KAITANGATA JUBILEE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23331, 25 October 1937, Page 4

KAITANGATA JUBILEE

FIFTY YEARS A BOROUGH REVIEW OF HISTORY CELEBRATIONS CONTINUED The celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Borough of Kaitangata, which was' commenced with a ball on Friday night, was continued over the week-end. A procession was held on Saturday afternoon, and in the evening there was a banquet, which was well attended by residents as well as a Sood number of visitors from other istricts, THE EARLY DAYS Kaitangata, the population of which Is now over 1700, had a modest beginning, and the borough has grown together with the coal-mining industry which first drew settlers there. As early as 1840 a Mr Tuckett, while Inspecting the mouth of the Molyneux River a few miles below Kaitangata, noted that coal deposits existed at what was afterwards known as Coal Point. White settlement began at Kaitangata when in 1855 Mr John Lovell built his house where the Kaitangata Creek joins the Matau branch of the Molyneux. For two years Mr Lovell was the sole European settler in Kaitangata, until Mr William Aitchison, who had been in New Zealand for some years, having arrived at Port Chalmers in 1849 in the ship Mooltan, also settled there. Mr Aitchison was destined to he the first coal mine proprietor in the district, for it was on his land that the first coal from what afterwards became a famous field, was mined in March, 1869. The first 50 tons was produced by Mr A. Love, and this Mr Aitchison purchased and sold to Mr James Davidson in 1870 for use at his fiaxmill.

Mr John Thompson took a lease of the land in 1870, and founded the first coal company. Later the concern was reorganised, and became known.as the Kaitangata Railway and Coal Company, having constructed a branch railway line from Kaitangata to Stirling. . START OF COAL MINING .

The first coal was trucked to Dunedin on June 19, 1876, and the output lor the first year was 7000 tons. By 1889 the output had increased to 54,000 tons a year. Kaitangata suffered a setback in its progress for a time in 1879. when a disastrous explosion took place In the mine, and' 34’ miners lost their lives. The Kaitangata Railway and Cdal Company was bought out in 1898 by the Castle Hill Company, an English syndicate that had been operating a mine at the north end of the town, on the property of Mr Allan Blackie. The new concern operated as the New Zealand Railway, Coal, and Oil Company, and took up an area of shalebearing country at Orepuki, but after various vicissitudes, due principally to over-capitalisation and the failure ‘of the Orepuki enterprise, the business came to a standstill, and for four months the fate of the town of Kaitangata hung in the balance. Then a new company was formed, and the Kaitangata people demonstrated their faith in the product of their hills by ■ubscribing something like £IO,OOO towards the capital of the new company. Work was resumed at Easter of 1927. and after two somewhat difficult years the company became a prosperous dividend-paying concern, and at the present time is looked upon as one of the most succcessful business concerns of the kind in the country. The annual output of coal is about 120',000 tons, and is increasing. The affairs of the Kaitangata Company are ably managed bv a board of directors comprising both local and, Dunedin business men, Mr P. McSkimming, of Benhar, being chairman of the board. Mr F. Carson is manager and Mr J. Hay ■ecretary. LOCAL ADMINISTRATION

After "being administered as part of Bruce County for some years, the growing Importance of the town led to its proclamation as a town district on April 28. 1882. It was then governed by a Town Board of seven members—Messrs Alexander Bisset, Alexander Gray. William Turnbull Smith, William Martin Shore, William Samson, and William Shaw. In August, 1887, Kaitangata was declared a borough, and the personnel of the first council was Messrs A. N. Hislop (Mayor), W. T. Smith, Malcolm Morrison, Andrew Carruthers, Henry Kerr, Matthew Carson. Hugh MacFarlane. Mr W. M. Shore was elected Mayor in December, 1887, and held that office for 10 years. He was succeeded by Mr W. H. McKenzie, who was installed in December, 1899. In 1887, the Domain Board was merged with the Borough Council. The personnel of the oresent council is as follows:—Mr J. W. Fenton (Mayor), and Crs A. Robertson, A. Balloch; W. D. Carson, W. Jarvie, P. G. Clements, Thomas Middlemass, R. Ramsay, Robert Aitchison, C. T. Bisset, with Mr D. P. Clements as town clerk and engineer. THE CELEBRATIONS

