PIONEERING TRANSPORT

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVII, Issue 21529, 16 December 1939, Page 40 (Supplement)

PIONEERING TRANSPORT

BULLOCK DRIVER’S MEMORIES

“I recognise that I am an oddity in this age of mechanisation —a bullock driver, at least that was my occupation in the early days—the days that have long departed." said a veteran of the road in recalling his experiences in the early days, when the rivers of the province were unbridged and when there w’ere no roads. Pursuing this line of thought, he said ’ that the intervening years had brought | about a revolution in the means of t rave l—the transition from the bullock dray to the modern motor car has been marvellous, and it is interesting to contemplate what might be the thoughts of those who “crossed the bourn” half a century or more ago were they able to gaze upon the present day conditions, with the bullock dray a mere memory, its place taken by the many mechanical inventions of a fastmoving world. But when the Colony was young the bullock dray played an important part, and to-day it is interesting to see how the progress of New . Zealand would have been hampered and delayed had the bullock team not played its part. Seventy or eighty years ago. not to go back further, there was no alterna- , five to this means of traction; the most i vivid imaginations of that time were quite unable even vaguely to visualise the successors of the bullock team; the people of that time could not for a I moment imagine that the time would come when this means of traction and locomotion would vanish from the t scene, giving place to others quite bei yond the ken of those then living. Large numbers who took up the occupation of bullock drivers served no apI prenticeship in their vocation; they I came from all grades of immigrants and adventurers, graduates of famous I colleges, members of the Bar. banks and other occupations. It is indlsputI able that some of the “drivers” were able to address their patient bovines in Greek and Latin. They went to the i classics for appropriate language to hurl at their refractory charges, but whether these abjurations proved more or less effective than vulgar AngloSaxon words cannot be stated definitely. In pre-railway days horses were at a premium; their numbers were limited, and the colonists had no option but to use bullocks. The part these docile animals played in those far away times must not be undervalued; they were indispensable. Sometimes the total live stock of a farmer consisted of a horse and a bullock and maybe a few sheep. On some occasions the strange spectacle could be seen in various parts of the Province of a farmer engaged in ploughing, his team consisting of a horse and bullock! At that time the average colonist thought there was nothing unorthodox in such a combination

A Pioneer Remembers In an interview one of the now vanishing indispensables in the days when the province was young, Mr George Bentley, a Timaruvian of many years standing, remarked that it is now more than three-quarters of a century since he arived in New Zealand. He was then but a lad of six or seven years. Few of the immigrants of these early days had a clear conception of the land to which they were journeying; they knew it was in the far south —that it was inhabited by a warlike native race, whose proclivity for fighting was well known. The country was in its virgin state; it was necessary that the settleis should begin at the beginning and build up a nation on slender foundations as far as advancement was concerned. They found the islands very largely in their primitive condition. But they were undismayed; they set about their task courageously and unafraid, confident that their labours would in the end be rewarded. Continuing, the former bullock driver became reminiscent; he recalled his first acquaintance with the province, he spoke of South Canterbury as he saw it in 1863. “Avenues of employment were few; there was no picking and choosing; every man was under the obligation of accepting whatever offered. The wages current were, to say the least, on the light side; the greatest frugality was obligatory; the hours 1 were long and trying. But there was little grumbling; difficult tasks at poor | pay were cheerfully accepted, and visions of future independence spurred i all on to increased endeavour. Generally speaking, the people of that faraway time were happy; they may have entertained visions, but they soughi no adventitious aids; each was prepared to

paddle his own canoe. It was an age of optimism, high hopefulness inspiring workers in all walks of life. Early Timaru Mr Bentley, in the course of the I interview, said that with his parents he reached New Zealand in 1863. His first recollections of Timaru are now naturally somewhat dulled with the passing of the years, and the many panoramic events during the long interval. The ship cast anchor some three miles off shore, the coast presenting a bare and anything but attractive appearance. There were no buildings or inhabitants visible The abundance of cabbage trees in the immediate hinterland were accepted as an indication that the country was wooded, but this illusion was quickly dissipated on closer examination with the country lying around the present town of Timaru. Everywhere cabbage trees were found growing in rich profusion. making locomotion anything but easy. It was a sad disillusionment Io find that the new country was largely destitute of anything in the shape of timber of any kind, and it was necessary to travel considerable distances in order to secure the necessary supplies for household purposes. : (lie distrlei being also destitute of coalI mining areas, and thus settlement he- | gan under a serious disadvantage. | As was the case then and for many I years afterwards, tlie landing was efI fected by whale-boats to which th' immigrants were transferred several miles out at sea. Although some of the new arrivals had already visions of constructing a harbour and other shipping facilities, the conception was largely an imaginary one. Mr Bentley continued: “When I arrived the population of what is now known as Timaru was small, a mere handful. Buildings in the sense in which we regard them to-day were

