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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Otago & Southland Provincial Districts]

Shag Point

page 451

Shag Point.

Shag Point is the centre of a coalmining district in the county of Waihemo, and is situated seven miles from Palmerston. The railway station of Shag Point Junction, near the township, is on the main line, forty-seven miles north from Dunedin. There are two notable mines in the neighbourhood, one belonging to the Shag Point Coal Company, and the other to the Allandale Coal Company. Shag Point has a public school, post and telephone office, one hotel, and a general store. There is good rabbit shooting for sportsmen, and the Shag river, near at hand, is well stocked with trout. On the summit of Pukiviti Hill, many hundreds of feet above the sea level, stands in solitary grandeur, the massive cairn erected to the memory of the late Sir John McKenzie, long notable as Minister of Lands and Agriculture in the Government of New Zealand.

Allandale Coal Company , Limited. Messrs James Allen, M.H.R. (chairman), Allan McIntosh (managing director), and William Everest (secretary). Registered Office, Allan-dale Mine, Shag Point. Bankers, National Bank of New Zealand. This well-known mine, which has an area of 1000 acres of leasehold land, was opened up in 1888 by the managing director, after whom it was named. Mr. McIntosh worked the mine on his own account for the first two years, and was then joined by Mr. Allen under the style of McIntosh and Allen, the company being incorporated in 1890. An incline drive 1000 feet in length has been sunk, and three distinct seams of pitch coal, varying from four feet to nine feet in thickness, are being worked; the annual output ranging from 20,000 to 25,000 tons of good marketable steam and household coal. The machinery employed consists of a double cylinder horizontal steam engine of twenty horse-power, and a large Tangye pump at the end of the main adit, which will throw 10,000 gallons per hour, and is capabale of ejecting the accumulated water of twenty-four hours in an eight hours' shift. There is also—for cases of emergency—a reserve pump by Blakey with a capacity of 5000 gallons per hour; but this pump is seldom required. About fifty persons find steady employment at the Allandale mine. A private railway has been constructed from the mine to Bushey station, two miles distant, and the company owns a locomotive and complete mining plant for placing its coal on the Government line, for transmission to the markets.

Mr. Allan Mcintosh , the Managing Director and discoverer of the Allandale mine, was born in Glasgow in 1842, and was brought up as a coal miner at Baillieston, near Glasgow. He came out to the Colonies in 1862, by the “Eastern Empire,” and landed in Sydney. After three years at Newcastle, where he found employment in the coal trade, he crossed the Tasman Sea to Hokitika at the time of the gold “rush.” Shortly afterwards he came to Otago and was employed in gold-mining at Macrae's for six months, and for a similar period in coalmining at Green Island. He went back for eighteen months to Newcastle, New South Wales, but returned to the Colony as manager of Mr. Pollock's Coal Mine at Green Island, and was appointed in February, 1871, to the charge of the Shag Point Colliery, which he controlled till 1878. On retiring from that position Mr. McIntosh opened a general store in the building in which he has since resided, and conducted the business till he opened up the Allandale mine ten years later. Mr. McIntosh has taken part in local affairs generally, and served as a member of the Shag Point school committee for several years. He was married in September, 1869, to a daughter of the late Mr. W. Williams, of London, and has had ten sons and six daughters, of whom five sons and five daughters survive.

Mr. A. McIntosh.

Mr. A. McIntosh.

Mr. Alexander Sinclair Gillanders was formerly Mine Manager of the Allandale Coal Company's Mine at Shag Point. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1867, and was educated partly in Scotland and partly at Dunedin, where he arrived by the last trip of the ship “Peter Denny,” in 1874. Mr. Gillanders was brought up as a mechanical engineer and served his time with Kincaid and McQueen in Dunedin. After completing his apprenticeship he worked for some time at his trade in that city. In 1891 he was appointed engineer in charge of the machinery at Shag Point, where he remained till 1893, when he joined the service of the Allandale Company as engineer. He was appointed underground foreman in 1896, and promoted to the managership of the mine in the following year. Mr. Gillanders was married in 1893 to a daughter of Mr. A. McIntosh, managing director of the Allandale Company, and has two daughters and one son.

