COACHING IN THE EARLY DAYS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17039, 12 May 1923, Page 4 (Supplement)

COACHING IN THE EARLY DAYS.

THE DEPARTURE OF LEE COLE. THE OMNIBUS REPLACES THE STAGE COACH The “ Star ” has arranged with Mr E. M. Lovell-Smith to write a series of articles describing the coaching and carrying traffic in the early days of the provtnee. Mr Lovell-Smith’:; previous series on the history of coaching on the West Coast road aroused great interest, and the series now being printed will be found to be of equal fascination.

LEE COLE’S DEPARTURE. With the North and South Road lines off his hands Lee Cole turned his attention to the disposal of the remainder of tire service. Towards the end of 1869. Cassidy and Clarke had secured the mail service between Ho kitika and Greymoufch, and Cole took 1 the opportunity to dispose of his in- . terest to them on that road, which ' ran along the beach. The overland j route, between Christchurch ancl Ho- : kitika. he sold to Mitchell. Burton and j Co, who had put in for the mail con- ! tract. Failing to secure this, which , ha-d been given to Chris. Dalwood, the | lowest tenderer, they found themselves in a quandary. Air Samuel Lee, the third partner, withdrew from the firm on this road, leaving Atitcliell and Burton to carry on as well as they could. They decided to stick to it, however, and ran opposition to Dal wood. I heir superior organisation soon told, and they ran him eff the road, and carried the mails and passengers until 1874. On January 24, 1871. Mitchell and Howland between them took over the unsold coaches and plant at the cairiage factory, including the Booking Office and its belongings. A week later, A FAREWELL DINNER. Mr Cole was entertained at a farewell dinner at Tafctersalls Hotel. Mr Y\ il liam Montgomery being in the chair. Toasts were proposed and healths drunk and a presentation of a gold cigar case and matchbox was made to the guest of the evening. A day or i two later he had departed for the United States. His services to the j city, apart from the use of his coaches for charitable purposes, had consisted of his active work in the Special Fire Police, trophies given for the various sports, and free carriage m his coaches of native birds, etc., consigned to the Acclimatisation Society. He also had a collection of his own ! pets, which he kept at his house on the corner of Barbadoes and Cashel Streets, diagonally opposite the Provincial Hotel. Another benefaction is t i his credit. He adopted a boy. one Jonah Charles Wheeler, whose parents, dying within two or three years of each other, had left him destitute. Lee Cole cook quite a fanev to the lad. and tieated him as a son. Charlie, as he was called, was sent for his education co .the Scotch Academy, conducted by the Rev Charles Fraser. We cannot say that he profited much by his studies, but of this we are very sure, 1 lie was very popular with the boys. As i a matter of fact. Charlie was a spoilt ; hoy. Schooling not being to his liking Cole set him to work. and he was j grooming at the Cass, When Cobb and : Go. first drove on that road. Afterwards Wheeler drove Cobb and Co. s Malvern . Coach which ran daily from Springfield i to C-hristchurcli and back, a distance i of about ninety miles. After the railway was opened to Sheffield, Wheeler ! was presented with a purse of sovereigns. and. going south, drove between ; I’imaru and the Waitaki. He was at , Glennie’s stables Tirnaru, of late years, : and died about three years ago, after j a week’s illness. Lee Cole had arrived in Christchurch ■ some seven years previously, and his share of the .business was then worth £2OOO. At the time of leaving, he took away with him £30,000. and another £4500 was sent over to him afterwards by Mitchell and Llowland. so he had done well during the few years he was in Canterbury. His later years were spent in California, where he married and settled down. His wife, whom he is said to have met on a steamer going to the States, also had money, and they agreed to unite their fortunes. They purchased land at Oaklands, California, and cutting it up into sections, erected dwelling houses on a larger scale, even erecting their own factory for the manufacture of doors and windows. For a time they did well. Then the slum]) came, and when Mr Howland saw Mr Cole in 1892. he was a comparatively poor mu. He was then living with his adopted daughter at Oaklands. Chatting over the old times with Mr Howland. Lee Cole incidentally stated that his brother Charles wa-J in London (England), and he was also in poor circumstances. Lee having to send money over to him there. Mr Howland could not resist reminding him that his brother Charlie’s gift of £2OOO had made Lee’s fortune. His wife’s death had left him broken-hearted. He is said to have died at Syracuse. New York, in 1908. THE BOOKING OFFICE IT THE ’SEVENTIES. The decade following Lee Cole’s departure from New Zealand saw a great change in the coaching services of the town. An Australian visitor, who travelled during the Christmas holidays of 1871 from Christchurch to Dunedin, had a word of praise for the old English stage coach which carried him from Christchurch to the south, little dreaming that he was conveyed in Cobb and Co.’s light Jack coach, which had been used to convey Sir George Grey about the town in 1867. This coach at that ime was without the extra back seat, called the rumble, but in after years, on being put to run on the South Rond, a rumble was made for it and fastened on at the back. As the body of this coach was short and round, the addition of an extra seat would give it au English stags coaxh aDtea^

