Au[c]kland, Friday morning, July 29/98.
Yesterday morning I had to be in the city by 9:15 (Mr. Furness went in earlier). We had been invited through the kindness of Mr. Sanderson, manager here of the shipping department of L.D. Nathan & Co., & to whom Mr. W. Leask had given me a letter of introduction, to view the great timber mills of the Kauri[1] Company. The previous day I called on Mr. Sanderson & presented my introductory letter, & arranged for an hour on the Thursday afternoon, 3 o’clock, mean time he would see the manager & at night, just about 8 o’clock, he came in to Mr. Furness‘s. He lives only 2 minutes off from Hesleden & told us that 9:30 a.m. was the most suitable [5:86] hour to visit the works & see every department in full swing. Accordingly we agreed to meet at Mr. Furnesse’s [sic] office at 9:15 & then on to the mills where we were entertained viewing till after 12 o’clock. Mr. Sanderson had to leave earlier, as neither he nor we had the remotest idea of the extent & industries that this company’s works comprised. Every conceivable shape that wood can be utilised for is made here, & as wood houses are the majority in the colony, you may conclude the business is great, besides, the wood is so very beautiful that is grown in N. Zealand & the magnitude of the logs so immense that these alone were worthy the visit. I’ve got 11 samples of wood which I am sure will interest some of our townsmen connected with saw mills. The machinery, which is chiefly American, being lighter than ours, is a sight most interesting. They machine the most unlikely things & the turnery shops are a marvel. The foreman of the joinery department presented me with a set of studs turned out of a piece of the wreck of one of the two American vessels wrecked in the storm which caused world wide consternation, only HMS Calliope weathering the storm.[2] I remember the incident but can’t at moment locate it. I will trace it up by & bye [sic]. These certainly are a curio worth possessing. He also sought out the 11 slabs of NZ wood for me, all he had at the time. Mr. Sowden is his name. I saw men moving great logs about weighing 5 to 6 tons by means of jacks, & cleverly & quickly they did it. I saw them put one into position for sawing. It weighed about 5 tons, 2 men did it all. It measured 12 feet long & 16 feet girth, & contained 2,304 feet sawn long ways in 5 minutes, saws with 1 ¾ teeth, 3 inches between each tooth. Then I saw one board without a single knot which measured 5 feet 3 in. broad, 2 in. thick, & a great length, Kauri wood, & a 60 feet plank without a blemish. They have to supply a building now going on (lately burnt down by fire. I’ve been in it, DS Coy.) Queen St. with 6 tie beams, each 90 feet long, joists we call them, & they decked HMS Katoomba with 60 feet planks of “Kauri” timber. They keep a standing stock of 6 million feet of timber, employ 6,000 hands under the company. [5:87] They have 60 odd mills in bush country & own many forests. The timber is rafted down to navigable water, & flat bottomed ships, drawing 3 feet, fetch the great trees & logs right to the works here, & these are drawn up inclines by machinery right into the saw mill. Altogether it is the greatest wood industry I’ve seen. Our mills at WH are large but not to be compared with the Kauri Timber Coy’s works at Au[c]kland. I’ve got an illustrated catalogue to take home. During the interval, 12:30 to 3, I had lunch & viewed about. Then Mr. Furness had obtained a permit to view the sugar refinery across the harbour, & we went by boat to Chelsea, where the works are, & we spent until 5 very profitably. They have enormous stocks & can stack 20,000 bags of raw sugar each (averaging) 2 cwt.[3] This they get from the Fiji Islands. They refine 80 tons daily working 2 shifts, 8 hours each, this is law, & have 160 men. We saw the process & they bag all the sugar, put up into small bags, various weights. The Colonial Sugar Refining Coy., Chelsea, Auckland. I saw through the China sugar refinery at Hong Kong which far surpassed these here. We left Chelsea by the 5 boat, calling at Birkenhead, Northcote & Devenport [sic], & across to Auckland by 5:35. Mr. Smeaton, who owns the “Old Mill Store”, & with whom I had to dine & spend the night, was at the jetty awaiting our arrival. I called before we left & notified him of my movements. We went straight to his home by bus. (Mr. Furness went home via his office). I spent a very happy night & I hope interested Mr. & Mrs. Smeaton with incidents of my travels. They have 2 lovely children, boy & girl, both with flowing ringlets & such beautiful complexion. They were ready for bed when we got home but would not move till they had seen the gentleman who was travelling around the world. I got kisses freely from them, & on retiring, each imparted a special one for their grandma when I see her, if I visit Leamington. It came on a terrific storm, & thundered & lighten’d & rained for 2 hours or more, & it almost looked like being storm staid[4], however, it ceased & I left with Mr. Smeaton at 10. He saw me into tram & I got home at 10 to 11, & during a heavy rain. I suffered nothing. My only regret being so late.
