OUR ILLUSTRATIONS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXIII, Issue XVIII, 29 October 1904, Page 22

OUR ILLUSTRATIONS.

THE GISBORNE TECHNIC AL SCHOOL. Gisborne now 6oar*s a very complete little technical school, which was opened early in September last. The building was erected aiid equipped by the Hoard'' of Governors of the Gisborne High School at a cost of some £2OOO, half* of which -sum was provided t v the Education Department. The accminvodation provided is extensive, and ample, for all the present needs of tiie town. Upstairs there; are twv fine classrooms.. On the ground floor ie-aii art. room, a combined physical and chemical laboratory, and a cookery room. In • detached building provision has been made for classes in wood

PROCESSION OF KNIGHT TEMPLARS AT SAN FRANCISCO. There recently took place in San Francisco a magnificent procession of Knights Templars in connection with the triennial conclave of that organisation. The Knights mustered seven thousand strong, anil marched through decorated streets amid the a|>plnuse >t vast crowds. Our photographs, which are by Troyer, showed the procession passing through Van Ness Avenue, a fine thoroughfare, very popular as a place of residence with the wealthy classes. The day was gloriously fine, and the procession was one of the finest sights seen in San Francisco. The Templars are a -Masonic order, and their eommanderies or lodges are scattered all over the. United States. There are some 130,000 “Knights” in the States. The proceedings at 'Frisco lasted over several days, and besides business meetings included all sorts of festivities, such a.s balls, banquets, receptions, and dri'l competitions between the various com■manderies. A feature of the procession was the reception of Lord Euston, wiio represented King Edward VII., and the 2700 Knights Templar in Great Britain. A FIRM WHICH IS PROSPERING. MESSRS. ENTRICAN & CO. AND THEIR NEW PREMISES. Just twenty-five years r-go, when the ship Ben Nevis dropped anchor in the Auckland Harbour, there were amongst the many passengers two youths destined to bc.’.ld up two of the largest and most prosperous businesses in this city. The one was Mr. Smith, of tiie well-known Queen-street firm of diapers, etc., the other was Mr. A. J. Entrican, the founder and head of the firm of Entriean & Co., possessors of one of the largest wholesale grocery, confectionery, produce businesses south of the line, and to which is added that of general importers and manufacturers’ agent. Mr. A. ,T. Entrican served liis time to the trade in Londonderry, and left for New Zealand on the completion of his apprenticeship. Entering the retail trade on arrival here, Mr. Entriean gained that solid, practical know bulge of the grocery- and confectionery business which has been so great a factor in building up the present prosperous wholesale concern. Every detail, was mastered, nothing too small to take note of or to devote pains to. In 1885 lie enlarged his experience by a couple of years’ “travelling.” thus gaining further knowledge and experience for the future, and in 1887 he started business on his own account In Tyrone buildings, where until this year the business continued to be conducted. From the. first it flourished, but it was after the trip which Air. Entrican made Home in 1892 that the most notable advances were -made. On that occasion he made arrangements for general importing, and for acting as a New Zealand agent for large Home manufacturers; and in the following year was joined by Mr. J. C. Entrican who bad served his time with one of the largest produce houses in Liverpool, whic.i is, of course, the most important produce receiving ami distributing city in the world. Aided with such valuable shipport, the firm still further prospered tillin lhe past tea or eleven years the turnover increased five-fold. The enormous expansion of the business had for some lime rendered tiie Tyrone premises utterly inadequate, ami the site of the present premises was therefore acquired, and building commenced just about a y.ear since, while in April of this year the business was floated into a limited liability company, with a capital of £40,000, on which an interim dividend of six per eent. on preference shares has already been declared. To those who know nothing of the trade machinery by which they arc supplied with the things they cat, drink or use every day, a glance over the splendid new premises of the firm in Customs street will be of interest. With the assistance of pictures on pages 40 and 41 the writer will act as guide to the gender. The building, you will observe then, stands on one of the most excellent corner sections in what is rapidly becoming the most imposing street in Auckland, and is certainly as liandsom*

an architectural erection as any of th« really magnificent aeries of warehouses which have gone up during the past felt years. It has an imposing frontage of 00ft to Customs street, and a depth of 100 ft on Gore street, and is five stories high, exclusive of basement. Messrs. Mitchell and Watt were th* architects, and Mr. \V. E. Hutchinson the contractor, and the cost of the building complete and fitted will not fail short of £lO.OOO. Enter; iug by one of the two handsome main doors to Custom street, we find ourselves in a brilliantly-lighted and .beautifullydecorated ground fi»<*r ; office and show loom, which for an air of spaciousness, convenience and general (fleet is not. to the writer’s knowledge, excelled or equalled in the colony;

