This is just a collection of bits and pieces that for one reason or another, I have found to be interesting, amusing or otherwise.
~~*~~
"Wanted by two men - one middle age, the other 24 - to correspond with two young women with a view to matrimony. As this is 'bona fide' no frauds need answer. Strictly confidential and genuine. Address: Senior & Junior, Box 97, P.O. Feilding.
~~*~~
Several of
the few Valentines which were sent to the Post Office for
transmissionwere ver indecently addressed. These have been
detained and forwarded to the CPO and proceedings will be
instigated against the senders who will be identified by their
handwriting.
~~*~~
"A CARD - To all those who are suffering from the
errors and indiscretions of youth, nervous weakness,
early decay, loss of manhood etc., I will send a recipe
that will cure you, FREE OF CHARGE. This great remedy
was discovered by a missionary in South America.
Send a S.A.E. to the Rev"
~~*~~
An old acquaintance of my mothers,
when told we lived in Karori,
said 'good gracious, I thought people only went there when they
were dead!' Certainly that was the case for many
years."
~~*~~
Mr Burling carried Mails & Dispatches between Manawatu & Wellington, a journey of about a week. In his life long struggle and adventure (he was aged 109 when he told his story) he had his ribs broken, jawbone smashed, neck nearly broken by a bullock chain that blinded one eye and broke an ear drum. He died in 1911 aged 110 year & 4 months old.
~~*~~
'Walter Turnbull, son of Alexander (Of Library fame) held himself aloof from politics. In his opinion, members of the House of Representatives were 'a set of B.....y lamplighters carpenters & bricklayers & deserve to be strung up'."
~~*~~
'Do not think of bringing a house although the window frames, doors, bolts, bars etc may be of use. We all prefer the Maori whares to the trumpery of wooden houses made in England'
~~*~~
In 1844-5 , money became so scarce that it was found necessary by the government to resort to the issue of Debentures and these, printed pieces of paper were accepted by the settlers as currency until after the arrival of Captain Grey as Governor. Specimens of these are in the possesion of Sir F.R. CHAPMAN. Blocks for shilling and sixpence respectively were made by Mr J.H. MARRIOT. The latter were shaped like a fish.
~~*~~
Palmerston North - Taonui Street was the only thoroughfare to boast a continuous row of houses. It was later to become known as 'soap suds alley
~~*~~
In 1840, John Ward, secretary to the NZ Company, wrote a book to promote the company's' new colonising venture. In this book appeared a map which depicted NZ as the centre of the world!
~~*~~
The native are getting wide awake now, they want money for everything; when we first came her we could get a pigeon for a biscuit, and potatoes the same; but the English people have spoiled them entirely.
~~*~~
The settler counted for everything, the sawmiller nothing. In order to preserve the bush, he and his brothers had to buy it outright. To lese the bush would require a deal less capital but the government determined that the bush must be destroyed and that was, of course, diametrically opposed to the interests of sawmilling.
~~*~~
In winter it was one long quagmire where the bullock drays swam up to the axles through mud and then crashed into and bumped over the stumps, which had been cut level with the ground.
~~*~~
Every gentleman who comes here is recommended to wear a moustache; all those who have not done so have suffered very much from sunburned lips
~~*~~
"Lucy Johnson was constantly searching for new staff. The housemaid she 'got as a stopgap' had to go to the hospital this morning as she had a bad boil under her arm. I was so thankfull to dispose of her thus as she had no friends to take her, and she was no use to me laid in bed in a state of collapse."
For Lucy, happiness was, good sevants & no babies
~~*~~
"..The Island Bay hermit whose smoke be-grimed cave was situated towards Houghton Bay, was an attraction to visitors and source of revenue to the hotel and refreshment rooms. Picnic parties at this time thought nothing of tramping to Island Bay. When the writer visited, he was seen reclining on some sacks at the far end of the cave and did not appear anxious or pleased to see strangers, who invariably left coins of the realm on a huge boulder near a smouldering fire that rendered the atmosphere as unpleasant as the Hermits company, and which caused them to make an early departure. Evidently the Hermit was not adverse to being photographed as a reproduction of one is on page 27 of the Evening Post Christmas number of 1903 where he is seen standing at the entrance to his cave in Island Bay in 1895"
*
<<'the writer' was Louis Ward - I am not old enough!>>
~~*~~
"The belief in, and the practice of cremation are undoubtendly on the increase, but we had not heard of any proposal to carry it out on a wholesale scale till Thursday last, when tenders were sent to the Feilding Borough Council described as 'tenders for clearing and burning the cemetery' "
~~*~~
One of the first Wellington Farmers was BARON ALSDORF who bred cats and rabbits and sold them for 1 pound each. Here is an account of an 1841 visit to the farm;
'One of our party was a young man named TROWER.
He had drawn No 5 choice for a town acre in Nelson,
and was consequently looked upon - especially by himself,
as a coming millionaire, and wherever he went he was
prone to enter some sanguine speculation. On this occasion
he trudged merrily back to our ship loaded with 2 rabbits
for which he had given the Baron 2 pounds, commenting
loudly that his pair of rabbits would produce half a million
in three years and if, said he, I could get only 10 shillings
each for them, see what they would come to!
Upon reaching Nelson he discovered that both rabbits
were male.~~*~~
An old man in Feilding could not believe that he could hear his wife talk 5 miles by telephone. His wife was in a country store 5 miles away and the sceptic was also in a place where there was a similar instrument and on being told how to operate it he walked boldly up to it and shouted "Hello Sarah". At that instant lightning struck the telephone wire and knocked the old man down, and, as he scrambled up to his feet he excitedly cried "Thats Sarah, every time"
~~~*~~
"We are glad to notice that the unfortunate man who has been perambulating the Feilding streets for the past week or two in a state of mental derangement has shifted his quarters to Wanganui. In a few days we may expect to see a notice of 'another lunatic from Wanganui' in the Wellington papers"
