by John Lawson
During World War One a wartime import was the hardwood railings, shipped for the Waingaro sheep saleyards, opened in February 1917. They were shipped from Australia to Raglan (104,768 cubic feet – just under 3000 cubic metres) of timber came into Raglan in 1917), then was barged to Waingaro and carted to the site. 16,494 sheep were sold. As the photo above shows, most buyers travelled by horse, but a few came by car.
Agriculture was also the main industry and wharves around the harbour were still an important part of transport. During the year exports included 3,488 butter boxes, 1,367 wool bales, 33 casks of hides, 361 bales of flax and 254 cases of empty bottles. In 1917 Northern Steamship’s Arapawa and Rimu were serving Raglan and 4 launches were for hire for goods and passengers. The 1889 long wharf off the end of James Street, was described as dangerous, but Raglan County Council cited scarcity of labour and high prices. However, in August 1917, Arapawa brought plant and material for the new wharf, to “be started in the near future.” The present wharf at the end of Wallis Street opened in 1921.
Next year, in 1922, the final gravel was laid on the mud of the main road, initiating the decline of shipping, though the main road wasn’t fully sealed until it became a State Highway in 1961. By 1917 Government grants and loans were getting 13 local roads improved, despite wartime shortages. Roads had long been in a poor state. For example, Te Akau Wharf Rd, then known as Ponganui road, had slips to be cleared and the landing had “about three feet of mud”. It was agreed to move a spare winch from Waingaro to Ponganui landing, “where it would be of great use to the settlers.”
An advert for the Harbour View Hotel at Raglan-by-the–Sea, titled it The Brighton Of The Waikato, An Ideal Place For A Week-End Holiday and Two Hours’ Pleasant Motoring from Hamilton. However, another claim of 90mins from Hamilton, brought the response that it took 9 hours in winter and that, the poor Hamilton to Whatawhata road and an 8mph speed limit over 5 miles of the deviation, made an hour and a half impossible.
However, it seems speed limits were ignored in 1917, just as now. In a court case, where a car frightened 3 horses to run away with their dray of gravel, and it was said the divi was 18 feet wide and limited to 5mph, and, though even the driver admitted to 6 or 7mph, he was let off.
Although Noel D Robertson later wrote that he started his Raglan bus service in 1917, it doesn’t seem to have been advertised, nor become a daily run, until 1919. In 1917 mail still arrived via Whatawhata one day, then via the Waingaro Landing ferry the next. From 1917 to 1929 William Vernon also ran a weekly motor from Te Mata to Hamilton. Ruapuke Rd had been improved and allowed cars to reach the, “excellent camping ground under the beautiful natural park of Karaka, and other trees”.
Even the footpaths were getting attention. The Town Board accepted A.J. Steadman’s tender to concrete 360 square feet of the footpath outside the Town Hall. They also decided to acquire the 44½ acre Papahua Block for a recreation reserve, though the gift wasn’t made until 1923. Meanwhile, Raglan Beautifying Society added 7 garden seats and 37 trees in the reserves. Other leisure activities included hapuka fishing excursions with the Northern Steamship Co.
In 1917 William Moore moved from Kauroa School to become the 4th Headmaster at what is now the Old School, though he also continued running his 400 acre Kauroa farm. Miss Trimmer was appointed his Assistant. Across the harbour, Ruakiwi School was set up in 1917. According to Bill Richards in ‘Off the Sheeps Back‘, it had 6 pupils and “consisted of a few desks in a spare room in Mr Jarvis’s new house”.
The older generation was being replaced by a newer. In 1917 the first teacher at the Old School, and also Waikato Times correspondent, 80 year old John Pegler, died, as did one of the 1854 settlers, Mrs Cogswell, who was 85.
