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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]

Kauri Gum Industry

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Kauri Gum Industry.

Digging for kauri gum is one of the rare industries of the world, and is carried on chiefly in the northern districts of the province of Auckland. The kauri gum itself is the solidified sap of a species of pine tree which is said to be indigenous to the North Island of New Zealand. The tree, once seen, can never be mistaken for any other of the same family. It is never found in the volcanic soils, but is confined almost entirely to the clay soils, and to the sandy loams. Its trunk frequently rises to a height of upwards of 100 feet, straight, smooth, and imperceptibly decreasing in girth until it spreads into branches. Trees from eight to twelve feet through are not uncommon. They are of soft wood, of slow growth, and the timber is easily worked. The trunk of the kauri exudes gum, but it is the top of the tree that is the main source of supply. The gum, as sap, adheres to the bark, and forms into lumps, which drop off by their own weight, or the action of the weather, and get buried in the soil. However, it often happens that cavities in the trees themselves become receptacles for the oozing sap. This is termed bush gum, and is obtained by climbing the trees, not by digging. Bush gum is not so valuable as that which has been buried for a long
Photo by Dr. Logar Cambell. Kauri Tree.

Photo by Dr. Logar Cambell.
Kauri Tree.

time in the ground. Kauri trees are now found only in the northern portion of the North Island of New Zealand, but they are supposed to have flourished in the south during the remote past. As the kauri is slow of growth, long-lived, and of great size, and as gum on the northern gumfields has been, and still is, found at different depths in enormous quantities, the conclusion is that hundreds, nay, thousands of years ago, the face of the country was covered with magnificent kauri forests. Yet to-day the prevailing vegetation on an average gumfield consists, if the land is dry, of scrub and fern; if it is wet, of rushes, and the general aspect is that of a treeless waste. Here and there a charred stump or a mound of earth indicates where the latest survivors of the forest have stood, and all around, the soil, whatever it may have been formerly, is now almost without nutritious properties. It consists chiefly of sand, mixed on the surface with a decayed vegetable matter, and underneath it is generally as hard as concrete, and impervious to water. Some of the gum country is in private hands, and a royalty on the gum or conditions of some sort must be arranged between the proprietor and the diggers before the latter commence work. But most of the gum-bearing land is still owned by the Government, and may generally be worked by obtaining a gum license from the local body. The gum is obtained at depths varying from a few inches to several feet, and the pieces vary in size from a hazel nut to sixty and seventy pounds in weight. Subterranean supplies, different in age from those found near the surface, have already produced large quantities. Gum is prepared for market by being scraped, and if it is perfectly clean and of good quality, it is sold as re-scraped or first-class gum at nearly double the price of ordinary or half-scraped gum. Other grades are designated three-quarter-scraped, interior ordinary, and washed nuts. Much is done to the gum after it reaches the hands of the Auckland gum merchants, who employ a large number of men in sifting, sorting, and grading it into all the classes and qualities enumerated in the sale lists of New York or London. Since the industry began the provincial district of Auckland has produced gum worth £10,000,000, and still produces it regularly to the value of about £500,000 a year. This gives to the seven or eight thousand men employed in the industry wages averaging from 15s to 40s per week, and as there are nearly 2,000,000 acres of gumbearing land, it is not likely that the supply will be soon exhausted. All the gum raised in Auckland goes to America, England, or Germany, where it is manufactured into varnish, and as kauri gum is an important constituent in the best varnishes, Auckland practically holds a monopoly, which will no doubt by-and-by give rise to an important colonial industry.
Another Kauri Tree.

Another Kauri Tree.

Arnold, Cheney and Co. (L. A. Bachelder and R. T. Fowler, managers), Kauri Gum Merchants, carry on business in Customs Street East, Auckland.

Bond And Bell, Kauri Gum Merchants and Brokers, Commerce Street, Auckland. Telephone 976. P.O. Box 331. Bankers. Bank of Australasia. Mr. Bond is referred to as a member of the Auckland City Licensing Committee.

Carr, Johnston and Co., Kauri Gum Brokers, Grain and Iron Merchants, Fort and Commerce Streets, Auckland. This firm is fully referred to under the heading of general merchants.

Edmonds, Henry, Kauri Gum Merchant, 31 Customs Street, Auckland. Telephone 564. P.O. Box 270. Bankers. Union Bank of Australia.

