SIXTY YEARS’ PROGRESS

Taranaki Daily News, 12 July 1935, Page 9

SIXTY YEARS’ PROGRESS

HAWERA’S DEBT TO THE SCHOOL MANY NOTABLE NAMES FOUND ON ROLLS PROUD NAME AS CENTRE OF LEARNING J?ROM a settlement surrounded by bush, and constantly watching for warring Maori tribes, Hawera has progressed in th® past 60 years to' become the centre of one of the world’s greatest dairying districts. And in the march of the town o greater things the Hawera Main school has played a triumphant part. Founded in 1875, to-day the school celebrates its diamond jubilee. Its history is colourful and romantic. Great names are on the rolls of the school; great deeds have been accomplished by those who have passed through and gone on. As the sole centre of learning at Hawera for more than 40 years the school had a tremendous responsibility, bu the present proud position of Hawera and the successes its citizens have won in every field may be largely attributed to the sterling ground learning received from the fine body oi teachers who inculcated the fundamentals of good citizenship among the thousands of pupils. To-day the town salutes the school for its long service, quietly and unostentatiously performed, and conservative in the sureness of its successful methods.

HAWERA’S FIRST PUPILS

MR. TAIT’S RECOLLECTIONS | 42 CHILDREN ON OPENING DAY. LOST IN FERN IN HIGH STREET. EARLY EFFORTS AT EDUCATION. Forty-two pupils attended the Hawera school the day it was opened in 1875. Of this number only about one-third survive. One of these is Mr. A. V. Tait, Kaponga, who gave to the Daily News yesterday a story of his experiences in the early days of Hawera. His father Captain Messana. was lost when his vessel foundered with all hands off Auckland in the late ’sixties. His mother married the late Mr. Charles Tait and came to Hawera in 1870. They were among the earliest settlers of the town, Mr. Tait having drawn a, section nt the comer of High and Victoria streets. The only other families in the village were the Douglases and Sweeneys, their properties being located at the present site of the Hawera Bowling Club. r .... Tn a two-horse dray the Tait family brought the belongings from Wellington, the trek taking 14 days, following the coastline and necessitating the fording of rivers. They were among the first to cross the Wanganui River bridge then newly-erected. Hawera they found to be covered with high fem, with a few flax bushes here and there, and apart from two settlers the only' inhabitants were a handful of Armed Constabulary in a blockhouse located on a small knoll, since removed, on the site of the present Hawera library. The blockhouse had a low roof with rifle portholes in the sides and formed the only protection to the pioneers in the event *of attacks by Maoris. t PROTECTION OF BLOCKHOUSE. The Taits remained at the blockhouse on their arrival, fearing to venture on to their lone section, but later Mr. Tait built a small house on the north-west comer of Victoria and High streets,. this being the first cottage to face High Street High Street itself was nothing but tangled fem seven feet high and there was not an inch of metalled road anywhere. Mr. Tait witnessed the first efforts to form a metal roadway, this taking place at the comer of Princess and l High streets when ; he was a boy at school. The first length of metal extended: only for ten chains, money being an almost unknown thing. Beyond the metal extended infinite mud the full z width of the road, there being not even a footpath. Present day residents enjoying the comforts of modem roads and paths must find it difficult to realise the conditions the pioneers had to face. j When Mr. Tait’s step-father was build- , ing his cottage he and his elder brother were sent from the blockhouse to the section with a billy of tea for the men but almost unbelievably they lost their j way in the fem and wandered around in j a maze in what is now High Street, eventually sighting the blockhouse on the [ knoll and returning. Had they found the ! correct surveyor’s track at the White j Hart comer they would have got on the i right track to their destination. The first attempt at education was | made late in 1872 when Mrs. Oakes opened a private school with about 15 pupils in a building on the site of Messrs. Bennett and Sutton’s shop. Mr. Tait was a pupil of this school. In 1873 the Government opened a school in the blockhouse and Mr. Tait attended this, along with about 30 other children, Mr. Dunne being the teacher. GROWTH OF POPULATION. Settlers were arriving almost daily and the population of the village was rapidly growing. It was decided that a proper school was necessary, and this was erected on the present site on the South Road in 1875 after a great controversy as to the suitability of the site. Along with 41 others Mr. Tait was entered on the roll on the opening day, .Mr. Dunne being the headmaster. Speaking of the original pupils Mr. Tait said he had endeavoured to keep in touch with them but as far as he could learn two-thirds had passed, away. Among the first scholars recalled by Mr. Tait were ' Mrs. Campbell mee Douglas), mother of Mr. J. E. Campbell, Mayor of Hawera, Mrs. J. Oughton (nee Harkness), Okaiawa, Mrs. Klout (nee New Plymouth, Mr. Lawson xccker, Mr. T. Quinlivin (Hawke’s Bay), Mr. W. Bairow (better known as W. HeUier), Dr. G. Home (New Plymouth), ana his Brother James, W. Douglas, W. Tait and two Middlemas families. As a youth Mr. Tait was often in the company of Kimble Bent, the notorious pakeha who turned Maori. Meeting him one day as he was returning to Taiporohenui young Tait persuaded him to follow him on horseback over the embankments at Turuturu. Not being a firm