• The eye is immediately caught by the handsome counter fronting the doors, and the attractive display of comestibles which rise tier upon tier behind it. Jars, bottles, tins —all with gaily-coloured anil often most artistic labels, are attractively arranged in endless profusion. Biscuit show ,eases, samples of fruits, .cordials, sauces, pickles, everything that is either a necessity or a luxury in the grocery business of the highest class, are to be seen here, and high above all, seated in most elegant pose on a barrel, sits a. most atraetive young lady, the presiding goddess of all the good tilings below. She is life-size, excessively pretty, and — since the truth must out —she is made of brown paper, artfull; coloured, and advertises Heinz's pickling vinegar. It is a most: excellent idea. At the immediate left of the entrance- is the ledgerkeeper’s room, and next to ‘.hat Mr J. A. Entrican’s private room. From here, by means of a house telephone and telephone extension, he can talk to any head of department, or any business firm or person on the telephone exchange. Past this office are the general offices, Mr J. C. Entrican’s private room, ami the Customs department, with one of the two telephone rooms used by the firm. To the right of the and stretching right round two sides of the floor, is the confectionery and sweet department. Fry’s chocolates in endless variety occupy tier upon tier, and the delicious confections of other worldfamous firms are arranged in a profusion which would paralyse tiie imagination of any youngster to whom such unheard of desirabilities might be shown. From this floor we mount to (he second where we find the patent medicine and fancy department, which latter includes kits, mats, stationery, brushware; and scores of other things too numerous to mention. We then visit the packing room which has the appearance of another sliow-rooni, so vast is the variety of bottles, packages, tins, etc., etc., on every hand. Here all orders are sent to be packed and it is astonishing how quickly and expeditiously the work is carried on. As we mount to further floors wc see all the things we have seen below* iii bulk. Vast cases of biscuits, stacks of canned fruits, fish, salt herrings, bales of brown pa,-er. blocks of boxes of blacking, until om- wonders how' it' can all be got rid of. Up still further, we find enormous cases and crates of fruit jars for the coming season —these just being unpacked, by the way—and here, too. are the separators and other dairy requisites which the firm also supply. Provision has been made also for a tea blending and packing business on a large scale, and machinery is now on the way. Meanwhile, chests of tea ami attractive-tins await its arrival. High up here, too, is a vermin-proof room for such produce as has a special ai traction for rats. Not even the Pied Piper’s rats could enter here. Descending, at lust, wo visit the basement, where the butter and cheese business are dealt with, Here is millet! and put up in boxes for export the now famous NOEL (Pegistered) brand'-: of butter, which is largely exported both to Europe and the Islands. Last of all, wc look through the receiving and delivery department, where goods are being despatched on one side and taken in on the oilier with incredible celerity. It is a marvel of organisation, ami from basement to top storey one cannot but. see how excellent is tiie esprit de cWfps and how thoroughly the firm has the goodwill and interest of every employee (who number 33), from the lads upward®. Five travellers are now employed, and business is increasing daily, so a prosperous future seems assured to a firm which has won its way to the top-of the ladder, in such quick time and by such excellent methods.

THKULGM THE NUtttTLEItN WAIROA. AN UN'EXt’I.OITED TOURIST Dimmer. -• (By a Visitor.) 'New Zeahtntlers, even those who reside in Auckland, are grossly ignorant of the country • north of the provincial centre, and of no part of it is their ignorance more dismally appalling than of the Northern Wairoa. 1 make the assertion with premeditation, and in no jocular spirit. A majority of people will tell you that in any ease the-North-crn Wairoa is not worth knowing, and that ignorance in this case does not carry with it any penalty. In this they are wrong, and if there is no legal retribution for lack of knowledge of the country in whieh we live, that is because our legislation is not. sufficiently socialistic. So milch for preamble.