Omnibuses began to come in during the seventies, and running to the various suburbs, replaced the leatherspri nged vehicles. The improved roads had a good deal to -do with the change, and folk preferred to ride in a smoothrunning vehicle, which did not pitch ancl toss them about when ‘travelling. So the old throughbra-ce conveyances were relegated to back yards, or taken out into the country where the roads were rougher. On race days and special occasions these old venTcTes would re-appear once more, but their day was over for town travelling. In the early ’seventies, Cobb and Co. found itself split up as far as its services were concerned. Mr Wm. Sansom and Samuel Lee were running the northern coaches. Mitchell and Burton on the West Coast Road, and John Cramond on the South Road. Mr \V. 1U Mitchell had the hooking office and .*lr Howland the coach factory. In February, 1872. the Alraroa Road, via Little Rover arid Birdling’s Flat, to Christchurch, was completed, and . on the sixteenth of that month Mitchell and Bui-con put on the first coach to run on that road. Mr Burton driving in person. The following year Mitohell withdrew. leaving Mr Burton to carry on alone. ~ On Cassidy, Clarke and Co. securing i mail contract between Christchurch and Hokitika in 18/ 4. Mitchell and Burton sold out their plant to Cassidy, Clarke and Co. Cramond invaded the Akaroa Road, having the mails also, • the same year. Mr Burton transferred ; te the Pigeon Bay-route to Akaroa, , connecting with the steamer Halcyon from Lyttelton. Cobb’s booking office ; was a busy place about that time. Rail ! passengers hooked there, both north and south, and the Akaroa and West i Coast coaches, the Lincoln and South ! bridge coaches, the Papaiiui coach and ; leaving for their destinations. But it was not for long. The omnibuses. starting from various hotels, dropped the hint that its days were over. The West Coast coach made the Clarendon its starting point, and Holder’s Amberley coach passengers were booked at the railway station, and then the Akaroa coach started from the Square. So the old office closed up.

and Cobb and Co. in the town was a tiling of the past, by the ’eighties. MR W. R. MITCHELL. Air Mitchell was appointed a commissioner in connection with the Great Exhibition of 1882. and afterwards became interested in several local enterprises. He retired from active work in the ’nineties, and the last few years of liis life were spent at Avon side, v here he died in 1908. MR A. G. HOWLAND. Mr Howland continued coach building for many years after Lee Cole's departure. and one of the institutions that be kept going light up to within a few days of his death was the Fourth of July celebrations—which took the form of an annual dinner—with his compatriots He took a great interest in local industries, and was one of the founders of the Industrial Association. Hr. was a man of sterling character, which showed itself in the quality of the, workmanship displayed in his vehicle's. His buggies always fetched a better price than other makes, and lasted ionger. The writer of these notes on coaching is deeply indebted to the late Mr Howland for the information supplied on the early coaching days. NOTES. The writer’s attention has been called to the fact that the Riocarton Omnibus Line of Coaches, which had its headquarters at the "‘Horse and Jockey.” at Coach corner, was really commenced by Mr C . H. Lewis, afterwards in partnership with Mr Leach. Mr Lewis was induced to put a coach on the road between the Racecourse and the town, at Mr Joe Page’s suggestion, and ran the first coach, an American vehicle ci. iron springs, with a pair of horses On race days and special occasions a four-horse team was used. It was quite a smart affair, and paid well. Mr John Wood tried running opposition for a few days, and finding it- did r.ot pay. withrew, biding his time. Shortly afterwards. Mr Lewis entered into partnership with Mr •F. G. P. Leach. Then traded as Leach and Lewis, stablekeepers of the Cathedral Mews, which they built in Worcester Street. Finding he could not give the Riocarton service the attention it needed, Mr sold it to Mr Alfred Dunn, who passed it on to Mr John Wood. Mr Wood and his brother-in-law. Air Frank Doell, commenced running as Wood and Doell. On Air Doell’s withdrawal, Mr Wood kept the whole service in his own hands, until he sold out to the Tramway Company. Air Lewis lived at the “ Horse and Jockey.” which he rented from Mr John Lunn. the proprietor. The first guard was James Hodges, who afterwards became whipper-in to the hounds, cud is now a successful farmer. My attention has also been called to an error in last week’s isi/ue. Mr Nicholas Martin, who supervised the building of the first Post Office in Christchurch was not the Air Martin who was in partnership with Mr England. of England and Alart-in The old booking clerk, James Smith, who had previously had charge of the Lvttelton office and was transferred, after the tunnel was opened, to the "hristchnrch office, opened an office at Tottersall’s, but not doing too well, in n fit of depression he drowned himself : n the Avon near the bridge by Ward’s Brewery. Thus ended an interesting chapter in the historv of Christchurch.