14/10/2026
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In March Gaskin is back in court again on two counts. M. Wright is suing him for Β£60 ($12,500), or failing that Wright would like his piano back, thank you very much! How Gaskin came by Wrightβs piano goes unrecorded, but the judgement is that the piano should be returned, with no costs being awarded. Next up, Gaskin is suing W. Hayes for the sum of Β£6 2/- 6d for damage done to a hired trap and harness. Hayes denies ever having hired the trap, suggesting instead that some grass seeders, who were working for him, must have hired it. The magistrate is having none of it and finds in favour of Gaskin. You win some, you lose some.
The new publican seems to be getting into his stride. In February of 1909 both he and his wife are congratulated by the reporter for the Akaroa Mail on their management of a sale day, with βhundredsβ in attendance. The Lake Forsyth Hotel, the writer reminds us, βis by no means an easy house to run. Mrs. Gaskin spares no trouble to make all visitors as comfortable as they can possibly be with the accommodation at their disposal, and certainly no bar was ever better conducted. It must be remembered that this bar at this season is crowded with grass-seeders, with Maoris, et hoc genus omne [and everything else of this kind], and the quiet and able manner in which the motley crowd were managed was quite a revelation to the writer.β
Meanwhile, the town of Little River has been moving ahead in leaps and bounds. Mrs. Johnsonβs large new boarding house and stables are near completion; Mr. Fergussonβs small shop has segued into an extensive harness factory; there is a new butcherβs shop and a new hall; Mr. Colombusβs carriage factory is busy, as are the stores of Mr. Harris. The only problem, laments the correspondent for the Akaroa Mail, is that the township is in the wrong place. Where it should be, he says, is βall Maori land. Were it in the hands of Europeans,β he says, βmany new and handsome buildings would be erected, but no one cares for very great expenditure on land leased by Maoris.β
Of course, all the new and handsome buildings that were erected are now long gone, as has Mrs. Johnsonβs boarding house, Mr. Columbusβs carriage factory, the new hall, Mr. Fergussonβs harness factory, and Mr. Harrisβs various stores. All that remains of the developments of that era is the butcherβs shop, and that is now as meatless as a vegan.
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**Image: c.Little River - Main Street. 1909
