CLUTHA PIONEERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3018, 17 January 1912, Page 6

CLUTHA PIONEERS.

ANNUAL REUNION

A PLEASANT DAY AT WAREPA

The Clutha Pioneers' Association was again favoured with glorious weather for its annual picnic, which was held in the Warepa School Grounds on the 10th. The countryside was looking its very best, and from far and near early sett.ers of the genuine old stock, their ranks' now growing sadly thin, and lusty descendants of all aiges, ever increasing ar.d thriving on the opportunities won for them by the older generation, gathered together to spend the day in social enjoyment and the reviving of cherished memories of bygone times. Special arrangements had been made for the express to stop at the Warepa Station both going and coming, and it arrived with its firjt continent of visitors shortly before 11 o'clock. Among the passengers were Mr John Wood (secretary of the Ota go Early Settlers' Association), and Mrs Barnes, Mrs Hayward, and Mr T. iSomervilie, from Dunedin, a.!l members of the committee of the Otago Association, and Mr A./8. Malcolm, M.P., with "Mrs Malcolm and their children. The express and two succeeding slow trains were eadh met by a drag and a number of private vehicles, which conveved the visitors to and fro over the two miks that separated them from the prettily situated school grounds. At first the attendance was not so large as it has been in past years, though about 150 enjoyed lunch in the open air between 12 and 1 o'clock, but this number was very considerably increased as the afternoon wore on. Excellent pipe music was supplied at intervals by Mr W\ M'Hardie, and, after a large number of short addre-ses had 1 been given, an impromptu sports programme was arranged for the entertainment of the voungsters. Tea was again served before 4 o'clock for those who had to catch tho express north.

In the schoolhouse was arranged a most interesting collection of photographs of old identities and their families and early homes, and th?se served to awake many memories, not untouched with pathos, as they were eagerly scanned by one and another of the band of early stalwarts. I .Much interest w®6 shown, too. in the volume, of " Reminisceno?g of the Earlv Settlement of Dunedin and South Otago," the printing of which is now Bearing completion. The reminiscences have been compiled with great care during the past few years by Mr John Wilson (secretary of the Clutha Association), and the result so far •'hows that all the labour involved has been well worth while. The book is rich in ■»ivid (Stories of the verv earliest days. stories that will grow in historic value is the years go >by. I The following early settlers signed their names in the record book provided for the purpose: —James F. Avson (Boyal Albert,; 1853), Walter Nicol (Three Bells, 1858), John M'lntosh (Southern Cross, 1856), ' Peter Robertson (Southern Cross, 1855), Samuel Voting (The Mary, 1849), Mrs C. j Begg, nee Bannerman, and Mrs A. i Richards, nee Bannerman (Stately. 1854), I Sarah Robertson (Gothenburg, 1863), Mm M. Barriies (Storm Cloud, 1860). John Wood (Gala, I 860), John Crawford (Robert Hen- > derson, 1848), Mr John Low, nee Avson (Royal Albeit. 1853), Mis Fer>ar (from Tas- ! mania ; Damo Watson. 1867). .James Main , (from Australia; Oineo, 3861), John Stoddart (1863). I As showing the extent to which the pioneer ranks have now been thinned by time, it may be .slated that of all the band who came and settled along the front of the Warepa Bush in 1858 only one now survives—Mis Robert Sutherland, who has been confined to her bed for some time. i About 2 o'clock Mr J. A. Somervil'e (r resident of the Clutha Pioneers' Association) addressed the gathering, and expressed his pleasure at the satisfactor attendance and the beautiful weather prevailing. lie referred to the parsing away during the year of two early settlers—Mrs Stoddart (of Toiro) and Mrs Grigor (of Balclutha). and also to the death of Mr Langlands, of of the Otago Early Settlers' Association. | The G'utha Association had now been ' working for five years, and he thanked them for the financial assistance they had given. Ho also thanked all those who had kindly supported them by giving informa- | tion for the book they were publishing. ! Tliev had had a great struggle to get the information, and they might, have been _ given much more than they had been. He ■held in his hand a copy of the book. Thero were about 117 pages printed, and he was told it was all in type. The total receipts of tin' association for the year were £22, and the exenditure £2O 16s 6d, leaving in

. hand a balance of £1 3s 6d. Some thought I they were going to make a profit out )f I this book. They had not started it with that I intention, and even if they sold every copy 1 printed they would not have enough to give the man who compiled it a £lO note. He read apologies and messages of goodwill that had been received from Messrs W. H. S. Roberts (Oamaru), James Robertson (Lawrence). John Mac Gibbon (Gore), and J. B. and D. Waters (Dunedin). Mr J. Wilson (Awamoko), secretary of the Clutha Association, expressed his great pleasure at being able to revisit Warepa. He complained that to his mind the young people did not at all give the honour that they should give to their forefathers—the men and women who had done eo much to make Otago what it is. The least the young people could do was to make tile old people's lives as happy as possible, and one of the ways in which they could do that, was by attending those picnics, which gave, the old people a chance to meet and discuss old times. Other districts should do a* Clutha had done and place on record the doings of their early pioneers. If finances had warranted it, he could have compiled a book of 1500 page* from the information he had gathered. He went on to claim that the honour of first introducing cheap money to settlers really belonged to the late James Macandrew. in the days of the Provincial Councils. He reminded them also of what the pioneers had done in founding the University and other scholastic establishments, Mr T. Somcrvillo (Anderson's Bay) said that the gathering seemed to indicate that the interest of the district in the association was very strong, and he congratulated the association on the number present. It had been whispered to him unofficially that the association might be disbanded now that this book had been completed. He thought that was wrong. It would bo a great pleasure for the descendants to honour the memory of those who came out ! here before them, and he sincerely hoped the association would go on and make more history The strength of the mother association (the Otago Early Settlors' Association) largely depended on the strength of kindred societies in and around Dunedin

