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Some Interesting Occurrences in Early Auckland: City and Provinces

Chapter 24 — The Author

Chapter 24
The Author

It is always well to have some knowledge of the antecedents and character of the author of any article one is studying, and I think a chapter about my own career might be useful. Anyhow, those who object to autobiographies can easily skip this section of my story.

Well then: My father, who arrived in Auckland in 1843 in the same ship as the second Governor Captain Fitzroy, went to England in 1863, got married, and I am creditably informed that I was born at a house called “Rose Mount” in Flask Walk, Hamp–stead, London, on 3rd March 1869; but, though I must have been personally present, I can't remember a thing about it. My father is said to have remarked when he first beheld me “What an ugly little beggar!” and I hope he was careful about the pronunciation of the last word. Though I have good reason to believe it was correct (my father not being given to the use of the Australian dialect), my mother, who was firmly convinced that she had produced the finest baby boy ever, was so hurt that she could not go to sleep. A doctor was called in, but he did no good, so father took down a volume of super–sanctimonious sermons and read these to mother in an appropriately sanctimonious voice. In twenty minutes she was fast asleep.

When only three months old I started on my first world tour. This journey was taken in the City of Somerset — one of the first of the auxiliary steamers, as far as Melbourne, and thence to Auckland in a 250–ton schooner.

My early education was most properly conducted by my mother until on the 5th of February 1878 I was handed over to the Auckland Grammar School, then located — like the County of Cromarty — all over the map. This was the year after the celebrated siege. The two lowest classes were housed in a wooden Sunday school behind St. Andrew' Church in Symonds Street. My first day was not a complete success. Mother had brushed my hair into a beautiful curl, dressed me in a velveteen suit with large mother–of–pearl buttons, and put kid gloves on my hands! When the young heatihen of those days beheld this darling young angel, they actually seized his sacred person and rolled him in a pool of muddy water. When school assembled page 51 water was still dripping out of my clothes. The master — a perfect old brute we called Robby — exclaimed “Are you wet, boy?” Already scared halfway to death I replied “Oh no, Sir, I'm all right, Sir”. “Come here” commanded “Robby”. After feeling my soaking garments he hit me a clout on the ear that knocked me half–way across the room, and roared “Don't tell me such lies, boy; go home and get dry”. I was eight years at the Grammar School, the last two being spent in the Sixth Form. In 1885 I passed the Senior Civil Service examination first for the Colony, and for the matriculation I was also placed at the head of the list, though it is fair to say that the number of marks gained in that examination is not published. However it is certain that I was not put in that place alphabetically.

After a year in the service of the South British Insurance Co. my father took me into his business, and I made the dreadful discovery that his partner was an unmitigated rogue, and had robbed him of all he was worth. Business was worse than bad, and I was 31 before I had put our finances on a sound footing.

At the end of 1908 I handed over the business, then highly prosperous, to my brother, and retired into the “never–never” to develop the estate of 53,300 acres between Rotorua and Taupo which I had recently bought and named “Broadlands”. Public opinion was divided into three classes, as follows: (1) Those who thought the Official Assignee would soon wind me up; (2) Those who thought that a couple of doctors would certify that my mental health was such as to entitle me to free board and lodging at the public expense for the rest of my life; (3) a party of one consisting of Mr. Frederick Carr Rollett, Agricultural Editor of the “Weekly News” who was a man of vision “whose eye made estates”. He alone applauded my action. On “Broadlands” I spent 28 years of the best of my life proving the productive capacity of the largest area of cultivable and habitable country in New Zealand.

Twice I had been round the world visiting most civilised countries, and had started on a third journey when my brother' untimely death called me back to Auckland. I was strongly pressed to take charge of the business of Samuel Vaile & Sons, but resisted, thinking that at 68, I was, after a super strenuous life, entitled to a rest. I accepted a directorship, and continued to run “Broadlands” through a manager; but as the country came to be better known I began to sell portions until I now own only 113 1/2 acres out of my kingdom (or should it be Earledom) of 53,300 acres.

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I certainly can claim to have proved the productivity of a larger area of land, condemned as worthless, than any other pioneer in the history of New Zealand.

