If one man more than another sees the varying phases of life in a country town, it is the postal carrier, especially when his experience extends over some thirty to thirty-five years. This is the record of Mr. A. J. Fyson, now living in retirement in Rutene Road.

Mr. Fyson has exceeded the allotted span by five years, but it is indeed difficult to believe that fact. To outward appearance he looks considerably less than sixty years of age, and if, as is often said, a man is as old as he feels, Mr. Fyson is still in the forties. Still active, and with all his faculties at practically their best, he is indeed a model type of pioneer who helped to raise Gisborne from a tiny borough into one of the largest towns in the Dominion.

Mr. Fyson was born at Highham, near Bury Street, Edmunds, Suffolk, in 1852. He was educated at Bury Saint Edmunds, and then went on to Framlingham College, Suffolk. School days over, at the age of sixteen, he decided to follow the sea, and was appointed a midshipman in Messrs. Green and Co.'s line. His first experience of life on the ocean wave was on the Clarence, a typical handsome full-rigged ship of those days, which left London for Madras. He remained on the Clarence for two more trips to India, and then the ship went to Melbourne. At the conclusion, Mr. Fyson, who had been studying his profession, passed his third mate's exam, received his ticket, and like many others of those days, deserted sail for steam, being appointed to the St. George, which traded to the East, the Black Sea ports, the Baltic and the Mediterranean, also on one trip going to Canada.

Mr. A. J. Fyson

The young adventurer then decided to look to the new lands for a permanent home, and decided on New Zealand, coming out at the age of twenty-four as a passenger in the ship Thurnland Castle.

On arrival at Auckland Mr. Fyson decided to work in the Waikato, but after a few months there came on to Gisborne, arriving in 1877. In 1879 he was appointed postal carrier at the Gisborne Post Office and remained there five years. In 1892 he joined up once more and remained in the Government employ until five or six years ago, when he retired on superannuation.

The Newly-Formed Borough in 1877.

In 1877 Gisborne was a very small place compared with the town of today, said Mr. Fyson, in conversation with a representative of the Gisborne Times. The borough, for it was a borough then in its first year, did not contain 500 residents. On the Kaiti side there were practically no Europeans living, the population there consisting of Maoris. Gladstone Road was almost pure sand, and the dust that arose during even a slight breeze was enough to blind one. Bullock drays were common vehicles of transport in those days, and it was quite an impressive sight to see twenty to thirty bullocks removing a house on sledges. These bullocks were very powerful animals, but even at times their task was beyond them. He remembered on one occasion seeing a bullock dray with a large team bogged in Gladstone Rd., just above the Royal Hotel, and it had to be dug out. The road near the Matawhero Hall was very bad in the early days. The route was past the Royal Oak, and not round towards the saleyards as now. At the end of the road the rider or pedestrian crossed the river and joined the road again just below the present bridge.

Mrs. A. J. Fyson.

Mail Delivery in 1879.

As stated above Mr. Fyson entered the service of the Postal Department in 1879 and was the first letter carrier appointed in Gisborne. The procedure in delivering the mail was to put the letters in one's pocket, meet the addressee up the street, and deliver the missive to him. Later he used an old bag to carry the mail. He would go to the wharf on the arrival of the steamer from Napier, and often carried on his shoulder the whole of the southern mail (from Napier, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin). Later the mail was removed in a hand cart, which was wheeled on the footpath.

The Coast mails in the early days were carried by packhorses, and the journey from Gisborne to Port Awanui took three days. On occasions the mail was considerably delayed. One week the mailman was due to leave again on the Monday, but when the day arrived he could not be found. The Postmaster inquired of Mr. Fyson the whereabouts of the mailman's horses, and was told they were on the Kaiti side of the river. He instructed they should be caught and Mr. Fyson should take the mail up the Coast. He protested he did not know the road, but his objections were lightly waved aside. Mr. Fyson set out on the journey, but to his delight was overtaken near Tolaga Bay by the mailman, who had arrived on the scene after Mr. Fyson's departure.

The Old Post Office.

In those days the Post Office was at the back of the present building, but prior to that it stood where the present Post Office clock is situated. It consisted of a four or five room shanty with a verandah and residents knocked on a slide for their mail. If the officer in charge happened to be busy at the time of the knock, and it was repeated, his language when he came out was not always according to Government regulations.

Maori Correspondence.

