SHIPS AT MAKARAKA

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19248, 13 February 1937, Page 8

SHIPS AT MAKARAKA

SHIPMENT OP TIMBER

PIONEER P.P. COHMEECJ

CI I RAP ORMOND SKCTIdNS

"Many people in Poverty Bay of today may never have heard the name of Brown's Point, yet it was an important commercial link' in Hie early days of commerce in the district. It, was at Brown's Point, on the Taruhern River near Mukarnkn, that timber from King's mills at Makauri were loaded into scows for shipment, mainly to Canterbury," stated Mr. W. F. Ilatten. Ormond. in the course of a chat with a pressman to-day. "The day is long past when the river was navigable by scows up to Brown's Point, and to-day at low tide one could almost jump across the water there/' ' '

The inllnence of Hoods from the »aipaoa River, sweeping across the flats and into the bed of the Tarnheru River, bearing huge burdens of silt which became deposited in the tidal stream, was regarded by Mr. Ilatten as responsible for the shrinkage in the tideway. The Taruhern River' had been a broad and almost impressive one in the early day.-; of settlement, he said, and provided one means of communication between Ma karaka and Gishoine before road transport became thoroughly established. Engaged in the timber trade between Poverty Bay and Canterbury were the schooner Opotiki, of 7Cc.dil tons, ami the topsail schooner Advance, of 127 tons, which vessel was believe,) by Mr. Hat ten to have been built at Toiaga Bay by iter owner. Captain Trimmer. The vessels went up on the high title in the. river, and loaded on 7i?e ebb tide, floating out again on the following flood. On the return voyage from I.yttellon, those ships brought wheat for grinding at Mr. William Kingjs mill, which he established on the site now occupied by Messrs. Common, Shelton and Company's grocery and hardware store. Part of the old wooden building erected by Mr. King is still being used by the firm. . r GISBORNE SECTIONS Incidentally. Mr. flatten mentioned that the site on which the offices of Messrs. Common, Shelton and Company, Limited, stand ' to-day was bougilt at tho sale of township sections in Gisborne for £5, by a man named l'ritchard. This buyer took £1 on his bargain. and the new purchaser, a Mr. David Miller, carrier, made a profit of .CI when he sold it shortly afterwards for £lO. The site was then well away Irom the business centra-of Gisborne,, which lay between the two blocks at the foot of I Gladstone road.

Mr. HaUon's memory of the town goes back to the days when Captain Read s store, the Albion Hotel, two or three small shops. Mr. Titos. Adams' shop, (he Bank of New Zealand, and the old courthouse occupied one block, the postoffice—a two-roomed building without bank facilities of any kind—Messrs. Graham and Company, the Argyll Hotel, and a cottage erected by the Government for Major Ropata Wahawaha, tho fighting chief of the Ngatiporou, were the only buildings across the .street. The old courthouse was later, used by the forerunner of the business of Messrs. Adair Bros., and was eventually sold to Mr. John Townley, who had it, moved bodily to a site just where Messrs. Gamages. Limited, now conduct a department store. It was pulled down some years ago to provide space for tho Townlev building. So small was tho amount of settlement. in Gisborne in the days before tho sale of township sites that'fanners had very little market for their produce, and most of it was disposed of by way of barter. Mr. Ilatten. while farming at Waerenga-a-hika about 1877, remembered that he had paid 2s 6d per lb. for farm butter two or three years earlier, and decided that there might bo profit in dairying. He secured a few cows, and 'produced farm butter, but could only dispose of it in return for vStores, on the basis of per lb. It was not .1 paying proposition after all. LACK OF MARKET The lack of any market accounted for 1 the failure of the military settlement scheme instituted at Ormond. During the years when Maori troubles were prevalent or imminent, many wanderers without connections came to the district, and they received grants of land under a policy of settlement which contemplated inducing them to stay and defend their stakes in the country. Most of the land given under these grants was covered with bush, scrub or tootoc, and tinfenced. The military settlers had no interest in carving out permanent homes from this type of land, and it was not. long before an underground trade in the land was being carried on. Tt was essential that the man who held tho grant from the Government should be on hand to answer to a roll call occasionally, and long after they had sold their sections a number of the men remained merely to answer "present" when required. One landholder who had bought out a group of men formed a small settlement of his own, in which he housed the

grantees, so that there would be 110 questions raised as to his occupancy of the sections' bought from them. MILITARY. SETTLERS' GRANTS Military settlers of the rank of private received grants of 50 acres, officers of the lower grades received 70 acres each, and Colonel Whitmorc was granted 134 acres in the neighbourhood of Ormond. One section which subsequently sold for £5 tho lot was valued in She boom period at £7O per acre. 11. was a mass of rushes and toetoe at the lime of the grant, and certainly gave no indication of developing into the properly it now represents. Another section which was sold cheaply by the grantee was 72 acres on the Gisborne side of Ormond, which brought £9 for the lot. One inrm to whom credit is given by Mr. n.'iflen for having foreseen the development of Poverty Hay was Captain Read, who handled a great deal of Ihe land 011 the Poverty Bay flats, and sold it to various of Ihe pioneer farmers. Ho looked for no large profits from these sales, according (o the certain knowledge of Mr. Ilatten, but expected Ihe increase in production to yield him profits through his commercial enterprises. In this policy, he anticipated the most, prosperous of stock and station agencies of later years, and ho lived lo see tho district achieve something of the prosperity he had prophesied for it.

A former Mayor of tin' City of Gloucester, Mr. W. I!. Rggleton, is visiting Auckland. With Mrs. Rggleton lie is making the round trip on the steamer Port. Nicholson.