A Salubrious and Prosperous City

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLI, Issue 25, 16 December 1908, Page 17

A Salubrious and Prosperous City

THE STORY OF FIFTY YEARS OF PROGRESS

NAPIER, the beautiful, bright, breezy, and salubrious city of the nourishing Hawke's Ray Province, claims a con Tsiderable space in the “Graphic'’ this week, in honour of the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the Province, which took place on November Ist, 1858. The jubilee was, it will be remembered, celebrated with much eclat by a most brilliantlv successful carnival early in the year, the settled weather which usually prevails in the late summer and autumn making this seem the most suitable date to the authorities. But on the exact date, on Sunday, November Ist, the event was also remembered in a spirit of a service held in the beau cathedral, one of the most strikingly beautiful sacred edifices south of the line. The vast building was packed, the congregation being representative of every class and sect, and the service strict ly undenominational: Wesleyan, Presbyterian, Methodist, as well as Anglican ministers, taking active part in the same. The thoroughness with whi the people observed the • casion in this manner, and the complete abandon and enjoyment with which they threw themselves into the famous carnival celebrations, is very characteristic of Napier and its people. (Miniate and natural surroundings have no doubt much to do with this, for the effect of climate and environment on communities is now uni versa Ily recognised. and certainly Napier possesses one of the finest ami most, salubrious climate's in the world, ami

well deserves all the precise and fervid recommendations which its citizens delight to lavish upon il. As a matter of fact, it compares very favourably in this respect with any city in the Dominion, ami. indeed, with several of the most notable health resorts of the Old World, as will presently be proved by interesting figures and statistics. Those who go there for a change, or even in the course of business, are invariably emphatic as to the benefit derived from a blow on the magnificent esplanade, of which the people of Napier are so justly proud. High spirits and a fresh lease of life seem imparted by the sunshine and tin* breeze, and if a morning dip Ik* indulged in and the splendid surf bathing enjoyed, the visitor feels as if he had only just begun to find out what a fine thing life is after all. and returns to his hotel with a rare a ppet it e n. for his \

fried sole, for which the city is famous. It imparts a feeling of surprising energy, moreover, making one feel as if no work could be too much for one. And this is the vigour one sees on (‘very side in Napier. Its good folk take life strenuously, but without visible effort, and always as if they were enjoying to the full the advantages in which their fortunate lot has placed them. The story of Napier — of the last fifty years of steady progress, and the present position of the town, has been told before, but in connection with the many beautiful pictures now pre seated it will certainly bear telling aga in. On the first day of November. ISSS, the Province of Hawke’s Bay came olli cially into existence. The magnificent expanse of fine country included within that title was prior to

that date a region ot swamp, forest, and giaziipr land administered from Wellington, and a portion of the Wei- J lington Province. As Z| the capabilities of Zfl the Hawke’s Bay dis- /■ triet attracted settlement, anil as settlement involved the desire on tin- part of set tiers for means « of local self-govern- V* ment, agitation to that end was set on foot. On the 21st of August. ISSS. only six years after Xew Zealand had been granted con-

stitutional government. the infant Parliament passed what is styled in the Statute Book “The Xew Provinces Act." Vnder tlnprovisions of that measure Hawke* Bav was separated from Wellington and constituted a province on l*t of Xovemln-r following. Xapicr, the port and capital town of the pro since. wa* in existence at the time, hut it eon*i*tcd of lit tle more t han a

barracks for the accommodation of troop*, a small building in which official business was transacted, a store or so. a humble church, some hotel aeeommoda tion, and a few private residences, of which it may Im* said that, although use fill, they were not very ornamental. Since then, ami from those small be ginnings. Xapicr has grown to Im* a handsome and picturesque tow n, t lagateway of a commerce which confer* upon it the rank of the fifth exporting centre of tin- Dominion. While not abb* to boast of the rapid progress made by some town*. Xapicr has yet steadily and solidly grown. Dining the sixteen years following the pro clamation of the Hawke’s Ba\ Province, the town gave such promise for the future that tin- residents considered themselves justified in taking tin- neces sary steps to constitute a borough. Thi* took place 34 years ago. on the 2Gth of Xoveinber, 1574. The progress made since that date may be ganged from the fart that thirty years ago the ratable value of the borough was but €38.000. To-day rates arc collected from owners of properties, the capital value of which is about £2.000.000. Ami this does not tell all a. the story. Xapicr