Mr A. S. Malcolm eaid he was glad to be present, because this year would see the complttion of their magnum opus, the book that would preserve the history of that settlement He congratulated them heartily, but he was sorry to find there was still some financial difficulty in connection with the publication. Ho had tried to get a grant last year, and the Prime Minister had told him that he had put £2OO on the Estimates, but lie had had to strike it off. and tliat ho hoped to put it on the Estimates again this year. He referred to tho fact that Mr Wilson had borne the heat and burden of the work of tho association, lie thought they should not depend on the lx>ok only to keep the- pioneers in mind. Would it bo possible to have a tablet erected in the church, on which should bo inscribed the names of the early settlers of the district? The people ought to be visibly reminded of what they owed to the early settlers. Perhaps one of the reasons that the early settlement of that district was so satisfactory was that it had really n religious foundation. It was settled by the Free Church of Scotland, which had given evidence cf its hiyh principle in 1843, and the settlers came out with the same high ideals. His wish and hope was that, tho generation to come might, cany on tlie good name that the district had won. Mr John Wood, secretary of the Otago Early Settlers-' Association, referred to the regrettable fact that at each one of theso gatherings there were always one or two gaps among the old faces. However, they bad done their work well and gone to their reward. He thought the idea of having some sort of inscribed tablet was an admirable one, and it would lead the youns people to make more inquiry about the pioneers. The district had reason to be proud of itself, for it had really been the pioneer in collecting historical facts for pub' lication. He hoped that other districts would follow their example once the book went into circulation. It was from such collections that future history was made He honed the compiler would not destroy one iota of the MS that had come into his possession, but would forward it to the Otago Association to keep for all time. Much that had not been included in the book might be very valuable in time to come.

Mrs ITayward, a member of the committee of the Otago Association, spoko briefly on behalf of the ladicfc that came from Dunedin. thanking the local people for the splendid outing- they had <-trra.rijred Mr Samuel Young, of Tunneka West,

Spoke of the many hardships of the early cla.yi. If thoy ware to tell some of these now to a lot of the rising generation the young people would think they were romancing.- He could givo them a little information about the hardships he had had to undergo. When he was a lad 7i years of age he had to walk every inch of the way from Dunedin to the Warepa Bush before there were any roads. When his eyes first caught sight of Mr Ayson's house at the end of the journey he thought there was no place so beautiful. Mr Ayson took the speaker's father out to view the country down by the Puerua. He thought the place whore they first settled near the Puerua was too far away from companionship, and eo his father abandoned that selection and chose a part alongside the Waitepeka stream, which was afterwards purchased by the late Mr Ro&rt Sutherland. He found Mr Sutherland had been before him, and put in his pegs, and so they had to move again. His father had to go *to Dunedin to bring up his mother and others of the family, and the speaker remained about six weeks with Mr Ayson at "Corydon." The father of Mr J. A. Somerville their president, had built a whi're at the edge of the bush, and in this they lived tiff Mr Somerville arrived. Mr Somerville was bringing cattle from Anderson's Bay, and he had to swim them over the Clutha. Mrs Somerville, who-was on her honeymoon trip, did not care to wait at the river, so Mr Somerville pointed out the Warepa. Bush to hor, and said " make eiraight for the bush." So she came on, carrying a pack on her back, and the speaker was tent on to the top of the highest hill to watcli for a woman coming over the- ranges. One afternoon, near nightfall, ho espied a woman struggling up a hill with this pack. She was almost exhausted, and no wonder; but they got her safely in. Then the Youngs had to move to their own whare, which, was not yet completed. Rain came on the first nignt, and they put up umbrellas to try to keep it off the bed. . . . Provisions were very scarce and dear in those days, and often had to be carried all the way from Dunedin on a man's back. The only man in the district who had wheat for sale was Mr Alexander Gordon, and he sold it at 10s a bushel, which was very reasonable. - They had to work all day hewing out stumps, and then, as a recreation, they had to go and toil at the mill for an hour every night ao get their daily bread. Many a time ho had thought it would be a grand tiling if tho mill would break, so that they would get a spell, but he did not think of the other consequences. They could always get wild pork for the killing of it. Mr Adam Sutherland was a born sport and a dead shot, and the speaker had had anV amount of sport with him when he was old enough. The bush was very beautiful in those days, untouched by the hand of man. In the spring it was all yellow with kowhai, in October or November the clematis came out, white and pure and beautiful; and towards Christmas there was the crimson rata, making a sheet of red. He went on to relate a story of the Into Dr Manning, who, when told that tho Rev. Mr Waters had broken his leg- and required his services, muttered. "Good job; good job!" When asked by the speaker afterwards for an explanation, Dr Manning said, " Why, if it wasn't for that and tho like of that we doctors would starve ! We'd starve !" Mr Young concluded by expressing the hope that tho picnics would not be stopped, as they served an excellent purpcee in bringing the old people together and letting them exchange view s.

Mr G. W. Woods congratulated the society on the good work it had done in having a history compiled, and spoke of the great improvements lie had noticed in the district during the past 30 years. On the motion of Mr J. A. Somerville, hearty votes of thanks were accorded to the speakers, to the ladies who had provided basket-* of rotables, and to the press. On the call of Mr Jatri-?e Christie, -who spoke on behalf of the visitors, hearty oncers were given for the local residents and committee, and also for the ladies. All sorts of games were indulged in later in the afternoon, and a mct-r. cnjoyablo day was brought to a close with a dance.