The celebrations were commenced on Friday night with a jubilee ball in Robertson’s Hall, the attendance being 163. Elaborate decorations marked the unusual character of the occasion, and music was supplied by the Aurora Dance Band, and Messrs J. F. Bisset and W. Jarvie acted as masters of ceremony. On Saturday ther was a fancy dress procession, including decorated vehicles, from the Council Chambers to the Recreation Ground. This was headed by the Kaitangata Pipe Band. Prizes for fancy dress were awarded as follows:—Girls under six years—S. Finch 1, B. and A. Andrew (equal) 2. Boys under six years—R. Pilling 1, R. Thurlow 2. Girls under 10 years—P. Coulter 1, M. Murray 2, E. Gray 3. Boys- under 10 years—B. Gibson 1, A. Matchett and A. Fulton (equal) 2. Girls under 14 years—M. Carson 1, P. Coulter 2, Boys (under 14 years)—W. Weir 1, O. Greig 2. Decorated pram—V. Taylor 1. M. Williams and V. Greig (equal) 2. Decorated doll —L. Gre-ig 1, M. Williams 2. Decorated tricycle—A. and H. McLean 1, J. Carson 2. D. Coulter 3. Lady’s decorated bicycle—P. Poulter 1, F. Finch 2, R. Finch 3. Man’s decorated bicycle—J. Bennie 1, T. Weir 2. Decorated car— P. Robertson 1, W. Carson 2, Fire Brigade 3. Best impersonation of film star, 15 years or over—V. Matchett 1. Film star under 14 years—W. Park and M. Tackney (equal) 1. When the procession arrived at Victoria Park a picnic and sports lor the children were held. teE BANQUET In the evening a banquet was held In tiie R.S.A. Hall, the Mayor (Mr J. W. Fenton) presiding. There were present the Mayor of Balclutha (Mr D. T. Fleming), Mr and Mrs R. Aitchison, Mr J. A. Roy, M.P., Dr James Fitzgerald (Dunedin), Mr P. McSkimming (Benhar), Mr D. M. Mawson (Mayor of Milton), Mr W. F. Bennetts (a former Kaitangata postmaster, now of South Dunedin). Mr G. J. Kelly (Balclutha), and Mr F. T. Poole (Dunedin). The Mayor extended a hearty welcome to all, and especially mentioned the Mayor of Balclutha (Mr D. T. Fleming), as the representative of the neighbouring borough. Mr Fleming proposed “The Parliament of New Zealand.” and said it

