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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Nelson, Marlborough & Westland Provincial Districts]

Westport

page 151

Westport.

Westport , so called on account of its being the west port of the Middle Island, is the most northerly of all the West Coast ports, and lies to the east of the river Buller, one of the largest navigable rivers in New Zealand. The town first sprang into existence when a rush for gold set in at Charlestown, a small mining township, eighteen miles south of Westport. In the early days Westport was only approachable by sea, although many of the pioneers visions, was in sight of two or three hundred diggers, almost starving, and yet we could not reach them.” Such was the state of affairs in 1862. The diggings may be said to have been at their height in 1868, and the largest population was then at Addison's Flat, Charleston, and Brighton. It is estimated that at one time there were fully 2,000 people living in the vicinity of the Northern Terraces. On the 1st of April, 1867, a “rush” set in at the Caledonian Terrace; and Addison's Flat was “rushed” a few months later. Between 1865 chor—“The Gipsy,” “Lily,” and “Necromancer”—drawing from twelve to fourteen feet of water, were raised and lifted into the town. A large hotel owned by Messrs Hooper and Dodson, was washed out to sea, and several of the principal buildings, including the hospital and courthouse, were unapproachable; in fact, so thoroughly did the flood effect its work of devastation, that the settlers were afterwards unable to locate their sites. Nor was that the only occasion on which Westport was disastrously flooded, for the trouble managed to make their way along the beach from Greymouth. The distance by sea is 145 miles southwest from Nelson, and sixty from Greymouth. Mr. Reuben Waite, one of the early pioneers, records an instance of the difficulties which had to be contended with in his day. He says: “On one trip we were a way thirteen weeks, and entered every harbour—Blind Bay, Port Hardy and West Wanganui— having been driven there by stress of weather. These were trying times, when the vessel, full of proand 1870 there were fully 10,000 people living within a radius of twenty miles from Westport. About 1872 the town commenced to decline in population until money was borrowed some years later from the Government for harbour works. In 1863 a big flood occurred, and washed away a considerable portion of the town. The bar became almost unworkable, and boats drawing fourteen feet of water were not able to cross with more than half the usual quantity of cargo. Three ships lying at anoccurred many times, though not on the same scale. Nevertheless, old Westport is to-day part sea and part beach. The store of the late Mr. Jules Simon, now one of the houses closest to the sea, was one of the farthest away ere the turbulent tide made its inroads upon the habitations of the early settlers. One of the earliest explorers in regard to Westport was Mr. James Mackay. He arrived in 1845 and in 1855, in conjunction with Mr. John Clark, he explored much of the mountainous country lying between the Karamea, Aorere, and Anatoki rivers. Two years later, accompanied by two Massacre Bay Maoris, he travelled on foot from West Wanganui to the Buller river, and went inlaud as far as Charleston. The first vessel to enter the Buller river was the cutter “Supply,” in charge of Captain John Walker. She had been chartered by Messrs Rochfort and Mackay to bring provisions to Greymouth, but owing to bad weather had to put into Westport. There the explorers remained some months, but eventually went on to Nelson, and thence to Auckland, where they were instructed by Governor Gore Browne to return to the coast, make reserves, and offer the natives a sum of money for the millions of acres comprised in the territory. This was successfully accomplished, and on the 21st of May, 1860, the sum of £300 was paid to the resident Maoris in full satisfaction of of their claims. Mr. Mackay's last exploration party to the Buller was in 1862, when, in company with Messrs John Knyvett and Arthur Knyvett, he “blazed” a saddle track from Upper Aorere (Collingwood) to the mouth of the Heaphy river. Messrs Martin and Waite were the first to settle in Westport, which they did in 1860.

The local bodies in Westport are the Borough Council, the Buller County Council, and the Westport Harbour Board. There are four churches; namely, Anglican, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic and Methodist. The schools consist of the Westport District High School, with its primary and secondary classes, the Roman Catholic schools teaching both branches, and a private school. The Athenaeum, which was situated in Lyndhurst Street, was burnt down on the 1st of January, 1903; and the building has been replaced by the Westport Free Library, at a cost of £2,000, which was borne by Mr. Andrew Carnegie, the American millionaire. Racing, trotting, cricket, football, tennis, cycling, swimming, and aquatics generally, are amongst the popular pastimes of Westport. The Harbour Board and the Railway Department have workshops in the town, which has also two sawmills, two aerated water factories, and two breweries. The port is noted chiefly for its large export of coal; the town is connected by railway with Mokihinui Mine, thirty-one miles distant, and the whole output of the mines, which extend from Denniston to that place, must pass through the port. The Town Hall, the offices of the Harbour Board, and of the Buller County Council, the Customhouse, branches of the Banks of New Zealand and New South Wales, numerous hotels, shops and business places generally, are in the main street of Westport, which has two successful building societies. A short railway, belonging to the Westport Harbour Board, connects the port with Cape Foulwind. At the top of Palmerston Street, beyond the railway crossing, there is a very pretty public park, with well-kept walks and shady seats. The Government departments are represented by the District Court, Warden's and Magistrate's Court, a Police Station, page 152 Land and Survey Office, and Post and Telegraph Offices. There is a well-equipped School of Mines, which has been conducted since 1890 and classes are held in the old Courthouse.

The town of Westport is situated on the east bank of the Buller river, and its immense coal staiths and wharlage accommodation with huge cranes, are very striking. The Buller discharges its waters into the ocean at the Heads, in a northerly direction. To the south and east of the town, there are wooded ranges as far as the eye can travel. In a northerly direction Mount Rochfort, 3,382 feet high, can be seen, with Mount William, 3,482 feet high, to the eastward, and Buckingham Peaks, 3,273 feet high, to the south. During recent years the town has considerably improved in the number and character of its buildings; and in spite of the original condition of the site, which was extensively covered with dense bush only a few years ago, the streets and roads are first class. At the census of 1901, the population of the borough of Westport was 2,922, and of its suburbs, sixty-two; in addition to which 240 persons were on board the vessels in the harbour. It is estimated that the population of the borough has now (1905) risen to 3,400; and the number of houses, which in 1901 was returned as 633, was estimated at 900 in 1905. The population of the county of Buller in 1901 was 4,868, of which only twenty-two were Chinese; and the total number of dwellings was 1,157. Westport is in the provincial district of Nelson, and in the electoral district of Buller, of which it is the chief settlement; and the population of the whole district at the census of 1901 was 10,747.

Members Of Parliament.
Present Member.

Mr. James Colvin , Member of the House of Representatives for the Buller electorate, was returned at the head of the poll by a majority of 544 votes, over his opponent, Mr. P. J. Regan, in the year 1899. At the election of 1902 Mr. Colvin was again returned, and polled 3,370 votes, and his opponent, the Rev. F. W. Isitt, who stood for the seat in order to insure the taking of a local option poll, polled 769 votes. Mr. Colvin was born, in the year 1844, in County Donegal, Ireland, where he was educated. When seventeen years of age he went to Australia, and landed at Melbourne in 1861. Mr. Colvin successfully followed gold mining for some time at Creswick Creek, and at Daylesford, and in 1862 was attracted to New Zealand by the Otago gold fields; he went to the Dunstan, and later to the Wakatipu, and afterwards removed to Invercargill. A year later he proceeded to the Wakamarina, and started a store. Mr. Colvin then went to Hokitika, and opened a store at Waimea. Later, he sold his business at Hokitika, and started in the Grey Valley. In 1867, when the gold discovery at the Buller caused another stir amongst miners, Mr. Colvin went to Addison's Flat, and in 1872 entered business at Westport. In 1885 he was elected to the Buller County Council and served six years, and in 1890 was chairman of the Westport Harbour Board. He occupied a seat on the Nelson Education Board in 1894. Mr. Colvin has been an Oddfellow for many years, and is connected with the Westport Lodge, in which he has been through all the degrees.

Mr. J. Colvin.

Mr. J. Colvin.

Former Members.

Mr. Eugene Joseph O'Conor represented the Buller electoral district in the House of Representatives, from 1871 to 1875, and from 1884 to 1893. He earned for himself the sobriquet of “The Buller Lion,” and proved an active and intelligent member of Parliament. To him was due the credit of the passing of the Westport Harbour Act, which he, in the first instance, drafted and circulated in a pamphlet explaining his scheme of providing for the work (without recourse to the Colonial Treasury), from the revenue derivable from the coalfield itself. Upon the Act becoming law, Mr. O'Conor accepted the position of Honorary Chairman, which he retained until the success of the work was ensured. In the House, he advocated democratie measures, such as the graduated land tax, closer settlement, the exclusion of undesirable aliens, election of the Legislative Council by the people, the referendum, and the abolition of party government. Of late years, Mr. O'Conor has spent much time travelling abroad, and has patented some useful inventions. He is now (1905) residing in Wellington.

Mr. Timothy Gallagher was a member of the House of Representatives for the Buller district from 1868 to 1869. Mr. Gallagher's firm (Gallagher Bros.) was well known in connection with the goldfields of New Zealand, as [gap — reason: illegible] being engaged in the business of hotelkeeping, storekeeping and farming on the West Coast. Mr. Gallagher afterwards removed to Kaiapoi, Canterbury, and subsequently settled in Westland, where he conducted a business for a number of years. He died many years ago.

Dr. Joseph Henry represented the Buller district in the House of Representatives from 1876 to 1879. He practised his profession in the Westport district for some years, and removed to Wellington in 1881. Dr. Henry died in the year 1894.

Mr. John Munro , who was returned in 1881 as representative of the Buller district in the House of Representatives, served his constituency until 1884. He is further referred to as a former Mayor of the borough of Westport.

Mr. Edward Shaw sat for Inangahua in the House of Representatives during the years 1883–1884. He was an able man, an English barrister, and for some time filled the office of Warden and Magistrate at Inangahua, Reefton and Westport. Mr. Shaw was afterwards appointed to the position of District Judge.

Mr. Andrew Agnew Stuartmenteath represented the electorate of Inangahua in Parliament from 1884 to 1887. Mr. Stuart-Menteath is further referred to in the Wellington volume of this Cyclopedia; pages 266–7.

page 153

Sir Robert Stout was returned as a member of the House of Representatives for the electorate of Inangahua in 1893. Sir Robert is referred to in the Otago volume of this work as Chief Justice of New Zealand; and articles about him appear also at pages 64 and 256–60 of the Wellington volume.

Westport Corporation.

The Borough Of Westport was incorporated in 1873 under the Municipal Corporations Act of 1867. The area of the borough is 713 acres, and there is an estimated population of 3,100. There are about 1,100 rateable properties in the borough, owned by the same number of ratepayers, and there are 900 dwellings.

Rates And Revenue.

A general rate of 2s in the £ is struck on the annual value, which amounts to £24,000. The Charitable Aid rate is 6d in the £, the library rate one penny; and, in addition, there is a water rate, which amounts to 5 per cent on the annual value for dwellings, 3½ per cent. for business premises, and half these percentages in cases where the water is not used.

Loans.

The borough borrowed a sum of £4000 under the Government Loans to Local Bodies Act in the year 18934. repayable in half-yearly instalments. Then £6,645 was borrowed in the same way for the purchase of a site for an abattoir, and the erection of the necessary buildings. There is also a large loan for the construction of waterworks, which cost £30,000.

Licenses And Streets.

There are seventeen licensed hotels within the borough, and two bottle licenses. About sixteen miles and ahalf of streets have been formed within the boundaries, at a cost of £21,000.

Waterworks.

The waterworks were opened in January, 1903. A plentiful supply is obtained at Giles' Creek, five miles from the borough, at the foot of Mount Rochfort. A large reservoir has been constructed, and contains five million gallons. The water flows by gravitation through tunnels, and is conveyed from the reservoir by sixty-five chains of pipes, which, outside the borough, are earthenware, and from twelve to fifteen inches in diameter; within the borough, they are iron, and eight inches in diameter. The Council laid on the water to the dwellings of the ratepayers free of charge, and the pressure is equal to 1601b to the square inch.

Borough Abattoir.

The borough abattoir stands on part of a section of 130 acres of land at Orawaite, bought at a cost of £1,300. The building has concrete foundations, brick walls, and an iron roof; it cost £3,200, and was completed in April, 1905.

Reserves, Etc.

There are reserves in connection with the borough for a Town Hall, Library, and Eire Brigade Station, and there is an endowment of 240 acres, which brings in a yearly revenue of about £245. The Town Hall stands in Palmerston Street, and was erected in 1880. It is built of wood and iron, and contains public offices, council chambers, and rooms for the Town Clerk and Borough Engineer. A portion of the land attached to the Town Hall brings in a yearly rent of £20. The Council, in its capacity as a Domain Board, has the control of three reserves; namely, Victoria Square, which is eleven acres in extent; twelve acres on the beach; and ninety acres at Kawatiri. In the year 1905 a sum of £2,200 was raised on debentures; £2,000 to be expended on improvements at Victoria Square, and £200 for fencing and clearing the reserve on the beach. Westport is drained chiefly by pipe drains, for surface water only, into the Buller river.

Borough Council.

Mr. George Hargreaves Gothard is the Mayor (1905), and Messrs George Francis Bryan, James Horace Greenwood, Alfred Craig Hansen, Ernest Hill, Arthur King, George Robert Lamplough, John Marshall, Fergus Ferguson Munro, and Henry Nahr, councillors. Mr. A. D. G. Cumming is Town Clerk, Treasurer, Returning Officer, Rate Collector and Valuer; Mr. J. F. W. H. Schadick, Borough Engineer; Mr. J. Bradley, Gas Works Manager; and Mr. F. W. Hobbs, Assistant Town Clerk and Rate Collector.

Councillor George Robert Lamplough was first elected a member of the Westport Borough Council in the year 1888, and was re-elected in 1905. He was previously for six years a member of the Buller County Council, and for four years of that time was also chairman. Mr. Lamplough is a member of the Westland Hospital Board, and of the Westport school committee. He was born in the year 1842, in Thornham, Yorkshire, England, where he was educated, and learned butchering with his brother. Mr. Lamplough was for a few years in Australia, and arrived in Otago towards the close of the year 1863. He went to Wakamarina goldfields, and thence to the West Coast in the s.s. “Wallibi,” when Mr. Robinson and other members of the party were drowned by the capsizing of a boat. Mr. Lamplough was for some time digging at Greenstone, up the Grey river and down at Five Mile, whence he moved to Westport. He is married, and has five children.

Councillor G. R. Lamplough.

Councillor G. R. Lamplough.

Councillor Henry Nahr was elected to a seat on the Westport Borough Council in 1896, and has continued a member. He was born in Wanganui, in 1875. Mr. Nahr was educated at Wellington College, and learned the business of a brewer under his father, Mr. William Nahr, who died in 1896. Mr. Nahr has occupied a seat on the Buller Hospital and Charitable Aid Boards since the year 1901; he was elected to the chair in December, 1903, and re-elected in the following year. Mr. Nahr is also a trustee of the Charleston Hospital, and is a member of the Westport Jockey Club, of which he was vice-president in 1905; and in the same year he was president of the Poultry Club. As a Freemason he is a Past Master of Lodge Aorangi, English Constitution, and was appointed Director of Ceremonies in 1905. In 1898, Mr. Nahr married a daughter of the late Mr. W. McElwee, and has one son and one daughter.

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Councillor George Francis Buyan was elected a member of the Westport Borough Council in the year 1905. He was born in 1862, at Oxford, Canterbury, where he was educated, and learned sawmilling. In 1885, Mr. Bryan went to Australia, and after two years, returned to New Zealand, and settled on the West Coast. He commenced sawmilling in the Grey Valley, and afterwards removed to Reefton, where he resides. Mr. Bryan married a daughter of Mr. John Booth, of Oxford, Canterbury, in the year 1889, and has three sons and two daughters. He is further referred to as a member of the firm of Bowater and Bryan, sawmillers and timber merchants, Westport and Reefton.

Councillor Arthur King was elected a member of the Westport Borough Council in the year 1905. He was born in 1812, in Greenwich, England, and as a boy was employed in Greenwich at the Coach and Horses Hotel, where he afterwards became barman. Mr. King came to New Zealand in the ship “Goleonda” in 1862, and worked in the bakery trade at Nelson. At the time of the West Coast rush he opened a store at Charleston, where he conducted a successful business. Mr. King was afterwards the proprietor of the European Hotel for twelve years, and subsequently opened the South Spit Hotel, of which he was proprietor for over three years. Later he sold out and took the Miner's Arms Hotel, at Denniston, where he remained for five years. Mr. King then bought the Miner's Rest at Waimangaroa, and conducted it for eighteen months, when he took the Prince of Wales Hotel. Mr. King has been a Freemason, Forester, and an Oddfellow for many years. He married Miss Bray, of Nelson, in the year 1874.

Councillor A. King.

Councillor A. King.

Councillor Fergus Ferguson Munro was elected to a seat on the Westport Borough Council for the second time, at the close of his year's service as Mayor, in April, 1905. He is further referred to as a former Mayor of the borough, and in connection with the business of John Munro and Co., Limited.

Councillor Alfred Craig Hansen was elected a member of the Westport Borough Council in the year 1905. He was for some time in business as a bookseller and stationer in Palmerston Street, under the style of A. Hansen and Company, but afterwards disposed of his interest to Mr. Parkhouse. Mr. Hansen subsequently became an auctioneer, and is further referred to as captain of the Westport Fire Brigade.

Councillor Ernest Hill was elected to a seat on the Westport Borough Council in the year 1905. He was born in 1869 in Nottingham, England, where he was educated, and came to New Zealand by the ship “Doric,” in 1884. Mr. Hill subsequently settled in the Westport district, and in the year 1898 acquired a fruiterer's and confectioner's business from Mr. S. H. King. He afterwards sold this business, and established himself as a storekeeper and baker in Palmerston Street.

Mr. Alexander David Gordon Cumming , Town Clerk of Westport, has filled that office since 1882. He was born in Nethermuir, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in 1858, and came to New Zealand, landing at Lyttelton with his parents when only a year old. He opened the state school at Waimangaroa in 1877. In 1882 the position of town clerk to the Westport Borough Council became vacant, and he was the successful applicant. Mr. Cumming was married, in 1882, to a daughter of Mr. Norris Blaxhall, of Westport, and has one daughter.

Civic Institutions.

The Gasworks of the Westport Borough Council are amongst the most successful of their kind in New Zealand. Exclusive of maintenance, the sum of £10,500 has been expended on the works, which, however, as an asset are roughly estimated to be worth from £16,000 to £18,000. The buildings comprise a coal-shed, retort-shed, exhauster, purifier, and meter house, and cover a space of about half an acre. The holders have a capacity of about 40,000 cubic feet, and can be increased at a small cost to hold an additional 25,000 feet. The machinery includes an Otto gas-engine fitted with Livesey's washer scrubbers, and the exhausters are of modern type. The meter and governor-house is well supplied with all up-todate appliances, and the whole plant is kept in excellent order.

Mr. James Bradley , the Manager of the Corporation Gasworks, superintended their erection in 1887, and has managed them ever since. The whole of the mains were made, and the lamps and appliances fitted, under his direction. Mr. Bradley was born in Manchester, England, in 1847, and on leaving school he followed the building trade. Then for several years he worked at Siemen's Patent Regenerative Gas Furnaces in Swansea and Glasgow. He came out to New Zealand in 1874, and settled down at Ashburton as a builder and contractor. Amongst the premises which testify there to his handiwork are Friedlander's buildings and also the Ashburton gas works, in the erection of which he assisted. Mr. Bradley left Ashburton in October, 1885, and went to Westport, whose gasworks abundantly testify to his skill, judgment and enterprise.

Mr. J. Bradley.

Mr. J. Bradley.

The Westport Volunteer Fire Brigade was established in the year 1892. Officers for 1905: Mr. A. C. Hansen (captain), Mr. A. Low page 155 (lieutenant), Messrs J. Brown, J. Hepburn, W. H. Vinsen (sub-lieutenants), A. Leaver (foreman hook and ladder carriage), F. Hobbs (secretary); and there are twenty-five firemen. The main station is in Palmerston street, and a look-out tower has been erected in front of the building over the footpath. This central station contains a fire engine, manual engine, and hose reel, with other appliances. There are subsidiary stations at Cobden Street, to the north of the borough, and at the south end of Palmerston Street; both these branch stations contain hose reel and hydrants. The water pressure varies from 1651b to 180lb, in the day, and at night rises as high as 200lb.

Captain Alfred Craig Hansen was appointed captain of the Westport Fire Brigade in the year 1892. He is further referred to as a member of the Westport Borough Council and as an auctioneer.

Sub-Lieutenant John Bell Brown has been a member of the Westport Fire Brigade from its inception, and served ten years before his promotion. Mr. Brown was born in the year 1868, at Ross, Westland, and was educated in his native town and at Timaru. He is a carpenter, and was employed by the Union Steam Ship Company from the year 1885 until the year 1891; since which he has found employment in connection with the shipping of the port. In 1894, he married a daughter of the late Mr. John May, of Nelson, boilermaker, and has one son.