A number of town dwellers were given the opportunity last week of repairing what in most eases was a lifelong ignorance of the Wairoa. The Northern I nion Steamboat Company were the hosts of some fifty business men for three days, the occasion being the first trip of their new steamer, the Awaroa. A special train conveyed the visitors to Mount Bex wharf, on the hanks of the muddy Kaipara River, where the Awaroa was moored. To anyone who had endured the agonising tortures of the two and three-quarter hour trains that dawdle sluggishly over tlie thirty-eight miles between Auckland and llelensville, that train was unalloyed bliss. After passing Avondale it struck a gait of thirty miles an hour, and maintained it for the rest of the journey, despite, corkscrew curves •Ud bad grades. The unusual sight of ah engine, two carriages and a van bolting across the landscape threw many of the •harmless settlers along the line into a state of unwonted perturbation: one or two'horses bolted frantically-, but up to the present I have not heard of anv fatalities. Of the boat that was lying alongside the pier when that exhausted engine was finally pulled up at Mount Rex, I need not say much here. As far as the knowledge of the writer extends, however, it is quite the finest boat of its class that he has seen. The Awaroa’s accommodation is admirable, her speed quite nnusnal for a steamer of the size, nnd in every particular she is feeautifully designed and finished. The price. I have heard it. said, was £15,000, and although it i.s a good round sum. I feel confident that the Couinany will find •that they have full value.

■There is no necessity to enlarge on the more serious portions of the'trip, and did such a call exist. I should. T fear, ignore it. On the way down to the Heads, the proprietary entertained the visitors at a banquet in the saloon—an excellent banquet and the speeches not too long or too prosy. A little amusement. was caused by the proprietors of the two papers of the-Wairoa district in responding to the toast of ‘The Press.” The first was responsible for a rather amusing panegyric on the merits of his publication, winding up with’ a general invitation to inspect his up-to-date plant. No doubt- it was all very true, and the lavish praise was deserved, but the «peech_ could hardly be expeyted to appeal to the proprietor of the rival newspaper. This was plainly evident when, at the earliest opportunity, that gentleman rose and eulogised the lengthy services' of his paper in the interests of the district. An invitation to step i’i and inspect his up-to-date works inevitably followed, so the company were left with two invitations io Took over the machinery that drives a country newspaper and pry into the den where its awesome secrets are stored.

During the banquet the Awaror had besn circling round for an hour and ahalf, so as not to cross the northern shore beam on to the open heads until tlie meal was well settled. It would have been an inexplicable proceeding to anyone on the shore? but there are few people'to be spectators to any scene on this barren southern hank of the Kaipara. Possibly the ghosts of the three hundred Maoris, who tradition says were buried in the tremendous collapse of earth of which abundant evidence is to be seen Io this day, peered from the shore and speculated on the vagaries of the apparently purposeless course of the pakeha canoe with its trail of smoke, and absence of padillcrs. When the Heads, were opened e.ut it W found that there was not sufficient

ee» to frighten the most indifferent sailor. Once across the entrance to the harbour the Awaroa passed through a fleet of seven sailing boats, all limber laden ami waiting a favourable wind tor making the passage of the bar. As regards the lower portion of the Wairoa. no one could protend that it possesses any shadow of claim to beauty. For some miles the steamer skirled almost within a biscuit's throw of the western bank. Barren gum lands, with their characteristic short brown scrub, stretched away from the bold elitis—scarred by a succession of tremendous slips of yellow clay—in hills and hollows to the skyline. The water afforded no relief to the eye from the monotony of the scene. Its dirty yellowybrown colour was no more pleasing ihai tlie arid desolateness of the vast gumfields. And just here one may say