Garlick And Lyon, Kauri Gum Merchants, occupy large premises in Fort Street, Auckland, and carry on an extensive business.

Gilfillan, J. B. and Co., Kauri Gum Merchants and Manufacturers Agents, Fort Street, Auckland. Telephone 297. P.O. Box 23. Bankers, National Bank of New Zealand, Ltd. This business was established in 1888 by Mr. John Boyd Gilfillan, the third son of the late Hon. John Anderson Gilfillan, M.L.C. Mr. Gilfillan was born at Auckland on the 17th of August, 1858, and was educated at Mr Farquhar Macrae's high school, which was afterwards merged into the present Auckland Colege page 392 and Grammar school. He commenced his mercantile life with Messrs John Reid and Co., merchants, with whom he remained for fourteen years, and then established his present business. Messrs Gilfillan and Co. are the sole representatives in New Zealand for several large English firms.

Mr. J. B. Gillfillan.

Mr. J. B. Gillfillan.

Heather, Arthur, Kauri Gum Merchant, Customs Street West, Auckland. Mr. Heather was born in Auckland on the 11th of April, and is a son of Mr. D. H. Heather, who came to the Colony with the earliest Port Nicholson setters. Induced by the uusettled condition of the country, resulting from the war with Hone Heke at the Bay of Islands, Mr. D. H. Heather returned with his family to England, and left in the “Slains Castle” for Sydney, whence Mr. and Mrs. Heather and their four sons embarked in the “Mary”. But that ill-fated vessel was wrecked in Bass Strait, and by the catastrophe, Mr. Arthur Heather lost his mother and three brothers. The father and surviving son eventually reached England, where Mr. A. Heather remained to complete his education. In 1858, Mr. Arthur Heather returned to New Zealand to join his father in the Lower Waikato, but owing to the unsettled state of the country he was forced to come to Auckland where he entered the still well remembered firm of Owen and Graham. There he remained until his faithful service, and gentlemanly demeanour, gained for him admission into the firm as a partner. On the dissolution of the partnership, in 1879, Mr. Heather took over the wholesale grocery branch of the business and continued it solely on his own account. He now confines his operations to the purchase and export of kauri gum. Mr. Heather was president of the Chamber of Commerce as far back as 1878. He was for many years a very useful worker on the Harbour Board, to which he was at its foundation nominated by the Government. In church matters, Mr. Heather has always taken an active interest, filling important offices at All Saint's, St. Mark's, St. Sepulchre's, and now at St. Barnabas's, besides taking for many years a prominent part in the deliberations of the General and Diocesan Synods. Mr. Heather is an old member of Lodge Ara, I.C., and is now a past master unattached. His early experiences in the Waikato gave him a good knowledge of Maori matters, and this knowledge was of much use at the time of the Maori troubles. Mr. Heather was one of the those who attended the great meeting of disaffected natives at Kihikihi. In all innocent sport, Mr. Heather has taken a praiseworthly interest. He is president of the Association Football Club, and of the Eden and Epsom Tennis Club. This is the most successful tennis club in Auckland, and much of its popularity is due to the exertions of the president, who has occupied that office from the foundation of the society. Mr. Heather was married to Miss Browne, daughter of the late Mr. Joseph Browne, so well known to old Aucklanders, as the leader of the Choral Society and the organist of St. Matthews. Mr. and Mrs. Heather have a family of six sons and an only daughter. The eldest son, Mr. H. D. Heather, is well known in the city as the senior partner of Messrs Heather, Roberton and Co.; the second, Mr. A. B. Heather, is a farmer in the Waikato; the third, Mr. Charles Heather, is at Cambridge University, studying for the ministry; the fourth, Mr. William Heather, is associated with Mr. Thomas Macky in the management of the Northern Insurance Company; the fifth, Mr. Vincent Heather, was recommended by the Government for a commission in the Royal Field Artillery, and is now (1901) in England; and the youngest, Mr. Clande Heather, has charge of Heather, Roberton and Co.'s shipping department.

Mr. A. Heather.

Mr. A. Heather.