was a body that gave the people an opportunity of hearing both sides. This meant that questions of national import were criticised and looked at from various points of view, as they should be, before becoming law. The issue lay with the electors. Parliament, broadly speaking, was the executive for carrying out the wishes of the people. He was glad to couple this toast with the name of Mr J. A. Roy, who was the first native of Clutha to represent the constituency in Parliament.—(Applause.) Mr Roy, after congratulating the borough on its jubilee, said he would not touch upon party politics on such an occasion, but would just refer to a new phase of parliamentary life that had been entered upon through the use of the broadcasting service. This, to his mind, brought Parliament closer to the icople, enabling them to judge the pros and cons of questions almost at first hand. The second means of distributing parliamentary news was through the press and" Hansard. The former’s means of conveying parliamentary news were limited. If it were to report all the speeches delivered in Parliament.there would be no room for anything else in the papers, so the press compromised and took only the chief points, and if a speaker’s remarks contained nothing of a startling character he was apt to be among the “ also spokes.” He did not blame the press for that. The radio, however, gave everyone an opportunity to hear the debates, and as a result the people were taking a greater interest than ever before in what went on in Parliament. The speaker gave an interesting account of how Parliament struck a newcomer, and said that a man had to be thick-skinned if he intended to be a politician. The Opposition, though small in numbers, he would like to say had been treated fairly by the Government in regard to the radio broadcasting of speeches. Mr W. D. Carson proposed the toast of “ Kindred Bodies,” and making reference to the history of the borough, said that in 50 years 14 Mayors had held office, and of that number five were with them that night—Messrs Cairns, Souness, Aitchison, Gage, and Fenton. The great aim of the late Mr W. H. MacKenzie, who was Mayor in 1891-92 and 1898-99, was to have the mouth of the river below Kaitangata opened for seagoing craft, so that the coal could be taken away by water, Kaitangata people were still looking for that great day. The speaker also dealt with the progress the town had made in the intervening years, and contrasted the early street lighting by means of 13 kerosene lamps with the present-day electric lights. The Mining Company had at first supplied the electric light for the town before it had been decided to join up with the Otago Electric Power Board, and he believed the company could have supplied the light and power for the town and surrounding districts much more economically than the board was doing. Mr D. T. Fleming responded to the toast, and paid a compliment to the town of Kaitangata and its progressive council. It was, he said, a clean town—different from many coal mining towns—and its citizens were lawabiding and public-spirited. The coal which had made the town was second to none in Otago. He remembered that many years ago a few scows had come into the river to load coal, but unfortunately the venture had not been a financial success, and he had heard it said that the coal would not stand sea carriage. However, he believed the time would yet come when the coal would be transported to distant markets by a better means of transport than the present. Proposing the toast of “ Local Industries, Mr F. Crooke, chairman of the local Miners’ Union, strongly advocated the opening of the mouth of the river for small vessels. The council and the business people should “ get together ” on the question. He was satisfied that the people of the North Island, especially Wellington and suburbs, with which he was familiar, would take Kaitangata coal in preference to Waikato coal. Another means of increasing the consumption of Kaitangata coal would be for the Electric Power Board to establish a coal-burning plant in Kaitangata. The coal must be becoming more popular, as approximately 300 men were employed at the mine now. including 252 on the coal, against .160 at this time last year.—(Applause.) Mr F. Carson responded, and said that the Kaitangata mine was unique in that for 35 years there had been but two managers, his brother, Mr W. D. Carson, now retired, and himself. At present* the coal was sent all the way to Picton, and he believed that a great market awaited it in Wellington, if it could be landed there to compete with the Waikato coal. That would give Kaitangata a “boost.” For some years the management had been under the painful necessity of putting 100 men off each year in the slack season, but this year none had been put off, and it was hoped they might be able to keep all going right through the year. The present output was 12,000 tons a month. He believed that steps were even now being taken to have the river mouth dredged out, so that small sea-going craft could come up to Kaitangata for coal. The company’s reserves of coal were good, and they were at present developing to the south, where a seam 30ft thick had merely been scratched in the early days. He believed the prospects of the town to be brighter than they had been for 50 years.—(Applause.) The Rev. J. Fordyce proposed the toast of “ The Kaitangata Borough Council,” which was responded to by Messrs R. Aitcheson and W. Jarvie. “ Past Mayors and Councillors ” was proposed by Mr F. Carson and responded to by Messrs T. Gage and P. Souness (both ex-Mayors). “Our Visitors ” was proposed by Mr M. Carson, jun., and responded to by Mr A. E. Russell (Baldutha). Mr Taylor (head teacher at the Kaitangata School) proposed the toast of “ Burgesses of Kaitangata,” and Mr _W. McGhee responded. The latter praised the council and citizens for their generosity in the matter of providing a hall for the Returned Soldiers’ Association, and made special mention of Mr D. P. Clements, the town clerk, who had done much for the returned soldiers in Kaitangata. Mr T. Middlemass proposed " Past and Present Mayoresses,” Mrs Fenton and Mrs R. Aitcheson replying. Cr A. Balloch proposed “The Borough Council and Staff,” and this was replied to by Mr D. P. Clements. To Dr Dodds was entrusted the toast of “ The Ladies,” and Mr Taylor proposed “The Press.” The concluding toast was that of “The Mayor,” proposed by the Rev. J. Fordyce, who paid a high tribute to the work of Mr Fenton, who had always displayed great energy in forwarding the interests of Kaitangata and its citizens. Mr Fenton reviewed the history of the town, and said in regard to the dredging of the mouth of the river, that he was in a position to say that the Inspector of Mines already had a report on the subject, and there was a prospect of the Government undertaking the work. (Applause.) He concluded by asking for a vote of thanks to Mrs Pryde. who had catered for the ball and banquet, and to all who had helped in the jubilee celebration’. including the Rev. Mr Fordyce, whose help had been greatly appreciated, also a vote of thanks to Miss Smaill, the pianist for the bancmet. The singing of “Auld Lang Syne ” brought the function to a close. CHURCH PARADE A jubilee church parade was held yesterday, and there is a programme of sporting events for to-day.