A Pioneer of the Waiau District.

Otautau Standard and Wallace County Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 18, 29 August 1905, Page 2

A Pioneer of the Waiau District.

(By our Special Correspondent)' The Waiau district is about to lose one of its oldest and best pioneers m the person of Mr William Scobie, Senr., of Eastern Bush. Tbis gentleman was one cf tbe first, and has proved himself to be one of tbe best and most public spirited men that tbe district bas known. Taking up land here some six and twenty years ago, Mr Scobie bas witnessed tbe steady and sure developmen| of the district from its early beginnings until the present time. What is more to the point, he has right along the line, thrown both energy and ability into helping forward the progress and prosperity of this young and enterprising district, and now that he is about to retire from active service and take np his residence m town, his departure will create a . wide gap that will be hard indeed to fill. That he and his esteemed wife may, m the eventide of life, enjoy that quiet and rest whioh they deserve, is the sincere wish of all who know them. Thiß wish, we are pleased to note, found true expression m the grand social whioh the friends and neighbours of Mr and Mrs Scobie tendered to them, m tbe Public Hall, Eastern Bush, the other evening, when, m tbe presence of a crowded and enthusiastic audience, Mr Scobie was presented with a fine illuminated address, which was signed bj the leading settlers of the distriot. Mrs Scobie also received a beautiful Mosgiel travelling rug. Knowing these things, I called on Mr Scobie a few days' ago, and had the pleasure of the following interesting chat with him : — " I suppose you must bave seen some big changes and great developments m tbe district since you first came here.' r I began. •« Ye 3, that's true," he replied. " Nearly all the country round Eastern Bush was bush, now there's scarcaly a patch left, and then, at the start, there was mile 3of fencing to do, that took us a long time. There was one thing we always looked forward to at the beginning, and indeed we do still, and that is the railway. I suppose it may come m time, bat it will have to be soon if it is to be of use to us oMer men. When I first cam* 1 here the idea of buildinsc a railway had gat so far that plans wera drawn for building the line, and thess plans I bo?d to this day." " What about travelling ia the eafly%days. It nviPt have been heavy work, was'nt it ? « That's true, Anyone who was not here m the early days cannot understand tbe difficulties. Just imagine. It took about thtee days to make the journey frpm the bush here to Otautau, nowadays we do the journey to a few hours. Not only that, you were never snre that vonr horse? or dray would not get bogged. Many a time I have sent a team of horaes to help some poor man whose bartfes were up to their breasts m mire and aud. Then asain s<?e how the mail service ia vanproved. At first we only got the mail onoe a week, and a boy brought np the mail hag on horseback. Wairaki was the name of the postal district. To-day there are four post offices m the distriot, and we have tha mail twice a week, and since we were put on the telephone I am safe m saying that busfeess | locally has made greit headway. You see, I for a good number of years, people either did I their business by l'tttr or else bad to make a trip to town on purpose. One thing that helped us along m -tbe early days was that we all pulled together and helped each other. We formed a progress committee, and this pushed matters on considerably. Afterwards the work of the committee was taken over by the farmers' olub, which is s still deing good work. The chief m<m on tfie progress committee were J. McColl, J. Mitchell, senr., W. J. Darley, P. Allen, J. Wilson, and A. McOleary. Some years after that the Railway League was formed, and this greatly strengthened our agitation for a railway." : "I suppose there have also been many chancres m the schools and m the ohuroh j work?" j "Yes, a great many. For instance, the] first Bohool here was held mmy shearing j shed, which, however, was soon "papered and made as comfortable as we could for tbe children. Mr John Meiklejohn wai our first teacher, and a fine fellow he was. Since then we have had a school built here and also at Feldwick, besides several ohanges m the teaching staff. As for the ohurch work, Mr Ewing, the minister at Limestone Plains used to ride over every three months and hold servioe m Mr Outhbsrtson's house at Otahu. Latterly the Bey. Mr McDonald, mfnister of Otautau, took oharge of the distriot, and then we besran to nave monthly services, and later, once a fortnight. Mr McDonald did fine work m the distriot, and the result remains to this day.