October 1907

The Editorial mused that New Zealand had been called 'God's Own Country' - did that mean that it was inhabited by 'a class of angelic spirits?'
G M Fraser, contractor for the Victoria Bridge, asked the Borough Council for an extension of time owing to the difficulties in getting the stone for the foundations and the phenomenally wet weather. Mr Fraser was a cautious man, and even though the bridge was the first of its kind in the colony, the Council would not alter the terms of the contract.
On 1 October the connection was made between the east and west sides of the bridge. This was witnessed by quite a crowd of interested spectators and the foreman Mr R Brownie, was the first to walk over the planks.
A large macrocarpa tree was felled from in front of the Post Office. 'The removal was regretable but absolutely necessary.'
The Cambridge Borough Council was taking steps to place signposts, with the names of the streets, at the corners of streets.
Four cases of scarlet fever were reported at the Hautapu School and during the week's holiday for Michaelmas, the buildings etc were thoroughly fumigated.
A good number of Primitive Methodists attended the laying of the foundation stone ceremony at the Fencourt church. The young people formed a choir and sang several favourite hymns and Mesdames Jamieson, Beer, Simpson and Beer provided afternoon tea.
Planking was laid across the entire length of the Victoria Bridge and two members of the Independent were the first residents (other than the workmen) to walk across the structure.
There were 27 criminal cases (including 10 for drunkeness) and 90 civil cases heard at the Cambridge Court during the quarter ending 30 September 1907.
Messrs James Fisher, J Rathbone, R T Tudehope, E B Hill, C H Treadgold and E Veale were the bondsmen for the £10 10 shillings per year guarantee for connecting the Karapiro telephone service.
The Cambridge Co-operative Dairy Company's Hautapu factory was making one and a half tons of butter a day and they were selling it for about 11 pence per pound to a firm in Auckland.
During an hour long storm of thunder, sheet lightening, rain and hail some local residents saw a brilliant ball of fire falling and exploding over the town during the height of the storm.

A great number of townspeople visited the Victoria Bridge on Sunday and availed themselves of the opportunity of walking across the planking to the opposite side.
Victoria Road was cutting up so badly during the phenomenally wet period that the farmers were encouraged to cut down pine trees and put them in the holes until something more permanent could be done.
A tornado hit Mr G Way's farm at Tamahere and - 'his stable, which contained four draught horses, was blown to atoms. Fortunately the horses were removed just before the wreck occurred.'
The Cambridge Chamber of Commerce held its second annual meeting and reported that during the year they had instigated a new Post Office with chiming clock; extended the time between the arrival and departure of the mid-day train; obtained a promise of a new Courthouse; a Post office for Karapiro and telephone connections for Karapiro and Kaipaki.
Councillor McVeagh was against changing the name of Wharf Street to Dominion Avenue as it was associated with the early history of the town. Councillor Hartly also did not favour the change as he thought the Dominion business was "a lot of Tommy-rot".

The Stock Department had a small 'lake' on one of their properties [now the Cambridge Middle School] which was the habitat of thousands of joyously croaking frogs. 'The recent floods carried the waters over the adjoining properties and their unfortunate owners were using language, which is painful, frequent, and free, regarding the apathy of the Stock Department in allowing its 'lakelet' to wander over the country without making any effort to stop it trespassing or pay for the damage it causes.' During the previous four months there had not been a week without rain.
Miss K Willis won the Ladies Golf Championship - the President's Trophy being a gold bracelet.
Armed with shovels and spades, hammers, axes and saws, an enthusiastic 'working bee' made a start on laying out a lawn tennis court for the Presbyterian Bible Classes in the Manse ground. It wasn't long before the grafters had big drops of sweat rolling down their faces as they dug post holes, shifted stumps, rolled logs and upturned Mother Earth. Fresh energy was infused after the ladies of the committee 'hove in sight with an abundant and very appetising supply of comestibles.'

Three compressed air rivetters and two forges were being used by five gangs of men as they set to work and rivetted all the ironwork on the Victoria Bridge.
The Cambridge Club building was completed by - 'Fred Potts who carried out the work in a thoroughly satisfactory manner, reflecting the highest credit on himself and his capable staff'. The architect was W S Rigby and the painting and decorating done by Mr Arthur Curtain.
Several blockages occured in the sanitary system by people using hard paper so Council regulated that the owners pay to unblock a private drain if the fault is not caused by defective work by the borough drainage contractor.
The train was over an hour late to Cambridge owing to it running into a cow and derailing the engine and several carriages.
The Cambridge Domain Board sought advice from Professor W E Thomas of the School of Music at the University of Auckland, as to whether it would be better to have a concrete or wooden floor in the new Band Rotunda. Concrete reflected sound and was more sanitary and won the day.

 

Back

 

Site Feedback
We value your feedback. If you have any suggestions on how this site can be improved, or if you have any technical issues with this site, please let us know.

Disclaimer:
While all due care has been taken to verify information contained on this site, the Cambridge Museum accepts no responsibility for any errors, omissions or misrepresentation.

Copyright © 2003 - Cambridge Museum - All Rights Reserved.