Old Identities and incidents.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXXXVII, Issue 11788, 13 November 1902, Page 7

Old Identities and incidents.

BY "OLD SETTLER."

I munitioned in & recent article on these subjects that much had recently been published which ffiw- incoiTect. I will here point out iaie ur two such cases that seem to me very wide of the mark.

Before doing so, however, it is but right th;-* I .vhould correct a blunder in my own statement, which gave the tonnage of that important whip, the London, as 500, instead of 750, which, I think, would be found correct if looked into. Also, there w<us a printer's error—the only one I nol--ticed, by the way —which made Mr. W. K. Hulke a "buyer," instead of a '"breeder," of Jersey caittle. Befoi'e leaving that article I may mention a fact which seems to have bsen omitted by late writers. It is this. Sir Joseph Ward, in bis address at the opening of the new post office, mentioned that Mr. Charles Dcs Voeux had been the third postmaster here, as euccessdr to Mr. Charles Lett. Mr. Lett came to Wellington in the Harrington, in 1841, and came on to Wanganui in its earliest di\g». He arranged all matters connected with the first race meeting held in Wellington, being a flat race amateur rider both in England and here in the early days. It was of Mr. Dcs Voeux, however, that I was about to spciak. In 1855, and in December of that year, Mr. Dcs Voeux brought his wife to: Wanganui for a visit, riding down the coast from Taranaki. They were the guests of Mr. Adams, the commissariat officer in charge of that department here then. This was the year of the preat earthquakes, and the month. Mr. Adams lived, in a neat cottage just where the Bank of New South Wales now stands. Mrs. Dcs Voeux was standing near the fireplace when the shock came, and the chimney fell on her, causing injuries from which the unfortunate lady never fully recovered. The difficulty in writing on these bygone subjects is that one thing leads into another in such a way that one ■hardly knows where to stop, or how far public interest runs, without encroaching- upon purely private matters. Mr*. Dcs Voeux was the only person seriously injured here' during those great shocks, compared with Avhich the heaviest since experienced have been as mere reminders of -what miight happen again. Mrs. Dcs Voeux had not long been married. She was the elder daughter of Mr. Richardson, who came to Taranaki from India, about the year 1850. Mr. Richardfon bought G^enavcm farm from Mr. Edwin Davey, younger brother to Mr. Charles Davey, now of the Wangaehu. Captain William King, who wais shot by the Maoris in the Taranaki war, had married the younger Miss Richardson. Captain W. King was cousin, on his mother's side, to Mr. Outfield, the weill known Bank manager of Wanganui. That earthquake struck us on a pitch dark night, in December I think, about 9 o'clock. The rain was nouring down, as in the tropics, and the heat was oppressive. All the chimneys in Wanganui were shaken to the ground, and the walls of the only two brick buildings we then possessed shared much the same fate. Both thepe buildings were what is called brick noggin g, or bricks built into a frame of -scantling, erected as if for boarding. It was said that the wooden uprights gave and sprang, like bows, under the strain, shooting the rigid bricks out from between them. They bore thiisi appearance after the shock. One of these buildings was Major Durie's, at Glen Durie, the other was the old Survey Office, whirh stood on the corner section, or one section up from the comer, of Taupo Quay and Witson street, on the sea side of Wilson street, and nearly opposite the old Commercial Hotel, kept at, that time either by Mr. Gerse, or by Mr. G. Roberts —I have forgotten which— but the mess of broken bottles, gi'asses, liquor, andl sundries in that bar I have not forgotten, or the fallen chimneys and general woe begone aspect the whole establishment presented the morning after the .shock, which was still shaking, and continued to shake for a fortnight or so— that is, it is doubtful if the earth wasi ever quite still ~and sharper shocks came at intervals all the time.

Mr. David Porter occupied the Survey Office at. that time as Government surveyor, unless my memory is playing^ me tricks. Mr. Porter was here for many years, and waM much liked. —c was elected, captain of one oif the first Volunteer companies enrolled here in 1860, and was for some time in command of Stewart's redoubt, near Mr. Bryce's. Mr. Porter, soon after he came to Wanganui, mairied a daughter of Mr. Thomas Powell, and on the same day and place—Christ Church —the Rev. C. H. S. Nicholls united Mr. Thomas Powell to Captain Porter's sister, Mr. Porter thus becoming in one morning brother-in-law and son-in-law to Mr. Powell.

