From John Lawson’s research at the Hamilton Library
Most Tuesdays a century ago the Waikato Argus ran a column from its anonymous Raglan correspondent. 1911 started with the annual sports day on Monday 2nd January and the results took up half of the first column. As well as the usual races, there were events such as the horse and rider swimming.
The other half of the column was taken up with a story of a runaway horse which tipped its buggy into the water at Waingaro Landing. It presumably happened just after the ferry from Raglan arrived, as there were several people around to help rescue the horse, buggy and its occupants. Runaway horses often featured in the column. A few weeks later Mr Dent of Kauroa broke his thigh when a crate of pigs slipped on a rough road, knocking him off his wagon and he was unable to stop the horses.
In a race between the 3 fastest launches on the harbour, Wallis Bros ‘Whakatere’, Gilmour Bros ‘Scrip’ and Watkins ‘Comet’, Comet won by 50 seconds over a 10 mile course. The road to Waingaro Landing is now a quiet byroad, but in 1911 it was one of the main routes to Raglan, with launches used for the final 9 miles. The Argos reported it was being improved and, “this road is gradually taking the shape that its importance warrants.” In a race between the 3 fastest launches on the harbour, Wallis Bros ‘Whakatere’, Gilmour Bros ‘Scrip’ and Watkins ‘Comet’, Comet won by 50 seconds over a 10 mile course. The Harbour Master was given the job of clearing logs from the harbour. The main sawmill, Watkins, said they weren’t theirs. There was never news of a launch being damaged by logs, so the Harbour Master must have done a good job.
Timber was also being imported to the area, so much so that the Northern Steamship Company complained to the Chronicle that the wharf shed wasn’t large enough. They’d had to ship part of a cargo back to Onehunga because there wasn’t room to store it on the wharf, which was then at the end of James St. A decade later the Long Wharf was replaced by the present wharf. The Harbour Master responded that such a large cargo should have been transferred directly into punts to carry it to its destination up the harbour.
The metalling of Raglan’s roads, which had begun in 1910, was continued. Watkins Bros supplied metal at 5 shillings a yard for Opotoru Rd.
The Whatawhata deviation had “a good number of men employed” on it and was passable for pedestrians, but not vehicles. The first motor car was reported in 1910 and by 1911, “the natives are becoming quite accustomed to the ubiquitous motor car, of which there are two at present in Raglan, Mr Howden’s of Hamilton, and Mr E B Hill’s of Cambridge. The former had the honour of being the first car to cross the Opotoru bridge and visit the Toto gorge – the finest drive from a scenic point of view in the district. When the road is completed from the gorge onwards, so that will be able to make the circuit of the mountain, this road will tend greatly to enhance the popularity of the district.”
Oats and potatoes are mentioned as growing well. Swedes suffered from a drought. Maize, turnips, sorghum and kale were also used as cattle feed. Aphis were reported as destroying the turnip crop. The Te Mata and Raglan dairy factories were amalgamated and production moved to Kauroa, though with the intention of moving beside the harbour, which happened in 1915.
The Raglan Annual Stock Show was in mid February. Attendance was down with the explanation that, “a good many settlers were uneasy about leaving their homes, bush fires having either started on their sections or on neighbouring farms.” The report a week later said that rain came just in time, as there was a northerly wind and, “most of the Te Mata area would have been swept with flames.” The rain also helped with grass sowing after settlers had used the fine weather to get clean burns of their felled bush.
Fishing was also a popular food source. 37 people went on a Hapuka fishing excursion and caught “33 hapuka, a conger eel, some schnapper and sundry other fish”, the heaviest being 101lb. Attempts to introduce trout into local streams was thought to have failed because of the eels “that infest the creeks”.
Leisure activities seem to have been almost as varied in 1911 as now. 30 people set out to climb Mt Karioi by a new route from the Ruapuke side. Mr T B Hill led them, but they took the wrong ridge and abandoned the climb after a heavy shower, “the party returning with wet coats and draggled skirts”.
There was no footbridge, so the beach next to the police station was well used and subscribers had contributed to building a bathing enclosure there (I was told it was a wire netting area to keep children from getting in the deeper water). When Mr Darrow complained that the work “was anything but a credit to the town”, the Town Board said he’d need to raise more money to do any better.
“Ever since its inception a year or two ago, tennis has gradually been growing into popularity so that at the start of the last season it was realised that the single court was quite inadequate . . . now two fine asphalt courts have been laid out.” In the afternoon the ladies provided tea and in the evening the club had a dance and euchre party in the Town Hall. The Wainui Rd telephone exchange is now on the site of the old tennis courts. A few weeks later the correspondent reported “About 50 Maoris were eagerly watching the game from the roadway, and I suppose the next thing will be the opening of a Maori court.”
Cricket was also played between local teams after several years without games.
Although the present Raglan Club was founded in 1956, an earlier attempt had been made. On 31 January 1911 the Raglan correspondent reported that, “The Raglan Club appears to be languishing for want of that sustained interest that might have been expected from Raglan residents. Its functions were a reading room and a place for the playing of games of chess, draughts and cards”. The Club was suspended “for the time being”.