Heather, Roberton and Co. (H. D.) Heather and A. B. Roberton), Kauri Gum and General Merchants and Importers, Customs Street West, Auckland. Bankers, National Bank of New Zealand. Telephone 8. P.O. Box 231. This firm was founded in 1895 in succession to Mr. A. Heather, well-known and highly respected in Auckland, who purchased the business of Messrs Owen and Graham in 1879. The latter firm was one of the oldest mercantile houses in Auckland, and its reputation was worldwide in commercial circles. The present firm represents, amongst others, the following important houses:—Messrs Nelson, Moate and Co., tea importers; Tyser line of steamers; James Keiller and Sons, of Dundee; the San Jose Fruit Company of California; the United Fire and Marine Insurance Company, of Sydney; M. B. Fosters and Sons, Ltd., Bottlers, London; and Haig and Haig (whisky), London.

Henderson, J. W. , Kauri Gum Buyer, 71 Queen Street, Auckland.

Holmes And Grierson. Kauri Gum and Produce Brokers, Commerce Street, Auckland. Telephone 479. Bankers, National Bank of New Zealand.

Hutchinson, C.J., and Co., Kauri Gum Merchants, Fort Street, Auckland. Telephone 515. P.O. Box 18. Bankers, National Bank of New Zealand.

Lichtenstein And Arnoldson (Max Lichtenstein and Louis Arnoldson), Kauri Gum Merchants, Importers, and General Storekeepers. Head Office and Gum Storekeepers. Head Office and Gum Store, 38 High Street, Auckland. P.O. Box 425. Telephone 1235. Cable address, “Lichen, Auckland.” A.B.C. code used. Branch stores and kauri gum depots, Matakohe and Port Albert. It speaks well for the prosperity of the Colony in general and the energy and ability of Messrs Lichtenstein and Arnoldson in particular, when one learns that this extensive business was established only five years ago. Other firms have met, probably, with equal success when extensive capital has been used in their inauguration, but, though it may seem incredible, it is, nevertheless, true, that when Mr. Lichtenstein arrived in this colony, just six years ago, his total capital was £5, and his partner, who followed him a few months later, was even less wealthy. Yet this result has been accomplished by fair and straightforward business transactions, coupled with the unabating energy necessary to success. In another matter usually considered to be an essentialed namely, commercial tuition, the two members of the firm were heavily handicapped, as they had had no commercial training whatever. Starting operations by dealing in a very small way, they soon bettered their financial position, and at the end of a year, they opened their present store at Matakohe, and established the present firm. The business extended rapidly, and within the following year a branch store was opened at Re Point, and very shortly afterwards another store was established at Opitonui. At this latter branch the local Post and Telegraph Office was conducted by Mr. Lichtenstein. Its first disaster page 393 befel the young firm at this place, for within a year the Opitonui store was burned to the ground, and the partners sustained considerable loss. Confidence was not shaken, however, as they soon took up a lease of some 40,000 acres of native land, and set a large number of gum-diggers to work. Other leases were ultimately acquired, and the large quantities of gum obtained necessitated the opening of a kauri gum store in Auckland. Accordingly the firm's present premises, in High Street, were taken over in April, 1900. There is a large gum store on the upper floor, where an efficient staff of competent gum sorters is constantly employed; and the head office, situated on the ground floor, is in the same building. The gum is bought from the diggers at the country stores, and forwarded to the head store in the city, where it is graded and packed in boxes for direct shipment to the Home markets. In addition to the quantity thus sent, Mr. Lichtenstein makes frequent visits to the gum-fields throughout the Northern and Southern Wairoa, and purchases large quantities of gum from the diggers on the various fields. During the summer months over 100 men are usually engaged on the gum lands leased by the firm. As nothing succeeds like success, it is to be inferred that a prosperous future will crown the efforts of Messrs Lichtenstein and Arnoldson.

Mr. Max Lichtenstein, one of the Partners, was born in the town of Memel, North Germany, in 1874, and is a son of the late Dr. Joseph Lichtenstein, of that place. He was educated for the medical profession in his native town, and subsequently pursued his studies at the Hospital and Medical College, Ekaterinoslav, South Russia. Desiring to see the world, he left Russia in 1893, and took an extended trip throughout the United States, returning a year later to his native land. Thence he travelled through Belgium for some months, and then left Antwerp for Australia, in the s.s. “Somerfield,” by which he landed at Port Adelaide early in 1895. After visiting Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane, Mr. Lichtenstein arrived almost at the end of his financial tether, so he determined to give New Zealand a trial, and came to Auckland in May of the same year, when he landed with a sum of only £5; a fact which proves that ability and energy are equal in importance to capital itself. The portrait here given is a good likeness of Mr. Lichtenstein.

