.; his mind became a blank; ho got red; perspiration broke out all over him and he quite lost those four words, and looking helplessly around, said, “ In fact, Gentlemen —in fact, I may say, Gentlemen, just like a b duck.” The change from the sublime to the ridiculous happened so sud donly, that for a moment silence reigned, but in another instant laughter, applause, and cheering echoed all over the snip, during which the vice-chairman plumped into nis seat. Tho Union Steam Ship Company had many gatherings similar to that on the Ringarooma, but none with such a dramatic ending to the principal speech. Neither were M'Meckan, Blackwood, and Co. able afterwards to furnish anything of the like, since it required the man to dish up such an impromptu bill of fare. They, had their troubles about time-tables, ihe fact was that the vessels of those days had not tho power to steam against the. gales that they experienced in these parts. For many years captains had a, bad time trying to live up to Hheir time-tables. Probably they have their troubles now, but it cannot, be to the same extent. One well-known captain of that period, having been told that he was not running sufficiently to schedule time, related that he had" got a chance of showing to a high official of the Union Company how the best ship on the coast could be brought to a standstill. He camp from Melbourne in the Rotorua of that time bound tor Dunedin and after' leaving Wellington had to contend against a heavy southerly gale. Ihe head man of the company was on board. The night was one of th P worst possible. In fact .the steamer was fairly smothered in waves and spray. The captain kept on with full pressure, making very heavy weather of it, and not effecting much progress. As was his custom, he was going the round of the ship about 11 P-m., and, passing one of the deck houses, saw Ins director hanging on to a rail and trying to look out to windward. He could nvt resist tho opportunity of ranging alongside and shouting nut: “How about the time-table now?"’ He got no answer, and returned to the bridge, alter which he found it necessary to take the pressure off the skip, and for this he was thanked by his director next morning. It was extremely likely, however, that some skippers. "through the comparatively easy methods of earlier days, had acquired a tendency to lie out of their course too long for safety’s sake or to have a much-needed nap. The captain to whom I have re 1 ferred was one of the very best in every way. Like all the other captains of these vessels he had graduated in tho old sailing shins, the masters of which were usually a bit grumpy. He was once asked by his chairman of directors if he could not bo a little more kindly and sympathetic to his pa=seugers, and not too brusque, as there had been complaints. To this he replied: “Well, 1 am'sorry that 1 have that reputation, but the fart is, they ask such stupid questions "--probably a con- ■ flition of (hing= that prevails to-day. l Ships are. however, so much larger now that the master and his passengers do not I see so much of each other as formerly. The masters of those days, like those of

the present time, were all of the true bulldog breed. The ships,, however, are quite different. Gales of wind that would trouble the ships of the period about which I am writing would delay either the Wahine or the Maori but little; while the sumptuous comforts of to-day were hardly dreamed of 40 or 50 years ago. . Acclimatisation was begun at a fairly early period in Dnnodin. r lhe first chtnrman of the society for the furtherance of this object was Air .1. P. Maitland, Before the rabbit scourge became acute, both pheasants and partridges were becoming quite plentiful. In 1875 the writer, with a friend, shot a couple of brace of pheasants on Flagstaff not far from Ashburn Hall, and they were said to have been more plentiful the year before, but from that time few were seen near Dunedin. After increasing in numbers, they began to depart to less populated parts, where they were not so much disturbed, and where they multiplied very considerably until rabbit poisoning became compulsory, after which they were practically wiped out in two seasons. Mr Neill, of Dunedin, had a few days’ really good shooting between Henley and the coast —an ideal spot for pheasant rearing and shooting—and he had acquired a property there for that very purpose, but his experience was as related above. Whether the birds would have increased, got acclimatised, and become a permanent asset except for the rabbit poisoning is doubtful, when one considers how they have died out in the North Island, where they were very plentiful for some years. Partridges shared the same fate. For about two years they were plentiful about Dunback and towards Waikouaiti, and it was a pretty sight for passengers to see coveys of them rising from the roadside when disturbed by the rattle of the coach on its way up country. It is to be hoped that the Acclimatisation Society will ..avo better luck in the future, as good pheasant shooting and partridge shooting, on top of the splendid fishing