EARLY DAYS RECALLED

Taranaki Daily News, 19 November 1932, Page 5 (Supplement)

EARLY DAYS RECALLED

MR. G. W. GANE LOOKS BACIC ■' . v PIONEERING DAYS OF 1880. EXPERIENCES WITH THE MAORIS/

Memories of Whakamara in the early' days were revived by Mr. G. W» Gane, Normanby, when interviewed by a ;Daily News reporter. Mr. Gane went to ,the district with his parents; in 1880. ' • The school he attended was • ; in- the Bremer house, and the children wers taught in the’kitchen by Mrs. Bremer, He remembered Mrs. Bremer, as a kind-. ly, fairhaired woman. There’were from, 15 to 20 pupils attending during th< . period that his sisters and he were there. Some of the names he called to mini’ were Willie, Walter and Lacy Edwards, John, Dick and Lissie Wallace, the, Malones, Cheevers and Hilstons., One of the favourite pastimes of their schooldays was keeping the pigs out of Mrs. Bremer’s turnips. On one occasion they were detailed by Mrs. Bremer to drive the. pigs out of the turnips, but after several excursions they decided not - to return to school until it was time to be let out, and they put in the day chasing the pigs round in the fern. After> that, when pigs got into the crop only two boys were sent to get them. out. . Mr. Gane remembers wool-scouring in. the creeks. There was a long .ditch, that Mr. Bremer dug, and this was filled with wool and water diverted through it from a creek. He also has vivid recollections of bringing their first mob' of sheep into Whakamara. The roads wer® narrow and mud came up to the girths - in many places. They ’picked up tiie sheep at a paddock about half a mile along the Ingahape Road from the Manawapau Bridge. There were ships on the road on the hill below the Edwards’ homestead, and the road was. very muddy so they took the sheep up the spur through the standing bush, coming out in a paddock at the rear of Mr. Edwards’ house. The sheep were continually getting into cattle tracks ' ; deep in mud from winch they had to be / hoisted. ’ % Maoris were very numerous in those .’z\ . days. Walking ,in a single file bands qf them would extend for a considerable / distance. Hundreds, or. it seemed to the / children thousands visited the clearings at Whakamara for the fruit that. grew; .» there. Returning from school the chil-•, dren had to/run a gauntlet of a mile or . two of natives who were not particular- ,y; . ly friendly. Both sexes were tattooed ’.J very much, and many of the women, as : the children passed, would put out their tongues down to their chins and turn the , ; whites of their eyes put. This was & hideous sight which badly frightened Mr. /■ Gane and his companions. Naturally they kept out of the, Maoris’ way; but A there was not much choice of tracks through the bush and paddocks. On one occasion the children were oh' _ their way home from school and had climbed nearly to ' the top of an apple tree, where they were contentedly munching nice juicy apples, when they heard some Maoris talking as they came through the bush. The children fell rather than climbed down the tree and ran off with the natives following and shouting. “They must have. had '.a«Jofe' of fun at our expense,” added Mr. Mr. Gane remembers hisfather. Mr. William Wallace cleaning rifles and revolvers and counting' out ammunition; as there was a likelihood, of trouble./ ■ Later they dug pits in which they buried most of their goods. The remainder .they • took with them in drays to Whenuakura, where they stopped, he thinks, about three months until their dusky friends had cooled their ardour. ' Pigs were plentiful in the early ’BO s, and they were not all pure Captain' Cookers, • for many of them were fine, big, fat black and white pigs. they came out-of the bush-in. the evenings the settlers would-(hunt them with, dogs., ; ■■ ’ The .natives frequently came to Ma, Gane’s father and Mr. ‘Wallace for. ammunition with which .to shoot . pigs. Th® < Maoris- wouldpromise to bring back pigs in payment, but they seldom did. The Ganes' lost a quantity of stock, m-. ; eluding two fine draught mares, through- > “spud” holes. These were pits dug by the Maoris for keeping potatoes in.. The top was about three feet.in diameter and r the depth six to eight feet From about three feet down the sides were hollowed ; out considerably, the potatoes being stored under the bank. In bad weather >;■ stock would back up against some scrub and drop hind-foremost ’ into - holes.. Owing to the shape of the holes the ? beasts could not get out, so unless they were found fairly soon they dfed. .It was quite a big work to fill in the pits/