Hanna, photo.Mr. M. Lichtenstein.

Hanna, photo.
Mr. M. Lichtenstein.

Mr. Louis Arnoldson, Partner in the firm, is a native of Russia, and was born in the town of Ekaterinoslav, in 1873. He is a cousin of his partner, and, like him, comes from a medical family, his father being a well-known doctor. To give his career in detail would be to repeat that of Mr. Lichtenstein, for, since boyhood, the two cousins have studied together, toured the world in each other's company, and have been ever since inseparably associated. Mr. Arnoldson, however, secured an engagement for a few months in Adelaide, but learning from his cousin that New Zealand offered better scope for them, he soon rejoined him in Auckland. In December, 1900, he married Miss Belle Ludski, of Melbourne, and he and his wife now reside at Port Albert. An excellent portrait of Mr. Arnoldson is reproduced with this article.

Hanna, photo.Mr. L. Arnoldson.

Hanna, photo.
Mr. L. Arnoldson.

Miller, Henry, and Co., Kauri Gum Merchants, Fort Street, Auckland. Telephone 768. P.O. Box 526. Bankers, Bank of New South Wales.

Mitchelson, E., and Co., Kauri Gum and Timber Merchants, Little Queen Street, Auckland. This firm, the operations of which are conducted on a large scale, is referred to in another section of this volume.

Morton, H. B., and Co., General Merchants, Kauri Gum Exporters, Shipping and Commission Agents, Customs Street East, Auckland. Telephone 635. P.O. Box 11. Bankers, Bank of New South Wales.

Nathan, A. H. , General Merchant and Kauri Gum and Produce Broker. Customs Street, Auckland. Telephones 984 and 1121. Bankers, Bank of New Zealand.

Nathan, L. D., and Co., Kauri Gum Exporters, Shipping Agents, and General Importers, Shortland Street, Auckland. This firm's dealings in kauri gum are of a very extensive character. The firm itself is further referred to in another section.

Patterson, George Warren Shaw, Kauri Gum Merchant. Head office and stores, Auckland; branch office and stores at Kaikohe. Bankers, National Bank of New Zealand. Cable Address, “Octagon, Auckland.” Mr Patterson's business, which is one of the largest of its kind in New Zealand, was established in Kaikohe in 1886 the Auckland office being opened in 1892. He hails from Coote Hall, Roscommon, Ireland, where he was born in 1862, receiving his education in his native town. In 1879, he came to New Zealand by the ship “Waikato,” landing at Auckland. Shortly after his arrival he received an appointment as bookkeeper in the firm of Messrs. L. C. Goffe and Co., kauri gum merchants, at the Bay of Islands. On the death of Mr. Goffe the business was split up, Mr. Patterson starting for himself and founding the present business in 1886. As trade increased, he appointed his brother William, who had attained a knowledge of the business in New York, to the management of the Auckland branch. His other brother, Mr. E. H. Patterson, is the representative of the firm in New York, to which page 394 market the gum is principally shipped. Mr. G. W. S. Patterson was married in 1886 to Miss Goffe, a daughter of his old employer, the late Mr. L. C. Goffe, and has four children. He resides at Kaikohe, and was made a Justice of the Peace in 1893. Mr. Patterson takes a great interest in military matters, and is mentioned in the military section of this volume as Lieut.-Commanding the Ponsonby Naval Artillery Volunteers.

Schischka, John, Kauri Gum and Wool Broker, Importer, Commission Agent, Coffee and Spice Merchant, Customs and Fort Streets, Auckland. Mr. Sehischka has conducted this business for several years with considerable success, and has recently erected a very large warehouse and offices in Customs and Fort Streets.

Whitley, W. S., Kauri Gum Merchant and Broker, 9 Queen Street, Auckland. Telephone 280. P.O. Box 406. Bankers, Bank of New Zealand.

Wilson, P., and Co., Kauri Gum Brokers and General Commission Agents, Fort Street, Auckland. Telephone 1187. Bankers, Bank of New Zealand.

Winterbourne S., and Co., Kauri Gum Merchants, London, New York, and Auckland; Auckland representatives, H. P. Norton and J. F. Montague. Auckland office Lower Albert Street. Telephone 499.

Kauri Log.

Kauri Log.