The correspondence for the Maoris was always a source of anxiety to page 109 the postal officials, and a simple plan was decided on. All the letters to Maoris were left on a heap on the counter and when a Native came in and asked for a letter he was waved over to the bundle and went through it, and if any letters were addressed to him, took them. Further troubles were caused by the fact that Maori correspondents would address letters to pakehas by the European names translated into the Maori language, and many amusing incidents arose from that practice, sometimes all the small staff of the office being called in to assist in solving the problems, and then the aid of a Native interpreter would need to be sought.

A Postal Problem.

In the course of his duties as a postal carrier, Mr. Fyson was often called upon to exercise his ingenuity to decipher addresses. One day, however, a letter came to the office which caused general consternation, as for some time no one could make head nor tail of it. The staff were called in and even the aid of outsiders sought, but it was almost useless. Mr. Fyson put forward his theory, which met with general assent, but one line was still missing, and to this day, so far as is known, no one has interpreted it. The address on the letter was as follow:—

Drawing of a bell, followed by the letters E.R.,

C/o the old Jew who taught Oliver Twist to steal, 49 Where Peary Went Street Fresh Place, Home of the Rarest Bird, New Zealand.

Mr. Fyson's interpretation was as follows:—

Mr. Beller, C/o Mr. Fagin 49 North Street, Newtown. New Zealand.

“The Home of the Rarest Bird” baffled all. The problem was solved so far as the Gisborne office was concerned by Mr. Fyson writing across the envelope, “Try Palmerston North!” What the Manawatu staff did is not known, but nothing further was heard of the letter.

Volunteering in the Early Days.

Volunteer corps were in existence in Poverty Bay before Mr. Fyson's arrival, but about 1880 the J. Battery was formed. They had a 6-pr Armstrong and drilled strenuously at this gun, under an insructor from Napier. One Easter encampment held at Roseland Gardens, Makaraka, about 1881, near the present railway station, lives in Mr. Fyson's memory. A picked gun crew of nine had been chosen to give an exhibition of gun drill. The gun had to be dismounted, and with wheels, laid flat on the ground, and then put together again. This particular crew was very smart, and so keen in their work than at the camp they practically slept under the gun. The exhibition had first to be given in slow time and then in rapid time. In the latter case one minute for the complete dismounting and mounting was considered a record, but the gun crew mentioned performed their task in 59 sec. Captain (afterwards Colonel) Winter made a close inspection of the gun after the operation, and there was intense excitement when he declared everything was correct. The gun crew were the heroes of the day and were rushed off to the canteen. On parade at camp that day there were 110, including a volunteer corps at Ormond. The exact number is recalled by the fact that Mr. Fyson, in addition to being a member of the gun crew, was also quartermaster-sergeant. A well-known local resident was so pleased at the exhibition that he insisted on “shouting” for all the men in camp. Quartermaster-Sergeant Fyson was called in, and added up the total, and the bill ran to just over £2 10s, for one or two of the men did not accept the invitation. The uniform of the J Battery in those days was a blue uniform, white pipeclay belts, and a blue forage cap.

J. Battery — 1881.
Lieut. Boylan, Gunner Steele, Gunner Hansen, Gunner Pavitt, Corp. Ballantyne, Gunner Bourne, Gunner Rosie, Gunner Robb, Q.M.-Sergt. Fyson.

Early Day Pastimes.

The chief pastime in the early days was billiards. There were only five hotels—the Albion, Argyll (now Coronation). Masonic, Shamrock (now Gisborne), and Royal. The lastnamed was on the site of the present building, and stood quite a long way out from the town. Every hotel had its billiard room and many keenly exciting games were played. There was also an hotel at Makaraka, near the old Kia Ora factory, two hotels at Waerenga-a-hika, two at Ormond, where the Armed Constabulary were stationed, and one at Matawhero. Keen interest was also taken in cricket, and many exciting games were played at Te Hapara, where Mr. Rees had a proper pitch at his residence.

Firing the Noon Gun.

Official time was recorded in Gisborne in those days. Near the old flagstaff just close to the mouth of the Waikanae stream stood a 24-pr muzzle loader, an old ship's gun. Various bands of residents were in the habit of practising with the gun, firing shot and shell at targets in the sea. It was also used on the Queen's Birthday to fire the Royal Salute. One of Mr. Fyson's duties was to go down to the gun every Saturday and fire it at noon exactly to give the residents the correct time. He always took with him two pounds of powder and the first procedure was to grease the gun well. Mr. Fyson cannot recall how the practice of firing the gun at noon started, but the residents used to look forward to it. Afterwards the gun was removed, and the practice of course ceased.

