Page:Hokitika NZ Evans 1921.pdf/25

19 there over 9 years. I took a lively interest in the place, and saw the town grow from a few tents to a very large township. I was there at the time of the Fenian riots, and much against my will was appointed Foreman of the jury which tried and convicted the rioters. So I heard the celebrated Victorian barrister, Mr Ireland, address in the prisoners’ favour before Judge Richmond, and the final verdict, a fine of only twenty pounds stg. or one month’s imprisonment. This riot involved much loss of time and expense to the whole West Coast community. The Riot Act was read, and almost every male member of the community was sworn in as special constables. All public business was suspended for more than a week. Capt. McDonald and his company of Taranaki soldiers were in attendance if required, but finally quietness reigned, and the people settled down again to their daily duties.

“I spent some years as member of Westland Waste Land Board, was for a short time a member of the County Council, and for over three years Captain of the No. 2 Westland Rifles. I also held the position of managing director and honorary secretary for the Eastern Hohonu and Greenstone Water Race Company up to the time I left the Coast. I was also Managing Director of the Westland Steamship and Tug Company up to the time I left for Timaru.

“While in business on the Coast I supplied goods to customers from Okarito to Westport, and visited the Haast rush aboard the steam tug “Titan,” Capt. Meiken, and a full cargo of diggers and their appliances. This turned out what miners commonly term a “shicer.” I was also one of the largest shareholders in the Reefton mines, and through them lost the accumulated savings of many previous years. This to a great extent decided me to retire from gold mining centres, and to try my luck in an agricultural district, so I eventually cast my lot to reside in South Canterbury. I think the Hon H. L. Michel is about the only man in Hokitika who was in general mercantile business in my day. He and Perry Bros. are well known in Hokitika. Mr Perry senr., started the business over 50 years ago in Revell Street, and both of these firms have always borne a first-class business reputation.

“Mr Michel was only a boy when he came to Hokitika, and I can remember the day the Perry Bros. father and mother were married. A lot of water has been run down the Hokitika river since then. There are very few men now alive on the Coast who were there in my day. I well remember all the officials connected with public offices mentioned by Mr Evans as I came into communication with them in the course of every day business. There were many other well known men of those days whom I met almost daily such as C. Y. O’Connor, G. Mueller, R. J. Seddon, R. Reeves, Hall and Finlay, Wm Royce, Hon J. A. Bonar, Archdeacon Harper, Wm Perry, Parson, Gow, Father McGirr, Dr McDermott, Carey and Gilles, G. G. Fitzgerald (our Resident Magistrate), Wm Keech and Malloy, W. C. Roberts (Bank of New Zealand), Kennedy Bros., Churches and Ching, T. Pringle, Andrew Mowat, Jas. Craig, E. Prosser, D. W. Virtue, Harry Robinson, Wm Smith, P. Comisky, Wm Todd, Spence Bros., Duncan McFarlane, G. W. Binney, Mark Sprot, Findlay and Haworth, Thomas Ker, Andrew Stenhouse, W. McLevie. Many others I could also name, but they have with the exception of Archdeacon Harper and