EARLY TIMARU

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18008, 13 July 1928, Page 7 (Supplement)

EARLY TIMARU

Mr. Tames Holland's Story

Mr James Holland, who was in the service of tlio Timaru- Borough Council for 37 years, was horn- in Lancashire, England, in 1552. Accompanied by his parents, when eleven years of age, he bade adieu to the Old Land for the then largely unknown New Zealand. Taking passage by the sailing ship Victory, after a tedious voyage, land was sighted in October .of that year, and a few days afterwards the Victory cast anchor opposite the town of Timaru, then, of "course, but a dim shadow of what it was to become later. In 18 63 the present harbour had not even been dreamed of by visionaries, and consequently it was necessary for the vessel —and all vessels for many years to come—to cast anchor at a considerable distance from land, and naturally the work of landing the passengers and cargo was an- exceedingly slow and tedious undertaking, not without considerable danger to those taking part in the operations. To the former residents of English towns and villages, the outlook, as the Victory approached her destination, was not inviting. Nothing could be seen but a few scattered buildings on the shore, practically allbeing edifices of quite c}iminutive dimensions. There were no trees except cabbage trees, whilst sheep were to be seen depasturing on the whole area on which Timaru now stands, then broken by innumerable gullies and largely covered" with tussocks and fern. The population of the borough—then, of course, not a borough—totalled a mere handful. Fifty-seven years, even in a sluggish community, "are always responsible for many changes; no town or place can remain in a state of inertia; but in Timaru the intervening years have been truly eventful, and Mr Holland has been privileged to witness the metamorphosis. He saw a wilderness transformed into a garden; he has seen a thriving and progressive town rise on the ground, where, in his younger days, he was wont to go duck shooting, where primitive nature held sway. He has seen the time when Timaru was the home of whaling fleets—when the great monsters of the deep were brought ashore to be reduced to oil. But it would take a volume to relate even in outline the multitudinous changes which have marked these

busy years. It is safe to prophesy that those who will live during the coming period, although they wili witness changes, will not see the vast transformation which the pioiieers have seen during the past sixty years. Mr Holland well remembers his first view of Timaru from the sea,' and his most lasting impression was the sight of a numbhr of sheep on the cliffs, that being the first occasion on which he had seen the sheep alive, only having previously come In touch with the species in the shape of mutton when placed on the table. Mr Holland remembers quite well the buildings which were in Timaru when he first landed. It was in the early sixties that the first oat and wheat crops were'sown in South Canterbury, and many.yeai'3 elapsed before the industry became an important one, the majority of settlers devoting themselves to the sheep industry. ■ -Mr Holland though 77 years of age, a considerable period of which time has been devoted to hard work, is still hale and hearty, and possesses that indomitable spirit which enabled the pioneers of this country to fight life’s battles in thq most effective way. THE “BALLAST WHARF.” Alongside the Marine Parade or North Mole, is a short wharf, encumbered With old anchors and dredge buckets. The dredge is sometimes tied up there. It is known as the “Ballast Wharf,” because in olden days many sailing ships came to Timaru “in ballast” to load wool or wheat. These ships came here from ports all over the. world. At first they discharged ballast in the outer roadstead. This was objected to as possibly resulting in a hump on the sea bottom on which some other vessel might bump, and ships were ordered to discharge ballast ashore. Some brought hard rubble stone, and were able to sell it to the Borough Council to be knapped into road metal. One ship from a French port was ballasted with flint pel-bios. These were bought and spread over parts of certain streets at once. Another brought big rubble of - gneiss

from Rio. This was perhaps too hard for breaking up. It was stacked ashore. Some of it had been used in walling the path beside the railway from the Viaduct, and beside Waimataitai Lagoon. Another vessel was ballasted with river sand at Durban, and when this was put ashore the heap was eagerly .turned over to get the shells among the sand, shells of great variety and beauty. The ballast wharf was built for ships to tie up to and put their ballast on and over the North Mole, raising and widening it. Previously some miscellaneous ballast had, been trucked away by the Railway Department and tipped over an embankment. This practice was stopped, as noxious weeds were found growing in the foreign rubbish. A few %veeds did not suggest a menace on the;North Mole, but a small snake turned out with ballast. (ne day did so, and the ballast .wharf was not used again for that purpose. Instead ships discharged their ballast into the hopper of ; tiie' dredge Taniwha, which dumped it into' the sea.

COUNCILLORS’ PICNIC. For some years after 1882, tiie year in which the Timaru waterworks were completed, it was customary for the Mayor of Timaru to invite Borough Councillors, Borough Officers, bankers, and solicitors to a picnic at the racekeeper’s hut, on the flat below the dam at Pareora, the ostensible purpose of which was to make an inspection oi the waterworks. The party were conveyed by coach-and-four, and lesser vehicles, a good store of materials, solid and liquid, being taken for a lunch on the ground. Anniversary Day, December 16, was the usual date. On arriving at the hut all walked to the dam, the Waterworks Inspector (Mr A. Beswiek) explaining the various points, and indicating where improvements were necessary, or possible. After returning to the hut, where t;:e racekeeper boiled the billy, an al fresco lunch was partaken of, and speeches were made congratulating the Borough on its magnificient water supply. The “dam” picnic, as it was called, afforded Councillors a close-up view of the water race, and the works attached thereto, and placed them in the position of knowing exactly ' what they were talking about when questions concerning the maintenance of the water supply came up for consideration at Council meetings. The first borough balance sheet contains reference to a “hard labour g'ang.” The hard labour referred to Avas prison labour.