Much praise has recently been given to the Government for breaking in the pumice country. The facts of the case are that I bought “Broadlands” in 1907, abandoned a very prosperous business and went to live there at the end of 1908. Without receiving a shillingsworth of help from the Government or anyone else I quickly proved the merits of the “worthless” pumice soil by taking leading prizes at the principal agricultural shows from Whangarei to Wellington and frequently the chief prizes at the best shows such as Manawatu and Waikato. Here follows a list of the awards to exhibits grown by me on the pumice country, and I can honestly say that none of these exhibits had any special treatment. All were picked out of the ordinary crops. Most had two hundredweight of a mixture of two parts of super and one part of blood and bone to the acre, and some three hundredweight.

1910 Manawatu: Second, soft turnips. Waikato: First, heaviest swedes. first, Aberdeen turnips; third, best swedes. Auckland: Second, best swedes. Rotorua: First, best swedes.

1911 Waikato: First and second, heaviest turnips; second, heaviest swedes; second, best white fleshed turnips. Auckland: First, yellow fleshed turnips. Matamata: First, oat sheaf; Rotorua: First, turnips; second, oat sheaf.

1912 Waikato: First, best yellow fleshed turnips; second, heaviest swedes. Rotorua: First, oat sheaf.

1913 Waikato: Second, heavy swedes.

1914 Manawatu: V.H.C., green top turnips and carrots.

1915 Manawatu: First, yellow fleshed turnips. Waikato: First, green top turnips; another first, record of class lost.

1916 Waikato: First, heaviest turnips. Rotorua: First, swedes; first, turnips; first, oat sheaf.

1917 Waikato: First and second, best swedes; first and second, best yellow fleshed turnips. Rotorua: First, oat sheaf; first, swedes.

1918 Manawatu: First, swedes of best feeding value; first, meadow hay (with special commendation from judges); special, for yellow fleshed turnips; first, swedes another class; second, clover hay. This year I tied for most points prize—and should have won it outright but that my case of yellow turnips was used as a leg for the committee table. Waikato: Second, best swedes (out of a bench of thirty–one page 53 entries); first, best yellow fleshed turnips; first, meadow hay; second, clover hay.

1919 Manawatu: First, carrots. Rotorua: First, carrots; third, soft turnips (nothing sent to Hamilton).

1920 Manawatu: First, yellow fleshed turnips; third, carrots. Rotorua: First, oat sheaf; third, carrots. Waikato: Twenty–five guinea cup, for best turnips; two firsts for carrots, first and second for yellow fleshed turnips.

1921 Rotorua: First, oat sheaf; first, cocksfoot seed.

1922 Auckland: First, sugar beet; first, clover hay; first, pie melon; second, carrots; second, potatoes; second, parsnips. Rotorua: First, oat sheaf; first, clover hay; first, cocksfoot seed; first, parsnips.

1923 Auckland: First, clover hay; first, yellow fleshed turnips; first, parsnips; second, cocksfoot seed; second, long red beet. Rotorua: First, vegetable marrow; second, oat sheaf; second, cocksfoot seed.

1924 Auckland: Special, vegetable marrow; second, cocksfoot seed. Rotorua: First and third, cocksfoot seed; first, carrots; first, dessert apples; second, clover seed; second, swedes; second, oat sheaf; third, parsnips; second, fat lambs; third, rhubarb; V.H.C., parsnips.

1925 Rotorua: Second, cooking apples; H.C., carrots.

1927 Rotorua: First, meadow hay; second, yellow fleshed turnips.

1930 Rotorua: First, chaff; first, oat sheaf; first, parsnips.

1931 Rotorua: First, oat sheaf; first, pie melon; second, onions; second, parsnips; second, brussels sprouts; third, carrots.

1935 Auckland: First, sugar beet; third, onions; third, parsnips.

Besides the above I have the following undated prize tickets: Five firsts, four seconds, one third, three very highly commendeds, and from some shows I failed to rescue the prize tickets I had won.

I may add that in the district court competitions at the Auckland Winter Shows, the Rotorua Court (containing among others a great number of exhibits from “Broadlands”) took first prize in 1924 against Raglan, Whangarei, Onehunga, Northern Wairoa, and Kaipara. In 1923 it had taken second prize against the same competitors.

Other notable achievements have been: “Broadlands” wool topping the Auckland sale in March 1915; and again very nearly reaching top in February 1924, with wool at twenty–three pence three–farthings per pound. On 1st September 1920 a fat cow page 54 from “Broadlands” topped the Westfield Market at £17 7s. 6d., and again on 15th July 1925, another “Broadlands” cow topped the market at £14 12s. 6d. out of an entry of 551 head.