that this dirty coloured water continues throughout the course of the river, and detracts in no-small'measure from the attractiveness of many a beautiful bend or pleasing glimpse of bush-claii hill in its upper reaches. The amount, of solid matter' in suspension in the water must be a it enormous tax on the huge drainage area of this river. As the steamer rapidly passed up en the Hood tide, the eastern bank appeared to steadily- draw in and the huge estuary narrowed to the more usual proportions of a New Zealand river. The scenery also changed in character. Great river fiats appeared on the eastern bank, partially cleared for the most part, but still plentifully sprinkled with kahikatea and the unsightly stumps that remain for years an unpleasant reminder of the impossibility- of making an entirely clean sweep of the bush. A wayin tlie background- the hills rising from the fiats were for the most part bushdad to their summits, and even on the western shore the bleakness of the gum lands was occasionally broken by tha deep green of the native bush. A few of the miserable huts of the gumdiggers were almost the first signs of habitation to strike the eye since passing into the. river. In a photograph a gumdigger s habitation may- take on a semblance of the picturesque, but to the eye its sordid dreariness is too obvious to allow of any- other feeling. The miserable patch work of old tin. bags, and scraps of timber, of which all these huts are indifferently composed, add rather than detract from the desolate character of the landscape into which they- are pitched, either in groups or singly. The. gumdigger's abode is as lacking in beauty- as anv creation of tinman hands, and if one may judge superficially by appearances, the absence of the aesthetic finds no compensation in added comfort. The huts may or may- not be clean—more often cleanliness is a negative quality- or quantity- but at tlie best they are not any more sybaritic in appointments or comfort than their exteriors would lead one to suppose. ’ Farther up still, and the first signs of the active' prosecution of timber milling were seen in the White Pine Company's mill, where Hie s.s. Brisbane was preparing to take in some six hundred thousand feet of timber for the Australian market, a consignment whieh will for the most part find its way to Rondon in the course of a very- few months in the form of butter boxes. Once past the famous rich lands of the Tokatoka swamp, and the bustling activity of the timber milling area was entered —that stretch which in its appearance of strenuous life is so widely from the usual mental picture of the Northern Wairoa. Kopuru, Aoroa, Aratapu. with their huge mills, placarded with the notice. “No Smoking,” their immense mountains of sawdust. in many- cases smouldering quiet ly away, their huge stacks of sawn timber, and their extended townships, are in their way not uninteresting. Asked what, my first impression of these places was, 1 think I should say that, an extraordinary need of oceans of paint is the appeal they- make. The few buildings that are so fortunate as to retrain any vestige of paint make more insistent the cry of the great majority for a eoat to cover their grey nakedness. Great crowds lined the wharves and responded with cheers to the glad tooting of the bunting-clad steamer as she pushed her nose for the first time into these waters, and so in the dusk we reached Dargaville and moored alongside a huge Noumenn cargo tramp, whieh, with her swarms of jabbering Arabs, was not a pleasant barrier between ourselves and tlie wharf, Dargaville has a character of its on;

it is distinct from the timber settleinents, and has mure the appearance of an average country river township. In the morning, though we started“nt‘fivethirty. the tramp steamer was ahead of u®. Her hull loomed ahead, large in the mist of the spring dawn. Her Arab cretv, despite their stupendous ability for doing the wrong thing, and the infinity of patience required in their direction, had got her under way. and when we caught up to her she \va>. coming alongside the Kaipara Sn win tiling Company’s wharf, some live miles itbovc Dargaville. Here, some fifty miles from the mouth ot the river, this steamer, though drawing twenty feet of water when loaded, was able to take her full cargo of 75O.UUU feet of timber and drop down the river without trouble. At this point we learnt that the fresh water commences, but although this is the vase I here is a rise ami fall in the titles amounting to as much as twelve feet very many miles higher up. That day we were over forty miles beyond the Kaipara Company's wharf, hit we were still in tidal waters. S> strong is the tide that acts in the fresh water portions of the river that in summer time log® put in the stream often c.seen I instead of descending. Above Dargaville there i* much in the river to interest and attract. We had not left our cargo tramp far astern before the willows, which practically line the banks higher up, appeared in isolated groups. While, little pocket booms, tugs collecting rafts, and the bush-clad country indicated the - continuance, of the timber milling area, there appeared greater indications of the prosecution of pastoral pursuits. Cattle, whose condition was tlie best guarantee possible of the character of the soil, in places grazed close to the banks. -On the right-hand bank Dennan’s Waima vineyard claimed attention. All this portion of the river, we found, was a seven-niile reach that brought ns eventually to within a few chains of where we started. The Maoris in the early days—and no one would accuse them of doing the more difficult thing—used to drag their canoes over the ridge rather than negotiate this bend. Beyond the Mangonui creek enters from the eastward. This narrow stream, it is claimed, is always navigable for several score of miles, and at times of a fresh for fully a hundred mile?, or almost into Waipu, on *4 » East Coast. Quite one of the prettiest bends on the tortuous course of the stream general opinion conceded to the portion saddled with the uninviting name of The Devil’s Elbow. Here the river winds in S shape, presenting changing aspects of the picturesque Timber-clad hills in the background. Beyond, and before reaching Oinana, McGregui-’s. one of the oldest houses on the liver — a residence built without nails—was pointed out. 'then cn to Oniana, where a caricature of one of the Christchurch Tramway Company's steam engines ran along a picturesque line three miles into the bush, where kaliikatea and kauri arc both being worked. Paradise next claimed attar lion. A very one-horse and dismal looking. Paradise it is—a sad disappoint incut one would think to the disingenious person v. ho named it. Mataiwaka, once a great native settlement, now almost deserted, came next, in order, and thru Tangiteroria. Here, thirty five m.les above Dargaville by river and sixteen by road, a bridge has just been completed on the main road to Whangarei. At Tangiteroria we transferred to the old river steamer Kaipara, anil one of the earliest oil-launches in New Zealand waters, the once speedy Parera. (Gradually the river narrowed. The willows, descendants of the famous St. Helena strain, were first planted just above ’Tangiteroria by the Rev. Buller, an early missionary, whose name has been kept prominent in New Zealand by his sons. In the upper reaches we found the willows almost continuous along the banks, 1 heir light green foliage in marked con-