The Shag Point Coal Mine . The mine is opened up to a depth of 405 feet, from which drives have been extended 1050 feet under the sea. Six seams varying in thickness from two feet six inches to eight feet have already been discovered and large quantities of coal are regularly shipped to the colonial markets. The machinery is worked from two large Galloway boilers, built page 452 by Sparrow, of Dunedin. Each boiler is about forty horse-power and is worked to a pressure of sixty pounds to the square inch, with a nominal capacity of 120 pounds. The winding engines are of thirty horsepower, and the engine is a double cylinder horizontal. At the bottom of the pit there is a Grange double direct acting engine of forty horse-power. At 140 feet below the surface there is one of Tangye's special pumps, which will throw to the surface 10,000 gallons of water per hour. The mine is regularly worked for two shifts of eight hours per day.

Mr. Thomas Shore, M. Inst. M.E., Manager of the Shag Point Mine, was born at Loch Winnoch, Renfrewshire. Scotland, in 1849. He was educated at Dairy, Ayrshire, where he was brought up to mining and became a deputy mine manager and contractor before he left for New Zealand. Mr. Shore landed at Port Chalmers, by the ship “Invercargill,” in 1879, and was employed at the Kaitangata mine for three years, at Westport for a like period, and was manager at Orepuki for two years. He afterwards became manager at Hokonui and subsequently for about five years at Walton Park, and was appointed to the managership at Shag Point in 1894. Mr. Shore became a member of the Institute of Mining Engineers in 1890. He is a Scotch Mason, and was initiated in Lodge Blair, 290, at Dairy. He is now attached to the Palmerston Lodge, and has passed all the chairs. Mr. Shore was married in 1871 to a daughter of the late Mr. A. Nibblock, of Wigtonshire, and has a surviving family of three sons and one daughter.

Mr. T. Shore.

Mr. T. Shore.

Mr. William Edwin Rixon , formerly Engine Driver at the Shag Point Mine, was born in Herkshiro, England, in 1867, and came to Port Chalmers with his parents, by the ship “Lutterworth,” when he was five years of age. He was educated at Moeraki and Shag Point, entered the service of the Company in 1882, and was entrusted with the onerous duties of driver in 1886. Mr. Rixon was married on the 7th of June, 1894, to a daughter of the late Mr. M. Todd, farmer, of Shag Valley, and has five sons.

Mr. Alfred Latimer , formerly Engineer of the Shag Point Colliery, was born in 1865 at Port Chalmere and educated in Dunedin. He served seven years' apprenticeship to the firm of Cossens and Black, and after a year as engineer of the s.s. “Theodore,” on Lake Wanaka, he took charge as engineer of the Cromwell mine for three years. After a short digging experience in Marlborough, Mr. Latimer was for a year engaged in gold dredging, on his own account, at Deep Stream. He then became dredgemaster of the suctiondredge working at Anderson's Bay in the Dunedin Harbour, and seven months later went to Macetown as battery manager and engineer of the Tipperary Mine, and engineer for the Sunrise and Premier Mines. In 1894 Mr. Latimer was appointed engineer at the Shag Point mine. He was married on the 2nd of November, 1897, to a daughter of Mr. A. Buchanan, of Naseby.

Mr. A. Latimer,

Mr. A. Latimer,

Mr. James Prentice , formerly one of the Engine Drivers at the Shag Point mine, was born in 1851 in Bothwell, Lanarkshire, Scotland. His education was gained in his native place, and he began to work in a coalmine when he was ten years of age. For a number of years he was connected with coalmining in Scotland, and landed in Port Chalmers on Boxing Day, 1880, by the ship “Auckland.” Soon afterwards he went to Shag Point, and worked as a miner for about two years, and was appointed engine driver in 1883. Mr. Prentice was married, in 1871, to a daughter of Mr. J. Mitchell, late of Kaikorai, and has seven sons and four daughters.

