THE CHURCH IN NEW ZEALAND MEMOIRS OF THE EARLY DAYS

New Zealand Tablet, 17 December 1908, Page 11

THE CHURCH IN NEW ZEALAND MEMOIRS OF THE EARLY DAYS

(Contributed.) ' ■ " . - Greymouth. - - ■ The Rev. Father Binsfeld, S.M., arrived in Greymouth in' April, 1870, just before Easter of that year. It was not an easy matter in those i days to., reach-- the y goldfields of Westland by sea. . There was no harbor all along the coast. . A regular line of steamers between Wellington and Melbourne took passengers for the' three centres of the . Westland goldfields — the Buller, Greymouth 7 and Hplcitika — and transhipped them into tenders at these places wheri~th«i weather was favorable-; if , otherwise passengers and freight for the goldfields- were taken on to Melbourne,' a voyage of four or five days' steaming, afterwards being brought back in hope of better, luck. I did riot, meet . with such a disappointment on my journey to Greymouth. (states Father Binsfeld), but our, landing,. was a riewLexperiehce' to nic. J A ■ heavy, surf -was on at the time, and in descending' from the steamer we were put' under deck of a lender, the hatches being carefully closed over us. The , little craft ' steamed 'away, up and down ;like a child's kite, and presently struck •the shingly , bottom on the. bar through which- it. ploughed with a yigo J r .that .made the/boat labor arid creak' in every . joint,- whilst the v waves.Jsw^pt. over, the deck. \None of my -fellow-passengers', exhibited alarm, they were accustomed to ■ it ; it was the' w,ay^ to the" goldfields of those days. Grey- - mouth was yet in a 'primitive state of formation.' 'There r were scarcely any, streets, the quay was the only 'one, where houses were, joined to e.ach other,, public houses pfedomina- * ting. ,The present site of Greymouth "was yet an impenetrable forest. J Catholics .formed about one-third'- of the , and Father Binsfeld was heartily welcomed on arrival,. ,-the .principal men among the comnrunity coming .to the presbytery as" a' deputation' to express' their great satisfaction at, having again a priest among them.' There -was 1 a j good spirit .among them; they were. united 'and assis- ■ ted well at the -services of the Church, arid it was a "pleasure to preach ana minister to' them. "Their pastor received their confidence from the beginning.' "It may not le out of place to here remark that the Irish miners in Westland in those days came from the comparatively well-to-do classes at home. Free immigration had not yet come into force,

and each had to pay £40 as passage money out, and most of them were the sons of fairly prosperous farmers. ' What' 1 an intelligent lot of men they are ! ' was the remark concerning them made hy almost every educated stranger who ) came in contact with them. ' But what was still better, they had brought v their strong - faith with them. The" •establishment of a Catholic school was found to be "of immediate necessity; the people themselves asked for it, and they were quite prepared to undertake personal responsibility in regard to the teacher's salary, amounting to £200 per annum. There was already a building on the Church property which could be used, and within a month after the arrival of Father Binsfeld the school was started, the children attending well from the beginning.

On the. Diggings.

People who knew not the Westland of those days cannot form any idea of the incessant hardships the miners, and all who lived inland, had to undergo. ' The whole country was a dense forest with small areas of open land here and there. Rain, and' yet more rain, characterised the usual weather. Roads there were none. Communication with the various digging centres inland was carried on by saddle tracks, and partly by river boat. A newcomer had to get seasoned before he would get accustomed to travel into the interior. The congregation at Greymouth formed only' a very small proportion of the souls entrusted to the care of Father Bmsfeld.. The boundaries of the mission were comprised in. the following immense area : On the south the river Teremakau from its source in the Southern Alds to