rider Bent was unable to negotiate the jump like the experienced young rider, and when his horse stopped dead Bent was tossed over its head on to the bank and into the ditch, carrying away the bridle in his hand. He denounced his companion in lurid language for bringing him to such a humiliating position. Young Tait in the meantime galloped after the horse and recovered it in the vicinity of the present aerodrome. BUILDING YOUNG COUNTRY. Notwithstanding the difficulties of those days many of the children of the pioneers made good citizens and played a worthy part in the upbuilding of the civic life of the young country. All the stirring incidents of the eighties are well remembered by Mr. Tait. One day when out cattle-hunting on Waimate plains he passed Mr. John Bryce on his. famous charger engaged in the famous raid on Parihaka. Every man was a citizen soldier and each Wednesday afternoon it Was compulsory for all men to attend the blockhouse for drill. The danger of a Maori rising was always present and the settlers of the village never slept, without a. loaded rifle at their bedside ready for any outbreak of hostilities. The' threatened uprising, however, aid not take place, although one night in 1871 the inhabitants received a fright. A bugler galloped down the main street blowing his bugle as a signal of alarm and the awakened residents stormed into the blockhouse for safety, leaving their homes unguarded. But nothing further happened; apparently the alarm was a false one. Another startling incident was the ploughing of Mr. Livingston’s lawn by Maoris. One wet Sunday morning the natives began to take charge and everyone at Hawera was soon galloping on, horseback to the scene of the trouble at Tokaora. The settlers were in determined mood and bundled the ploughs and native women into drays and drove them across the Waingongoro River, warning them never to return. Of course the adventurous young Tait was mixed up in that incident. Being a military settlement Hawera was originally surveyed into 10-acre sections, and when the New Plymouth railway was put through to Hawera residents of the present Union Street area found they had to make a long detour by way of Princess Street or Glover Road to reach the line as these were the only two roads then open through the whole block. The south side of Victoria

Street was known as Winks’ Lane and the north side as Tait’s Lane. The early villagers were never sure of provisions, these having to come by small boat to Patea and then on by drays over the sandhills. Mr. Tait remembers one occasion when there was no flour for fully two weeks, but there was plenty of oatmeal and this was converted into bread and oatmeal cakes. This so sickened young Tait of oatmeal that he has never liked it since. As many parents hsd to keep their children at home to help them make a living in those hard days a night school was started in 1877 for the benefit of these people. It was conducted by Mr. Harkness, father of Mrs. J. Oughton, Okaiawa, and was situated where the winter show building now stands. About 15 children attendee!, Mr. Tait being one of the number. Mr. Tait recalled that life was full of hardship in his early days, but evidently these had not affected tire people seriously for they had come through it all and were still hardy and healthy. Perhaps it was the good, simple food that helped them to do it, he added.