is a comparatively small borough. Dining the last few years reclamation works undertaken by a syndicate, in connection with the Harbour Board reserve known as the Wha re-o-Maraenui Block, have added 300 acres of fine land to the town. This is not yet included within the borough boundaries, being at present looked after by the Hawke’s Bay County Council. but there can be little room for doubt that in a comparatively brief space ot time the whole will be included with in the borough. At the lime Napier was constituted a borough it was by no mean-* pictlir \ esque. \ What

is now railed Port Ahuriri. and was then -tyled tin* 'Spit, was a wilderness of desolation, the main features of which were -hiiiglc wadis and lag«m»ns. t he “town" was a little better, but nothing to boaM of. It consisted of nills on tin* one side, then beginning to l»r built upon, and on the other side of two stretches of shingle running nearly north and south, and roughly parallel with each other. < hi the shingh* st retail facing the sea I last ings-st r'*et coin me need. Between that shingh* bank ami tin* other was a foul and fetid lag.i »n. Beyond the inner shingle bank was ;*n other ami larger lagoon, cut oil fron what is known as the inner harbour by the road from Napier to Tara dale. the portion of the town known as Clive Squaie was then nearly three fee. lowei than u is now. Alter heavy rams lions floated 1 here. In a corner of what is now the Recreation Ground stood a large hill. 'The borough borrowed money, cut down the hill, and with the?* spoil thus obtained. ami also with similar spoil from the hills at the bottom of Chancer road, made Muni or street and the streets running from it al right angles to Hast ings streets. These streets went through the small lagoon above referred to. leav ing the intervening blocks stagnant water, more fetid than before. Au Act passed by Parliament gave flu* borough power to till in these blocks. recovering the cost from the owners, or in default

taking |H»«-»*s-i«»n of the reclaimed land Hie Other flat -ertioii- of the town were rai-«*d. some of the lower portion* three feet. W hat i- now Napier i-. in fact. apart from the hill-, a •manufactured article." Ihe town had to Ih- ‘made” Hi the ino-t literal -en-e of that word, jhe later reclamation work alluded to al»>ve ha* • diverted a watery waste, where f »rrn»*rly •di«Miii»*i- could -ail into fertile land from one foot to three feet higher than any other portion of the flat

That Napier now is a picturesque town, a strikingly picturesque town, is sulli ciintly testified to by tin* pictures in this book. Even the partiality of its

citizens can with dilliculty. if at all. exaggerate its peculiar attractiveness. Some of this is due to site. The wide sweep of the bay which is its front on the north and east, and the expanse of the waters confined by its shores, are

nature’- gift - to Napier Yet the natural prospect ha- been much enhanced by the work of nan. The sweep of tin* Bay. compared by enthusiast* with tin* Bay of Naples, and concerning the beauties of which vi-itois from inland -ometimes Ih-coiiic quite rapt II I*oll- over e-pecially when the water- are calm ami blue. Now. how ever. 11n- magnificent Esplanade, considered to he the tim—t of the kind in th»- southern h»-mi-plo*r»*. and serving a- frontage to -ome <*\celh-nt buildings giving pr<>mi-e of tin* yet finer buildings

of tin* near future, does by its mere existence emphasise and accentuate, even if it docs not add to. tin* beauty of the outlook. Thirty years ago tilth* of

the beauty of the bay had been discovered. Tin* Esplanade with its trees assisted in the discovery. Hi a sense the history of the progress of Napier is that of tin* progress of the Dominion. Roads, railways, telegraphs.

schools- these are the marks of the general growth of New Zealand. But in another and very real sense Napier had to progre-s by a path it alone has travelled. There is not another town in the Dominion of which it can be said that it- streets and its residential sites had to Im* “made" in the sense in which Napier ha> been made. Wellington has done much in the way of carving its hill- into dwelling places, but the greater part of the Napier of to-day was thirty’ years ago little more than a couple of

lagoons one of which was insanitary, and the other of which, although tidal, was also an estuary into which every heavy rain brought Hoods that hacked out upon the lower portions of the habitable part of the shingh* -pit that, with the sea on om* side and (he lagoon on the other, const it ut<*d the Napier of thirty years And the contrast—the Napier of today? Well visitors can see and judge for themselves. And. unless Fate in the shape of bad weather rare in Napier—should ordain to Ihe contrary, they will Im* able to judge in some measure of its climatic advantages. As to these, concerning which some detailed in format ion will be given later, it may be stated that in tin* town, both on the hills and Hats, two crops of iigs a year can be gathered. For I hi* general market grapes and tomatoes are raised in abundance out of doors. Lemons are grown more easily than oranges, but some of the latter fiuit of local growth is raised and sold <*very year. Hawke’s Bay has achieved a deserved reputation for its wines. The earliest manufacture of wine on a large scale in the district was commenced at the Meanee Mission in tin* infancy of settlement. The manufacture has been continued, and now furnishes a very large quantity of wine annually. There are several other vineyards and wine making establishments. within four miles