ncn-existent; what buildings there were were just shacks. On landing, the immigrants were under the necessity of having recourse to tents, and what were known later as wharcs. In the construction of many •buildings’ sods, cob and thatch constituted the chief and in «many cases the only materials. O. course, there were nothing in the shape of streets —these came long afterwards. There was nothing at this period and for many years afterwards in the shape of Town Planning. The area ' now embraced in the Borough of ; Timaru consisted lor the most part of bogs, marshes and gullies, furze-cov- . ered ridges, without the smallest sug- • gestion of order or regulation; as a matter of fact, the present centre of Timaru consisted principally of the appurtenances of a well-equipped sheep station owned by Messrs Rhodes BroI thers. whose part in subduing the wilderness of South Canterbury and bringing it into remunerative occupaj tion must not be forgotten when we cast our minds back to those who played leading parts in the harnessing of unoccupied spaces and bringing j them into fruitful occupation. What a transformation from that /far-away time to 1939! In the conditions then obtaining locomotion was most difficult; the sole means of travel was either on horseback or in the bullock dray! Other wheeled vehicles were practically unknown.” When the future bullock driver arrived in South Canterbun- there were practically no educational facilities. Here again the ■ changes have be°n great. In respect of amenities in this direction the immigrants drew a blank. The coming of the telegraph and th' railway was still in the distance, largely undreamed of. Mr Bentley was one of the first pupils of what is now known as the Main School, but which during the interval Iras changed designation on several occasions. HLs school career, like that of the great majority cf the youth of the age. was short; it wa; necessary that he should go out into the world and bear his full share of “the white man’s burden.” Unmurmuringly he took up his task, and for many years played his varied part in many directions. In the earl/ days of the Dominion the youth of the country went to w’ork early. At the age of 14J years. Mr Bentley evolved into a bullock driver, his first labour being in the Waimate bush, hauling out logs, in the employment of the well-known and enterprising operator. Mr James Bruce. Waimate was then the centre of extensive bush-felling and sawmilling operations, and continued isc for many years, but a destructive fire in the ’seventies caused immense damage, and virtually extinguished the timber business in that part of the province. Later Mr Bentley in the same capacity transferred his activities to Peel Forest, a centre of considerable bush felling operations, and still later engaged in carting operations, with bullock and horse teams, in the Mackenzie Country and on the northern and souther roads. Telegraph Poles Go Up One of the major undertakings in the early days was the erection of the el?ctric telegraph line overland through the length of the South Lsland. certainly a formidable undertaking under the conditions that then obtained. The route was through unsurveyed country, entirel}’ roadless, with the rivers unbridged and the whole countryside in a primeval state. The poles were obtained from the sparse bush areas to be found in Canterbury; they were erected untrimmed. The work of conveying the poles from the forest lands to the situation for erection anything but an easy task, and required both resourcefulness and enterprise on the part of those engaged in the operation. In this work Mr Bentley was engaged for a considerable time. Pigs at Large Mr Bentley has vivid recollections of the time when wild pigs roamed in their numbers in Timaru, coming on occasion to the precincts of the harbour, and provided an acceptable addition to the menu of the ordinary household. Then. too. there was an al undance of native game; paradlst ducks and other varieties were to b® seen in all directions in their numbers, and the task of capturing them was anything but difficult. At that time the birds did not seem to have acquired the fear of firearms which has marked them since the gunman has been abroad, and among the early settlers duck under various names was popular in the settler's home. But game was not confined to ducks; the marshes and ponds around Timaru provided a horn? for many varieties of birds. The common Maori hen or weka, was to be found everywhere, as were also wood pigeons. But with the increase of settlement. the birds gradually dwindled in numbers; the ducks sought refuge further back; the wekas vanished from the land; wood pigeons are to be found no longer on the plains, and other birds have been materially reduced in numbers.