MASTERTON FISH PONDS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 22 September 1913, Page 3

MASTERTON FISH PONDS.

THE OPENING CEREMONY. SOME INTERESTING SPEECHES. The new fish hatcheries at Masterton, a description of which appeared in these columns some weeks ago, wer® officially opened on Saturday last by His Worship the Mayor (Mr J. M. Coradine). Among those present were Messrs L. H. Tripp (chairman}, L. H. B. Wilson, A. C. Crawford, L. G. Reid, S.M., awd W. H. Beetham (of the Council of the Wellington Acclimatisation Society \ Mr Horace Griffiths (Eketahwna), Cr, (3. W. Sellar, and a number of ladies.

Mr L. H. Tripp, in an interesting speech, referred to the history of acclimatisation matters in the Wellington province. He stated that in 1874 Messrs W. H.. Beetham and A. J. Rutherford 1 purchased fifty trout from the Canterbury Society and liberated them in, the Waipoua river. In 1876 Messrs Beetham Bros, obtained, through the late Rev. J. C. Andrew, about 2000 trout ova wliicf. were hatched out at Brancepeth and liberated in the Wairwiwru and Kaiwhata streams. Later, the Rev. J. C. Andrew, Mr Henry Jackson, Mr Pharazyn, and Messrs Beetham turned out trout in different rivers. In July 1882, the Wairarapa Acclimatisation Society was formed, hatching houses were erected at Masterton, and' 10,000 brown trout ova were obtained from Canterbury and successfully hatch out and liberate!, hi 1883, 15,000 ova were obtained from' Otago. After liberating 8700 fish, the remainder were stolen at night, and the thief was never traced. In 1884 the Wellington and Wairarapa Societies amalgamated, and thirteen acres was leased for twenty-one years. Several holding ponds were made and the hatchery enlarged, and since that date the Society has continued its work in colieetin gova, hatching and turning out the fry and yearlings Tii the Wellington district. The society had also sold a considerable number of fry to Hawke's Bay and other societies. Since 1882, twenty million fry had been sent away from Masterton. The lease; of the old hatchery and fish ponds expired in 1905, and was ren&wed until June of this year. As the Jajid was becoming too dear, they had to look fqr another site! They were lucky in being able to secure the services of Mr L. F. Ayson, Inspector of Fisheries, to assist them, and after visiting various suggested' sites he selected the present site, of which they had a lease for twenty-one years. The cost of the hatchery, house, dam, etc;, was £1285 6s 7d, and they still had to make the holding ponds, so that, when everything was completed, they would have to find some £I6OO. The work had been carried out very faithfully by all those who had been engaged in the erection of the house and hatchery, and th&-ihanks of the society were due to Mepsrs L. F. Ayson, Mr G. D. Ayson (the architect), Messrs F. King and Son (tjije contractors), and! Mr Miller, the curator, for his supervision and assistance. Mr Tripp proceeded to say that the people of the Wellington district owed a great deal to the residents of Masterton and the Wairarapa for the time and money they had spent in introducing trout to the streams. I Among the most prominent in this work were Messrs W. H. Beetham and A. J. Rutherford, and he was pleased to say that tJies had Mr Beetham with them that day. The first chairman of the Wairarapa Society was Sir Walter Buchanan. The first secretary was Mr W. H. Beetham. Since he (Mr Tripp) had 1 been chairman of the society, ho was sorry to say that two gent loin on in the district who had done a great deal for. acclimatisation matters had passed away. He referred to Messrs Duncan McGregor and IT. H, Holmes. 'Both of these .gentlemen, with Messrs Beetham and Rutherford. had taken the trouble to go all the way to Wellington to attend tho ; meetings. Among other enthusiastic, workers were Messrs R. and W. Barton, and Mr L. G. Reid, S3f.. who had been treasurer of the society for twenty, years. Mr Tripp thanked the people of the district for the keen interest they had always taken in the work of the society. He pointed out that they could take a practical interest by procuring fishing license. In order to build the new hnf-cheries, the members of the council had made themselves liable for an overdraft at the bank. He mentioned, however, with a degree of pleasure, that one enthusiast Ixad made a gift of £4OO towards the cost of erecting the hatchery. (Applause,) Mr W. H. Beetham stated that it was quite true that he had taken a keen interest in acclimatisation matters. The work had', however, been a labour of love. In the early days they had experienced some difficulty in stocking their streams, but when Mr L. F. Ayson came to their assistance, the work had become a pleasure. Mr Ayson had taken his coat off and had worked most energetically. Fish from Masterton had been sent to Australia, Fiji and other parts. Mr A. J. Rutherford had been the "Buckland" of acclimatisation in the district. They could all learn much from the work of Buckland', who was, indeed, a wonderful man. It was gratifying to know that the trout had done so well in the district. They had given employment and pleasure to a great number of people. He hoped that this pleasure would be continued to future generations. (Applause.) Mr L. G. Reid, S.M., stated that Mr Beetham, in his modesty, had not taken credit to himself for the great work he had done in the cause of acclimatisation. Mr Reid. stated' that in the early days Mr Beetham had canvassed the district for subscriptions. The late Mr Travels and Mr Denton had also done great work. The latter had hatched trout in his own- garden, and these were liberated in the Hutt river. Mr Reid referred to the steps that had been taken to amalgamate the Wellington and' Wairarapa societies, Wellington had a sum of £4OO in hand from shooting licenses, and Wairarapa had the fish

pontjs. The late Captain Humphries was at that time chairman of the Wellington Society (Mr Beetham: A great fisherman _ lie was I) He (Mr Reid) had been looked upon as a brake to the new society when appeals were made from tho Wairarapa for funde. (Mr Beetham: A very gener«us brake, lam yuro!) Messrs Beetham and Rutherford had, in reality, been the teacher* of Mr Ayson (Mr Beetham: A very able scholar.) They had practically taught him his work, aiul now lie could teach them. Mr Keid' .stated that it'was a pleasure to hun to have been of assistance in stocking the rivers of the district. It had been a hope of himself and others to so stock the streams that it would be possible to issue foiling licenses at 2s (3d each. This, however, had proved to be impracticable. in conclusion, Mr Reid expressed the hope that the new ponds would prove as successful as the old. (.Applause.) His Worship the Mayor was then called upon to declare the ponds open. ' in doing so, Mr Combine expressed pleasure, on behalf of the citizens, that the hatcheries had been retained 'o tin district. He was sorry that there was not a larger attendance of the public at the function that day. Mr Coradine stated that Master ton had been famous for its iish hatcheries, which had been a source of attraction to the town. When Mr Ayson was appointed to look for a Jte, Mastertonians were fearful lest the ponds should be removed. However, they felt sure they would have good l claims. The fact that the hatcheries were being retained to Masterton was evidence that this was the best part of the district for the institution. Masterton was proud of the hatcheries, and it was proud of the gentlemen who had secured and retained them for the district. He had' pleasure in declaring the hatcheries opened, and he hoped' they would prove a great success. (Applause.) A vote of thanks was passed to the Mayor for being present, and the company then inspected the grounds and hatcheries.