of the borough boundary, while further inland at Te Mata, for instance—wines of high quality an* produced. Wine from this district is sent away to many parts of tin* Dominion. With regard to fruit raising and its preparations for market, visitors interested in the suhject are advised to set* Friinley, with its miles of fruit trees of all kinds, and its jam making and canning factory. With Ihe exception of oranges, which cannot

be raised here so successfully as ia California, it is open to question whether that very fertile portion of the United give greater success in fruit raiaiag than is possible in the Napier district. The first block of the breakwater was laid on January 25th, 1887, and the length of the finished work is now in round figures 2,700 feet. When completed, the area of the harbour provided will be about 120 acres. The depth of water for more than half that area will be 27 feet at low water spring tide. Some portions of the harbour will have a depth of 35 feet at low water spring tide. Intercolonial vessels drawing up to 25 feet now berth at the breakwater. A contract Isas been let to the Ferro-Concrete Company of Australia to enlarge the Glasgow wharf in ferro-concrete from its present dimension of 410 feet by 30 feet, to 653 feet by 88 feet, so that in about a year and a half from now ocean liners will have a suitable wharf to berth at. The capital value of the Napier Harbour Board rating district was in 1891 assessed at six and a lialf millions. It is now twelve millions. The port of Napier stands third in the Dominion for exports of meat, and fifth in the Dominion for general exports, the total value of these for 1906 (figures from the Year Book for 1907) being £1,607,362. The Chairman of the Napier Harbour Board is Mr. J. Vigor Brown, M.P., who is also Mayor. The town owes much to his shrewdness, business capacity, and persistent energy in all that relates to the district’s welfare. As a health resort Napier cannot l»e surpassed. It is doubtful if it can be equalled by any other portion of the Dominion. This is no mere idle boast, but is based upon careful scientific research by the Very Rev. Dr Kennedy at the Meanee Observatory—about three and a half miles from Napier by a pleasant drive —of which institution he is the head, and upon Government statistics tabulated and compared by the same gentleman. The mean annual temperature at Napier is 58.6 Fab., the highest of any town in the Dominion except Auckland, which is not quite half a degree higher (59). The mean midsummer temperature at Napier is 63.8, and the mean mid-winter temperature 49.9, which gives a mean annual range of 18.9. At Nice (Riviera), one of the most celebrated health resorts in the South of Europe, the mean midsummer temperature is 75.2, or 6.4 degrees higher than Napier, the mea nmidwinter temperature 45, or 4.9 degrees below Napier, and the mean annual range 30.2, or 11.3 degrees more than Napier. This shows that as regards temperature the climate of Napier is much more equable than of Nice, being cooler in summer and warmer in winter. The following table shows the temperature of Napier compared with that of other towns in New Zealand and of some European towns of nearly the same latitude as Napier:—-

These figures show that Napier's mean annual temperature (58.6) in higher than Dunedin's mean midsummer temperature (58), and that during the coldest months of the year Napier’s mean temperature (49.9) is almost as high as the mean annual temperature at Dunedin (50.7). They also show that Rome, Naples and Nice are all much warmer in summer than Napier, and considerably colder in winter, and that Napier's annnal range of temperature is much lees than Uiat of My of those famous climates. Next to temperature the climatic element of most importance is rainfall. Napier has a mean annual rainfall of 87.10- inches, well distributed over an average of IM day*. The following comparative table shows that Napier's mean annual rainfall is less than that

of any of the principal towns in New Zealand except Christchurch, and about the same as that of Nice:— Mean Annual Rainfall Napier .. ... 37-10iu. Auckland .. .. .. . 41.68ui. .Wellington -.. ~. 50.62 in. GhrisVchurch .. ... 25.16ia. -Dunedia ... ... 38.40 in. Hokitika ... ... 115.59 in. Nelson ... .... .. 58d)5in. ■Nice .. ... .. .. 35in.

