Minson & Co. Hardware Store, Christchurch, early 1900s

Minson's Hardware & China store at 220 Colombo Street, February 1911. Stephano Webb, photo. Alexander Turnbull Library.

Interior of Minson's store in 1898 showing the vast array of household wares on sale - dinner sets, bedroom washing sets, lamps, trunks and much more. Christchurch City Libraries image.

This blogger remembers Minson's as the terror of a small boy confronted with a sea of fine china displays that he was told not to touch for fear of dropping & breaking something. Small bull in a china shop, indeed.

For a bit more background on the history of Minson's pop over to the Canterbury Heritage blog's entry on the store.

The Train Into Town - The Christchurch - Lyttelton Railway Line, early 1900s

Train About to Depart Lyttelton Railway Station for Christchurch, circa 1916.

Before Annie could do any shopping (see previous post), she had to catch a train to Christchurch. In the early 1900s, the quickest, most direct means available was the railway.

The early founders had realised that development of Christchurch and the Canterbury Plains required fast, easy, and economic transport between Christchurch and the Port of Lyttelton. Unfortunately, volcanic activity millions of years before had imposed the Port Hills in between. In a feat of geologic survey and engineering success, the Lyttelton railway tunnel was opened to passenger traffic on 9 December 1867, just some 17 or so years since first European settlement.

Steam locomotive at entrance to Lyttelton tunnel running under the Port Hills, connecting the port with Christchurch. Photo : Albert Percy Godber. Alexander Turnbull Library

In the early 1900s, the alternative to rail was a long, uncomfortable journey over the Port Hills by horse & wagon by the Sumner Road thence in to Christchurch, subject to the elements - dusty & windy in the summer; cold, wet and muddy in the winter.

The car had barely made an entry in the early 1900s, was temperamental, exacerbated by hill work, and still exposed one to the elements. The Lyttelton road tunnel would not open until 27 February 1964 at which time it superceded the rail journey as fastest & most comfortable route.

In the age of steam, however, the rail trip through the tunnel brought with it the "delights" of coal smoke from the smoke stack if unwary passengers had failed to close windows before the train entered the tunnel. Electrification of the line in 1929 eliminated this unpleasant and hazardous experience.

Arrival at Christchurch Railway Station, circa 1910. Alexander Turnbull Library

The Christchurch Railway Station, seen from Moorhouse Ave, early 1900s.

From the Christchurch Railway Station, Annie and her fellow passengers could set out on foot via Manchester or Colombo Street towards Cashel & High Streets, the shopping precinct of Christchurch in the early 1900s. For now, they could also get there by horse-drawn tram, soon to be replaced by electric ones. For the well-heeled or those in a hurry, a Hansom cab (as pictured above) could get them there at a trot.

The city's streets were not yet paved so dust in a Canterbury nor'wester or mud and puddles on a wet day were part of the challenge in navigating the city streets.

Approaching Lyttelton tunnel at Heathcote on the homeward journey, circa 1910.

Home on the afternoon train, Annie's mind no doubt turned to preparing tea and putting her feet up later in the evening, as brown paper parcels tied with string sat in the overhead rack and a tired child or two fidgeted or grizzled beside her.

Where Would Annie Shop?

A few years ago I acquired a collection of vintage New Zealand postcards, some 250 in number. While I had bought them for the views shown, sorting through them it dawned upon me that the vast majority of them were written by a woman named Annie to her younger brother Henry in the United States.

Written between 1901 and 1927, they record some of the life and times of Annie, an American woman, who married a New Zealand ship's engineer in 1901 and settled in New Zealand until his death in 1926. Widowed and without means of support she returned to her hometown of Akron, Ohio where she lived out the rest of her life until she died in 1969.

Tracing Annie's story behind the cards has led me subsequently down many paths, filling in details here and there as to the larger picture of Annie's life & times, something more than the equivalent of a text message or telegraph-length missive contained on small rectangular piece of cardboard could reveal.

One of those paths has involved asking "where would Annie shop?" when she refers in her postcard messages to having gone into Christchurch on the train from Lyttelton where she lived on various errands to shop.

Trying to answer that question has prompted the following series of posts on shopping in Christchurch at the turn of the twentieth century.

Head for Heights: Steeple Balancing on Christchurch Cathedral, New Zealand, 1903

Aspiring to excellence...
(click image for a larger view)

"Much excitement was caused in Christchurch on Monday week, when a workman was seen on the top of scaffolding erected around the spire of the Cathedral. The man [Arthur James Watts, 1863-1956] was engaged in boring the hole in which the cross which surmounts the Cathedral is to be placed". The Weekly Press, 8 July 1903, p. 28. Christchurch City Library photo collection.

Earthquake damage to the Cathedral spire in 1888 and 1901.The 1901 damage is on the left, the earlier 1888 damage on the right. The Canterbury Times, 20 Nov. 1901, p. 38.

The original stone spire was damaged in three earthquakes. On 15 Dec. 1881, an earthquake lasting 45 seconds brought down some ornamental moulding. On 1 Sept. 1888, the top 7.8 metres of the spire collapsed as shown in the photograph above (right side view). A third quake on 16 Nov. 1901, shook loose the top 1.5 metres of stonework necessitating the repairs being completed by Mr. Watts and others in the top picture. The spire was remodelled in hardwood sheathed in metal to reduce the dangers associated with fractured and falling masonry.

The Cathedral under construction circa 1880 looking at the east arch from Worcester Street.