Sub-Lieutenant James Hepburn has been connected with the Westport Volunteer Fire Brigade since 1903, and was also a member of the Ashburton Brigade for two years. He was born in 1865, in Christchurch, attended the West Christchurch school, and received further education at Ashburton, where he learned carpentry. Mr. Hepburn removed to the West Coast in the year 1891, and was for six years engaged in mining at Addison's Flat. He removed to Westport in 1900. Mr. Hepburn is interested in football, and, while in Canterbury, was selected for one of the representative teams. He has also been president of the Westport Football Club, and is a member of the local Hibernian Society. Mr. Hepburn served for two years in the Ashburton Rifles, and for a similar period in the E Battery in Christchurch. In 1895, he married a daughter of Mr. P. McEnroe, of Addison's Flat, and has one daughter and two sons.

Mr. Arthur Leaver has been the lieutenant in charge of the central station of the Westport Volunteer Fire Brigade, since the year 1903. He was born in 1870 at Nelson, educated in his native city, and at Wanganui High School, and was apprenticed for five years to Mr. J. P. Dickson, saddler, of Nelson; after that he continued as journeyman for three years, and then went to Westport to manage the business, which he bought two years later, Mr. Leaver is a vicepresident of the Kawatiri Rowing Club and held the office of captain for two years. As a cyclist, he won the championship of Nelson in the year 18951896. He married a daughter of Mr. J. Burns, of Westport, in 1899, and has one daughter.

Vinsen, photo. Mr. A. Leaver.

Vinsen, photo.
Mr. A. Leaver.

Sub-Lieutenant William Henry Vinsen , of the Westport Volunteer Fire Brigade, has held his office since the year 1903. He was born in Napier in 1878, and educated at Greymouth, where he learned photography with Mr. James Ring. Mr. Vinsen afterwards removed to Westport, where he became a partner in the firm of Rose and Vinsen, photographers; a few months later, he acquired his partner's interest, and has since carried on the business.

Mr. Frederick Hobbs , Secretary of the Westport Volunteer Fire Brigade, Assistant Town Clerk and Rate Collector, was born in Ormondville, Hawke's Bay, in the year 1881, and attended school in his native place, and at Westport and Denniston. He entered business life in a grocery store at Denniston; three years later, he became a clerk in the Westport Borough Council's office, and was promoted to assistant town clerk and rate collector. Mr. Hobbs is a member of the Kawatiri Rowing Club, and was for some time connected with the White Star Football Club, in which he served in the playing team, and filled the office of secretary for three years.

Ex-Mayors.

Mr. James Wilson Humphrey was the first Mayor of the Borough of Westport. He was appointed by the Council on the 20th of August, 1873, and held office till the 16th of December, 1874. Mr. Humphrey was wellknown in the early days as a merchant and a partner of Mr. Thomas Bailie, and the firm was known as that of Bailie and Humphrey. At a latter period, a branch of the business was opened in Oamaru, and Mr. Humphrey left Westport to take charge of that establishment. Subsequently the partnership was dissolved, and Mr. Humphrey continued to conduct the business in Oamaru. He died in Wellington, while on a visit to that city.

Mr. Robert Whyte was the second Mayor of the Borough of Westport. He was appointed by resolution of the Council on the 16th of December, 1874, and held office under that appointment until December, of the following year. In the year 1878, Mr. Whyte was elected to the Mayorship, and died during his period of office. He was a draper in Palmerston Street, and the business is still conducted by his son.

Mr. John Munro , who was Mayor of Westport in 1876–77 and 1879–80–81, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1839. He came to New Zealand in the ship “Lady Egidia,” in the year 1862, and landed at Dunedin. Mr. Munro afterwards removed to Invereargill, where he entered into business as a bookseller and stationer. In 1864 he took out an auctioneer's license and conducted a rapidly increasing business until the year 1867. Mr. Munro then went to the West Coast, and settled in Westport, where he has devoted a large amount of time to public affairs. Mr. Munro was an active member of the Westport Borough Council for many years, occupied the mayoral chair for five terms, was secretary to the first Hospital Board, and for three years represented the Lyell district in the County Council. He is further referred to as a former page 156 member of the House of Representatives.

Vinsen, photo. Mr. J. Munro.

Vinsen, photo.
Mr. J. Munro.

Mr. William Reeve Haselden was elected Mayor of Westport in 1878, and was again returned for the year 1882–83. Mr. Haselden is referred to on pages 331, 475, and 564 of the Wellington volume of this Cyclopedia. After that volume was issued, Mr. Haselden was appointed a Stipendiary Magistrate, and is now (1905) a District Judge.

Mr. John Hughes , who was Mayor of Westport from 1884 to 1887, was one of the most widely respected men on the Coast. He was born in Wales in 1840, and was educated in Liverpool, whither his family had removed. After leaving school he worked with his father in the plastering trade, but as he grew to manhood he went to sea and for four years was on the Cunard steamers. In 1859 he came out to Victoria and went to Geelong, where he successfully entered into the hotel business. Like many old West Coasters, he crossed to Otago in the “rush” of 1861. In 1865 he went to Greymouth, and, in company with Mr. Tanks, established the Albion Hotel. The partnership continued for several years, but Mr. Hughes removed to Westport in 1867, when he purchased the Maori Hotel for £1000, and renamed it the “Empire,” the freehold of which is still his widow's, but the licensee is Mr. H. H. McMasters. Up to the time of his death, in 1890, Mr. Hughes was closely identified with every progressive movement conducive to the advancement of local interests. He invested largely in mining properties, and had great faith in the future of the district. Mr. Hughes filled many offices in local bodies with great credit. He was an officer in the first volunteer corps, captain of the fire brigade, a borough councillor, member of the Harbour Board, chairman of the school committee, a vestryman of St. John's Church, an Oddfellow and Freemason, and vice-president of the Kawatiri Rowing Club. In him Westport lost a good and generous-hearted citizen.

The Late Mr. J. Hughes.

The Late Mr. J. Hughes.

Mr. Hans Larsen , formerly Mayor of Westport, was elected for the fourth time in 1887, after a keen contest. He sat in the council for many years, and has been a member of the Harbour Board, school committee, and the Westland Charitable Aid and Hospital Board. He was born in Allinge, in the Isle of Bornholm, Baltic Sea, and arrived in New Zealand in 1863. For some years he successfully followed mining pursuits at the Shotover, Arrowtown, Molyneux and Hogburn. In 1865 he had a year's good luck at Wakamarina, and in 1866 joined the “rush” to Westland and worked on the New River, a tributary of the Grey. He also spent twelve months in prospecting at the Teremakau and Red Jack's, a small tributary of the Grey river. In 1868 Mr. Larsen removed to Westport and set up as a ferryman. He continued at that occupation for eighteen months, and then went to Greymouth, where he married a daughter of Mr. William Foote. Mr. Larsen then returned to Red Jack's to his old claim, which proved a small bonanza during the five years he worked it. Then he went to Westport and commenced storekeeping at Fairdown, and at the same time started a ferry on the river. Seven years later Mr. Larsen bought the “All Nations Hotel,” renovated it, and named it “Larsen's Hotel,” which he leased in 1893 to his son. Mr. Larsen has been president of the Westport Jockey Club, is an old Oddfellow attached to the Westport Lodge, Manchester Unity, and has been through all the chairs. As a Freemason he is connected with the Phœnix Lodge.

Mr. James Suisted was Mayor of the Borough of Westport from the years 1888 to 1890, and again from 1892 to 1893. He is further referred to as chairman of the Westport Harbour Board, and is a member of the firm of Suisted Bros.

Mr. John Marshall occupied the mayoral chair of Westport from 1890 to 1897. He is a native of Glasgow, where he was born in 1848. In the latter part of the sixties he came to New Zealand and for a few years tried his luck at gold mining. In 1872 he started in Reefton as a builder and contractor, and subsequently removed to Westport, where he has been established for nearly thirty years. He entered the Borough Council about twenty-three years ago, and after being chairman of the works committee for a number of years was elected mayor in 1890. Mr. Marshall has been chairman of the Westland Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, chairman of the Athenæum Committee, a member of the Westport Harbour Board, and Buller Licensing Committee, and for many years honorary correspondent of the Royal Humane Society of Australasia, a position he prizes above all others. It was mainly due to his untiring efforts that Westport secured the first complete public reading- page 157 room and library it possessed. In 1873 he married the only daughter of Mr. Donald Beaton, formerly of Launceston, Tasmania, by whom he has a large family.

Mr. J. Marshall.

Mr. J. Marshall.

Mr. James Colvin was Mayor of the Borough of Westport from 1898 to to 1899. Owing to his election to the House of Representatives as member for Buller, he resigned the Mayorship in January, 1900. Mr. Colvin is further referred to as a member of the House of Representatives, and as a member of the Westport Harbour Board.

Mr. James Scanlon was Mayor of Westport during the years 19001901 and 1901–1902, and had previously been a member of the Westport Borough Council. He was born on the West Coast, and is a son of the late Mr. Michael Scanlon, of Scanlon's Hotel, Palmerston Street. Mr. Scanlon was educated in Westport, and learned the trade of a builder.

Hokihinui River. Photo kindly lent by Mr. D. Gordon, Granity.

Hokihinui River.
Photo kindly lent by Mr. D. Gordon, Granity.

Captain Samuel James Riley was elected Mayor of Westport in the year 1903, and had previously been elected to the Borough Council in 1895. He was born in London in 1842, educated at private schools, and went to sea at the age of fourteen, in the “Mary of London,” which went ashore in the Gulf of Florida, and was afterwards condemned. He next shipped on an American vessel bound for Glasgow. In 1859 Mr. Riley went to Launeeston, Tasmania, where he remained and took to farm work, He came to New Zealand in 1861, and went to Gabriel's Gully, where he followed mining with little suceess. Then he removed to Dunedin, and followed the oecupation of a boatman, but afterwards went to Australia. He returned to New Zealand at the time of the Molyneux rush, and started us a a coal and firewood dealer. At the time of the Wakamarina rush he gave up his business, and went to Havelock, taking a whaleboat with him. He went to the West Coast in 1866, and after some mining experience bought a small schooner of fourteen tons, named the “Three Friends,” which is still doing duty in Lyttelton harbour. Mr. Riley, in 1872, joined Mr. Seaton in partnership, and built the fourteenton steamer “Result,” in Auckland, to run between Westport and Karamea. This little vessel steamed down from Auckland, and she was the first steam- page 158 er to cross the bar after the great Hood of 1872, and ran regular trips for many years up and down the coast. Eight or nine years afterwards Captain Riley sent Home for a small vessel, which was shipped out in pieces, put together at Westport, named the “Nile” and is still running.

Capt. J. Riley.

Capt. J. Riley.

Mr. Fergus Ferguson Munro was Mayor of the Borough of Westport for the year 1904–5, and had served previously as a member of the Borough Council. He is the youngest son of Mr. John Munro, a well-known merchant of Westport, was born in 1868, and was educated at the local school and at Nelson College. Mr. Munro entered the service of the Union Steam Ship Company at Westport, and remained in it for three or four years. In 1895 he beeame connected with his father's firm. This business was incorporated as a limited company in the year 1902, under the style of John Munro and Co., Limited, and since then Mr. Munro has acted as Managing Director. He married a daughter of the late Mr. F. J. Foster, of Greymouth, in 1895, and has one daughter and one son.

Ex-Councillors.

Mr. Hermann Henry Lange represented the South Ward in the Westport Borough Council till 1897. He was born in Herford, Germany, in 1839, educated at Bremen, and apprenticed as a shipwright to his uncles, who carried on a shipbuilding business at Bremerhaven. After serving five years, Mr. Lange went to sea. He sailed to Australia in the ship “Goethe” and made many voyages in different ships to the Colonies. Landing in Lyttelton in 1863, in the barque “Dervut Hunter,” he at once engaged in the building trade at Christchurch. Then he went to Invercargill, and worked at his trade till the “rush” to Hokitika in 1865, when he took passage to the West Coast in search of fortune. After working at his trade in Hokitika for two years, Mr. Lange went into business in Charleston. In 1872 he had the misfortune to lose his wife, who left one daughter to his care. After that he removed to Westport, where he has since worked as a builder and contractor. He was elected to the Council in 1888, and became chairman of the works committee. Mr Lange was for some time chairman of the Buller Hospital and Charitable Aid Board.

Mr. Ekermann S. Suisted occupied a seat in the Westport Town Council, when the borough was first proclaimed in 1872. He was born in Wellington, and at an early age went with his parents to the Old Country, where he was educated. He came back to New Zealand in the year 1859 by the ship “Equator,” and landed in Wellington. In the early days of the gold discoveries on the West Goast, Mr. Suisted removed to Hokitika. After various experiences he bought the business of Mr. A. Beauchamp, timber merchant, and took Mr. Thomas Allen into partnership. The firm traded as Allen and Suisted. They owned the Stanley wharf, and carried on an extensive business, and were local agents for all steamers. He married a daughter of Mr. William Bell, runholder, of Marlborough, in the year 1873, and has four children. His eldest son is Government Inspector oi Machinery, and resides in Wellington.

Mr. Jules Simon was for many years a member of the Westport Borough Council, to which he was first elected in the year 1884. He represented the Council on the Westport Harbour Board, and was twice chairman of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Boards. Mr. Simon was born in the province of Haute Marne, France, and was educated in the town of BourBonne-Les-Baines. He afterwards went to Australia in 1852, by the ship “Delgany,” an American vessel. Mr. Simon followed goldmining at Forest Creek, Snowy River, Bendigo and Ovens, for over ten years. In 1867 he came to New Zealand, went to Bokitika, and was engaged in mining for two or three years, principally at the Waimea. The hardships incidental to a rough mining life told upon him, and he started a bakery at Three Miles. After eighteen months of successful work he sold out, went to Charleston, and then to Westport, where he opened a shop in a tent. Mr. Simon subsequently built the store still (1905) occupied by the firm which bears his name; it was the only building not washed away in the great flood of 1867, which destroyed practically the whole of Westport. Mr. Simon married a daughter of Mr. Thomas page 159 Easton, of Glasgow, Scotland, in 1877. He died in the year 1899, leaving a widow and nine children. The business is carried on by Mrs Simon, and her son, Mr. G. E. Simon.

The Late Mr. J. Simon.

The Late Mr. J. Simon.

Mr. Gerald Organ , who served as a member of the Westport Borough Council from his election in 1903 till April, 1905, was born in Westport in 1874, and is the eldest son of the late Mr. Michael Organ, who died in 1900. He was educated in his native town, and entered his father's fellmongery. Since the death of Mr. Organ, senior, he has carried on the business on his own account. In 1903, Mr. Organ married a daughter of Mr. William Warren, of Kumara, and has one daughter.

Harbour Board.

The Port Of Westport . The history of the harbour of Westport is full of interest. The board which manages the affairs of the port was farmed in December, 1884, under the auspices of the Stout-Vogel Government. It consists of seven members, all nominated by the Government; and although the “Westport Harbour Board Act, 1884,” makes no provision for elective members, the board is nevertheless a thoroughly representative body. This will be seen when it is stated that a member of the Legislative Council, two members of Parliament, the mayor of Westport, and the chairman of the Buller County Council have seats upon it. The harbour works scheme, which has been successful in the very highest degree, was propounded by the late Sir John Coode, the eminent marine engineer. As the works were proceeded with, slight variations were found to be necessary from time to time, and the scheme was successfully carried out under the able direction of Mr. Charles Napier Bell, M. Inst., C.E., as engineer to the board. Mr. Bell acted in the capacity of resident engineer for a period of two years, and was afterwards consulted from time to time as the progress of the works called for his advice.

There can be no doubt that Parliament acted wisely in providing for the creation and maintenance of the Westport Harbour Board, and it is only fair to remember that one of the most strenuous advocates of the course followed was Mr. Eugene O'Conor, then member for Buller. One most noteworthy fact in the history of the board is that, under its administration, the great harbour improvement scheme has been most economically carried out, and better results have been obtained than Sir John Coode expected would be the case. This fact alone constitutes a distinction which is anything but common in the history of such undertakings in any part of the world. It says a great deal for the good sense and administrative ability of the board and its officers, and for the foresight, judgment, and skill of its engineering staff. In this connection the increase in the average depth of navigable wáte on the Westport bar tells an eloquent story. For example, in 1885, the average depth was eleven feet six inches, whereas in 1898 it had been increased to twenty-three feet six inches. Then in 1885 the board's revenue from endowments was only £8;107 13s. 11d., but in 1898 it was nearly five times that amount, namely £10,254 6s. 9d. The expansion of the coal trade, which means so much to Westport, and, indeed, all New Zealand, has been correspondingly notable. In 1885 the output in tons was 78,074, but it has now increased to 350,000 tons.

Gold has done much for the West Coast, but it is probable that in the long run coal will prove a still greater benefactor. The human life connected with the development of the industry will be less picturesque, varied and melodramatic, than that which has been associated with gold-mining, but, as affecting local and general prosperity, the results are likely to be on the whole vaster and more lasting. It is estimated that the fields in the vicinity of Westport alone will yield 140,000,000 tons of coal, and this would be worth more than all the gold which has yet been won from the whole colony.

The “Cynosure” bound for Válparatso.

The “Cynosure” bound for Válparatso.

The history of the Westport coalfields is full of incident. The coal reserve covers an area of 86,000 acres. It was known to the early settlers that coal existed in the district, but it was not until 1874 that systematic surveys were taken in hand. In that year the Government caused a complete and exhaustive survey to be made under the able supervision of Sir James Hector, and this proved the existence of immense seams of coal of all thicknesses from 6 feet up to 53 feet 3 inches. The position of the seams was as remarkable as their great thickness, as they were situated, with few exceptions, at elevations varying from 800 to 3000 feet above sea level, and exposed on the faces of cliffs, thus rendering the question of area, and quantity of coal contained therein, a matter not of estimation, but of actual certainty. Seams of 25, 36, 40, and 53 feet were thus shown. On receiving the reports of the Geological De- page 160 partment as to the coal deposits, the Government constructed a railway along the sea coast northwards from Westport to the Ngakawau river, a distance of nearly nineteen miles. It also provided an excellent arrangement of wharves and staiths at Westport, capable of indefinite extension, for the shipment of the coal. This work was done at an expenditure of nearly a quarter of a million of money, and as there was no other source of traffic whatever in the district for a railway, the fact shows that the Government at that time was fully alive to the importance of the coalfield, and was desirous of providing facilities for the development of the industry. Immediately on the publication of the geological reports and the proclamation of the district as a Coal Reserve, numerous applications for leases were sent in to, and granted by, the Government, such leases covering all the accessible portions of the coalfield. These leases were, however, in the majority of instances taken up by speculators, or by men of small means, who were unable to undertake the works necessary to bring down the coal from the high levels, and the consequence was that no attempt was made to work the coal for several years. In 1877, the Government, finding that no efforts were being made, nor were likely to be made, to develop the field, intimated to the holders of the various leases that the accrued rents must be paid up forthwith, and guarantees given that works would be undertaken to open out the coal without further delay, otherwise the leases would be cancelled; at the same time, if the various lessees would consolidate their interests and commence operations vigorously, liberal concessions would be granted and the industry would be fostered in other ways. Acting on this invitation, the Westport Colliery Company, an entirely new proprietary, was formed, and succeeded in amalgamating with many of the original lessees. In August, 1880, the company succeeded in bringing the coal into the market. After much experience, very varied in kind, it was considered that the capital of the Westport Colliery Company was not sufficiently large, and that company was therefore reconstructed under the title of the Westport Coal Company, with a capital of £400,000. Since it commenced operations this company has spent on wages, royalties, freights, stores and new works within the Colony fully £2,000,000. Itemploys nearly 500 persons. Part of this great industry is carried on at Denniston, on a plateau 1900 feet above the sea level. The railway incline connecting with the Government railroad at Waimangaroa, is one of the most wonderful engineering structures in any part of the world. It descends 1700 feet within the distance of a mile. Coal trucks that travel to the ship's side at Westport are hauled up empty and despatched loaded by means of and endless steel rope, four inches in diameter. The full trucks, in going down, pull the empty ones up. An ordinary loaded waggon going down the incline weighs about seven tons.

The quality of Westport coal has become a matter of world-wide knowledge. When under trial at Woolwich dockyard, the Coalbrookdale coal showed an evaporating power superior not only to New South Wales coal, but to the North of England, and even the Welsh coals. The memorable incident connected with the “Calliope” and the tremendous South Sea hurricane of April, 1889, supplied invaluable evidence in this connection. In the report which he furnished to his Admiral on that oceasion, Captain Kane, of H.M.S. “Calliope,” stated that though the engines of the ship were racing at the time, he obtained as much indicated horse-power from the Westport Coalbrookdale coal in steaming out of Apia Harbour in the face of the hurricane, as he had on the day of the ship's trial in smooth water, and at full speed. It is, in fact, a matter of history that it was the magnificent steam-producing power of the Westport Coalbrookdale coal, which enabled Captain Kane to save his ship on that occasion, in the face of the most terriffic odds in the shape of tide and tempest. Summing up the investigations made by others, Sir John Coode had previously made the statement that “the bituminous coal found on the West Coast of the Middle Island was declared by engineers to be fully equal, if not superior, to coal of the best description from any part of the world.”