The amount of sunshine is another very important climatic element. It is only in recent years that the direct registration of the duration of sunshine has been begun with sunshine recorders. In New Zealand there are very few places where the sunshine is recorded. The total amount of sunshine at Napier during ths year 1907 was 2609 hours 55 minutes, or an average of 7 lours 9 minutes per day. The average yearly amount for the last three years was 25X10 hours. In this respect Napier compares very favourably with Nice, the Riviera, and most of the towns of Italy and Spain, which have a yearly average of 2500 hours bright sunshine. Madrid alone, beats Napier's record with a total of 2750 hours. What is still more remarkable, this abundance of sunshine in Napier exists not only in summer, but a very large percentage is maintained even in winter. The average amount of sunshine in Napier during the winter months of June, July, August is 57 per cent of the possible amount, while the yearly average is 60 per cent of the possible amount. The average number of days in the year without recorded sunshine is only 18. During 50 days in the year on an average there is unbroken sunshine, and during 220 days there is bright sunshine averaging 75 per cent of the possible amount. The following table shows the yearly amount of sunshine at Napier compared with that at other towns of New Zealand and Europe :- — Mean yearly amount of sunshine. Napier 2560 hours Gisborne 2200 „ Wellington 1900 „ Christchurch 2018 „ Nelson 2300 „ Nice 2500 „ Madrid 2750 „ Paris 1750 „ London 1350 „ Torquay 2000 „ Dublin 1400 „ Edinburgh 1250 „ In determining the value of health resorts with reference to their greater or less beneficial effects upon the sick, it is well known that, in addition to the warmth of the air, the energy of direct insolation or solar radiation is of great importance as a climatic factor. Napier has a high mean solar radiation. The mean for T 907 was 122 degrees, as measured by a black bulb thermometer enclosed in a vacuum, and the average for the last three years was 120 degrees Fahrenheit. The mean daily velocity of the wind at Napier is 136 miles, or an average

of 5.6 mites per hour, which according to Beaufort’s scale corresponds to “very light breeze.” The highest daily velocity recorded was 557 miles, on May 28th, 1907. This is equivalent to an average of 23 miles per hour, or “strong breeze,” a gale being from 30 to 40 miles per hour, and a storm 64 miles per hour. The following comparative table shows that Napier has a higher mean solar radiation, and less wind, than any of ths four principal towns of the Dominion: —

from the most reliable sources. The New Zealand statistics were obtained from the Meteorological Office, Wellington,

and those of European towns from Bartholomew’s “Meteorological Atlas.” To mention, let alone to pourtray, even over so briefly, the names of those who have contributed to the growth and prosperity of Napier, during the last fifty years, would be entirely impossible, had we thrice the space availably at our command. Therefore, to avoid any possibility of invidious distinction we have allowed ourselves but one portrait, that of his Worship the -Mayor, Mr. 11. Vigor Brown, also chairman of the Harbour Board, and at the last election chosen by the people as their representative in the Parliament of the Dominion. Interested in almost all, and actively associated with many of the large busiues?es of Napier and Hawke’s Bay province, Mr. Vigor Brown is a man of astonishing energy, insight and intuition, and is possessed, moreover, of an invaluable fund of shrewd, common-sense, allied to the keenest enterprise. It is unquestionably owing to his savoir faire that Napier has gone ahead so rapidly of late years.

Mean Annual Temp. Mean MM summer Temp. Mean Midwinter Tenip Mean Annual flange Mean Daily Range Napier .. .. .. 58.G 68.8 49.9 18.9 16 Auckland . .. 59 66.6 51.4 15.2 16.8 Wellington .. .. 55.2 62.6 47.6 15 17.8 Christchurch .. .. .. 52.5 62 42.5 19.5 12 Dunedin .. .. .. 50.7 58 43.2 14.8 13.6 Nelson .. .. 54.8 64.4 45 18.6 20 Nice . . .. 68.8 75.2 45 30.2 Rome . . .. 59.5 76.6 44.2 32.4 Naples .. .. 60.8 75.7 47.1 28.6

Mean Solar Itadiation Mean Da«y Velocity of Wind. Napier ... 120 AueKand ... 118 174 „ Wellington .... 104 294 „ Christchurch . . 10G 168 „ Dunedin .., 102 160 „ The above figures have been taken

Mean No. of Days With Hain 130 Marlmum Annual Bainfall. 57.70in. Minimum Annual Rainfall 2l.l0in. 190 53.81 in. 28.14m1G6 67-3ftn. 3IJ6in. 122 35jB0in. liJ+tin. 170 5150in. 22.loin. 177 154.45in. 88-21in. 95