The Gun, the Horse and the Farmer.

The report of the gun invariably caused consternation among the horses in the vicinity and in this conncetion is an amusing story. There was no bridge over the Waikanae then and the residents had to ride or drive across the stream. On Saturdays the farmers always came into town. On one occasion the late Mr W. S. Greene was crossing the stream when his buggy stuck in the middle. Though he tried every means he could not get the horse to move the vehicle. Mr. Fyson suggested to Mr Greene that he should get into the buggy and hold on tight when the gun was fired only a short distance away. Mr Greene wanted to argue, but there was only two minutes to go to noon. Rather sceptically, he got into the buggy, and in a few minutes had the surprise of his life. When the gun was fired the horse plunged madly and a second later the horse, buggy and rider were on the bank.

Live Shells in River.

The ammunition in those days was placed in charge of Mr. Fyson, and on one occasion he had a very exciting experience. One Sunday night a fire broke out in the store of Carr and Sons, merchants. He was at church at the time, and a man nearby said the Post Office was ablaze. Mr. Fyson rushed down and saw that for the present the Post Office was safe, but sparks were occasionally descending on the shingled roof. In a shed near the building were two live shells. Deciding to take no risks he carried the shells away and threw them in the river near the present Kaiti bridge, and to the best of his knowledge they are still there.

Prisoners Join Bathing Parties.

When he first came to Gisborne Mr. Fyson stayed at a boardinghouse in Peel Street, near the site or the present Gisborne Garage, and with many others he spent much time on the beach. Opposite the boardinghouse was the prison, a yard enclosed with a palisade and fence, on the site of the present police station. On the way to the beach the bathers would converse with the prisoners. On several occasions prisoners anxious to join the bathing party would implore their assistance in removing some of the battens, and the offender would go to the beach with the party. On the return he would again enter the gaol, and the battens would be replaced.

A Gruesome Find.

A large number of Maoris lived near the mouth of the Waikanae then. On one occasion when in the vicinity, Mr. Fyson found three skulls, apparently a relic of the olden days.

Another time when on his round as a postal carrier he passed a Maori whare which was open, and saw something like a keg of ammunition. As he was in charge of the ammunition of the district he investigated and found 300 rounds for the old long Enfield rifle. He removed the keg, and took it to the store at the Post Office, but strange to say no inquiries were ever made on the matter.

Mrs. Fyson's Narrow Escape From Massacre.

A narrow escape in the Poverty Bay massacre was experienced by Mrs. Fyson, who by the way was a daughter of Mr. Forbes, a wellknown local builder. He was engaged in constructing a woolshed at Waerenga-a-hika when a workman said he had received information that the Hauhaus were coming down. Mr. Forbes said he intended to stay, but all the workmen thought otherwise and in his temporary absence, all left in a body. As no good could be gained by remaining, Mr Forbes left and with his family went to Auckland. A few days later the Poverty Bay massacre occurred. It is interesting to note that Mr. Forbes built the Catholic Church in Gisborne in 1878 or 1879, and also built a house on Whataupoko next to where Mr. Lysnar is now living. That house is still standing despite the fact that it must be sixty years since its erection.

Tarawera Eruption.

Great excitement was occasioned in Gisborne on June 10, 1886, on the occasion of the Tarawera eruption. A rather severe shock of earthquake was experienced during the night, and the residents had to breakfast by lamplight. Mr. Fyson came into the street, and met Mr. J. W. Nolan, who commented on the occurrence. The residents were undoubtedly frightened, and as all the wires were down no news could be obtained. Volcanic sand fell in Gisborne and especially heavy falls were recorded at Ormond. The steamer Southern Cross from Tolaga Bay to Gisborne had her decks covered with sand. It was noticeable that no volcanic sand fell at Napier, and this was accounted for by the fact that at the time of the eruption the wind was blowing strongly across towards the East Coast from the direction of Rotorua.

Where Are the Maori Canoes Gone?

One thing that puzzles Mr. Fyson is the absence of Maori canoes, which in the seventies and eighties were common on the river. They were of rather a small pattern, but were seen in large numbers. They were in constant request by those desiring to cross the river. He assumes that they have either been taken away or been washed out to sea.

Sir Donald Mclean