Going out to Sea.

Going out to Sea.

Later experiences and analyses show no falling off in these vital particulars. Reporting on samples of Westport Coal Company's coal submitted to him for analysis in 1895, Mr. Lewis T. Wright, the eminent consulting gas engineer of London, demonstrates that the calorific value of the coal is so high that the Westport coal compares favourably even with Welsh coal. Describing the samples sent to him, Mr. Wright said: “They are all of the same general character,—namely, highly bitu- page 161 minous without mineral or charcoal partings. The coal is hard, and the fracture conchoidal, and there are no lines of easy fracture. The very low amount of aulphur all the samples contain is remarkable, ar.d accounts for the small quantity of sulphurated hydrogen (H2S) in the unpurified gas. The ash in the samples (Numbers 1 and 2) is extremely small, and that in Number 3 is lower than the average of the bituminous coals in use in this country. As the coals are not of a friable nature, they should not suffer in transport and storage to the same extent as the bituminous gas coals in general use.”

Coal from the Wastport-Cardiff Coal Company's property has also answered successfully to the severest scientific tests. The Government analyst has, in commenting on analyses made by him, described the coal as excellent and suitable for use in ocean-going steamers, and the manager at the Christcnurch gasworks has denominated it excellent for cither gas or houschold purposes. These facts are adduced to show that Westport coal, practically all round, is of the highest quality, and that the industry is one which, at present and prospcetively, is of the greatest national importance.

A foreign trade is now in course of establishment with San Francisco, Valparaiso, Honolulu, and other places, and with the steady improvement of the port of Westport, it is not too much to expect that within the next four or five years the shipment of coal will be double what it is at present. In short, all the facts and figures which have been here drawn together, not only show how much has already been done, but clearly indicate what great developments lie within even the immediate future; and as it has in the past, so in the time to come will the progress of the magnificent Westport coal trade depend very largely on the good sense, enterprise and administrative ability of the Harbour Board and its officers.

Working Details.

The following details concerning the port, its bearings, anchorages, wharfs and various charges, are certified by the board's officers, and will, therefore, be found especially valuable by importers and others who have or may expect to have nautical or commercial relations with Westport. The entrance to the Buller river, which discharges into the sea nearly at right angles to the coast line, lies east-quarternorth, five and a quarter miles from the outer or Northern Steeple Rock, and from Cape Foulwind Lighthouse E.N.E. about six miles. About six miles to westward of the entrance, a natural shelter from the prevailing winds (south-westerly) is formed by Cape Foulwind and the Steeples, which extend northwards from the coast, and anchorage may be found anywhere outside the breakwaters in from ten to thirteen fathoms, one to two miles off, good holding ground, sheltered from E.N.E. round East to W.S.W. The town of Westport is situated on the eastern bank of the river; and in front of the town is a large reserve, upon which the coal staiths, wharves, railway terminus and Government Buildings are erected. The depth of water at high water spring tide is 23 feet 6 inches on the bar, and 19 feet 6 inches in the river, and vessels drawing 18 feet 6 inches can work the bar at spring tides, steamers up to 19 feet. Spring tides rise 9 feet 6 inches; neap tides 5 feet 6 inches approximately; high water full and change, ten hours fifteen minutes: subtract from London Bridge three hours forty minutes for local time of high water. Vessels bound for Westport should be guided by the signals shown on the flagstaff, which stands on the western breakwater 2100 feet from its outer or seaward end. The leading beacon, 20 feet high, is 660 feet seaward of the back beacon, which is 50 feet high; those two objects, kept in one line, lead over the bar on a south by east half east bearing magnetic, until the river leading beacons, on a N.W. by N. magnetic bearing, are brought into line and lead up the river to the coal staiths and wharves. The back beacon is red, frout beacon white. Two breakwaters are now constructed; the western one is 4276 feet long, the eastern, 4736 feet. A red light is shown during the night on the end of the western breakwater, and green on the eastern.

H.M.S. Rapid at the Wharf.

H.M.S. Rapid at the Wharf.

Day Signals.

The beacons erected on dolphins on the west side of the Buller river mark the fairway for crossing the bar and leading up the river. The front beacon (white) is 30 feet high, and 660 feet seaward of the back beacon, which is 50 feet high. The back beacon has a black band across the centre, and is surmounted by a disc. These beacons, when kept in line, bear S. 25d. E. page 162 magnetic, and lead up the river until approaching the Lagoon, when a course may be steered for the wharves or coal-staiths.

Westport Harbour.

Westport Harbour.

Harbour Lights and Night Signals.

Fairway-lights for entering the harbour: Two red lights shown on the beacons bearing S. 25d. E. magnetic. These lights are to be kept in line until the bright light on the east training wall changes to green, when a course may be shaped for the wharves or coal-staiths. The seaward end of the coal-staiths is marked by a red light 36 feet above high water, spring tides. The extreme end of the training walls are marked by bright lights.

Charts, etc., affected when these regulations were brought into force by the Westport Harbour Board, on the 20th of August, 1899: Admiralty chart No. 2616; “New Zealand Pilot,” Chapter ix., page 398.

Wharfage, etc.

All the wharves and coal staiths are under the control of the Government Railway Department, and all vessels are berthed at the wharves and coal staiths. The loading facilities are as follows: —(1) Merchandise wharf, 350 feet long. The depth of water at this wharf ranges from 12 feet at upper end to 18 feet at lower end, at low water spring tides in line of vessels' keels. (2) Coal loading wharf, 430 feet long, connecting merchandise with coal staiths at upper end. On this wharf there is a twelve-ton steam coal loading crane. Depth of water ranges from 18 feet at upper end to 20 feet at lower end at low water spring tide. (3) The coal staiths are 1150 feet long and rise from 20 feet above high water spring tide at the upper end to 36 feet above the same level at the lower end. They are capable of storing 2000 tons of coal in thirty-six bins, and they have twenty-four coal loading shoots; the lips of the bins and shoots to which telescopic shoots are hinged, range from 8 feet to 25 feet above high water spring tide. The average dispatch in coal loading at these staiths is from 200 to 250 tons per hour, but it is no un-common matter for 380 tons to be loaded into a vessel, in the ordinary course of working, in one hour. The depth of water ranges from 20 feet at the upper end to 22 feet at the lower end at low water spring tide. (4) Coal Loading Crane Wharf, 353 feet in length, is equipped with coal loading steam cranes of the latest and most approved design, and has been constructed 389 feet below the lower end of the coal staiths. (This gap of 389 feet is now being constructed into a coal loading wharf to connect with the coal staiths, at a cost of £10,500). The depth of water along these wharves is being dredged to 22 feet at low water spring tide. (5) A further extension of the Coal Loading Crane wharf down stream, for a length of 1079 feet, is also under construction, at a cost of £32,000. (6) The Coal Loading Crane Wharf is to be equipped with seven movable steam cranes of the most approved and modern pattern. (7) A wharf is also specially set apart and is available for the discharge of explosives. (8) The station yards and wharves are lighted with incandescent gas lamps, two of which are of 700 and one of 840 candle-power, and stand at an elevation of 33 feet from the ground. The gas is supplied from the Corporation Gas-works, which are under the management of Mr. J. Bradley, who specially designed and erected these lamps. The present output of coal is 350,000 tons per annum.

Light Dues.

Vessels or steamers coming from a last port, not in the Colonies, 6d. per register ton; vessels or steamers coming from a last port in the Colonies, other than New Zealand, 4d., ditto; vessels or steamers coming from any port in New Zealand, ¼d., ditto.

Pilotage Free.

An efficient staff of three pilots is always available. In dealing with a large steamer requiring a pilot, the services of the tug to board the steamer outside would be required, and the tug's assistance might also be required in berthing the ship and tendering her outwards. A charge for these services, according to their nature, will be assessed by the harbourmaster. Maximum charge, £10; minimum charge, £5.

Towage.

A first-class tug-boat is now available, and works on the following scale: —Vessels up to 200 tons register, Is. per ton, in and out; vessels over 200 and up to 400 tons register, 10d, ditto; vossels over 400 tons register, 8d. ditto; minimum charge on any vessel, £5; maximum charge on any vessel, £20.

Port Charges.

Receiving and discharging ships' ballast, 1s. per ton; minimum charge, £1. One penny per ton for use of gravel shoot. For every vessel page 163 lying at wharf, per day, per ton net register, 1d.; minimum charge, 5s.; maximum charge on any vessel, per trip, 110s. Note,—Steam hoppers are also available to take ballast.

Wharfage “Pukaki” “Pukaki leaving Wesrport.

Wharfage “Pukaki” “Pukaki leaving Wesrport.

Rates.

On all goods and luggage not otherwise specified, per ton weight or measurement, at the option of the department, 2s.; minimum charge, 3d.; wool, per bale, 6d.; flax and tow, per bale, 3d.; sheepskins, per bale not exceeding 2 ewt., 3d; hides, each, 1d; shingles, per 1000, 6d; pailings, per 100, 6d; slates, per 1000, 2s; minerals, per ton, 6d; timber not otherwise specified, per 100 superficial feet, 2d; timber (carried by rail for export), free; cattle and horsos, per head (first twenty), 2s.; cattle and horses, per head (each additional), 1s 6d; sheep, pigs, goats, etc., per head (first fifty), 3d; sheep, piga, goats, etc., per head (each additional), 1d; poultry, each 1d; vehicles, fourwheel, 5s; vehicles two-wheel, 2s 6d.

Goods for Transhipment.

When goods are landed on wharf ex-ship, and redelivered to other ships, they will be charged 2s 6d per ton, according to ship's manifest, or by weight or measurement, at the option of the department, including wharfage, handling, and one week's storage, after which storage will be charged for. Goods transhipped into lighters or vessels from vessels lying alongside the wharves, per ton, 1s.

Cranage.

For use of steam-crane on wharf or in yard, per ton (minimum charge, 15s), 6d; exceptional cargoes (as may be determined by the Railway Department) to be charged per day, or otherwise by special agreement. The charge for cranage does not include the cost of haulage to the crane when the goods have been previously deposited at a distance therefrom. Minimum charge for use of twelve ton steamcrane, £1.

Storage, etc.

On goods not removed within twelve working hours, per day, per ton, 1s; on timber not removed within one week, per 100 feet superficial, per day, 2d.

The working hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on week dáys. No ship shall discharge or take in cargo at other times without written notice being given by the ship's officer to the wharfinger, under a penalty of £5 for each offence. The captain or agent of each véssel must supply the wharfinger with a correct copy of the vessel's manifest prior to discharging any cargo, under a penalty of £5 for each offence.

Labour.

General cargo, 1s 6d per hour (day), 2s per hour (night). Coal trimmers (if required) 2s per hour (day), 2s. per hour (night). On Christmas Day and Good Friday the rates are 2s for cargo and 2s 6d for coal. Railway overtime, 1s 6d per hour. Water is obtained free from the river.

The Workshops.

The Westport Harbour Board Workshops are situated in Henley Street, near the coal staiths. The machinery is driven by water pressure, and a Pelton wheel with a capacity of five horsepower; and includes lathes and a full repairing plant.

Quarries at Cape Foulwind.

It was from these quarries that the Westport Harbour Board obtained most of the stone for its harbour works. A railway eight miles in length, together with a handsome and substantial bridge over the Buller, had to be constructed to convey the material. Over a million tons of stone have already been taken from these quarries, besides the large quantity of spoil which is being, and has been, used for reclamation and road making purposes. The quarries are worked on the big blast principle, and as much as seven and a half tons of dynamite, or its equivalent in other explosives, have been used in one blast. The tunnellings for these blasts are driven twenty to fifty feet into the face according to the size of the face or nature of the rock, and then branched sideways and chambered for the explosive. Driving for these blasts cost at first about £2 5s per lineal foot, page 164 but has been reduced to less than half that amount. The cranes used for loading the stone are rated from seven to twenty-five tons; but individual stones weighing as much as thirty-six and a half tons have been lifted and carried to the walls, and have greatly contributed to the stability of the work.

700 Candle-power Incandescent Gas Lamp, Railway Yards, Westport Harbour Board.

700 Candle-power Incandescent Gas Lamp, Railway Yards, Westport Harbour Board.

The Harbour Board.

The Westport Harbour Board is incorporated under an Act of Parliament passed in 1884. Members for the year 1905: Mr. James Suisted, J. P., chairman, Hon. Richard Reeves, M.L.C., Mr. Roderick McKenzie, M.H.R., Mr. George Griffiths, Mr. James Colvin, M.H.R., Mr. George Hargreaves Gothard, Mayor of Westport, and Mr. David T. Glover, Chairman of the Buller County Council. Officers: Messrs R. A. Young, M. Inst., C.E., engineer; Captain A. S. Fwan, harbourmaster; Mr. Thomas J. Atchison, inspector of works; Mr. Charles N. Greenland, secretary and treasurer.

Mr. James Suisted , Chairman of the Westport Harbour Board has been a member of the Board since its inception, and had in 1905 been for thirteen years its chairman. He is the third son of the late Mr. Charles Suisted, an early pioneer, and was born in Wellington in 1844. The family, with many others, left that settlement in consequence of the frequency of earthquakes, and removed to Otago, where Mr. Suisted, senior, engaged extensively in sheepfarming. At an early age Mr. Suisted went with his parents to the Old Country, where he was educated, and page 165 returned to New Zealand in the year 1860. He was attracted to Otago by the gold rush in 1861, and afterwards went to Auckland, where he was mining in the Thames district. In 1869 Mr. Suisted settled at Westport, where, in conjunction with his brother, he established his present business in Palmerston Street. He was Mayor of the borough of Westport from the year 1889 to 1893, and was one of the seven members appointed by the Government to constitute the Westport Harbour Board. Mr. Suisted was chairman of the licensing bench for some years, was a member of the Buller Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, and has been a Justice of the Peace for many years. In the year 1864, he married Miss L. J. Eyre, who possessed considerable literary ability, and contributed many articles to leading English and Australian periodicals and magazines,

Mr. J. Suisted.

Mr. J. Suisted.

Mr. James Colvin is a member of the Westport Harbour Board; and is further referred to as a member of the House of Representatives for the Buller district, and an ex-mayor of the borough of Westport.

Mr. George Griffiths has been a member of the Westport Harbour Board for some years. His name is well-known on the West Coast, and he is further referred to as a member of the Buller County Council, and as one of the managing directors of Messrs Griffiths and Co., Limited, Birchfield.

Mr. Adam Jamieson was appointed to a seat on the Westport Harbour Board in 1890 as agent for the Westport Coal Company, the largest shippers of coal in New Zealand. Previous to leaving Scotland, Mr. Jamieson had been with Messrs Merry and Cunninghame, coal and ironmasters, of Renfrewshire. Mr. Jamieson was born in 1857, and received his education in Scotland. Before leaving Great Britain he was manager of slate quarries in Tipperary, Ireland. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1880, and was for three years in mercantile life before he entered the Westport Coal Company's employment.

Mr. Robert Austen Young , Engineer to the Westport Harbour Board, is an associate member of the Institute of Civil Engineers. He was a pupil of Mr William Scott, of Dundee, and came to Canterbury, New Zealand, in 1864. In 1865 he was employed by the Provincial Government of Canterbury in setting out roads through a pathless forest on the West Coast. Mr Young remained in the employment of the County Council of Westland when that body was created, and was afterwards, on the inauguration of the public work a scheme, employed under Mr C. Y. O'Connor, M.I.C.E., for about seven years, in the setting out of roads, raiiways, water races, and in harbour surveys, &c. He was associated in business with his brother, Mr. H. W. Young, M.I.C.E., and the firm of Young Bros. were engineers for the contractors on the Nelson Creek water race, the Brunner railway, the Mount Rochfort railway, and other large works. They were appointed engineers for the Westport Colliery Company's works in 1878 and designed and superintended the construction of the great inclines and railway works for that company. The construction of the inclines, by which the coal is lowered from a height of 1900 feet in the railway waggons, is certainly one of the most important and most successful engineering achievements in the colony. Mr Young has had a large practical experience as a mining engineer. For twentytwo years he held the position of engineer to the Westport Borough Council, and only resigned on his appointment in December, 1898, as engineer to the Westport Harbour Board, and as resident engineer under the Public Works Department. This appointment he still (1905) holds.

Mr. George Bell Sinclair , J.P., has held office as draughtsman to the Westport Harbour Board since the year 1901. He was born in Nelson, and was educated at Nelson College, where he and his brother were the first two to enter as pupils. He began his professional life as a surveyor under the Nelson Provincial Government, and afterwards held office as Government District Surveyor of Nelson, for many years. Mr. Sinclair was one of the earliest to take out a license as a surveyor in Nelson. He has resided in Westport since the year 1897. During his residence in Nelson he took part in public affairs, and was for some time a member of the Waimea County Council, the Nelson Education Board, and Licensing Committee; he also took an interest in local school committees. Mr. Sinclair was appointed to the Commission of the Peace about the year 1885. He is a Freemason, and is attached to Lodge Southern Star, English Constitution, Nelson. In 1875, Mr. Sinclair married a daughter of the late Mr. W. C. Hodgson, Inspector of Schools, Nelson, and has one son and one daughter.

page 166

Mr. Charles Norman Greenland , Secretary and Treasurer to the Westport Harbour Board, took office at the creation of the Harbour Board in 1885, the Act providing for the Board having been passed in 1884. He was born in London in 1851 and is the youngest son of the late Mr. James Greenland, of Elm Tree road, St. John's Wood, London. Mr. Greenland was educated at the Douro House school, a private academy in St. John's Wood. At the age of fourteen he chose the sea for his calling, and went on his first trip in the “Maid of Perth,” running to South American ports. Four years were spent in this trade, and then, desiring a change, Mr. Greenland obtained a position as overseer of a sugar estate at Berbice in the West Indies. He ultimately became manager of the estate and remained there for seven years until his health broke down, and he decided to come to New Zealand. The first work he did in the colony was for Mr. Seddon at Kumara, and consisted in running a mining store and subsequently in prospecting. He then went down to Greymouth and engaged with Messrs Cootes and Co. In 1877 Mr. Greenland received an appointment under the Public Works Department as an accountant and compiler of quantities, and in 1880 as a draughtsman. Upon the suecessful inception of the Westport harbour works scheme, he was, at the instance of the Government, appointed to the position which he now holds. Mr. Greenland is a deputy sheriff for the Supreme Court and also auditor of the Westport Permanent Building Society and the Weatport Jockey Club. In 1881 he married Miss Louisa Rutledge, daughter of the late Inspector of Police, of Rosscray, Ireland, and has a family of five.

Captain A. S. Ewan, the present Harbourmaster to the Westport Harbour Board, was born at Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in 1855. He came to the colony, in 1875, with a knowledge of marine affairs, gained in all parts of the world. Shortly after coming to New Zealand Captain Ewan entered the service of the Westport Coal Company, and commanded several of its coal vessels until they were sold to the Union Steamship Company. Captain Ewan has been in charge of several of the Union Company's steamships, such as the “Wakatipu,” “Tarawera,” and other fine boats. He was appointed harbourmaster at Westport in 1896, and has in that position won the respect of all sections of the community. In shipping circles he is exceptionally well spoken of by master mariners. Captain Ewan, whe holds very high certificates in marinership, is assisted by Captain Ferneaux in his important duties.

Capt. A. S. Ewan.

Capt. A. S. Ewan.

Mr. Thomas J. Atchison , Inspector of Works to the Westport Harbour Board, was formerly storekeeper for the Board for fourteen years, and for some years subsequently hold the position of traffic manager and clerk of works. He was born near Hackney, London, England, where he was educated, and was afterwards employed by the London Dock Company. After passing through the various grades Mr. Atchison was made foreman, and had charge of the company's Shadwell basin. He subsequently left London for British Columbia and the Cariboo goldfields, but on arriving at Victoria, the capital of Vancouver Island, was appointed foreman and wharfinger for the Hudson Bay Company. After staying twelve months in that employment, Mr. Atchison finally went to British Columbia at the time of the gold rush. He travelled over 400 miles of exceedingly rough country, and arrived at Williams' Creek, the centre of the Cariboo goldfield, where he remained for three years mining, storekeeping, etc. Mr. Atchison afterwards went to the great “rush” at the Big Bend of the Columbia river, where he was one of the pioneers. The diggings there wore not very successful, and he removed to the Wild Horse Creek. Kootenai, where he was mining for several months. Mr. Atchison then travelled about 520 miles through an Indian country, on foot, to Yale, on the Fraser River, where he joined a partner, and engaged in storekeeping, and forwarding to the up-country distriets. Later, he went to San Francisco, where he was engaged as manager of the City Gardens. Mr. Atchison was afterwards attracted to New Zealand by the Thames goldfields, and followed mining at Shortland. He subsequently went to Australia, and visited, various goldfields, but came back to New Zealand, and settled at Westport, where, in the year 1884, he entered the service of the newly-formed Harbour Board.