I have previously spoken of the mistakes made by recent writers in matters connected with oui" early history and early settlers. When such mistakes are made by those whose knowledge must be imperfect, from their known surroundings in those faroff days, they may pass unchallenged for, locally at ail events, the writers are generally known. When a. man like Mr. H. 0. Field makes mistakes, however, and still more when those mistakes are, in some sort, connected with, his profession, the ease is different, for many are gathering up records of the early days for_ future use, and seize eagerly upon facts, sw-called, s.tated by professional men Jlike Mr. Field. In a.recent discussion in this journal between Messrs. H. 0. Field and John Morgan on Industrial School matters, both parties, as was.1 natural on such a subject, branched off inta matters more or less wide of the issue under discussion. Amongst other things, the question of the -watersupply fi;o.n} Virginia Lake to Mr. Goulby's mill wan" discussed. I am writing from memory, but one"*~of Mr. Field's statements on the subject was such that I am not likely to forget or misunderstand its substance, though I cannot pretend to quote the exact word's-. It was this: That when Mr. Park, the Government engineer, at that tiime, laid off the present line of road past the lake he had the drain cut from the lake over the brow of the hill to lower the water in the lake and keep it below the road level. I write_ with every feeling of courtesy and friendship for Mr. Field, but I tnink the whole of the 'above is a mistake on his part. Mr. Robert Park was never Government engineer here or anywhere else in the colony. He was a surveyor, pure and simple, I believe. He was one of the earliest settlers in the colony. He came oiut in the Cuba, under engagement to the company as a surveyor. The Cuba was the second ship of the fleet which the New Zealand Company were then despatching to these islands. She was not an emigrant, but a survey ship. She brought Captain Smith, the head surveyor, and otihers. She also brought a cargo of necessary stores. She arrived in Wellington on June 3, 1840. The Aurora—the first emigrant ship—arived on January 27, 1840. Mr. Park's first, or one of his first, undertakings was to survey the harbours and coasts to the south of Wellington, and some on the Middle Island^ When the outcry arose for the land, which the settlers had paid for in Engfiand, but could not get on -arrival, Colonel Wakefield sent tie first exploring party up the coast to

jfaranaki, to repoit upon the nature of the roil and general p: aspects in those parts. This party was under Mr. Robert Park's control. Major He».phy, V.C., accompanied him, and a string of white • and Maoris to carry the loads. Mr. Park was a member of the old Wakefield Club,- of Wellington, the entrance fee to which was 25 guineas. No, Mr. Park never, to my knowledge, acted as road engineer here, and he had left Wanganui a year or more before the north road past. V;;ginia Lake was surveyed. Mr. Anderson, C.E., was the man who engineered that road, or I am much mistaken, but Mr. Anderson's health failed soon after, aad he was succeeded by Mr. Roy, who carried on the work to the top of the hill past the lake. It is possible that Mr. Roy precesdfedl Mr. Anderson, but Ido not think so. They both put up at the Rutland Hotel. I knew them both very well. Mi. Hogg, afterwards Provincial Government gngiiuer here', was the foreman of works when that road was formed through the deep swamp, up St. John's Hill and past the lake. Mr. Armstrong, father of Mr. Walter Armstrong, was ganger of the road party or parties. Mr. Armstrong then lived* in a cottage at the foot of St. John's Hill, on the left side a? you come to tcf\vn. The drain, whii-ch had be^n cut to drain the road., bounded his garden. It was crossed on a few planks, which >-eivect for a bridge, and the ducks sAvam in the drain and under tlia bridge all the year round. The young raupo shot, up strongly in the fine crops of onion® which Mr. Armstrong ,grew. His house was just about where the railway now runs. Mr. David Poittr, better known afterwards as Captain Porter. wa« the Government surveyor here when that road was made, and he had Mr. Edward Daniel, eldest son of Captain Daniel, of Rangitikei, as his. assistant, or cadet, at that time.

I meant to sHay a few word's? about that drain from _the 'lake, but think this paper has already grown to a length that may test the patience of your readers, and if I enter upon a new subject here goodness knows where it may branch off to, or what it may embrace before it is finished—thea-e----fore, it will be better to Heave this matter for another isf^ue. unless your readers are tired of my wandering pen.