How well do you know our district?
1. Such was his esteem for the Sisters of Compassion, riverboat magnate Alexander Hatrick gave them what privilege?
2. The former building of Anderson's menswear store on the corner of Victoria Ave and Ridgway St was once part of what nationwide chain of clothing stores?
3. Which Minister of Tourism went pig hunting during an official inspection of the river from Taumarunui to Pipiriki in 1955?
4. What happened to the Imlay wharf in the big flood of 1940?
5. When did the name A. Hatrick and Co Ltd disappear?
6. What part of Whanganui was known by Maori as Kai Hau o Kupe?
7. In 1899, a man drowned in the Whanganui River. What feature in Te Papakura o Taranaki (formerly Egmont National Park) is named after him?
8. Near Makatote viaduct is an obelisk marking the last spike driven on the North Island main truck railway in what year?
9. What is the most visited site in Whanganui National Park?
10. With at least four, which hotel has probably the record for fires in Whanganui?
Correction: Last week's arts quiz left out the answer to the question: Who is the author of More Whimsical Tales of Old Wanganui, launched in July? The answer is Murray Crawford.
Quiz Answers
1. Free riverboat travel and this extended to buses when the boat service ended.
2. Hallenstein Brothers or HB, as most people called it. The firm began in 1873 when German-born Bendix Hallenstein established the NZ Clothing Factory in Dunedin to supply his stores. By 1900 there were more than 30 nationwide.
3. Dean Eyre. Local MP David Seath was also in the party, which included river identities Cecil Davies and Jock Erceg. Seath was later Minister for Internal Affairs and played a major role in the progress of the Wanganui River Scenic Board.
4. It was smashed by the shingle barge Tainui, which then sank nearby. A salvage bid failed. Another shingle barge, Wainui, which was also washed downstream, was salvaged and resumed dredging.
5. In 1928, when Wanganui River Services Ltd bought its riverboat and accommodation interests.
6. Castlecliff. The Maori name means "the place where Kupe ate the wind".
7. Dawson Falls is named after Thomas Dawson, the first Pakeha to discover them in 1883. Maori named the falls on the Kapuni Stream Te Rere o Noke (Noke's falls) after the fugitive Noke, who hid from his pursuers under them.
8. Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward ceremonially opened the railway line by driving home a final polished silver spike on November 6, 1908.
9. The Bridge to Nowhere.
10. The Rutland with fires in 1868, 1880, 1903 and 1946.
Six correct — good; 8 — very good; 10 — genius!
Quiz compiled by David Scoullar