its outlet in the Tasman oca (40 miles) ; on the west, from the sea to the Razorback, a distance of about 26 miles; on the north, the Southern range bordering the Buller river valley (50 miles) ; and on the east, the Main Midland mountain ranges, 40 miles. Digging townships were dotted all over this extensive territory. Neither were they in easily accessible situations. Nature had stowed her golden treasures far away up towards the head of long, narrow, and deep gullies or creeks, tributaries of the Grey or other main streams, and in wet ground covered with dense bush. Here the miners would put up their huts of wood slabs, with a corrugated iron roof, and chimney of similar material. The 3iut consisted of one apartment only, to accommodate from two to six mates, the bunks being placed one over the other as on board a ship. JButchers, bakers, liquor-sellers, and storekeepers established^themselves in the same rough-and-ready manner, and in a very short while, as soon as there was any probability of the claims striking gold, these habitations sprang up like mushrooms, and disappeared as quickly should the diggings turn out to be a ' duffer.' There were about 15,000 gold diggers engaged in the mines of Westland at the period of which I write, the greater proportion of whom were within the boundaries of Father Binsfeld's mission. He was assured on his arrival that of this number of gold-seekers about 4000 were Catholics. They were scattered all over the country, forming in certain places a large population, and in others constituting only a small number. The principal mining places then were Greenstone, Marsden, Maori Gully, Notown, Redjacks, Nelson Creek, Halfounce, Napoleon, Moonlight Creek, Murray's Creek (the present Reefton), Boatman's (Buller), and Canoe Creek (the present Barry's Town), north of Point Elizabeth on the seashore. With such a formidable task confronting him, it is easy to understand that the exertions of one man among such a scattered multitude could not do justice neither to himself nor to his flock. This view was speedily taken by Father Binsfeld, who, preferring the outdoor and more strenuous life, communicated with his superiors, and expressed his willingness to take the position of assistant, * if another Jb'ather could be found to act as missionary rector. In the meantime, he was anxious to begin ' roughing it,' which "meant going- to the diggings. As will be seen in the narrative which follows, ' roughing it ' indeed came almost as his daily portion, accentuated, too,- by the after-effects of events of historical interest, which occurred a year before and brought a certain number in conflict with loth the, civil and -ecclesiastical authorities, c

About the end of May Father Binsfeld started out alone on a Hirst -pastoral visit to the -various digging localities. It was a solitary journey, all day long, into a. rugged, mountainous wilderness, as were most of his subsequent , similar excursions during the two and a half -years 'that he labored' in this mission. It was rare to meet a travelling companion, but he had a capital horse, which was' quite accustomed to the task before him. He had to. carry in front of his master a good-sized saddle-bag, -which contained < the •vestments and every requisite for the celebration of -.Holy Mass. . The good-natured animal- went 'off cheerfully after liis liberal breakfast, which was his- only meal for the day. At the entrance to the Grey Gorge the river was crossed on' a punt, and then began his experience, on the saddle tracks, of . which he had heard already a great deal. Here he learnt a new chapter in the art of riding. Although brought

up where horses were kept, and considering himself safe -on. an ordinary, one's back, he had yet to, learn., to keep tiis -seat, not because of the animal, but of Nature itself. Soon the track opened upon and ran along a mere .ledge cut-in the mountain side, with the river down below and a steep forest towering above, "the passage being so narrow .that a false step meant - death •to rider and ' horse. Some miles further, plunging knee deep in mud, sufficiently sticky^ to make a fixture of both horse and rider, we" eventually came to what, if I remember aright, was known as Langdown's Crossing. Here* the Grey River had to be crossed, not, on a punt, but by fording; It was deep and the. current swift. A man had been drowned here some time previous, , and, forsooth, there was plenty of room for drowning, ,but, thanks to the good guardian angel, the opposite bank was reached- in safety. It is surprising what a horse accustomed to this kind of travelling can do. ' Now there was relief and ease of mind; the country before him was, level to the end of his destination, which' was the group of adjacent diggings up Nelson Creek. Towards sunset he arrived at 'Try Again,' where he put up at a store for the night. Here he was received and treated with , genuine kindness. The storekeeper, his brother, and the.' few -miners of the locality soon made him feel that he. was at least there, on friendly ground. ' Try Again ' was a worked-out diggings. A few years previous hundreds of men had been working there. Now all that remained resembled a totally destroyed city. Long stretches of tail-raei»g, hillocks of boulders, huge -uprooted trees in every direction were, all that remained — a scene of desolation. A temporary chapel was found here, which had a weather-beaten appearance, like the rest of the deserted huts and shops surrounding. Evening service was held, consisting of rosary, sermon, and night prayers. Mass was celebrated next piorning. This was his first day's" work on the diggings, and he rejoiced at it, for all the men assisted and edified him by their truly Catholic spirit.

(To be continued.)