Mr. Lawrence Larsen , who has been foreman in charge of the Westport Harbour Board Workshops since 1898, was born at Cobden, Greymouth, in 1870, and attended school in Westport. Mr. Larsen served an apprenticeship of five years in Sandhurst, Victoria, and shortly after his return to Westport, entered the Harbour Board's service, and was in the shops for some years. In 1896, he went to England, and returned to New Zealand as one of the engineers of the page 167 Government steamer “Tutanekai.” He joined the Union Company as an engineer, and, after sixteen months' service resigned, owing to an accident. Mr. Larsen served on the Westport school committee, from April, 1903, to 1905. As a Freemason, he is attached to Lodge Phoenix, and was Worshipful Master from June, 1904, to May, 1905. He is a member of the Manchester Unity of Oddfellows, and also a member of the Marine Engineers' Institute in Wellington.

Mr. L. Larsen.

Mr. L. Larsen.

Mr. James Kelly , who is in charge of the repairs department at the Westport Harbour Board's quarries at Cape Foulwind, under Mr. Larsen, Foreman of Rolling Stock, was born at Totaranui, Collingwood, in 1874. He was educated in Westport, and learned blacksmithing there with his father, the late Mr. Patrick Kelly, who started the first foundry in the Buller district. Mr. Kelly afterwards spent some time with the General Exploration Company, and worked on the erection of dredges in the Grey district, and was also employed by the Westport Coal Company. Twelve years ago he entered the service of the Westport Harbour Board, and, with the exception of some short intervals spent at mining, has remained in the Board's employment up to the present time—1905. Mr. Kelly is a member of the St. Canice's branch of the Hibernian Society; was formerly a member of the Westport Navals and the Westport Fire Brigade, and has competed for many years as a runner and cyclist in the Westport district. He married a daughter of Mr. P. Egan, farmer, Springfield, Canterbury, in the year 1902, and has one son.

Vinsen, photo. Mr. J. Kelly.

Vinsen, photo.
Mr. J. Kelly.

Buller County Council.

The Buller County Council has its headquarters at Westport. Members for the year 1905: Messrs D. T. Glover (chairman) and G. Griffiths, Wareatea North riding; Messrs F. Feddersen and V. W. A. Dellavadova, Lyell riding; Messrs M. McCarthy and J. H. Powell, Charleston riding; Messrs J. Lines and M. McPadden, Wareatea South riding; and Mr. T. Corby, Karamea riding. Officers: Mr. T. Thompson, engineer; Mr. R. F. Mullan, county clerk; Mr. P. Joyce, overseer. The county of Buller has a population of about 3,000 persons. There is a general rate of 1½ in the pound, with a Charitable Aid rate of one halfpenny in the pound. There are 2,205 ratepayers, and the capital value of property in the county is £410,409. The total income of the Council for the year which ended on the 31st of March, 1904, was £4,786, exclusive of grants. The county has borrowed £5,047, under the Loans to Local Bodies Act, at 4½ per cent., for twenty-six years. This amount was expended in the construction of the Argyle water race at Charlestown. Then a sum of £675, at the same rate, was borrowed for the construction of a road from the Buller bridge to the sea beach. Since its inauguration, in 1877, the County Council has done invaluable work, in building substantial bridges over dangerous rivers. Roads, too, are at all times well attended to, and, in most cases, are divided into sections under competent working overseers. Fully 250 miles of roads have been made by the county. Generally, the metal used in making and maintaining the roads is shingle from old river beds and beaches, except in the mountainous parts, where shattered gneiss and slate are procurable. The roads have been constructed chiefly by muans of annual parliamentary grants and subsidies of pound for pound on the ordinary county revenue. The county of Buller is bounded on the north by the Heaphy, on the south by the Paparoa river, on the east by the Paparoa ranges, and on the west by the ocean.

Mr. David Thomson Glover , Chairman of the Buller County Council, was appointed to the position in 1904. He was elected to the Council two years previously, as a representative of the Wareatea North riding. Mr. Glover has been in business as a draper and fancy goods dealer at Waimangaroa since 1896.

Mr. Frederick Callesen Feddersen has been a representative of the Lyell riding of the Buller County Council since 1896. He was born in 1846 in Schleswig, Germany, came to Victoria in 1864, and, two years later, arrived in New Zealand. He has long taken an interest in mining, but settled on his farm near Lyell, in 1883. Mr. Feddersen also carries on the business of a butcher.

Mr. George Griffiths was elected a member of the Buller County Council, for the riding of Wareatea North, in the year 1898, and he also acted as chairman for two years. He is a member of the Waimangaroa school committee, and was at one time chairman of the Licensing Bench. Mr. Griffiths is further referred to as one of the managing directors of Messrs Griffiths and Co, Limited, Birchfield, and as a member of the Westport Harbour Board.

Mr. Timothy Corby has been a member of the Buller County Council since the year 1899. He was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, and as a youth learned farming. Mr. Corby came to New Zealand in June, 1875, landed at Hokitika, and for about twelve years was engaged in goldmining in various parts of the West Coast. In the year 1888 he settled at St. Helen's, and engaged in contracting. Mr. Corby afterwards made the section of the railway from St. Helen's to the Mokihinui Mine, for the Mokihinui Coal Company, and, later on, he started a store and a butchery, and bought a considerable amount of land in the district. The well known Corby's Hotel, although not conducted by him personally, is his property. page 168 Mr. Corby has been a member of the local school committee for many years. He married in the year 1890, and has a family of four sons and four daughters.

Vinsen, photo. Mr. T. Corby.

Vinsen, photo.
Mr. T. Corby.

Mr. Job Lines , J.P., one of the members of the Wareatea South riding of the Buller Council, is a farmer on the Buller road, and conducts a sawmilling and contracting business. He was born in the year 1846, at Wakefield, Nelson, and as a youth learned farming. Mr. Lines was for some years afterwards farming and butchering at Brightwater. In the year 1872 he removed to the West Coast, and was engaged for a time on survey work, and in contracting at Reefton, and for about nine years held the mail contract on the Buller road. Mr Lines settled at Whitecliffs, on the Buller road, in 1877, and is a member of the Buller Licensing Committee, and chairman of the Inangahua Junction school committee. He is married, and has a family of three sons and six daughters.

Vinsen, photo. Mr. J. Lines.

Vinsen, photo.
Mr. J. Lines.

Mr. John Henry Powell is a member of the Buller County Council for Charleston riding. He is a member of the firm of Messrs J. M. Powell and Sons, merchants, of Charleston, and is chairman of the Charleston Hospital Committee. Mr. Powell is further referred to as a member of the firm of J. M. Powell and Sons, Charleston.

Mr. Robert Francis Mullan , Clerk to the Buller County Council, is also secretary of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Boards. He was born in the year 1849, in County Tyrone, Ireland, where he was educated, and went to Australia in 1873. Two years later, Mr. Mullan came to New Zealand, and settled on the West Coast. In 1880, he was appointed Clerk and Treasurer to the Buller County Council. Mr. Mullan was married in the year 1878, and has, surviving, three sons.

Mr. Thomas Thompson , Engineer for the Buller County Council, has held his present office since 1878. He is a son of the late Mr. James Thompson, master mariner, and was born in 1848. About 300 miles of formed roads have been constructed by Mr. Thompson, and many miles of water races have been designed and built under his direction. Besides these works, numerous bridges, varying from thirty to 300 feet in length, have been designed and erected under his supervision.

Military.

The I Battery Of The New Zealand Field Artillery Volunteers at Westport, was originally Known as the Westport Naval Artillery, and afterwards as the Westport Rifle Volunteers, Westport Position Artillery, and No. 10 Company, New Zealand Garrison Artillery Volunteers. It received its present title in April, 1904. The company has a first-class gymnasium, and its drillshed is in Henley Street. The armament of the corps consists of four quick firing Nordenfelt six-pound guns. At the artillery tournament held on Boxing Day, 1904, at Christchurch, the corps was successful in taking the fourth place in the aggregate of all the batteries represented. There are two cups, valued at ten guineas each, in circulation amongst the members, presented respectively by the Westport Coal Company, and the honorary members of the corps, for the purpose of keeping up interest in shooting in the district. The corps has a strength of eighty-one, and there are twenty honorary members, who contribute a subscription of one guinea annually. The officers are: Captain, T. Carr; Lieutenants, J. McIntyre, A. C. Cottrell, C. B. Brereton, and J. C. Fountaine; Chaplain, Rev. J. R. Dart; and Dr. M. Mackenzie, Surgeon.

Captain Thomas Carr, of the I Battery New Zealand Field Artillery Volunteers, was born in Castlemaine, Victoria, in 1865, and was educated at the Dunedin High School, where he was a member of the School Artillery Cadets. He afterwards successively joined the Dunedin Naval Cadets the Dunedin City Guards, and the Otago Rifles (since disbanded). On his arrival in Westport, in 1886, Mr. Carr joined the Naval Artillery. He was elected lieutenant in 1892, and passed his captain's examination with eightyseven per cent, of marks. At the inspection by Colonel Fox in 1895, he received special commendation for the able manner in which he handled the company. In 1894, Captain Carr was elected a member of the Executive Council of the Nelson Rifle Association, and was promoted to his captainey in April, 1895. He is president of His Majesty's Veterans'. Association, Westport district, and holds the New Zea- page 169 land service, and New Zealand long and efficient service medals.

Capt. T. Carr.

Capt. T. Carr.

General Government Institutions.
Post Office.

The Chief Post Office at Westport is situated at the corner of Palmerston and Brougham Streets, on the Post Office reserve, a valuable block of several acres of land in the centre of the town. The present building was erected in 1878, and is one of the finest in Westport. It is one storey in height, and has a non-striking Post Office clock. The accommodation consists of public offices, a lobby which leads to private boxes; an operating room, mail room, the postmaster's room and a residence. There is a telephone exchange, which has one hundred and ten subscribers, and about twenty telephone bureaux are connected with the exchange. Letters are delivered twice daily throughout the borough.

Mr. Herbert Logie , Chief Postmaster at Westport, joined the Post Office Department, in 1871, and received his present appointment in 1903.

Customs.

The Westport Customshouse is situated in Palmerston Street. It is of one storey, and is built of brick. The customs duties at the port of Westport average £1000 a month, and the beer duty averages from £80 to £100 a month. The staff consists of a collector and one cadet.

Mr. Herbert John Crowther was appointed Collector of Customs at Westport in March, 1904. He was born in Hobart, Tasmania, in the year 1852, and is the youngest son of the late Hon. W. L. Crowther, Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, England, and grandson of General Muller, equerry to His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent. Mr. Crowther came to New Zealand in 1875, and joined the Customs Department in Dunedin. He was afterwards, for fifteen years, in the Customs Audit Office in Wellington.

Lands And Survey.

The Westport Lands And Survey Office is in the Government Buildings, in Palmerston Street, and adjoins the Magistrate's Court. The School of Mines is in the same building, which is of wood and iron. The District Surveyor is in charge, and occasionally three assistant surveyors are engaged under his direction.

Mr. John Snodgrass , District Surveyor of the Westport District, was born, in 1842, in Glasgow, Scotland, where he was educated. In 1859, Mr. Snodgrass landed in Melbourne, Australia, where he spent some years in mining. He arrived in Otago in 1864, and found employment in connection with surveys. In 1865 he removed to the West Coast, and was for five years engaged in mining. He entered the Survey Department at Hokitika in 1870, qualified as a surveyor, and was appointed District Surveyor at Westport in the year 1879. Mr. Snodgrass married Miss McDavitt, in 1861; but his wife died in 1895, leaving two daughters and three sons.

Vinsen, photo. Mr. J. Snodgrass.

Vinsen, photo.
Mr. J. Snodgrass.

Mines Department.

Mr. Robert Tennent , Inspector of Mines for the provincial districts of Nelson, Marlborough and Westland, was appointed in succession to Mr A. D. Cochrane in 1897. His district, which is one of the most important in the colony, contains the well-known Brunner, Westport and Blackball coal mines. Mr Tennent was born in Glasgow, where he was educated and studied at the School of Mines at the Andersonian Institute. He filled the position of certificated manager at the Springbank Coal Company's colleries near Glasgow, for nearly eight years, and resigned the position on leaving for New Zealand. Mr Tennent gained his certificate as mine manager by examination at Edinburgh in 1875, and had a wide experience before leaving the Old Country. He came to New Zealand in 1883 and took up a position at the Brunner mines, where he remained thirteen years. Mr Tennent was present at the Brunner disaster, and worked assiduously in the rescue of the entombed miners, and during the official inquiry gave important evidence, which throughout was unshaken, despite the fact that he was severely cross-examined by several lawyers. For a time he was manager of the Coolgardie Mine at Brunnerton. Mr Tennent is considered an unimpeachable authority on mining matters.

Mr. R. Tennent.

Mr. R. Tennent.

Mr. Arthur Hicks Richards , Justice of the Peace, and Inspector of Mines, Westport, was born at Trethora Cottage, St. Stephens, Cornwall, England, in 1850. He left Cornwall in 1866 for Australia, by the s.s. “Great Britain,” and landed at Melbourne. In 1868 Mr. Richards left Australia for the Auckland goldfields. He settled at the Thames, where he worked in various mines until 1875, when he went to the Ohinemuri goldfield, where he spent page 170 twelve months. Mr. Richards then, went to the tin fields on the east coast of Tasmania, where he resided for four years. On his return to the Thames he was appointed underground manager, under Mr. T. B. Hicks, in the Caledonia mine. In 1889, he was appointed mine manager of the Justin-Time gold mine at Kuaotunu. Mr. Richards was elected a member of the Coromandel County Council in 1891, and held his seat until he accepted his present position. During his residence at Kuaotunu Mr. Richards had the supervision of the development of several mines; namely, the Irene, Maori Dream, Aorero, and others. He also took a lively interest in football and other sports, and was elected for three years in succession chairman of the public school committee. Mr. Richards is a Freemason of many years' standing, and he is also a member of the Association of Australian Mining Engineers.

Police.

The Westport Sub-Police District extends from Westport to Karamea on the north, and to Charleston on the south. The station is in Palmerston Street; the building is of wood and iron, and contains two rooms. There are also two residences on the section for officers of the department, and two cells. The staff consists of a sergeant and three constables.

Sergeant Francis Cullen, in charge of the Westport police station, was born in Leitrim, Ireland, where he joined the police force in 1867. In the same year he came to New Zealand and became a member of the police force in Wellington, in August, 1877. He was promoted to the rank of sergeant in 1900, and was appointed to his present charge in 1903.

Railways.

The Westport Mokihinui Railway is thirty-one miles in length. The section to Ngakawan was opened for traffic on the 26th of September, 1877. Since that time various extensions have been completed; and the last section, to the Mokihinui Coal Mine, was opened in February, 1895. The Westport Coal Company has constructed one mile and a-half of line to connect Waimangaroa Junction with the base of Denniston Hill. The Government conducts the traffic over the company's line, supplies all the rolling stock, and collects freights, on which the company is entitled to a rebate. The earning powe of the line is increasing, as the output of coal is very considerable, and the largest in the colony. The quantity of coal carried for the year ending on the 31st of March, 1904, was 578,496 tons, an increase of 293,499 tons from the 31st of March, 1897, as during that year, the total tonnage was 285,997 tons. About four-fifths of the coal is consigned by the Westport Coal Company, from its Denniston and Millerton colleries. The balance from the State mine at Seddonville, and from the Co-operative Company's mine at Mokihinui. The returns for the year 1904 showed that of the total coal carried 569,214 tons were the produce of the Westport Company's mines, 4,899 tons from the State mine, and 4,383 tons from the Co-operative Company at Mokihinui. For the year which ended on the 31st of March, 1897, the number of passengers carried on the line was 53,890, and for the corresponding period which ended with March, 1904–98,895. The gross revenue earned by the railway during the same years was, respectively, £42,559, and £83,600; and the revenue per train mile was 12s 4½d and 18s 2d respectively, for the same periods.

Mr. Eugene Mcsherry , Inspector of Permanent Way for the Westport and Nelson section of New Zealand railways, was born in Christchurch in 1868, and was educated in that city, where he entered the railway service in the Ways and Works Department. After three years and ahalf, Mr. McSherry left the service, but soon afterwards rejoined in Hawke's Bay, as a casual worker; and after a long period of service, was appointed to the permanent staff, and soon promoted to the position of ganger. Mr. McSherry served for ten years in this capacity in Hawke's Bay and for one year in Southland, and in 1904 was promoted to the position he now holds in Westport. In 1891 he married a daughter of Mr. A. Amundsen, of Terrace End, Palmerston North, railway ganger, and has four daughters and four sons.

The Westport Railway Station is the centre of an extensive traffic, which, in view of the industrial resources of the district, is sure to increase. The station buildings are conveniently situated, and are likely to be equal to the requirements of the public for years to come. The traffic staff of the section consists of the stationmaster-in-charge at Westport, two stationmasters, four clerks, five cadets, four foremen, six guards, two signalmen, three tablet porters, twelve shunters, porters, and storemen, a crossing keeper and nightwatchman; and the total number employed on the section under Mr. Hay-Mackenzie is forty-one.

Mr. Tertius Hay-Mackenzie , who holds the position of Stationmaster-in-charge of Traffic on the Westport section of the Government railways, was appointed on the 24th of February, 1897, and took up his duties on the 4th of March, the same year. He entered the Government service in 1875, when he took charge of Waitaki North station, near Oamaru; and he afterwards successively filled the offices of stationmaster at Moeraki Junction (now Hillgrove) and at Palmerston (Otago); relieving officer Dunedin; officer-in-charge, Waimea Plains railway; and stationmaster at Stirling and at Bluff. Mr. Hay-Mackenzie left the Bluff for his present appointment at Westport.

Mr. Ralph Henry Nicholson , who has held the office of chief clerk at the Westport railway station since 1893, was born in 1865, in Dunedin, where he was educated. He entered the railway service as a cadet, in 1882, and in time he was promoted to the position of stationmaster at Tuakau, where he continued for three years. He was afterwards appointed successively to Pukekohe, Drury and Te Kuiti. Mr. Nicholson was then transferred to the charge of the railway telegraph office at Dunedin, and became a relieving stationmaster, before he was transferred to Westport. As a Freemason he is attached to Lodge Otago, New Zealand Constitution. In 1902, he married a daughter of Mr. Samuel Anderson, of Westport, and has two daughters.

Mr. Henry William Todd , Senior Goods Foreman at the Coal Staiths, Westport, was born in the year 1863 at Gravesend, Kent, England, where he was educated. He followed a seafaring life for eighteen months, came to New Zealand in the s.s. “Coptic” in 1887, and settled at Westport in the year 1890. He entered the railway service as a porter, and page 171 was promoted respectively to the positions of shunter, acting-guard and assistant foreman, before his present appointment in 1895. Mr. Todd is a member of the Westport school committee. He is also a director of the People's Building Society, and was for some years a member of the Athenaeum committee. As a Freemason, he is attached to Lodge Phoenix. In 1893, Mr. Todd married a daughter of Mr. F. West, an old settler on the West Coast.

Mr. John Paterson Murdoch , one of the goods foremen at Westport, was born in 1810, in Ayreshire, Scotland, where he was educated, and was afterwards engaged in mercantile life in Glasgow for seven years. Mr. Murdoch came to New Zealand in the ship “Storm Cloud,” and landed at Dunedin in 1862. He followed goldmining in Otago for about two years. In 1864 Mr. Murdoch left Hindon for the Buller district, but, as he was discouraged by the prospects, he returned overland to Christchurch, and the journey took up nine days of heavy tramping. From Christchurch he went to Dunedin, where he entered business, but left again for Hokitika at the outbreak of the diggings in 1865. Two years later Mr. Murdoch removed to Westport, and was engaged in mining for seven years. He then joined the railway service, and received his present appointment in the year 1878.

Mr. Walter Cooper Flower , who has been one of the wharf foremen at Westport since 1903, was born at West Stockwich, Nottinghamshire, England, in June, 1860. As a youth he joined the Great Northern Railway Company, and served three years at Doncaster. He was afterwards, for a year and nine months, stationed at Attercliffe on the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire railway, and was for two years a porter at Sheffield under the same company. On the 25th of October, 1882, Mr. Flower arrived in Lyttelton, by the ship “Taranaki, and, five days later, commenced to work as a shunter at Christchurch. He continued in that employment till 1900, when he was promoted to be head shunter, and afterwards became acting-yard foreman. Mr. Flower was transferred to Westport as head shunter, and held the position for one year and seven months, before being promoted foreman on the wharf. As a Druid he is a member of Lodge Oak of Sydenham, Christchurch, and since 1890, has been a member of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants. On the 4th of August, 1880, Mr. Flower was married at Sheffield, to a daughter of the late Mr. Joseph Fowler, of Macclesfield, and has two daughters.

Vinsen, photo. Mr. W. C. Flower and Family.

Vinsen, photo.
Mr. W. C. Flower and Family.

Mr. Alfred Packman is one of the wharf foremen in connection with the railway at Westport. He was born in London, England, in 1844, educated in that city, became a grocer, and worked at the trade for thirteen years. In 1874 he arrived at Dunedin by the ship “Sussex,” and entered the railway service. Mr. Packman served six years in Dunedin, where for a year he was also yard foreman, and was then transferred to Invercargill, where he continued as guard, and was afterwards goods foreman for ten years. In time he was removed to Clinton, Otago, where he remained nine years, until he was transferred to Westport in 1900. Mr. Packman married a daughter of the late Sergeant-major Richard Price, Herefordshire, England, in 1869, and has, surviving, one daughter.