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A few comments on the contents of your letters, Nos. 10 & 12. No. 10, WH postmark, Apr’l 7 & No. 12 March 31 both bears Wellington post mark 18 July. Delighted to know Miss Waugh is married. My best wishes goes out to her & her husband.[5] Also, my best wishes to Bella & tell her she is to wait a bit before she gives herself away. My birthday, as you now know, was spent at Amoy. Glad Willie was having Horace & Frank. I often wonder what’s trumps[6] with Horace & –. Willie has proved an “alliancer” once & he may become a reconciler next. I hope they & you all enjoy the holidays. I will wait till I get to Vancouver before I communicate again. My letter may have found her. So very delighted with what Willie says about the cycles & I do hope both were used. It was somewhat singular to have fallen in with Berney’s relatives at Kandy. Willie is to convey to the Revd. Mr. Ormsly & [sic] very warmest regards, & tell him I saw, in Melbourne, 2 houses adjoining. One named Chillingham & the other Tillside, & that Mr. Black’s sister lived in Chillingham house. I’m pleased some of the photos come out so nice. I do hope you will get the Japan ones complete, & I note you got the Colombo ones. I did give reply to Willie‘s about Bunting from Australia. I see the different places to where you will send letters. If I don’t get to all, I can write to have them forwarded. You say you’ve written every week except when father was ill. I surely haven’t received so many. I hope you receive all mine. You’ll know as each page is numbered & ought to run consecutively. No, I did not get the opportunity of calling on the Kennedys at Calcutta, & I was so grieved at misplacing Willie Garden’s card to his friend at Melbourne. I tried to find trace but failed. I’ve written fancy post cards twice or thrice to Aunt Dalton. About my sweet Albion, I daily wonder whether he is on the sea again or still in Calcutta. Yes, as you say, I did enjoy that incident of my tour.
And about my lovely Comely & his long trousers, bless him. He is often in my vision & I shall be glad when I look upon his face again. I shall have lots to tell him.
[5:89]
I’ve a letter written ready to post for Mary at St. Petersberg [sic], & she will pass it on to uncle. I think I’ve remembered all my friends at one time or another with fancy post cards. I only hope they receive them. When you see Mr. Sinclair & Mr. Scott at church door, tell them I sent salutations to them from Au[c]kland, New Zealand, & that they & all my old church friends, aye, past & present, often run through my mind. It has become so empty of business that a great void has been made & I keep it filled with past reminiscences, & these give happy hours. Also, to my dear & esteemed friend Mr. Leask, let my warmest compliments be conveyed to him & I trust Mrs. L. is better & the family all well. Mrs. Street of Geelong made affectionate enquiries & longed for more, had time permitted. Mr. & Mrs. Adamson I don’t forget & shall be delighted to hear his voice & see his comely face the first Sunday, DV[7], I get home. Thomas & Alice to tell Thos. had he been with me & had his camera, we would not have been out of India yet. To Mr. Sinclair & Mr. Wright, I have post cards to send them. Willie is to tell Mr. & Mrs. Windrim that they often appear before me, & Willie can also tell Geo. Pringle that I’m having a happy time at Au[c]kland. Mr. Nawton I must ask to be very kindly remembered to, & am pleased he reads my journals. He will interpret all, I know, as he knows my style of conversation. I’ve sent him post cards on several occasions. I hope his folk are all well & that he is happy & comfortable in his work. Today at 1:30 I am to meet Mr. Sanderson & he is to take me through the “Herald” printing office. Everybody is so kind. Then we all, from Hesleden, go to tea at Sanderson’s & after leaving them to another friend of my hosts, a Mr. Young, Scotsman, whom I’ve not yet met, & we go to Mr. & Mrs. King’s, Mr. E. Withy‘s daughter, tomorrow afternoon, & Mr. & Mrs. Furness are anxious & have requested me to invite Mr. Cobb to dine at Hesleden on Sunday. Now I feel as if I had been chatting to you & my friends all morning, & now I feel entitled to a rest, so Ta Ta a while.
[5:90]
Before I set the diary aside, I might just say I have frequently written to Andrew & great pleasure did I feel in doing so. Mary I daily think of & would have liked & enjoyed a letter now & again from her. I hope she is very happy & keeping well, of course, I expect she has spent most of her time with you, excepting during the short while she would be at Berwick at May term.
[1] Tree species native to New Zealand.
[2] On the 15th and 16th of March 1889, a tropical hurricane struck the South Pacific island kingdom of Samoa. In the port of Apia, seven foreign warships were anchored in the town’s small and very exposed harbor, protecting their national interests during a time of domestic Samoan political unrest. With the exception of the relatively modern Calliope, which was able with great difficulty to steam out of the harbor in the teeth of the storm, the ships’ anchors and engines proved unable to resist the blow. The shocking violence of the storm, which took the lives of more than fifty U.S. Sailors and Marines, and about ninety Germans, overwhelmed the international naval confrontation. A diplomatic settlement of the Samoan question followed. Within the United States’ Navy, the Samoan Hurricane was seen as something of a “last gasp” of the age of wooden cruisers, muzzle-loading guns, full-sail rig and moderate steam power. http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/ev-1880s/ev-1889/sam-hur.htm
[3] Hundred weight.
[4] Delayed on a journey by reason of a storm
[5] Inserted here in the original, and possibly meant to be crossed out after the proceeding sentence, is the following: “Bella, & tell her when she writes.”
[6] Meaning: What’s up with…? What’s going on with…?
[7] Latin Deo volente God willing