obtainable in New Zealand, would indeed be an added asset of considerable value. The first authentic race meeting was held in Dunedin on the old Silverstream racecourse in 1866, when £IO6O was given in added money. The Otago Cup, of two miles, was won by Virginia, while the next biggest race, the Town Plate, of similar distance, was won by Schoolboy. In 1867 a similar programme was adopted, a chestnut horse called Knottingby, owned by Mr Moorhouse, winning both big races. On each day of the meeting three races varying in distance from, a mile and aquarter to one mile were also run. The course was quite a good one except that it was rather shingly in places. The appointments were very primitive. A •grand stand of a sort was provided, but as a rule those who drove out saw the racing from their own conveyances. The majority of people, however, rode, arid the stand was handy for them. The stewards’ room, dining room, jockeys’ room, and weighing rooms were under the stand. About 150 yards in front were roped in on either side of the straight, and a couple of plough furrows with a post here and there marked the course. It was primitive in comparison with present-day requirements, but for good honest sport it was hard to .beat. The way to get to the course for anyone driving was by Mosgiel, branching off about a mile past that place, along the North Taieri road, a distance of about 14 miles from town. Those riding went out via Roslyn and past Ashburn Hall, this reducing the distance by about one-half. That road was not yet ready for wheeled traffic, as the long cutting into Silverstream had not then been constructed. The race meeting was always a good day's outing, and attracted largo crowds considering the population of Dunedin at that time, while considerable numbers of people put in an appearance from as far away as Queenstown, Croin\\eil. and from Southland, in 1808 the Jockey Club, as then known, beeanie defunct, and until 1871 all racing was carried on by a body styled the Tradesmen’s Jockey Club, which in 1868 hold one small meeting at Silverstream. The competing horses were principally locally owned. In 1871 the first race meeting was held at Forbury Park, under the auspices of the Dunedin Jockey Club. The Tradesmen’s Racing Club conveniently died a natural death, after having for three years carried on racing in Dunedin. In 1869 there wore two meetings, the chief of which was that held in honour of the visit of the Duke of Edinburgh (Prince Alfred), Queen Victoria’s second son. The principal races at this meeting wci<e the Galatea Handicap, of two miles and a-half, won by Bobby Burns, and the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes, of two miles, won by Captain Scott. In those days the sporting public had no time fpr sprinters, and races were always a mile or over, excepting wjint were called hurry scurries for hacks. How things have changed! There used to be considerable betting for davs or weeks before and on the day right up to the fall of the flag—there was, of course, no barrier. On the occasion of his visit the Duke of Edinburgh and party drove out four in hand, the Duke himself holding the reins, followed by an escort of mounted police, who, it will be remembered, were a fine body of men, and well they looked that day. Sergeant-major Bevin, a survivor of the Balaclava charge, was among them, and Sub-inspector Dalgleish was in charge. It was observed that the Duke had a long conversation with the sergeant-major on the course, when they, no doubt, talked of many things in connection with the Crimean campaign. The Duke was a good whip, and handled a team supplied by Cobb and Co. in quite first-class style, and it was a good thing for his party that he knew how to act in an emergency. The road from the Main road to the course (about two miles and a-half) was very narrow, high in the middle, with deep ditches on either side and a considerable slope towards the sides. All traffic was stopped while the Duke passed, but at one place where the incline was very stoop an accident nearly took place, and would have done so had not the Duke called upon the horses just at the right instant. It was a close shave. The road was too narrow for congested traffic, and greater precautions were taken while the party was returning from the course. The day was fine, and Silverstream had its day out. The Duke backed his fancy in every race, his adviser being Captain Hutchinson, a well-known man in Dunedin in those days. Neither did he bother himself about “ who was who.” He had wagers with manv, all bets being either collected or paid after every race by his aide-de-camp, the Hon. Elliott Yorke, Ihc drive home was accomplished without any trouble, and the royal party arrived at Fernhill with pleasant memories ol early New Zealand racing days. Primitive though it was as compared with Royal Ascot. Goodwood, and such like, the sport was quite in keeping with a nation in the making, with the traditions.ot British sport to maintain.

The previous articles of this series were published in our issues of July 7, August 9, October 1, and November 12.