trast to the deep greens o< the New Zealand in .places extended to tin* water’s edge.

Passing the Mnng.i kali la, a ovek penetrating Mime I<M> miles, almost into the Bay of l*J:inds, and navigable fur 50 miles, we at last came to our hu !• ing plate some i.*w miles from the Wax rua Fall-, having made our way tor the last few miles up the si ream with the willows in places brushing the bold < on

cither side. The tremendous milc.fge navigable in th; s Northern W ir.roa and its tributaries makes It undoubtedly the finest river in its way in New Zealand. •’AdmiraT’ Pearce, who i

pioneer in navigating its waters, put it amusingly to inc when he said that they had lOOOmiles of navigable river, meaning of course, coastline. It rviniiuls ' m<* of the showman at the fair who. <!**•

scribing his leopard, used to siy . ’LI lit s and gentlemen, let me draw yum attention to the r’yal leopard; seven icet from (he tip of his nose to the tip o* his tail, and an epial distance back again, making in all fourteen feet.”

The Northern Wairoa River, with tlu* insight it gives into the timber milling industry, and the scenic beauties of the upper reaches of the river, must in Uin«* become a popular resort of the tourist. ’The Wnirua Falls, with their iinmens* volume of water well distributed aver a very wide if not very high fall, are unique in this colony. The quantity of timber parched on their briqk an 1 in the creek bed below is amazing. The falls are within 15 miles of Whangarei township, and the round trip irom Atwkland will some (lay become a recognised and umpiesl iouably popular tourist route. That those who. under such favourable conditions, made this *-isii

to the upper waters of the Norl’es’i Wairoa and the falls, and the >ubs< quent trip Io the Kaihu Valley and inspection of the Aoroa mills, were pleased ' and surprised no room remains to do’ibi. A better knowledge of the Northern Wairoa should attend on the Northern Union Steamboat Company’s enterprise with equally satisfactory results all round.

The names of those who inndr ’h:s trip at the invitation of the. Northeim Union Steamship Proprietary were as follow:—Messrs T. Bassett. U. G. He kett ("N.A. limes”), 11. I- Brett, ("Star”). Blomtield ("Observer ), Bodie (N.Z. Loan and Mercantile). Barstow (Mitchelson ’limber Co.). E. Clifton '(Stock Department), Hugh Campbe l, .1. J. Craig, A. Clark (Clark and Sou- i. I. Chambers, !■'. Dargaville, E. Davis. Ev-

ans (Briscoe ami Co.), \\. !■ rater. I nnwick (Mon-in mid Co.), Walrond ( K Nrw Zealand Graphic”). C. IL Gould (National Bank), duo. Edson. J. MrK. Geddes (Brown, Barrett' and Co.), A. 11. Grainger, J. Hay. Osborne ("New Zealand Herald'*). H* Saundeison, A. H. Hamilton, Jos. Jay (GreymoutM. P-. Kent (Alliance Assurance Co.), C. Leya ("Star”), IL >. Lamb (Lanib ami Co., Svdney), Hon. E. Mitchelson, E. P. Mitchelson. A. 1. Mitchelson, G. Ni-col. S. Nathan. W. W. Phi Ison (Colonial Su«mv Co.). <L W. *. Patterson, T. i’eaeo(7k, R. Peat. Jno. Reid, .1. S‘alhv«irthy, W. Somers. Woodward (Union Bank), J. W.iite (New Zea lan I Railways), J. A. Wilson, J. D. Milne, C. Ranson (Northern Steamship Co.). D. Stuart. James Stewart I manager), D. Stewart, Short, 11. Thompson.