Mr. Frederick Arthur Williams , formerly Engine Driver in the employment of the Shag Point Colliery Company, is a son of Mr. W. H. Williams, Crown Lands Ranger in South Canterbury. He was born at One-hunga, Auckland, in 1870, and educated at Shag Point and at Waitaki High School. In 1883 he entered the service of the Company, page 453 became, driver five years later, and continued to perform the duties of that respensible position till 1897, when he went to Barewood and engaged in engine-driving, but returned to Shag Point and was re-appointed in January, 1899. Mr. Williams was married, in 1893, to a daughter of the late Mr. W. Walker, of Palmerston, Otago.

The Pukiuiti Hotel , (C. Burrell, proprietor). Shag Point. This hotel is situated on the Shag Valley Road about two miles from the Point. It is a wooden building of one storey, and contains fourteen rooms, of which eight are bedrooms. In the well furnished dining-room there is seating accommodation for twelve guests. The billiard-room contains one of Alcock's tables. There is good stabling behind the hotel.

Mr. John Miller , formerly Proprietor of the Pukiviti Hotel, was born in Edinburgh in 1858, and was educated in his native city. He arrived at Port Chalmers in 1879, per ship “Timaru,” and joined the service of the Union Steamship Company, as a steward, and was for many years well-known in connection with the coastal service. Having risen to the position of chief steward. Mr. Miller went to England in 1890, and returned to the Colony as chief steward of the s.s. “Taviuni.” In 1893 he retired from the Union Company's service, and became proprietor of the Pukiviti Hotel. Mr. Miller was married, in 1890, to a daughter of the late Mr. C. McVeigh, of Dumbarton.

Mr. J. Miller.

Mr. J. Miller.

Goodley, Alexander , General Storekeeper, Shag Point Bankers, Bank of New Zealand. Private residence, Main Street. The proprietor, who has been a Justice of the Peace since 1896, established this business in 1883. The store is one of the most prominent in the township, and full and well assorted stocks of groceries, drapery, hardware and other lines are kept. Mr. Goodley was born in Dalry, Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1858, and was educated and apprenticed to the grocery trade in his native land. He arrived in Port Chalmers, by the ship “Canterbury,” in 1880, and settled in Palmerston South, where he was for two years in the employment of Mr. J. Maedonald, prior to establishing his own business. Mr. Goodley is a member of the Palmerston Masonic Lodge No. 26, of which he was worshipful master in 1897–8. As a Druid, he is connected with the Rose of Palmerston Lodge. Mr. Goodley was married, in 1886, to a daughter of Mr. E. Clark, of Horse Range, near Palmerston, and has, surviving, five sons.

Fraser, Angus, Junior , Butcher, Shag Point. Private residence, Pukiviti. This business is the oldest established butchery at Shag Point, and has been conducted by the present proprietor since 1895. The premises consist of a leasehold shop and dwelling in the main street, and a considerable business is done with customers in various parts of the district. Mr. Fraser was born in Sutherlandshire, Scotland, in 1870. He arrived in Port Chalmers, by the ship “Nelson,” and was educated at the Shag Point and Palmerston schools, and served his apprenticeship as a butcher in Palmerston. Mr. Fraser, who is unmarried, is a Past Master of the Loyal Palmerston Lodge of Oddfellows.

Mr. A. Fraser, Junior.

Mr. A. Fraser, Junior.

Fraser, Angus , Settler, Pukiviti. Mr. Mr Fraser was born in Sutherlandshire, Scotland, in 1846. He was brought up to farming, and arrived with his family at Port Chalmers, by the ship “Nelson,” in 1874. Mr. Fraser has been well known in the district since his arrival, and has carried on business as a farmer. He has been a member of the Pukiviti school committee since 1886, and was for about nine years its chairman. While he was in Scotland, Mr. Fraser was for ten years a member of the Sutherlandshire artillery. He was married in November, 1868, to a daughter of Mr. D. Bruce, of Helmsdale, Sutherlandshire, and has six sons and four daughters.