As early as 1912 I started the agitation for a railway to Taupo, presenting a petition to Parliament supported by evidence and exhibits. High officials of government departments gave evidence in approval. Among them, Mr. W. C. Kensington, under–Secretary for Lands, expressed perfect astonishment at the size of the swedes from “Broadlands” — for the land had previously been regarded as “valueless”. They averaged 25 Ibs. in weight and a yard in circumference. Mr. Aston, the chief Government Chemist, also spoke in very favourable terms.

In 1917 the directors of the Bank of New Zealand asked to be shown around the country which was attracting so much attention, and when they had seen the results of the work already done by me, they expressed themselves favourable to making loans for further improvements.

All this was done while the Government made no move itself to spend a single shilling on improvements, but depended upon my work which had proved the value of pumice land forty years before they followed on in 1949, taking no personal risk and having command of the public funds, whereas my work was purely experimental, done at the sole risk of myself and strictly limited by the extent of my private finances.

I am now in my 87th year, and many people kindly seek to cheer me up by remarking “How well you look”, to which I make answer, “I can't help that. I was born that way”. But the fact is, of course, that the moment we are born we are condemned to death. And I am bound to recognise other facts — that as I get older and older time goes faster and faster, while I get slower and slower — a bad combination.

My principal benefactions have been to the Auckland Museum, my endowments consisting of an office building in the best part of Queen Street, and two corner blocks of shops on the New North Road, Eden Terrace. I placed no value upon these properties but the Museum Finance Committee valued them at £40,000. I can, however, certify that the nett rentals amounted to £1,750 per annum which would seem to justify their valuation. My idea in presenting freehold property was that, given reasonable control, it will yield a recurring and increasing revenue. Thus in the first year after my gift the Museum authorities could use £1,750 for their purposes and still have the properties intact. The next year they page 55 could spend another £1,750 and still have the properties. And so on. Moreover all the time the capital value of the endowment would be increasing. Also many exhibits of value and interest — a kokako, or blue wattled crow, which I shot with my catapult at Waitakere when a boy, a blotched blue tongued lizard (tiliqua nigralutea) I caught near the Yarangobilly Caves in Australia, and a Tarantula spider I caught in California. I was out in a motor–car with several others, and saw the creature on the road. I got out and manoeuvred this huge specimen of the arachnidae into a paper bag. On my return to the car with it I was very plainly unpopular. Passing through a village a lady passenger said she knew a professor in a University College there, and he would give us a bottle in which to put the spider. Out we got, and the professor acted up to reputation. I proceeded to put my capture out of the paper bag into the bottle when the lady exclaimed “Oh, Mr. Vaile, do be careful. It might bite you. Let the professor do it!” In California professors must be cheap, and one more or less “never would be missed”. The great majority of my gift exhibits, however, were collections of Maori artifacts and hundreds of books to the library; to the unemployed in 1933 I gave a thousand acres of first–class grazing country at Waiotapu considerably improved; to the Waitakere Centennial Park 700 acres at the Huia; to the Auckland Grammar School library a shop property on Great North Road, Grey Lynn, besides some money and books; to the Auckland Public Library many valuable books; to the University College at Auckland £250 for the library and 44100 for Chair of Biology; to the Auckland Public Art Gallery several fine pictures of the Goldie, Payton, Wright, Blomfield period; to King' College many books, some prizes and donations; to Rotorua High and Grammar School a large number of useful books; to the Reporoa and Broadlands district schools books, sports gear and building materials; to Broadlands settlers land as sites for school, public hall and park; to All Hallows Church, London, a large quantity of selected heart rimu for relining the baptistry injured by bomb attack. In all I understand that Sir John Campbell is the only person who has, during his lifetime, given more to public purposes in Auckland than my humble self, and I have never inherited anything but a good name, nor received any considerable present, nor accepted any charity. It is my proudest boast that I have never done anyone any harm. I have always paid my debts in full on the due dates, and I have never beaten anyone for a penny.

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In conclusion perhaps I should now confess that I cannot relate some of the facts recorded here from my own experience; indeed I cannot really remember anything that occurred before I was born or shortly after, though many seem to think that I can. But I state nothing in this book except what I thoroughly believe to be true from personal knowledge, public records and general acceptance at the time.

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