Vinsen, photo. Mr. A. Packman.

Vinsen, photo.
Mr. A. Packman.

Mr. John William Naylor , Enginedriver, Westport Section of the New Zealand Railways, was born in London in 1855, and was employed at St. Pancras station of the Midland Railway until 1874, when he came to New Zealand by the ship “Miltiadeg.” Shortly after landing he joined the Government service and was on the Auckland permanent staff till 1888. For three years he was driver on the Greymonth-Brunner section. He was then removed to Napier, and three years later took up his present duties in Westport. During his re- page 172 sidence in Greymouth Mr. Naylor was treasurer of the Railway Employees' Union. In Westport he has been chairman of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, and was also a member of the sister society in England.

The Government Railway Workshops , at Westport, were established in 1880. They are situated in the centre of the town on the banks of the Buller river and opposite the wharf. The main building, which is of iron, measures, exclusive of the blacksmith's shop, 130 feet x 80 feet, and there is a heavy stone wall on the eastern side as a protection against fire. The previous buildings were burned down in 1897, when about £5000 worth of property was destroyed. The greater part of the machinery and several locomotive engines were, however, uninjured. The present building is most substantial and fitted throughout on up-to-date lines. The lighting arrangements are perfect, and the sheds are covered with a “Ripsaw roof.” The workshops give employment to about fifty persons, exclusive of the locomotive running staff, which numbers about seventeen. A ten horse-power horizontal engine drives the lathes and other machines, which are very numerous.

Charitable Institutions.

The Buller Hospital And Charitable And Board was constituted in the year 1882. It has control over the local hospital at Westport, and administers charitable aid for the county of Buller, and for the borough of Westport. The revenue of the Board is derived from contributions from local bodies, and a subsidy from the Government.

The Buller District Hospital was established in the year 1868. It is situated at the extreme end of Cobden Street, on the beach, Westport, and occupies a healthy and retired position, facing the sea; and a large verandah surrounds it. It is anticipated that a new and permanent building will, ere long, be erected to take the place of the present one, and a considerable sum of money is already available for the purpose. The premises consist of a number of wood and iron buildings, some of which have been in use since 1868. Additions and improvements have been made from time to time, including the Gladstone Memorial Ward, for the accommodation of female patients. This apartment measures forty feet by twenty feet, and accommodates forty persons. There is also an operating room, a men's surgical ward, and a women's surgical ward. About five acres of land are attached to the hospital, and the grounds are laid out with ornamental walks; there is also a kitchen garden, in which most of the vegetables required are produced. The number of patients admitted during the year 1904 was 141, and 120 patients were discharged during the same period. The staff of the hospital consists of the Medical Superintendent, Dr. Murdoch MacKenzie; Miss M. G. Hayward, Matron; Miss M. Black, Head Nurse; four nurses and probationers; and four servants.

The Buller, Between Lyell and Westport.

The Buller, Between Lyell and Westport.

Dr. Murdoch Mackenzie , M.B.; Ch. B. (Melbourne); L.B. C.P. (Edinburgh); L.F.S. (Glasgow), was appointed Medical Super- page 173 intendent of the Buller District Hospital in the year 1898. He was born in Victoria, Australia, in 1862, was educated in Melbourne, and in Edinburgh, Scotland, and took his degrees in 1885. After an experience at sea, Dr. MacKenzie was medical superintendent of a mental hospital in Victoria, and afterwards had further experience in North Queensland, under the Queensland Government. He was also, for seven years, at the Melbourne Hospital. Dr. MacKenzie subsequently came to New Zealand, and settled at Westport, where he has a private practice.

Miss Maud Georgina Hayward , who has been Matron of the Buller District Hospital since the year 1899, was born in Worcestershire, England. She arrived in Wellington by the ship “Northumberland,” in 1885, and was educated in New Zealand. Miss Hayward served for six years as probationer, nurse, and senior nurse, successively, at the Wellington Hospital, before she received her present appointment.

Educational.

The Westport District High School was first erected in Freeman Street, in the old town, and was destroyed by the great flood of 1870. It was rebuilt near the beach, and as the town moved up the river, a new school was erected on a reserve in Packington Street. With the increase of population it was enlarged, and again moved to the present site in Henley and Lyndhurst streets. The school premises include the residence of the headmaster, and have frontages to Palmerston, Russell, Henley, and Lyndhurst Streets. The whole block is available for school purposes, with the exception of the Free Library, Fire Brigade station, and drillshed, which occupy two corners, towards the Palmerston Street frontage. For a long time the approaches were so bad, that the children had to be piloted over the swamp upon stumps and branches of trees, but through the industry of the various committees, a very good ground has since been reclaimed. Additions to the building have been made from time to time, including a third school for the infants. However, the arrangement of the classrooms is not good, and the policy of having three independent schools in the same enclosure is found to be an unwise one, as it is said that much teaching power is lost. It is, therefore, intended to replace the present buildings by a substantial brick building, so that the whole school may be contained under one roof. At present the number on the roll varies from 550 to 630, and the average attendance is 585. The headmaster is assisted by seven certificated teachers, and four pupil teachers.

Mr. Frederick Neve , M.A., Headmaster of the Westport District High School, was born in Nelson in 1871, and was educated at the Nelson College, where he graduated B.A. in 1891, and M.A. with honours in English and Latin, in the following year. Mr. Neve was afterwards headmaster of the Riwaka public school for about five years, and received his present appointment in 1899.

Mr. Arthur Gifford , M.A., has had charge of the Secondary Classes of the Westport District High School, since June, 1902. Mr. Gifford is further referred to at page 1273 of the Wellington volume of this Cyclopedia.

St. Canice's Mixed School , Westport, is situated about ten minutes' walk from the Convent, and is adjacent to the Roman Catholic Chapel. It was erected by the Catholics some years ago, and is capable of accommodating between 300 and 400 scholars. The school has an average attendance of about 200 and is annually examined by the Government School Inspector under the Nelson Education Board. Since the inception of a Government examination, about 1894, excellent results have been obtained. The school is attended by children of all denominations, many of whom come a considerable distance.

St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Convent is situated behind the Roman Catholic Church, and faces Queen Street. It occupies a section of an acre in extent, and was opened on the 24th of September, 1903. The convent was first established in the year 1893, in a two-storied building in Brougham Street, now known as Warwick House. The new convent is a two-storied wood and iron building, and contains about fifteen rooms and a large chapel. There are sixteen Sisters of Mercy, who are all engaged in teaching or in domestic work. About twenty day pupils are in regular attendance, besides a number who are being instructed in music, or other special subjects. Pupils are prepared for matriculation, junior and senior Civil Service, and Trinity College music examinations.

The Westport School Of Mines was established about the year 1890, and has been held in the old court house in Palmerston Street since 1904. The premises are properly fitted up with melting and muffle furnaces, and other appliances required; classes are hold twice a week, and about ten pupils are in attendance. In 1903, a branch of the school was opened at Denniston, where four members attend a weekly class.

Mr. Thomas Bailie , J.P., has been a member of the Nelson Education Board since 1899. He was for about ten years a member of the Westport Borough Council, was one of the first members of the Westport Harbour Board, on which he served two years, and was also for many years on the Hospital Board. Mr. Bailie was born in the North of Ireland, in 1836, attended school in his native land, and arrived in Victoria in 1852. He was on the Victorian goldfields until he was attracted to Otago, by Gabriel's Gully, in 1861, and was all through the Lake diggings. Mr. Bailie afterwards commenced business in Invercargill, whence he removed to Hokitika, in 1865, and two years later he went to Westport. The first two sites occupied by Mr. Bailie's business premises in the old township of Westport were washed away; and about the year 1877 he removed his store to its present site. Mr. Bailie was for many years lieutenant in the first fire brigade formed in Westport, and he was made a Justice of the Peace in 1835. In 1875, he married a daughter of the late Mr. Andrew Brown, a Victorian squatter, and has four daughters and two sons. Mr. Bailie's eldest son is a sheep farmer in the Gisborne district.

Ecclesiastical.

St. John's Anglican Church , Westport, is situated at the corner of Queen and Lyndhurst Streets. The site is about a quarter of an acre in extent, and the building is of wood, and capable of seating 250 persons. The parish is a large and scattered one, and extends from Mokihinui to Brighton, a distance of over fifty miles. It is estimated that there are 6,000 people in the parish. In addition to the church at Westport, there are also mission churches at Waimangaroa and Charleston, and mission halls at Denniston and at Granity. As the parish grows it is likely that a new church will be built at Westport; indeed, as it is, the church has been removed to a more central part of the town, and a new nine-roomed vicarage has been built. There are some excellent Sunday schools connected with the church. The Rev. John R. Dart was appointed Viear of Westport on the 4th of January, 1901. He came to New Zealand in the year 1865, and was educated at Pieton. Mr. Dart afterwards joined the postal department in Picton as messenger, held various positions in Marlborough, and was promoted to the chief clerkship at Blenheim. He retired from the service in 1883. Mr. Dart was then for about seven years employed in connection with the legal profession, and for three years subsequently was in a mercantile office in Blenheim, when he de- page 174 cided to enter the church. He studied at the Theological College, Nelson, and after his ordination was appointed curate at Brunnerton, Later, Mr. Dart became vicar of Reefton, and was subsequently transferred to Westport. In 1902, he was appointed Chaplain-Captain of the I Battery of Volunteers at West port. Mr. Dart married a daughtor of Mr. W. H. Boase, of Grey mouth, in the year 1901, and has two sons.

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church , Westport, is situated in Palmerston Street. It is a wood and iron building, capable of seating 200 persons. Services are held regularly morning and evening, each Sunday. The Sunday school in connection with the church is attended by about ninety children, who are under the care of fourteen teachers. The district included in the Westport charge extends northwards as far as Seddonville. Home missionaries are station oil at Granity and at Denniston.

The Rev. Henry H. Barton, M.A., was inducted as minister in charge of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Westport, in January, 1905. He was born at Portobello, near Dunedin, in 1880, and educated at the Dunetdin High School and Otago University, and at the Theological Hall, Dunedin. In 1900, he graduated B.A., and M.A. in the following year, with first-class honours, in English and French. Mr. Barton was licensed to preach in December, 1904, and Westport became his first charge.

Vinsen, photo. Rev. H. H. Barton.

Vinsen, photo.
Rev. H. H. Barton.

St. Canice's Roman Catholic Church , Westport, stands at the corner of Brougham and Queen Streets, and was built in the year 1887. The original church formerly stood near the beach, and was replaced by the present building, which is more central, and is the largest church in Westport, with accommodation for about 500 persons. The parochial district is large, and includes Brighton, Charleston, Addison's, Denniston, Cape Foulwind, Granity, Karamea, and Mokihinui. The Very Rev. Thomas; Waishe is in charge, and is assisted by Fathers Molloy and Burgen.

The Very Rev. Thomas Walshe, Rector of St. Canice's Roman Catholic Church, Westport, comes from Kilkenny, Ireland. He was born in 1863, and received his education at All Hallow's College, Dublin.

The Westport Methodist Church is situated in Russell Street. The building was originally a Free Methodist Church. It is built of wood and iron and was enlarged in 1899, when a vestry was added. There is accommodation for 300 persons. The Sunday school is attended by 120 children, in charge of twelve teachers.

The Rev. M. A. Rugby Pratt was stationed at Westport in the year 1904. He was born at Gisborne, and was educated first at Hobart, and then at Queen's College, Melbourne University. Mr. Pratt became a home missionary in Tasmania in 1897. and was accepted as a probationer by the Victorian Conference. In 1902, he was stationed two years at Richmond, Christchurch, before being appointed to Westport.

Social.

The Westport Free Library is situated in Lyndhurst Street, off Palmerston Street. It was formerly an Athenaeum. The original building, which was burned down on the first day of January, 1903? has been replaced by a brick building, to which Mr. Andrew Carnegie contributed £2000, which practically covered the cost of the building. There are 2,500 books in the library. The building is of one storey, in brick, and in the glass over the doorway are embossed the words: “Knowledge is power.” There are five rooms; namely, the main reading room, the newspaper room, the library, a chess room, and a special room for the use of young people. The interior of the building is ornate, especially the ceilings.

Mr. Thomas Dollman , Secretary and Librarian of the Westport Free Library and Athenaeum, was born in the year 1838, at Chichester, in the county of Sussex, England. He was educated in his native city, at Whitby's School, and went to sea just previous to the outbreak of war with Russia. Mr. Dollman entered the Royal Navy in the Paymaster's Department, and saw active service in the Black Sea, and also in China in H.M. steam frigate “Tribune,” in which he served on the China station with Lord Glasgow, afterwards Governor of New Zealand, and then one of her lieutenants. About the end of the year 1860, Mr. Dollman arrived in New Zealand in H.M. sloop “Harrier,” and served in her until he left the service, on that vessel's return to England, in 1865. He holds the Crimean medal, Sebastopol clasp, the Turkish medal for the same campaign, and also the China medal for the China war of 1857–60. Mr. Dollman resided in Auckland for a short time, but removed to the West Coast in May, 1867, and has since been a resident of the Buller district. He afterwards became manager and proprietor of the “Charleston Herald,” was connected with that paper for many years, and was also registrar of births, deaths, and marriages, and bailiff of the Resindent Magistrate's Court, the Warden's Court, and the District Court. Mr. Dollman returned to Westport in 1890, and conducted a commission agent's and accountant's business until his appointment as librarian. At Onehunga, in January, 1864, he married the eldest daughter of Mr. James Christie, formerly of the Honourable East India Company's Civil Service. Mrs Dollman died at Charleston in 1879, leaving one daughter—Mrs John Williams, of Nelson Street, Westport.

Vinsen, photo. Mr. T. Dollman.

Vinsen, photo.
Mr. T. Dollman.

page 175

The Amalgamated Society Of Railway Servants , Westport Branch. This branch was established in 1887 for the purpose of mutual benefit, and the protection of the interests of railway servants. The benefits provide that on the death of a member a sum amounting to about £73 shall be paid to his heirs. Formerly a periodical allowance was paid in the event of a disablement, but that is now abolished.

The Westland Peoples' Terminating Building Society was established in the year 1902, and was founded on the Star-Bowkett system. There are nine directors, a chairman and secretary, and the society has a total of 500 shares, which are all taken up. Officers for the year 1905: Mr. James Finlay, chairman, and Mr. W. T. Slee, secretary.

Racing.

The Westport Jockey Club was established in the year 1893. The course, which is three-quarters of a mile long, is at Sergeant's Hill, and three miles from Westport by rail. A grand stand has been erected, and annual meetings are held in March. Officers for the year 1905: Mr. J. Colvin, M.H.R., President; Mr. H. Nahr, Vice-President, and Mr. W. T. Slee, Secretary and Treasurer; and there is also a committee of twelve members.

The Westport Trotting Club was established in the year 1898. The course is on a section of twenty acres, at Mill Street, where there is a halfmile track, one of the best in New Zealand. The club holds a two days' meeting at Christmas; the meeting of the year 1904, realised a profit of £600. Officers for the year 1905: Mr. G. R. Lamplough, President, Mr. R. T. Watson, Vice-President; and Mr. W. T. Slee, Secretary. There is also a committee of twelve members.

Musical.

Mr. Francis Mckeegan , Sergeant and Secretary of the Westport Band, was born in April, 1875, at Kanieri, near Hokitika. He was educated at Kumara, and served his time as a compositor on the Kumara “Times,” and was afterwards for a while on the staff of the “Catholic Times,” in Wellington. After some years' experience, Mr. McKeegan returned to the West Coast, and settled in Westport. For three years he was manager of the Empire Hotel, in Palmerston Street, and also manager of the Grand Hotel, in Westport, for eighteen months. Mr. McKeegan served for five years in Jupp's Band, Wellington, and was one of the competitors in the first North Island Brass Band Contest. He has been for several years secretary of the Westport Band, which is one of the first-class bands on the Coast.

The Bridges, Lyell Township. Page 147.

The Bridges, Lyell Township.
Page 147.

Press.

“The Westport Times” was established by Mr. John Tyrell in the year 1866. It was published first as a bi-weekly, and then as a tri-weekly paper for many years, and in 1872 the “Evening Star” was established and published daily. In 1890, the two papers were combined, and published as an evening paper. The “Times and Star” is up-to-date in every respect, and enjoys a wide circulation through- page 176 out the Buller district. Mr. John Tyrell died in the year 1892, when the business was taken over by the present proprietors.

Mr. Thomas Patrick Williams , Managing Proprietor of “The Westport Times and Evening Star,” was born in the year 1858, in Auckland, and was educated in New Zealand. He removed to the West Coast in 1866, and commenced to work at twelve years of age. Mr. Williams passed through several grades of newspaper work, and became manager of “The Westport Times” in 1885. He served three years on the Westport Borough Council, and was for six years a member of the Athenaeum committee. Mr. Williams is a director of the Westport Terminating Building Society, of which he was chairman for five years. As a Freemason, he is a member of Lodge Phoenix. Mr. Williams married a daughter of Mr. Louis Grant, of Patea, in January, 1888, and has, surviving, three sons.

Mr. William Gothard , J.P., the Editor of the “Westport Times,” was born in Victoria, Australia. He was apprenticed to Mr. Tyrell, the proprietor of the “Westport Times” and “Evening Star,” in the year 1874, and served through all branches of the newspaper and printing business. Mr. Gothard is recognised as an able journalist. He is chairman of directors of the Westport Building Society.

“The Westport News” is a daily morning paper. It was founded about 1873 by Mr. Captain Wright, and issued as a tri-weekly, demy folio in size. In April, 1889, the paper was purchased by the late Mr. Reid, who enlarged it to double demy, and issued it as a morning daily. Mr. Reid successfully conducted the paper till his death in March, 1897, when it was purchased by Mr. Boundy, who traded under the style of Boundy and Co. for twelve months. Then he, in turn, disposed of the paper to Mr. Atkin on the 4th of April, 1898. There is a serviceable news and jobbing plant in the office.

Mr. Walter Atkin , the Proprietor of the “Westport News,” was born in Victoria in 1860, and educated at the Scots College, Melbourne. After coming to New Zealand he was in the office of the “West Coast Times” for three or four years, and afterwards with three others he conducted a paper known as the “Grey Valley Times.” He served under Mr. Mirfin in “The Inangahua Herald” office for eleven years. After conducting the “Lyell Times” successfully for some years, Mr. Atkin purchased the “Westport News.”

Mr. Sherman Strachan , Editor of the “Westport News,” was born in Montrose, Scotland, and is a son of the late Mr. J. Strachan, Montrose shipyards, Scotland, Mr. Strachan came to New Zealand at an early age, and was educated at Port Chalmers. He passed through the entire routine of a newspaper office, and became the editor of the “Westport News” in the year 1899.

The “Buller Miner” was founded in the year 1881, and is edited by the manager and proprietor, Mr. J. L. Munson. It is a four-page sheet, and contains twenty columns, half of which is reading matter, and is well supported by advertisers in the district. In politics it favours Liberalism, and has a good circulation throughout the counties of Buller and Inangahua. The paper is printed weekly at the office behind Mr. Munson's stationery and bookselling establishment, in Palmerston Street. Mr. Munson's plant, one of the best on the Coast, includes a Wharfdale machine, another by the Colts' Arms Company, of America, and a Minerva, together with full fonts of newspaper and jobbing type.

Mr. Job L. Munson , Proprietor and editor of the “Buller Miner,” was born in December, 1832, at Hamden, New Haven County, Connecticut, United States of America, and started work as a printer at eleven years of age. In the year 1842 he landed in Victoria, Australia, where he afterwards followed mining for about twelve years. Mr. Munson was subsequently attracted to New Zealand, and landed at Port Chalmers by the ship “Ocean Chief,” the first vessel to bring gold seekers from Australia to New Zealand. He then went to Wetherstones, where he built the Washington Hotel, and was the first to obtain a license in the district. Mr. Munsen subsequently sold his interest, and built another hotel at Waikouaiti, and conducted it for two years. He removed to Havelock, Marlborough, at the time of the Wakamarina rush, and had some experience as a printer under Mr. Blundell, who afterwards founded the “Evening Post,” in Wellington. In the year 1865, Mr. Munson attended the West Coast rush, and started a newsagent's shop, with a job printing office, at Hokitika; and some years later removed his business to Westport, where, in conjunction with the late Mr. John Tyrell, he founded the “Westport Times,” in which he held an interest for three years. With Mr. O'Conor and others, some two years later, he started the “Westport News,” with which he was connected for about four years. Mr. Munson has served as a member of the local Borough Council. Harbour Board, Hospital Board, and school committee. In the year 1870, he married a daughter of the late Major Scully, of Napier. This lady died in 1894, leaving five daughters and five sons.

Legal.