(click image for a larger view)

Winds of Change - Brooklyn Wind Turbine, Wellington, NZ

The Brooklyn Wind Turbine, 2009.
All photos on this page copyrighted 2009.

The Brooklyn wind turbine on the hills above Wellington, New Zealand was installed in 1993 to assist in wind power experiments. Located on the top of a hill in the "Windy City", notorious for its strong prevailing north westerly winds, sometimes reaching gale force, the turbine is located in an excellent spot for testing whether wind power can be harnessed effectively.

Subsequently passing into the ownership of Meridian Energy, the turbine stands 31.5 metres tall, weighs almost 23 tonnes, and has a maximum generating capacity of 0.23 megawatts, sufficient to power 60 to 80 Wellington homes.

The Turbine looking uphill from the northerly slope within the Karori Wildlife sanctuary. Only wish there were sound effects so you could hear the swoosh, swoosh of the blades.

Down below on the northerly slope, just a few hundred metres away, life goes on fairly much as usual for the tuatara, North Island robin, a lime green caterpillar, and the tree fern in the Karori Wildlife sanctuary.

Tuatara, 2009

North Island Robin

Caterpillar on the forest floor

koru, unfolding fern frond, symbolizing new life, unfurling on a tree fern, 2009.

Winds of change... does the long-lived tuatara wonder whether "this too shall pass" - or "shall I pass" into extinction? Which will survive the other, the tuatara or the wind turbine? The wind is older than both and surely will survive them both.

The Empire Dive - Empire Hotel, High Street, Christchurch, 1901

The Empire Hotel, 212 High Street, opposite High & Cashel Street corner. The entrance to the Empire Dive bar can be seen on the left of the buidling.
Photo: Steffano Webb, circa 1910.

During the Victorian Age, it is perhaps of little surprise that British & colonial pride in the rapid expansion of the Empire resulted in just about every town of any note in New Zealand acquiring an Empire Hotel. Christchurch was no exception, having one not only in the central city but also one in the Port of Lyttelton, the latter continuing in business to the present day, see here. The High Street Empire Hotel is long gone.

The Empire in High Street and its enticingly entitled bar, "The Empire Dive" (Queen Victoria, one might wager would not have been amused), as might be expected, feature on a regular basis in the court reports of the local newspapers. Drunkeness, minor assaults, public disorderliness, violation of prohibitions on entry to the premises by convicted drunkards, petty theft, and licensing issues are the primary subjects of these reports.

One of the more serious incidents involved charges being brought against the publican-licensee and a barman for having permitted the drunkeness on his premises and of serving alcohol to an already intoxicated patron, one William Emerson who sustained head injuries from a falling down stairs in the Empire Dive on 17 August 1901 that subsequently contributed to his death a few days later.

While evidence was given by a Christchurch Hospital doctor that the deceased had been intoxicated upon admission to hospital shortly after being injured in the fall, other witness testimony that Emerson did not appear intoxicated upon entering the premises and only had one drink before sustaining his fall weighed heavier in the Magistrate's decision to dismiss the charges.

One wonders, if Dr McArthur, S.M., felt he was getting the full facts, however, given that Henry Emerson, Emerson's son, had stated at the prior inquest into the death that his father had previously been affected by heavy drinking. But Emerson fils would not repeat such a statement in the magistrate's court. Instead, he assigned his father's shakiness on the morning of the accident to the effects of a cold.

The Star, 13 September 1901, p. 3.

Photographs or sketches of such places as the Empire Dive are not ephemera that typically get produced or preserved for posterity, but one can hazard a guess at the salubrious conditions that prevail in such places. Memories of the Dungeon bar on Lambton Quay, Wellington from several decades ago, a favoured watering hole at the time for Treasury officials & other assorted public servants spring to mind.

Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child - Petty Theft At The Empire Dive

Star , Issue 6444, 25 March 1899, Page 5

MAGISTERIAL

CHRISTCHURCH. Saturday, March 25. [Before Mr R. Beetham, S.M.]

"Petty Theft.— Frederick Armitage, ten years of age, and Albert Amos, fourteen years of age, were charged with having, on March 20, stolen a bicycle lamp, value 7s 6d, the property of John Carl. Detective Chrystall outlined the facts of the case.

On March 20 Mr J. Carl, licensee of the Empire Hotel, left a bicycle lamp in a room on the ground floor of the hotel, access to which could be gained both from the rear end front of the premises. No one, however, had any right to enter the room, which was a private one.

The lamp was, in the course of a few hours, missed, and it was later ascertained that the two accused had offered it for sale to Mr Pyke, second-hand dealer, who, not considering the boys answers as to how they came by the lamp satisfactory, telephoned to the police.

On being questioned by Detective Fitzgerald, one of the boys admitted that they had taken it from a "passage". Sergeant Dugan said the boy Amos was allowed by his parents to run wild about the streets, where he was to be seen selling flowers. The other boy was unknown to the police.

Mr Beetham sentenced each of the accused to receive twelve strokes of the birch rod."

In 2009, New Zealanders are caught up in a debate over a much milder form of corporal punishment: the smacking of children by parents.

Legislation passed in 2007 essentially criminalised smacking by withdrawing the justification of discipline as a defence against a charge of assault of a child under section 59 of the Crimes Act. A public initiative campaigned for a national referendum on the matter, the results of which will merely be advisory or informational for the government.

Voters have until 21 August to vote in the referendum on the question: "Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?"

No one, it must be pointed out, is calling for a return of the birch, though no doubt in some dark alley somewhere there are still a few troglodytes muttering to themselves "bring back the birch".