The District Court, Warden's Court, and Magistrate's Court at Westport stands in Wakefield Street. It was erected in 1903, and is of wood and iron, in one storey. There is a commodious courtroom, with offices and rooms for the Judge, Magistrate, Clerk of the Court, jury, witnesses, and barristers. The District Court sits quarterly, the Warden's and Magistrate's Court fortnightly, and sittings of the Police Court are held daily, or as required. The District Judge is Mr. W. R. Haselden, and the Magistrate and Warden, Mr. W. G. K. Kenrick. Mr. E. D. Moseley is Clerk of the Court.

Atkinson, Philip Basil, Barrister and Solicitor, Palmerston Street, Westport. Mr. Atkinson was born in Nelson, in the year 1872. He was educated in Nelson College, and studied for the law, under the supervision of Messrs Fell and Atkinson, solicitors, Nelson. In the year 1894, Mr. Atkinson was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court, at Nelson, and commenced practice under the firm of Fell and Co., with whom he continued until he removed to Westport in 1898. He is solicitor to the Westport People's Building Society, and agent for the North British Insurance Company.

Mr. A. C. Cottrell.

Mr. A. C. Cottrell.

Free And Cottrell (Smith Laughton Pattrick Free and Anthony Crispe Cottrell). Solicitors, Palmerston Street, Westport; also at Bridge Street, Reefton. Private residence: Mr. Cottrell, Romilly Street, Westport. P.O. Box 38, Bankers, Bank of New Zealand. The page 177 business is further referred to in connection with the Reefton branch.

Mr. A. C. Cottrell , of the firm of Free and Cottrell, was born in Christchurch in 1866, completed hiseducation at Canterbury College, and qualified as a solicitor of the Supreme Court in 1894, when he was admitted by Mr. Justice Denniston. In 1883 he entered the office of Messrs Garrick, Cowlishaw and Fisher, solicitors, Christchurch, with whom he stayed until 1893. The following year he was managing clerk in Messrs Joynt and Andrews' office, Christchurch. At the end of 1894, Mr. Cottrell joined Mr. Free in the practice of his profession at Reefton and Westport.

Wilson, Albert Adam, Barrister and Solicitor, Palmerston Street, Westport. Mr. Wilson is Crown Prosecutor at Westport and Reefton, and is solicitor to the Westport Borough Council, the Westport Harbour Board, and the Government Advances to Settlers Department in the Buller district.

Vinsen, photo. Mr. A. A. Wilson.

Vinsen, photo.
Mr. A. A. Wilson.

Dental.

Jackson, Henry Graham, Surgeon-Dentist, Brougham Street, Westport. Established 1897. Bankers, Bank of New Zealand. The surgery and waiting-rooms are entirely new, and were built for Mr. Jackson from designs prepared by himself, and they are tastefully furnished. and fitted up with every modern appliance imported from the best English, American, and Continental houses. The operating chair is of the latest design. Mr. Jackson enjoys the reputation of doing high-class and successful work. He was born in Nelson, was educated at the Bishop's School, and served articles with Messrs Tatton and Sons, with whom he remained for a period of seven years.

Banking.

The Bank Of New South Wales in Westport was established in the year 1867. The first building was washed away by one of the floods to which the district was at one time subject; and the present premises, which were erected in 1901, stand on part of a quarter of an acre of land, and consist of a two-storied wood and iron building, which contains a banking chamber, the manager's room, a strong room, a melting house, and the manager's residence. The staff consists of the officer in charge, and two assistants. An agency at Charleston is visited monthly for gold buying purposes.

Mr. William James Norris Blaxall was appointed manager of the Bank of New South Wales at Westport in June, 1902. He was born in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, in 1864. Mr. Blaxall joined the bank at Westport in 1880. He was subsequently manager of the Bank of New South Wales at St. Bathans, in Otago, and later at Charleston.

The Bank Of New Zealand in Westport was opened in the sixties, and for many years its premises were situated next to the Grand Hotel, in Wakefield Street. The building now in use was erected by the late Colonial Bank, and is situated at the corner of Palmerston Street and Wakefield Street. It is a one-storied wood and iron building, and contains a banking chamber, a manager's room, and officers' quarters. The melting house is in a separate building. The staff consists of a manager, accountant, and two clerks.

Mr. Valentine Rofe Moss was appointed manager of the Bank of New Zealand at Westport on the 9th of December, 1904. He has been a bank officer since the year 1880, and was formerly a manager on the Otago goldfields.

Auctioneers, Etc.

Hansen, Alfred And Company (Alfred Craig Hansen), Auctioneers and Commission Agents, Palmerston Street, Westport. This business was established by Mr. Hansen in the year 1900. Mr. Hansen is further referred to as a member of the Westport Borough Council, and as the captain of the Westport Fire Brigade.

Slee, Wilfred Thomas, Licensed Land Broker, Registered Mining and General Commission Agent, Palmerston Street, Westport. This business was established by the late Mr. F. SIee. in the year 1890, and conducted by him until his death, on the 16th of October, 1901. He was succeeded by his son, Mr. W. T. Slee, who was born in Waimate, Canterbury, in the year 1879. Mr. Slee was educated in Waimate and Westport, and was brought up to a mercantile life in the office of his father. He is agent for the Government Accident Insurance Department, the Norwich Union and Manchester Fire Offices, and the Karamea Shipping Company, and is secretary of the Westport Jockey and Trotting Clubs, the Westport Terminating Building Society, and the Westport school committee.

Vinsen, photo. Mr. W. T. Slee.

Vinsen, photo.
Mr. W. T. Slee.

Photography.

Vinsen, William Henry, Photographer, Palmerston Street, Westport. This business was established in the year 1898 by Mr. Vinsen, The premises consist of a wood and iron building, which contains a show room and studio, waiting and dressing rooms, and a private residence. Mr. Vinsen is further referred to as a member of the Westport Fire Brigade.

Bakers, Confectioners, Etc.

Mrs Curran And Sons ‘(Mrs M. A. Curran, William Curran, and Frank Curran), Bakers, Confectioners and Restauranteurs, Palmerston Street, Weseport. The premises occupied by this firm consist of a double-fronted verandah shop, with refreshment room, bakehouse and private residence. There is a back entrance to the premises, and page 178 goods are delivered throughout the entire district. Messrs William and Frank Curran were born in Nelson, where they attended school. They went to Hokitika, and there gained experience in the baking trade. After a period of six years they removed to Westport. The firm acquired its prepresent business in February, 1902.

Gibson, Adam, Baker and Confectioner, Essex Bakery,” Palmerston Street. Westport. This business was established by Mr. Blaxall in the year 1875, and was acquired by its present owner in December, 1904. The premises are freehold, and measure 63 links by 144 links. The building is of wood and iron, and contains a shop, a residence, and a bakehouse.

Mr. Gibson was born in Lanarkshire, Scotland, in the year 1870, came to New Zealand in 1881, and landed at Port Chalmers by the ship “Westland.” He afterwards went to the West Coast, and learned his trade in Denniston, where he was subsequently in business for some time as a storekeeper and baker. Later, Mr. Gibson removed to Westport, and acquired his present business in 1904. He married a daughter of Mr. John Harris, of Denniston, in the year 1895, and has five sons and two daughters.

Virtue, Jonathan Edwards, Confectioner and Fruiterer, corner of Palmerston and Henley Streets, Westport. This business has been conducted by Mr. Virtue since the year 1900. The commodious premises consist of a large corner shop, with a verandah. Mr. Virtue was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and came to Melbourne in 1837, in the ship “Ariadne.” He gained a general colonial experience in Victoria, where he continued till 1866. In that year he arrived in Hokitika, and was, for some years, engaged in mining pursuits. Mr. Virtue settled in Westport in 1872. In the year 1864 he married a daughter of the late Mr. Eugene Keenan, of Melbourne. His wife died in 1891, leaving two sons and one daughter.

Vinsen, photo. Mr. J. E. Virtue.

Vinsen, photo.
Mr. J. E. Virtue.

Wine Merchants And Brewers.

Simon, Jules (Mrs Simon and G. E. Simon), General Provision, Wine and Spirit Merchants, Palmerston Street, Westport. Bankers, Bank of New Zealand. This business is one of the oldest in the district, and was established by Mr. Jules Simon, who died in June, 1899. It is domiciled in the only surviving building of old Westport, and is carried on by the founder's widow and son. The proprietors are direct importers from the great manufacturers in the European centres, and are, therefore, enabled to place before their customers goods of the very best quality, and at low prices.

Westport Brewery (Henry Nahr, proprietor), Palmerston Street, Westport, This brewery was established by the late Mr. William Nahr, in 1880, and conducted by him until his death in 1896, when he was succeeded by his son, Mr. Henry Nahr, the present proprietor. The brewery building, which is of wood and iron, stands on a freehold section of an acre and ahalf. It contains a full modern plant, with a capacity of 200 hogsheads per month. The floor of the main building is of concrete, and the trade extends throughout the Buller district. Bottling in connection with the brewery is carried on at the store of Mr. H. Payne, in Palmerston Street.

Building And Contracting.

Marshall, John, Builder and Contractor, Lyndhurst Street, Westport, Private residence, Romilly Street. The factory and office cover 100 feet by 24 feet, with every facility for turning out all kinds of builders' woodwork by machinery, which is driven by steam power. Mr. Marshall employs a number of men.

Cordial Making, Etc.

Pain, Henri, Aerated Water and Cordial Manufacturer and Ale and Porter Bottler, Palmerston Street, Westport. This business was established in 1867 by the proprietor, Mr. Henri Pain. The original premises were washed away in the old township of Westport. A site was then obtained in Rintoul Street, where Mr. Pain carried on his business for more than thirty years. He removed to Palmerston Street, where he has a large wood and iron factory and store, together with a substantial residence; the whole occupying a site of half an acre of freehold. The factory is divided into several departments, including a bottling room, with the latest automatic bottling machinery. In the aerated water department there is a gas engine by Crossley Bros., capable of working up to two horse-power, and there are five bottling racks, and a soda water machine, by Tyler and Son, in the syrup room. Mr. Pain manufactures from the best ingredients. There is also a packing-room with a cart entrance, and an office with a large strong room. The bottle-washing department is at the back of the factory, and is fitted up with tubs and rinsers, and also with a brick copper for cordials. The produce of the factory is delivered throughout the Buller district. Mr. Pain was born in 1842 in France, where he attended school. In 1854 he landed in Melbourne, Victoria, and learned his trade in that city from a fellow countryman. He came to Otago in 1861, intending to visit Gabriel's Gully, but did not carry out his original plans; he was, however, digging on the Waitahuna goldfield for a short time. Mr. Pain then removed to Dunedin, where he commenced a lemonade business. A few months later he went to Wetherstones, where, in conjunction with a friend, he bought a cordial business, and began under the style of James Hunter and Co. This partnership was continued till the opening of the Dunstan goldfield, where Mr. Pain afterwards bought the business on his own account. Afterwards he was at Hogburn and Hamiltons, till the year 1865. when he removed to Hokitika by the “City of Dunedin,” which was wrecked on her second trip; since that time Mr. Pain has resided on the West Coast. He is a member of the Order of Oddfellows, and has served in the local lodge as Permanent Seeretary for a number of years. In 1866, he married Miss Ryan, and has, surviving, four daughters, and two sons, of whom one daughter and the two sons are married.

Decorating, Paperhanging, Etc.

O'Neill, John, Painter, Paperhanger, and General Decorator, Palmerston Street, Westport. Mr. O'Neill has conducted his business since the year 1886, and learned his trade with Mr. E. B. Sammons, of Hokitika. He was born in 1859, at Bendigo, Vietoria, but has resided on the West Coast since 1866. Mr. O'Neill started work at eleven years of age, and attended a night school conducted by Archdeacon Harper. He was apprenticed for four years, and, after that time, worked as a journeyman at Reefton and Greymouth, before commencing business in page 179 1883, at Ross. In 1886, he removed to Westport. Mr. O'Neill is a member of the Buller Licensing Bench, and of the local Fire Brigade, of which he was for three years captain. He was also a member of the Westport Borough Council, and of the Hospital Board. Mr. O'Neill is starter for the Westport Jockey Club and Trotting Club, and treasurer for the local Poultry Club. He married a daughter of the late Mr. Percy Flynn, of Dunmore, on the 24th of January, 1896.

Drapers, Etc.

Carr Bros . (Thomas Carr and James Carr), Tailors and Outfitters, Westport. Bankers, Bank of New South Wales. Private residence, “Esplanade.” This firm's business was established in 1885, and has developed into a leading fashionable establishment. Its fancy coatings, tweeds, vicuna serges, and special lines in fancy worsted trouserings, are imported direct from Colonial and English manufacturers, and thoroughly shrunk before being made up. Messrs Carr Bros, provided the Westport Rifles with their whole outfit in a very satisfactory and finished manner.

Mr. Thomas Carr , the Senior Partner, is the cutter and fitter, and thoroughly understands his business, which he learned in Dunedin under Mr. Carr, senior. He is a past master of Lodge Phoenix, No. 1690, English Constitution. In 1883 he joined the West Harbour Lodge of Druids, No. 175, and is also a member of the Loyal Westport Lodge of Oddfellows, Manchester Unity. In August. 1894, he married Miss Annie Hamilton Lauchlan, of Wellington, and has children.

Mr. James Carr , the Second Partner, represents the firm in all the West Coast districts, which he visits periodically. He is a good rifle shot, having won the Nelson District Government Medal in 1891, the Westport Rifles Cup in 1890, and numerous other prizes, including a silver casket case barometer. He is a Master Mason of Lodge Aorangi, Denniston.

Mr. J. Carr.

Mr. J. Carr.

Smith, C. W. Panckhurst, manager, Draper, Westport. P.O. Box 17. Bankers, Bank of New Zealand. Mr. C. Smith, the well-known Wellington draper, established his Westport branch in 1887, and has undoubtedly one of the finest shops on the West Coast. The stock, which is replote in all departments, is estimated to be worth £4000, and includes the usual fashionable lines imported direct by the firm, Eight persons are constantly employed, and the millinery department is in charge of an experienced milliner.

Mr. William Panckhurst , Manager of the Westport branch, has been in the employment of Mr. Smith for about eighteen years. He was born and educated in Greymouth. Mr. Panckhurst entered the Greoymouth branch of the firm in 1886 as an apprentice, and remained there until 1897, when he was transferred to Wellington to the head establishment, which is referred to at length in the Wellington volume of the Cyclopedia. On the death of the manager of the Westport branch he was promoted to his present position, which he fills with credit to himself and satisfaction to his employer, In cycling circles Mr. Panckhurst is well known, and whilst in Greymouth he was often a competitor on the local racing track. There is also a sub-branch at Denniston under the supervision of the Westport manager.

Mr. W. Pankhurst.

Mr. W. Pankhurst.

Fuel Trade, Etc.

Green, William, Coal Merchant, Forwarding Agent and Livery Stable Keeper, corner of Rintoul and Adderley Streets, Westport. This business was established in 1890, and the proprietor, Mr. Green, was the first to start an express in Westport, in the year 1871. He occupies three sections of colliery reserve land, on which his residence and stables stand; the coal yard is situated at the loading staiths at the wharf. Mr. Green employs a large number of vehicles in connection with his business, and acts as agent for the New Zealand and Colonial Carrying Company, and far the sale of coal from the State mines. He was born near Londonderry, in the North of Ireland, in 1840. In the year 1859 he landed in Melbourne, and went to the Inglewood diggings, afterwards to Gippsland, and was at the Shotover in the following year, at the time of the flood. In the early days of the West Coast, Mr. Green brought horses overland to Hokitika, where he arrived in March, 1865, and for three months followed mining on creek claims. He afterwards carried up the first drilling tools to Ross, where he started the first prospecting drive; and, in conjunction with his mates, crected the first board tables for washing gold at Saltwater, known as Marshall's claim. His last digging experience was in prospecting for recif in the Ross district, shortly before he came to Westport. In the year 1891, Mr. Green married a daughter of the late Mr. Thomas MacKenzie, of Addison's Flat, and has two sons and three daughters.

Mcelwee, John, Coal Merchant, Carrier and Livery Stable proprietor, Russell Street, Westport. This business was established in 1867 by the late Mr. D. Reeves, and was afterwards conducted by Mr A. Singer, from whom Mr. McElwee bought it in September, 1899. The stables, yards, and residence of Mr. McElwee, occupy half an acre of freehold land, and the stabling includes a large shed, 120 feet long. Eight horses are employed in the business, and numerous vehicles, including a large drag, which will seat twenty-five persons. Mr. McElwee's coal yard is at the end of Henley Street, and adjoins the coal staiths. He was born in May, 1870, at Westport, where he was educated, and learned the trade of a baker, which he followed for thirteen years. After that he removed to Granity, where he remained for three years. Mr. Mc— Elwee then went to Westport, and was a baker for three years on his own account, before he purchased his present business. He is a steward of the Westport Trotting Club, and as a Freemason is a member of Lodge Phoenix, Westport. Mr. McElwee is also an Oddfellow, and belongs to Loyal Westport Lodge. In his youth he took a prominent part in football, rowing, volunteering, and running. He married a daughter of the late Mr. page 180 Charles Austin, of Reefton, in January, 1898, and has three sons.

Upham, Edward, Coal Merchant and Carrier; loading yard at the Coal Staiths, Westport; stables, Adderley Street. This business was established in 1902, by Mr. Upham, who was born in Ross, Westland, in the year 1870. He was educated at Kumara, and found employment at bridge work, for three years. Mr. Upham went to Africa as a member of the Third New Zealand Contingent, and returned to New Zealand in 1901. He afterwards worked at the coal staiths for some time, before establishing his present business. Mr. Upham is agent for Coalbrooledale coal, and is a member of the Star Football Club.

Coal Industry.

The Westport Coal Company 's local branch at Westport is situated at the wharf, near the railway station. The offices are contained in a wood and iron building, and have four commodious rooms, including public and private articles. The operations of the company are described in other articles.

Mr. David Andrew Murdoch , Agent for the Westport Coal Company at Westport, was born in 1872 at Westport, where he was educated. He joined the company's service in 1886, and was promoted to his present position in in the year 1900. Mr. Murdoch is a member of the Kawatiri Rowing Club.

Mr. James Walker Marshall became underground manager of the Westport-Cardiff Coal Company, Limited, in 1896. He is a native of Lanarkshire, and had considerable experience in coal-mining in the Old Country until 1874, when he emigrated to New Zealand in the ship “Chili.” On coming to the West Coast he settled at Denniston for fifteen years. Mr. Marshall then went to Ngakawau for two years before entering the service of the Westport-Cardiff Coal Company, He is a Justice of the Peace, and a self-taught man.

Mr. F. W. Hagedorn.

Mr. F. W. Hagedorn.

Furnishing Trade.

Hagedorn, F. W. , House Furnisher, Cabinetmaker, etc., Westport. Bankers, Bank of New Zealand. Private residence, Russell Street. Mr. Hagedorn manufactures all lines of furnishing goods except chairs, which are imported in parts. The proprietor has been connected with the trade for twenty-five years, and was born on the Rhine, Germany, in 1839. He served his time with Kluss and Co., and after finishing his indentures he worked at the trade in various parts of Germany till coming to Melbourne in 1870. Shortly afterwards he came to New Zealand, and made his way to the gold rush at Charleston, but not being satisfied with the prospects of mining, Mr. Hagedorn moved to Westport, and entered business. During the memorable flood which swamped the town of Westport, he moved from his premises only just in time to the higher ground. He, however, again started in business at the corner of Palmerston and Packington Streets, where he has since conducted his trade. In public affairs Mr. Hagedorn has not taken a very prominent part, but he has served on the school committee, and also on the vestry of the Church of England. He has been a Freemason for twenty-five years, and an Oddfellow for twenty-eight years, in which time he has been through all the chairs and degrees. Mr. Hagedorn married in 1880 and has six children.

Hairdressers, Etc.

Ayres, George Harold, Hairdresser, Tobacconist and Fancy Goods Dealer, Palmerston Street, Westport. This business was established in the year 1901, by Mr. G. H. Ayres. The building is of wood and iron, and has a verandah, show windows, a shop and and a saloon. Mr. Ayres is the eldest son of the late Mr. J. Ayres, of the Q. C. E. Hotel, and was born in 1883 at Kaiapoi, where he attended school. He accompanied his father to Westport, in the year 1891, and there completed his education. Mr. Ayres went to Wellington, to learn his trade, and was for some time with Mr. J. G. Millar, in Willis Street; and, having duly qualified, returned to Westport, and commenced business. He is a member of the Westport Jockey Club, and vice-president of the Rival Football Club.

Rhodes, Charles Ashburton, Hairdresser, Tobacconist and Fancy Goods Dealer, Palmerston Street Westport. This business was established in 1900, by Mr. Rhodes, who was born in February, 1881, at Reefton, where he was educated. The building is of wood and iron, with a verandah, show window, and a wellfitted saloon. Mr. Rhodes learned his trade in his native place, and also found employment there until he commenced his present business. He is a member of the Kawatiri Rowing Club, and of the the Westport Jockey and Trotting Clubs, and in the year 1904 he was president of the local football club.

page 181
Hotels, Etc.

City Hotel (Mrs Robinson, proprietress), Westport. Bankers, Bank of New Zealand. This neat hotel was built in 1884 by Mrs Robinson's husband, and contains six bedrooms, three parlours, and a large diningroom.

Mr. John Robinson was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1831, served his time as an engineer at Benzley, near Bradford, and was engaged in marine work at Hull. He received the appointment of chief engineer to a steamer sailing for New Zealand, and arrived in Port Chalmers in 1858. For some time he was in the s.s. “Lord Worsley.” In 1867, he joined the s.s. “Kennedy,” of the Anchor Steamship Company, and subsequently the “Charles Edward.” He retired from the sea in 1882, and built the City Hotel, Westport. Mr. Robinson was a Master Mason, and joined the brotherhood in 1861. Before coming to New Zealand he married, but afterwards lost his wife and two daughters within a few months of each other. Mr. Robinson re-married, and since his death, the City Hotel has been conducted by his widow.

The Late Mr. J. Robinson.

The Late Mr. J. Robinson.

Criterion Hotel (Charles Lempfert proprietor), Palmerston Street, Westport. This comfortable hostelry is well situated, and is a neat two-storey building containing nineteen rooms, of which thirteen are bedrooms. There are three comfortable sitting-rooms, and a commodious dining-room, where a good table is always provided. The house is run on first class lines at popular prices, and the comfort of all guests is carefully looked after by the host and hostess.

Mr. Charles Lempfert , the proprietor, who is a popular landlord, is referred to elsewhere in connection with the Twin Gold Mining Company, of which he is a director.

The Empire Hotel (Henry Herbert McMaster, proprietor), Palmerston Street, Westport. This hotel was established in the year 1867, and leased by the present proprietor in April, 1902. The building contains twentyfive bedrooms, two parlours, a drawing-room, a dining-room capable of seating forty guests, and a billiardroom, which contains two tables by Aleock. Commodious sample rooms are provided for the use of commercial travellers. On one side of the hotel is the entrance for Newman Bros'. line of coaches to Reefton, Nelson, and Blenheim. The “Empire” is one of the best known houses on the Coast, and has a unique history, for the flood which destroyed Westport in 1872, washed the previous “Empire” out bodily to sea, with lights still burning. The present building was erected by the late Mr. John Hughes, after the loss of its two predecessors by floods. The original house was named the “Maori Hotel,” and was built by the late Mr. Adam Porter, who died in Auckland, and was bought for £1000 by Mr. Hughes, who re-named it the “Empire.”

Mr. Henry Herbert Mcmaster . Proprietor of the Empire Hotel, was born in the year 1862 in Liverpool, England, where he was educated. He followed a seafaring life for about twenty years, and served on the White Star and New Zealand Shipping Companies' lines. Mr. McMaster became chief steward and purser, and resigned his position on the s.s. “Rimutaka” in the year 1902. As a Freemason, he was a member of Lodge Unanimity, Lyttelton, and is attached to Lodge Phoenix, Westport, Mr. McMaster is a member of the Westport Jockey and Trotting Clubs, is vice-president of the Westport Cricket and Football Clubs, and is a trustee of the Westport City Band. He married a daughter of the late Mr. Robert Reeves, London, England, in the year 1890, and has two sons and one daughter.

Vinsen, photo. Mr. H. H. McMaster.

Vinsen, photo.
Mr. H. H. McMaster.

The Grand Hotel (David Leech, proprietor), cornet of Palmerston and Wakefield Streets, Westport. This prominent hotel was established in the year 1875, and is a handsome two storied building of wood and iron, with a balcony on two sides. It contains thirty rooms, including twenty bedrooms, a number of sitting-rooms, a commercial-room, a fine billiardroom containing two tables by Alcock and Wright respectively, and a fine large dining-room, capable of seating sixty guests. For the convenience of commercial men, there are also four sample rooms. The Princess Theatre adjoins the hotel, and has accommodation for 500 persons. There is a stable in connection with the “Grand.”

Mr. David Leech , who has been proprietor of the Grand Hotel since the year 1903, was born at Woodbridge, Suffolk, England, in 1854. He was educated in his native place, and learned the trade of a builder, which page 182 he followed until 1888. In 1879, Mr. Leech landed at Port Chalmers, by the ship “Lizzie Bell,” which was lost on the Taranaki coast in the year 1901. After building the Town Hall in Port Chalmers, and many other buildings, Mr. Leech became proprietor of the Railway Hotel, in 1888; he remained there for four years, and then removed to the Provincial Hotel, of which he had acquired the freehold. In the year 1902 he removed to Westport. During his residence in Port Chalmers, Mr. Leech served for six years as a member of the local borough council, and was for two years on the Otago Harbour Board. For ten years Mr. Leech was captain of the Port Chalmers Fire Brigade, and was, at one time, president of the United Fire Brigade Association of New Zealand. He is a Freemason, and a Past Master of the Port Chalmers Marine Lodge; he is also a Past Mark Master of the Zealandia Lodge, and a Past Z of the Marine Royal Arch Chapter, in Port Chalmers. Mr. Leech was one of the founders of the Port Chalmers Druids' Lodge, and is a Past Arch Druid. He was, for some time, a member of the L Battery, Port Chalmers. He married a daughter of Mr. W. Jewiss, of Port Chalmers, in the year 1886, and has one son and one daughter.

Vinsen, photo. Mr. D. Leech.

Vinsen, photo.
Mr. D. Leech.

The Prince Of Wales Hotel (John Colligan, proprietor), corner of Palmerston and Henley Streets, Westport. This hotel was established by the late Mr. Lloyd in 1888, and he was succeeded by Mr. A. King, who conducted the business for twelve years. Mr. Colligan, the present proprietor, took possession in the year 1994. The building is a two-storied one of wood and iron, and contains thirteen rooms, including a dining-room and sittingrooms. Mr. Colligan was born in Lanarkshire, Scotland, in 1868. He was educated at Holytown, afterwards came out to New Zealand, and arrived in Nelson on the 15th of January, 1880, by the ship “Eastminster.” Mr. Colligan has been most of his time in the Westport district, and has worked as an engine-driver at Denniston, Koronui, and afterwards, at Denniston again, for about twelve years. As a Freemason, he is a member of Lodge Aorangi, Denniston, and is also a Past Master of his lodge. In the year 1895, he married a daughter of Mr. A. King, of Westport.

Vinsen, photo. Mr. And Mrs J. Colligan.

Vinsen, photo.
Mr. And Mrs J. Colligan.

Q.C.E. Hotel (Mrs Ayers, proprietress), Lower Palmerston Street, Westport. Established in 1888. Bankers, Bank of New Zealand. This favourite hotel was taken over in 1890 by the late Mr. James Ayers. The house is replete with every convenience and has lately been entirely re-furnished and renovated. It is situated within seven minutes' walk of the Post Office and Railway Station, and is close to the wharves. It is two stories in height and built of wood. The dining-room is on the ground floor, and is a well-lighted and cheerful apartment; and there are several parlours and comfortable bedrooms. Theré is good accommodation for boarders, and a satisfactory table is kept. There is a private sitting-room, with an excellent piano, for guests staying in the house. The bar trade is considerable, and only the best brands of wines, beers, and spirits are kept by the proprietress.

Mr. James Ayers was born at Papanui, Christchurch, and was brought up as a hairdresser. For eight years he conducted a successful business at Kaiapoi. On leaving Canterbury, he removed to the West Coast, and settled at Reefton, where he purchased the City Hotel, and after two years' successful business, sold out his interest at a profit. Mr. Ayers then moved to Westport, and took over the Q.C.E. Hotel, which is now (1905) conducted by his widow.

The Late Mr. J. Ayers.

The Late Mr. J. Ayers.

Royal Hotel (Henry Stannard, proprietor), Palmerston Street, Westport. The Royal Hotel has been established many years, and owned by the present proprietor since the year 1865. It is a two-storied building of wood and iron, and contains about fourteen rooms. The original site of the Royal Hotel was washed away in 1870 in the old township of Westport; and though the original building was saved, and removed to its present site, the house was rebuilt in the year 1875. Mr. Stannard was born in 1835 in Cambridgeshire, England, where he was educated. In 1856, he arrived in Melbourne, Australia, and followed the diggings in that colony for some years. Afterwards he came to New Zealand, and went to Gabriel's Gully, and continued gold mining in Otago, until attracted to the West Coast. He then removed from Hokitika to Westport, and became the proprietor of the Royal Hotel. Mr. Stannard is a member of the Westport Jockey Club. In 1865, he married a daughter of the late Mr. Edward Doyle, Sydney.

Temperance Hotel (Mrs. Thomas Shaw, proprietress), corner of Pal- page 183 merston and Packington Streets, Westport. This hotel is a two-storied building, and contains eighteen rooms, including fourteen bedrooms, two sitting-rooms, and a fine dining-room, capable of seating forty guests. The building stands on part of a quarter of an acre of freehold land, and is well adapted to the requirements of local boarders and visitors.

Mr. Thomas Shaw , husband of the proprietress of the Temperance Hotel, has been a resident of Westport since the year 1883. He was born at Thetford, Norfolk, England, in 1856. At the age of eight years, he accompanied his parents to London, attended the national school at Newington Butts, and, after seven years, commenced work in the boiler shop of a foundry, near Dartford, Kent, where he continued for four years, For a short time afterwards, he worked at the Dudgeon shipyard, in London, and, later, at the Westwood and Bailey shipyard, in the Isle of Dogs, London. In the year 1874, Mr. Shaw arrived in Wellington by the ship “Star of India,” and found employment at bush work in the Wanganui district. He was then employed at railway work, and on bridge construction, and worked on the Turakina, Wangaehu, and Wanganui railway bridges. Mr. Shaw was then engaged in connection with boiler work on river steamers at Wanganui, and afterwards found employment in bush work, on the Akaroa Peninsula, Canterbury, and subsequently worked on the Waimakariri bridge. About the year 1876, at the time of the Kumara rush, he removed to the West Coast, and had some digging experience, and was associated in some of his work with Mr. Seddon, now Premier of New Zealand. After three years, Mr. Shaw returned to Christchurch, and was for eight months employéd at Anderson's Foundry, and for a season afterwards worked on a threshing machine in the country. He was then engaged in blacksmithing at Lake Coleridge, whence he returned to Kumara, and found employment with the local blacksmith and in bush work, for a time. At a later period, Mr. Shaw was employed on the Little Grey and Inangahua Junction bridges. He settled in Westport in the year 1883, worked in the bush, and was afterwards employed as a carpenter, for about two years. At the time of the first strike at Denniston, Mr. Shaw was temporarily employed, and afterwards engaged in contracting work in the Westport district. Since 1893, he has been boilermaker for the Westport Harbour Beard. He was secretary of the Westport Labour Union for four years. Mr. Shaw married a daughter of the late Mr. S. Martini, of Coolgardie, miner, in the year 1886, and has one son and three daughters.

Warwick House (Mrs Peter Cumming, proprietress), Brougham Street, Westport. This establishment was built and used for some time as a convent, and was only opened as a boardinghouse in the year 1904. Since the beginning of February, 1905, it has been conducted by Mis Cumming, It is a two-storied wood and iron building, with a verandah, and contains sixteen rooms, including twelve bedrooms, a bath-room, a sitting-room, and a large dining-hall, capable of seating twenty-five guests. The rooms are lofty and well ventilated, and the surroundings of the house are pleasant for visitors.

Mr. Peter Cumming , husband of the proprietress of Warwick House, was born in the year 1849, in the parish of Inveresk, near Edinburgh, Scotland, where he was educated, and, at the age of nine years, was put to work in a coal miné. Mr. Cumming afterwards went to Australia, where he remained for about eight years. For a year he was a mine manager in Tasmania, and afterwards occupied the same position in Victorian mines for about four years. He then came to New Zealand, and settled in Westport in the year 1874. Mr. Cumming at times worked at carpentry, and was employed at the erection of the first railway station in Westport. He was also one of the first to work in the local coal mines, and several times acted as deputy and mine manager; and was for about nine months manager of the Tyneside pit at Greymouth. As a Freemason, Mr. Cumming is a member of the Wishaw Lodge, Scottish Constitution. In the year 1869, he married a daughter of Mr. J. Shepperd, of Cambridgeshire, England, and has, surviving, eight sons and three daughters, of whom three sons and all three daughters are married. Mr. Cumming has fifteen grandchildren.

Ironfounders And Blacksmiths.

Martin And Co . (George Walter Martin), Ironmongers, Palmerston Street, Westport. This business was established in 1901. The building originally occupied was taken down, and a new building erected; but this was destroyed by fire in August, 1904, after which the present substantial, iron, double-fronted shop was built. The proprietor imports largely, and does a wholesale and retail trade. Mr. Martin was born in Nelson, in 1861, educated in Westport, and learned ironmongering with Mr. Thomas Field. After eleven years' service, he joined Mr. G. H. Gothard, and was a member of the firm of Martin and Gothard for ten years. On the dissolution of that firm, he commenced business on his own account.

Riley, S. And Co . (Samuel Riley), Foundrymen, Ship Engineers, Mining and General Blacksmiths, Westport. Established in 1878. The firm's building is a capacious one, and is fitted with lathes, punching machines, forges, benches, hammers, and all other necessary appliances for a busy trade.

Mr. John David Ballard , Foreman of the Works of Messrs Riley and Company, Limited, Westport, was born in Sydney, New South Wales, in the year 1860. He has resided in New Zealand since his infancy, and was educated at Hokitika and Charleston. Mr. Ballard learned his trade as a blacksmith and engineer, in Westport, has worked in the same shop since 1878, and risen from the position of a junior to that of foreman. Mr. Ballard has had charge of the works of Messrs Riley and Co. since the year 1897.

Struthers, William, Ironmonger, Palmerston Street, Westport. Bankers, Bank of New Zealand. Private residence, Queen Street, Established in 1867. Mr. Struthers' commodious premises were built specially for his class of business, and have, on the first floor, 2,800 feet of space. The main shop is stocked with a great variety of ironmongery, and has a fine front, in the windows of which a large assortment of plated ware is attractively displayed. Large quantities of bar and sheet iron, paint, oils, lead, etc., are stored in the yard, and altogether the business is the largest in Westport. Mr. Struthers is a colonist of about forty years' standing, page 184 and has taken a great interest in local affairs. In 1883, he occupied a seat on the Borough Council, and was energetically attentive to the requirements of the ratepayers, but, unfortunately, the pressure of a large ‘business necessitated his retirement. Mr. Struthers was born in Linlithgow, Scotland, in 1840, and, after receiving an ordinary education, was apprenticed to the firm of J. Nesbit and Co., painters, etc., George Street, Edinburgh, Scotland, and served five years. Then he worked as a journeyman in Berwick, Newcastle, and Bradford, till coming to New Zealand in 1863, by the ship “City of Dunedin. He landed at Port Chalmers, and was mining at Nicholl's Gully, in Otago, in 1863, and at Wakamarina in 1864. Mr. Struthers then went to Auckland, and was with the firm of Phillips and Son for a few months. In 1865 he proceeded to Hokitika, and was at his trade there for the space of one year. He subsequently went to Charleston and Westport, where, in connection with Mr. Thomas Fogo, of Dunedin, he entered into business. This partnership was dissolved a year later, and Mr. Struthers has carried the business on alone since 1868. He has been connected with the Order of Oddfellows since 1867, and has been through all the chairs. In 1870, Mr. Struthers married a daughter of Mr. Arthur Bradley, farmer, of Nelson, and has, surviving, seven children, His second son assists in the business, and the eldest is with Messrs Briscoe, McNeil, and Co., of Wellington.

Smith, James, General Blacksmith. corner of Wakefield and Russell Streets, Westport. This business was established by Mr. Smith in the year 1903. The building is of wood and iron, and contains two forges with a hydraulic blast. Mr. Smith was born in 1866, in New South Wales, where he was educated, and came to New Zealand in 1876. He learned his trade with the Westport Coal Company at Denniston, and afterwards gained further experience in New South Wales, to which he had returned, and where he worked for three years for the Anvil Creek Colliery Company, at Greta, Newcastle. He then went into business on his own account in West Maitland, and at Newcastle, In 1894, Mr. Smith came back to New Zealand, and was for four years at Granity, before he removed to Karamea, where he was in business as a blacksmith, and had a small farm, for five years, Mr. Smith is a member, of the Westport Orange Lodge. He married a daughter of Mr. Frederick Lipsey, of New South Wales, in the year 1888, and has, surviving, one son and four daughters. Mr. Smith is at present (1905) manufacturing miners' drills, and machinery for boring coal, He claims that his drill is the only twist drill made in the colony, and he is effecting certain improvements, and intends to patent the invention.

Vinsen, photo. Mr. J. Smith.

Vinsen, photo.
Mr. J. Smith.

Leather Trade.

Leaver, Arthur, Saddler and Harnessmaker, Palmerston Street, Westport. The premises occupied by Mr. Leaver were erected in 1899, on leasehold land, on a colliery reserve. There is a plate glass front to the shop, which has a work-room and dwelling attached. Mr. Leaver is an importer of saddlery and harness, and a large stock of goods is made on the premises. Mr. Leaver is further referred to in connection with the Westport Fire Brigade.

Way, Mrs, Boot and Shoe Importer, Westport Boot Palace, and at Lower Palmerston Street, Westport. Bankers, Bank of New Zealand. The late Mr. Augustus Way established this business in Lower Palmerston Street in 1890, and in October, 1898, opened “The Westport Boot Palace,” in premises erected by Mr. Robert Taylor. No expense has been spared to make the shop as attractive as possible. A large plate glass window displays the high class goods to the best possible advantage. A dust-proof glass show case stands at the entrance of the shop, and contains a splendid assortment of ladies' and children's boots and shoes. The interior is fitted up in admirable taste, and is very attractive with all the requirements of the trade, and the stock is specially imported from the leading English, American, and Continental makers. The premises are lighted throughout with the incandescent light, and an extensive business is done in town and country. Mr. Way was born in Portsmouth, England, in 1840, and was brought up to the boot trade. In 1858 he came out to Melbourne, on board the White Star liner “Sultana,” and worked on various Victorian goldfields, including Ballarat and Bendigo. In 1866 he was attracted to the West Coast of New Zealand, and was mining at Kanieri, Blue Spur, and Waimea, where he was fairly successful. Mr. Way subsequently returned to Westport, and after being for a time on the Northern Terraces, he worked at his trade for a few months. He then went back to Australia and was on the Queensland and Victorian goldfields. He returned to New Zealand in 1870, and subsequently established the first boot shop in Denniston, where he was successful for six years, and then sold out. Mr. Way had been backwards and forwards to Australia on no fewer than fourteen occasions. Since his death, his widow has carried on the business.

Westport Fellmongery (Gerald Organ, proprietor), Upper Palmerston Street, Westport. The two large buildings which are used in connection with this business are constructed of wood and iron, and stand on part of a section of half an acre of land. The business was founded by the late Mr. Michael Organ in 1864. The annual export of wool and pelts is from 200 to 300 bales. In addition to the fellmongery, Mr. Organ has a farm of 800 acres, about half freehold and half leasehold, two miles up the Buller river. The farm is devoted to stockbreeding and agriculture.

Meat Trade.

Dixon, John Morris, Butcher, Palmerston Street, Westport. Private residence, corner of Palmerston and Rintoul Streets. This business was established in 1898, by the proprietor, and is conducted in a substantial building, which contains a shop, an office, and a small goods room, with stabling attached. The slaughter house is on the south side of the Buller river, about three miles from Westport, on a site containing thirty acres of land. Mr. Dixon was born at Bright water, Nelson, in March, 1862, and was educated at the Spring Grove public school. He became a coachdriver between Westport and Reefton, and after five years of that life, went farming. Mr. Dixon again became a coachdriver for a year, and afterwards purchased a waggon, on his own account, and was for three years on the road between Westport and Lyell. He then sold his interest in his team and waggon, and entered into his present business. Mr. Dixon was one of the founders of the Westport Trotting Club, of which he is a steward and judge. In April, 1900, he married a daughter of Mr. Cornelius O'Callaghan, of Westport, and has two daughters.

Elley, Reuben, Butcher, Palmerston Street, Westport. Private residence, Hospital Street. This busi- page 185 ness was established by Mr. Eddy, in 1896, and has been conducted by the present proprietor since the year 1898. The shop is part of a wood and iron building, and has a small goods room behind. Mr. Elley was born in 1878 in Wanganui, where he attended school, and learned his trade. He first came to the West Coast in 1890, and was afterwards for four years in Wanganui, before he returned to the district. For about eighteen months he was employed by Mr. J. M. Dixon in Westport. Mr. Elley is a member of the Westport Jockey Club. He married a daughter of Mr. G. Hufton, and has one daughter and one son.

Lamplough, George Robert, Wholesale and Retail Family and Shipping Butcher, Palmerston Street, Westport. Bankers, Bank of New Zealand. Private residence, Bright Street. Mr. Lamplough's large business was originally established at Addison's in 1867; the Westport branch was opened in 1885, and soon after that the Addison branch was closed. Mr. Lamplough is well and favourably known throughout the town and suburbs for the quality of his goods. In addition to his retail business, he regularly supplies large quantities of meat along the railway line to smaller butchers in the country districts.

Suisted Bros . (Ekermann S. Suisted and James S. Suisted, J.P.), Wholesale, Retail and Shipping Butchers, Palmerston Street, Westport. Bankers, Bank of New South Wales. Private residence, Cobden Street. This business was established in the year 1869, and the firm of Suisted Bros, is one of the oldest firms on the West Coast. Mr. Ekermann Suisted is further referred to as a former councillor of the borough of Westport, and Mr. James Suisted as a former Mayor, and as the chairman of the Westport Harbour Board.

Merchants, Warehousemen, Etc.

Baile And Co . (Thomas Bailie), General Merchants, Palmerston Street, Westport. Private residence, Queen Street. This business was established by Mr. Bailie in the year 1867, and he has since been closely associated with its active management. Messrs Bailie and Co. are agents for the Standard and Liverpool, London, and Globe Insurance Companies, and for the Anchor and Shaw, Savill and Albion lines of steamers. The firm's premises are large and extensive, and afford ample accommodation for the business. Mr. Bailie is further referred to as a member of the Nelson Board of Education.

Munro, John And Co, Limited (E. F. Munro, Managing Director), General Merchants and Auctioneers, corner of Lyndhurst and Palmerston Streets, Westport. This business was founded in 1866 by Mr. John Munro, to whom reference is made in another article. The premises at first occupied by the firm in the old township of Westport were washed away about the year 1872. The buildings now in use are of wood and iron, and have been the headquarters of the business since 1893. They cover the whole of an area which measures sixty-six feet by ninety-nine feet; and contain a retail store with office, a wholesale department, and an auction-room, and are admirably adapted for the large business carried on by the company, which conducts a considerable shipping trade, and exports large quantities of coal. The company has been connected with the supply of coal to the British Admiralty in China since its inception, and it acts as agent for the freighters, Messrs Scott, Fell, and Company, of Sydney, and Weddel, Turner, and Company, of London. Within two or three years, fully 200,000 tons of coal were shipped. Messrs Munro and Co. act as agents in Westport for the New Zealand Fire Insurance Company, and for the National Mutual Life Insurance Company, and are also sub-agents on the West Coast for Lloyds, London.

Powell, J. And Company , (James Powell, J.P.), General Merchants, Shipping, Commission, and Insurance Agents, Palmerston Street, Westport. Private residence, Queen Street. The firm was constituted in the year 1867.

Printers, Stationers, Etc.

Mckeegan, Francis, Stationer, Piano and Fancy Goods Dealer, Palmerston Street, Westport. This business was established in the year 1904, and is conducted in a wood and iron building with a verandah, a shop, and work-room. Mr. McKeegan is an importer of musical instruments, music, and other goods, in which he deals. He is further referred to in connection with the Westport Band.

Parkhouse, George, Bookseller, Stationer, Piano, Organ, Music, and Fancy Goods Dealer, Palmerston Street, Westport. This business was established by Mr. A. C. Hansen, and conducted under the style of A. Hansen and Company, until 1900, when it was acquired by the present proprietor. The premises are on freehold land and are among the largest and most commodious of their kind on the West Coast. The shop measures twentyeight feet by eighty-eight feet, and has a double front, with handsome plate glass windows. The fittings are elaborate, and the display of goods, which is exceedingly fine, includes all the leading lines and novelties imported direct from the manufacturers in England, France, Germany, and Japan. Mr. Parkhouse is constantly receiving shipments of the newest and latest manufactures. All the leading English and colonial books, newspapers and magazines are received regularly, and have a large circulation. Mr. Parkhouse undertakes the framing of pictures as a special branch, and he also has a circulating library, which was established in 1904. He is a direct importer of well known English and German pianos, book and sheet music, and musical instruments.

Mr. George Parkhouse was born in London, England, in the year 1850, and was educated at Harrow. He was afterwards for five years in the office of the London and North Western Railway Company, and was subsequently, for nine years, with the firm of Barnard and Wing, bankers, of Bedford. In the year 1880, Mr. Parkhouse came to New Zealand, and landed in Wellington by the ship “Auckland.” For about nine years he served in the Government Buildings, Wellington, and afterwards went to Taranaki, where he was successful as a farmer. Mr. Parkhouse then removed to Westport, and bought his present business in 1900. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church choir, and while in Taranaki, was chairman of one of the school committees. Mr. Parkhouse married a daughter of the late Mr. William Martin, of Repton, Derbyshire, England, in the year 1878, and has, surviving, three sons and two daughters.

Storekeeping, Etc.

Hill, Ernest, Storekeeper and Baker, Palmerston Street, Westport. Mr. Hill is further referred to in another article as a member of the Westport Borough Council.

Ship Chandlery.

Wilson, James George, Tent and Sailmaker, Ship Chandler, etc., Palmerston Street, Westport. Established in 1890. Bankers, Bank of New Zealand. Mr. Wilson was born in London, England, in 1829. He went to sea at an early age, and sailed to various parts of the world. In 1851 he went to Bendigo, and worked at the diggings for seven years with fair success. On coming to New Zealand in the early days of the Otago “rushes,” he spent eighteen months at Wakatipu and the Dunstan. In 1865 Mr. Wilson went to the West Coast. He was on the site of Hokitika before the proclamation of the goldfields, and worked successively at the Three Mile, the Grey, Giles' Terrace, and Addison's. In company with Mr. Larsen he invested in a steam launch, which he continued to run till the Buller was bridged. He afterwards carried on ferrying, and executed a number of contracts for the Harbour Board, and in 1890 he resolved to start business on his own account.

page 186
Stabling And Wheel Traffic.

Bevan, William Henry, Livery Stable Keeper, General Carrier and Forwarding Agent, Palmerston Street, Westport. This business has been established for many years, and was the first livery stable in Westport. The original site in the old township was washed away, and the business has been conducted in Palmerston Street since the year 1879. The buildings are of wood and iron, and the stables include thirteen stalls and four loose boxes, besides three sheds for traps. Seven or eight horses are regularly used, and allout eleven vehicles of various kinds, including a handsome landau. Mr. Bevan was born in the year 1867, in Herefordshire, England, where he was educated. He was brought up to farm work, and started as a stable boy. In 1883, he came to New Zealand by the ship “British Queen.” Mr. Bevan settled in Westport, where he was employed in Mr. Marris's sawmill. Subsequently, he became gardener and groom to Mr. Revell, the magistrate, and afterwards went to work in the stables of which he is now proprietor.

Craddock Bros . (Arthur Craddock and Alfred Craddock), Livery Stable Keepers and Carriers, Adderley Street, Westport. This business was established by Mr. O'Sullivan, conducted by him for a number of years, and bought by Craddock Bros, in the year 1895. The stables contain thirteen stalls and two loose boxes, and ten horses and nine vehicles are employed in the business. The private residences of Messrs Craddock Bros. are built on a colliery reserve section, and adjoin the stables. The firm owns considerable property in the neighbourhood.

Mr. Arthur Craddock , Senior Partner in the firm of Craddock Bros., was born in Danedin, in September, 1864 and, as an infant, removed with his parents to Westport, where he was educated. He was brought up to country life, and was for a number of years in Hawke's Bay, where he was engaged for part of the time in bush work. In the year 1895 Mr. Craddock bought his present business, and his brother joined him in 1900. He is a member of the Westport Trotting Club, and has one or two trotting horses. Mr. Craddock married a daughter of Mr. A. Petersen, of Westport, in May, 1900, and has one son and one daughter.

Tottenham, William, Carrier, Forwarding Agent, Livery Stable Keeper and Mail Contractor, Lower Palmerston Street, Westport. Mr, Tottenham's property includes a dwellinghouse erected on half an acre of colliery reserve land, and a stable on the opposite side of the road, on a quarter acre section. The stable contains six stalls and one loose box, and fourteen vehicles are used in connection with the business. Mr. Tottenham was born in Portland, Victoria, Australia, in the year 1862, and arrived in the Buller district in 1867. He attended school in Westport, and, as a youth, had seven years' experience in the printing office of the “Westport Times.” The business of carrier and livery stablekeeper, which Mr. Tottenham conducts, was founded by his father, Mr. Joseph John Tottenham, in the year 1872, and was taken over by the present proprietor in 1888. Mr. Tottenham has had the contract for carrying the mails between the post office and all vessels since 1900. As a member of the Order of Oddfellows, Manchester Unity, he has passed the chairs. In 1900, he married a daughter of the late Mr. John May, of Nelson, and has one son and one daughter.

Watch And Jewellery Trade.

Bright, William George, Watchmaker and Jeweller, Palmerston Street, Westport. This business was established in 1896, by Mr. C. Keterer, and was bought by Mr. Bright in the year 1901. The premises consist of a shop with a plate glass front, with workrooms behind, and the shop is suitably fitted with glass show cases, in which the owner displays a wellassorted stock of directly imported jewellery, silver plate and optical goods. Mr. Bright was born in Dunedin in 1875, was educated at the East Christchurch school, and was apprenticed for seven years to Mr. Dawson, in Dunedin. He afterwards entered the employment of Mr. C. Keterer, of Lyttelton, and, three years later, removed to Westport with that gentleman, in whose service he continued until he bought the business from him. Mr. Bright is on the committee of the Kawatiri Rowing Club, is a member and handicapper of the Kawatiri Swimming Club, a steward of the Westport Trotting Club, and stage manager of the Westport Dramatic Club. He married a daughter of the late Mr. F. Sontgen, of Westport, and has one son and two daughters.

Hall And Henley (William Hall and Arthur William Henley), Watchmakers and Jewellers, Palmerston Street, Westport. This firm was established in the year 1905, and occupies a handsome shop, with a fine plate glass front, nearly opposite the Post Office. The premises include a shop and workroom, and the shop is suitably fitted up with show cases. The firm directly imports the goods in which it deals, and maintains an extensive and well assorted stock. Repairs of all kinds are undertaken by the firm.

Mr. William Hall , of the firm of Hall and Henley, was born at Ross, Westland, in the year 1868, and was educated at Reefton. He was brought up to a mercantile life in Westport, but afterwards became proprietor of the Reefton “Guardian,” which he published for eight years. Mr. Hall then removed to Nelson, where he conducted the Nelson “Star,” for three years. He returned to Westport in 1896. Since that time he has been connected with the jewellery trade, in which he had several years' experience under Mr. Keterer, and his successor, Mr. Bright. He married Miss Tobin, of Ashburton, Canterbury, in 1895, and has two sons.

Mr. Arthur William Henley , of the firm of Hall and Henley, was born in the year 1879, in Wellington, where he was educated, and learned his trade under Mr. J. G. Barnett. Mr. Henley was for two years in the Wellington Cycle Corps, and was afterwards a member of the Hawera Mounted Rifles, for three years. He went to Africa as a member of the Eighth New Zealand Contingent, and returned to New Zealand in the year 1902. Mr. Henley is a member of the committee of the Kawitiri Rowing Club, a member of the Westport Football Club, and of the Westport Liedertafel.

Wood Trade.

Marris, W. and J. (John Marris, J.P.), Sawmillers and Timber Merchants, Wakefield Street, Westport. This firm was originally constituted in the year 1859, in Melbourne, where the brothers William and John Marris page 187 took over the timber business of Messrs J. B. Marris and Son. In 1861, Messrs Marris came to Port Chalmers with a cargo of timber, sold their cargo, and went to the gold diggings in Central Otago for two years. Mr. William Marris arrived on the West Coast in 1865, bought a sawmill at Charleston, and was shortly afterwards joined by his brother, who purchased the interest of an original partner. In the year 1873, Mr. John Marris removed to Westport, and established the present mill. It is centrally situated in the township, and the machinery is driven by an eighteen horse power steam engine. The plant includes breaking-down, planing, and moulding machinery, and red pine is the principal timber used. The mill at Charleston was subsequently removed to Cape Foulwind. Mr. William Marris afterwards started a mill at Waimangaroa, and when the bush in that place was worked out, joined his brother in Westport, where he continued until his death in 1904. For a number of years the firm also owned and worked a flaxmill at Waimangaroa.

Mr. John Marris , surviving partner of the firm of W. and J. Marris, was born in Sherwood, Nottinghamshire, England, on the 20th day of December, 1830. He accompanied his father and mother, three sisters and two brothers, in the ship “John Bull,” and arrived in January, 1840, at Melbourne, Australia. Mr. Marris carried on business in Melbourne as a timber merchant for some time, and then went to the first gold rush, known as “Hargreaves,” at Summer Creek, New South Wales. He was accompanied by his brother William, and three other persons, and, after travelling 2000 miles, they were rewarded with fifteen shillings' worth of gold. In 1861, the Marris brothers came to Port Chalmers with a cargo of timber, sold their cargo, and went to the gold diggings in Central Otago. Mr. Thomas Field, of Nelson, was a fellow passenger of the brothers on their voyage. For some time Mr. Marris managed a mill at Makarewa bush, Invercargill, and on the 8th of October, 1865, moved to Hokitika, contracted for the erection of buildings, and built a mill at Kanieri; and in 1873 went to Westport, where he has since resided. Mr. Marris is president of the Kawatiri Rowing Club, and has made many excursions, both in sailing and rowing, with his own boats, and those of the club. On two occasions the club has won the Championship Fours of New Zealand. In his younger days, Mr. Marris was a keen oarsman and yachtsman, and has won trophies in both capacities. He was placed on the Commission of the Peace in the year 1895. Mr. Marris is married, and has three daughters and three sons.

Vinsen, photo. Mr. J. Marris.

Vinsen, photo.
Mr. J. Marris.

Old Colonists.
Captain Samuel Alexander Leech was born in July, 1836, at Cullybackey, County Antrim, Ireland. He was educated in Londonderry, and attended various schools, including, Foyle College; entered a merchant's office for a short time, and afterwards went to sea. He went to Launceston, Tasmania, in the ship “Montmorency,” of Liverpool, in July, 1855. Captain Leech afterwards removed to Sydney, and joined the brig “Thomas and Henry” of Otago, and traded for about eighteen months between Otago and Australia. In October, 1857, he came to New Zealand in the barque “General Wolf,” and landed in Nelson. His first command was that of a coasting vessel, in which he took the first cargo of sawn timber from Pelorus Sound to Lyttelton in 1858. He was afterwards mate of the schooner “Pride of the Isles,” of Nelson, which was wrecked at Rangikahu, south of the Waikato river, in 1860, during the Maori war. The crew fell into the hands of the hostile natives, but their lives were spared through the intervention of a friendly Maori; indeed, the Maoris accompanied them to the Waikato river, and landed them by canoe within a few miles of Waiuku, on the Manukau harbour. Captain Leech was appointed to the command of the s.s. “Nelson,” in October, 1864. This vessel was the first to enter Hokitika river— which she did on the 20th of December, 1864—and was the means of reducing the price of provisions £25 per ton; namely, by the amount of the cost of packing from Greymouth. The freight by sea from Nelson was £5 per ton. The first sailing vessel to enter Hokitika was the schooner “Colleen Bawn,” commanded by Captain Thomson, from Invercargill; and this she did about a week after the “Nelson.” Captain Leech was afterwards owner and master of the coasting vessel “Emerald Isle,” and plied her on the Coast. In August, 1867, he was appointed the first harbourmaster of Westport, and held the office for nearly twenty-nine years. Captain Leech then retired to his private residence, “The Anchorage,” on the corner of Russell and Wakefield Streets, Westport. As a Freemason, he is a member of the Otago Kilwinning Lodge, No. 417, and is a Master Mason of the third degree. Captain Leech married a daughter of the late Mr. John Brown, of Nelson, who was previously a master builder in Glasgow, and a bailie of his native town, Rutherglen, Scotland, where his father was provost. She died in 1899, leaving three sons and one daughter.
Vinsen, photo.Capt. S. A. Leech.

Vinsen, photo.
Capt. S. A. Leech.

page 188 Mrs Leech arrived with her parents from Scotland in the pioneer emigrant ship to Otago, “Philip Laing.”

Mr. William Lloyd is a well known settler of Westport. He was born in the year 1831, in Liverpool, England, where he was educated. The last school he attended was conducted by the Rev. Dr. William Giles, of Seacombe House School, Cheshire, England, who was said to have been the schoolmaster under whom Charles Dickens was educated. Mr. Lloyd served a seven years' apprenticeship to a commercial firm in Liverpool, and in 1853 landed in Victoria, Australia. After being for some months on the goldfields, he removed to Geelong, where he entered the employment of Messrs Holmes, White, and Co., stock and station agents. He was attracted to Otago in the year 1861, at the time of the gold rush, and commenced business in Dunedin under the style of Lloyd, Taggart and Co., as shipping and commission agents, and had the agencies of the White Star Line, and of the New Zealand Steam Navigation Company. This firm built the first steamer on the West Coast of the Middle Island, at Cobden Beach, and named it the “Golden Land,” She was a stern-wheeler, and was intended for the navigation of the river Grey, but as the trade on that river decreased, she was taken to Hokitika, and opened up the navigation of the Mahinapua creek, which became navigable for traffic to Ross. During the early dayss of the gold rush on the West Coast, Messrs Lloyd, Taggart and Co. opened a branch at Hokitika, but the partnership was shortly afterwards dissolved. In 1866, Mr. Lloyd settled at Hokitika, but removed to Westport in 1867. Then he commenced his present commission and shipping agency, and began as agent for the Panama Steamship Company in Westport, Mr. Lloyd has been instrumental in starting various institutions; such as the Westport Volunteer Fire Brigade, the Amateur Dramatic Society, the Buller Acclimatisation Society, and the Westport Model Yacht Club. Mr. Lloyd served a period of five years as a member of the Borough Council, and was a member of the committee of the Westport Mining and Industrial Exhibition in 1904. In the year 1855 he married a daughter of the late Mr. John McPhee, of Geelong, Victoria, and has, surviving, two daughters and one son.

Mr. John Martin settled at Westport in September, 1861. He was a native of Northamptonshire, England, and was born in 1833. For many years he was engaged in the storekeeping business, in which he was successful. He was postmaster at Westport from 1862 to 1867. and he was the first white man who permanently resided in the place.

Mr. Thomas North , who was for some time in business as a boot importer in Westport, was born in Kent, England, in 1839, and received his education at Tunbridge. He was originally apprenticed to the building trade, in which he served seven years, and went to London about the time of the formation of the special settlement at Albertland in the Auckland district, with which Mr. North resolved to throw in his lot. Upon arriving in Auckland, in 1862, labour was plentiful, and men were scarce, and Mr. North received as much as 10s a day in wages for ordinary work. He served in the militia for twelve months. After many other experiences he settled on the West Coast.

The Late Mr. T. North.

The Late Mr. T. North.

The Late Mr. F. Slee.

The Late Mr. F. Slee.

Mr. David Reeves was born in Cowlinge, Suffolk, England, in 1837. He first came to New Zealand in the fifties, and saw active service during the Waikato war. He went to the West Coast about 1866, and settled at Addison's Flat, where he worked as a miner, and was afterwards on the Northern Terraces. Mr. Reeves started business at Westport, in 1876, as a coal merchant, and, by honesty and perseverance, built up a very large and valuable trade. In public affairs he took but little interest, although he always supported Liberal views. In 1891 Mr Reeves was stricken with paralysis, to which he succumbed on the 19th of September, 1898. He was known for his quiet, unassuming manner, and was liberal and generous-hearted to a fault, and the large funeral accorded to his remains was a tribute to his worth. Mr. Reeves was left a widower in 1890, and was survived by one daughter, who married Mr. A. Singer.

The Late Mr. D. Reeves

The Late Mr. D. Reeves

Mr. Frank Slee was born in London, England, in the year 1832, educated at Camberwell Collegiate School, and was for three years in a lawyer's office. He afterwards came to New Zealand, landed at Lyttelton, from the ship “Lady Nugent,” in 1850, and obtained a clerkship in the page 189 Canterbury Association's office. Two years later, Mr. Slee engaged in the Sydney cattle trade, and afterwards went into business as a butcher and hotelkeeper till 1866. He was a land broker and farmer at Waimate for fifteen years, and in 1890 went to Westport, where he entered into business. Mr. Slee was Mayor of Waimate for two years, member of the Waimate County Council and Hospital and Charitable. Aid Board, and chairman of the licensing committee for twelve years. He was secretary of the Westport school committee, Library and Athenaeum, Westport Jockey Club and Horticultural Society; and was also a Freemason, Oddfellow, and Forrester, and held the position of churchwarden for four years. Mr. Slee married a daughter of the late Mr. J. Dilloway, of Riccarton, in 1858; and he died on the 16th of October, 1901, leaving nine children.

Mr. James Findlay was born in Invercargill in 1864. In 1897 he took charge of the Westport branch of the New Zealand Clothing Factory for Messrs Hallenstein Bros. He is now at Te Aro House, Westport. As a Freemason he is connected with Lodge Fortitude, New Zealand Constitution. Mr. Findlay was married, in 1888, to a daughter of the late Mr. John Miles, ship-rigger, of Hobart, and has children.

Mr. A. Singer is a native of Hokitika, where he was educated. After leaving school he learned the trade of a watchmaker with Mr. Alfred Bish, now of Carterton. Owing to ill-health, Mr. Singer gave up that trade, and was appointed bookkeeper in the business of Mr. Reeves; and he afterwards carried on the business on his own account.