In general, New Zealand timbers have poor durability; most people have had experience of borer in their houses. It is strange, therefore, that impregnation with chemical preservatives was not introduced earlier, but once commenced, this practice has led to a very spectacular development as the following figures for treated timber indicate: 1945, less than 10 million feet; 1955, seventy million feet; 1960, one hundred and sixty million feet.

Much of this increase has been in building timber; the main difference between the timber preservation industry here and elsewhere is the preponderance of building timber treated in New Zealand. Another important difference is the high standard in this country of preservative treatment. The success of the industry has been due to three things: the quality of basic research in New Zealand; the attitude of purveyors of preservative treatment; and, most important, the Timber Preservation Authority established in 1958. In fact, it is largely due to the work of the Authority that New Zealand is the only country in the world where the standard of preservation is so carefully controlled for the benefit of the industry and the public in general.

As a result of the successful treatment of the bulk of sapwood building timbers, greater attention is now being given to the protection of poles, posts, and heavy engineering timbers.

Preservatives used for building timbers are boron compounds and copper and zinc chrome arsenates, and for timber exposed to the elements, higher concentrations of metal chrome arsenates, creosote, and pentachlorophenol. Pressure impregnation (66 plants) is largely used except in the case of the bulk of boron impregnation, which is by the relatively simple diffusion process (82 plants). With regard to some creosote and pentachlorophenol treatments, the hot and cold bath method is adopted (five plants).

by Kennedy Mayo Harrow, M.AGR.SC., Plant Diseases Division, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Auckland.

Timaru is situated on the east coast of the South Island at the southern end of the Canterbury Plains. To the north, west, and south stretch the plains which rise to the foothills of the Southern Alps in the west. The South Island Main Trunk line from Christchurch to Dunedin passes through the city. By road Timaru is 102 miles south-west of Christchurch (99 miles by rail), 53 miles north of Oamaru (52 miles by rail), and 126 miles north of Dunedin (127 miles by rail). The port of Timaru, an artificial harbour behind concrete breakwaters, is one of the largest frozen meat exporting ports in New Zealand. It handled 273,076 tons in 1964, the major exports being frozen meat, timber, wool, and manufactured goods. An airport, used mainly by passenger aircraft, lies 7 ½ miles north of the city.

Rural activities of the district include wheat farming, dairying, beef-cattle fattening, and sheep farming. The climate suits berry fruits, such as raspberries and strawberries, which are grown in the Waimate district. The fishing fleet based on Timaru has the third highest catch for any port in New Zealand. The city is a commercial centre, a holiday resort (Caroline Bay), and seaport for the surrounding area, but it also has developed secondary industries. These include flourmills, woollen and knitwear mills, a wool-scour works, brick kilns, and the manufacture of footwear, macaroni, tiles, concrete power poles, biscuits, agricultural implements, and aerated water. There is also bacon and ham processing, general engineering, and a freezing works at Smithfield, just north of the city, and at Pareora, 10 miles south.

The first Maoris to settle in the district appear to have inhabited the caves and rock overhangs in the limestone country of the Opihi and Opuha River gorges. They were followed by the Rapuwai and, later, the Ngati Mamoe, who lived in caves inland from Timaru. During the seventeenth century the warlike Ngai Tahu people drove the Ngati Mamoe south to Fiordland. In 1837 Joseph Price, representative of Weller Brothers, a New South Wales whaling concern, established a shore station at Patiti (Jacks) Point, with a subsidiary station at Whalers Creek. Later, the whaling establishment transferred to the southern shores of Banks Peninsula. When the land between Ashburton and the Waitaki Rivers was opened up for settlement, the brothers W. B. G. and R. H. Rhodes in 1852 took up the sheep runs known as “The Levels”, which covered the land territory lying between the Opihi and Pareora Rivers. A reserve was left for the future town of Timaru. In the following year the Rhodes purchased 126 acres on the southern side of the reserve which were subdivided for settlement. The Canterbury Provincial Government defined the town boundaries the same year and residents began to arrive. Progress was slow and by 1874 the population was still less than 2,000, chiefly because of the difficulties of access. Port facilities were non-existent and ships were moored out in the open roadstead. Wrecks were frequent. A landing service was initiated by the Provincial Government in 1864 and in 1870 a local authority, called the Timaru and Gladstone Board of Works, completed a groyne which was the first step in the development of harbour works. A harbour board was formed in 1877 and a 300-ft breakwater begun in the following year. By 1881 it had been extended in stages to 2,000 ft. The eastern extension, which makes the harbour safe in all weathers, was begun in 1900 and finished in 1906. The Timaru and Gladstone Board of Works were also responsible for the formation of a section of railway from Timaru to Temuka, not originally with the idea of completing a section of the South Island Main Trunk line, but rather for the purpose of providing a needed feeder line to link with the main railway. This section was opened on 26 October 1875. Timaru was proclaimed a borough on 13 July 1868 and became a city on 11 November 1948. There is a divergence of opinion regarding the origin of the city's name. The Maori name for the area is believed to have been “Te Maru” meaning “place of shelter”, because it was a favourite haven for travellers journeying between Moeraki and Banks Peninsula. Others state that the literal meaning of its present form is correct–“the shady cabbage tree”.

POPULATION: 1951 census, 22,851; 1956 census, 24,694; 1961 census, 26,424S.B.

(Maurea tigris).

The handsome shell of this fish is recognised by its delicately tapered spire and conspicuous pattern of zigzag reddish-brown stripes. It lives under boulders and ledges in clean water-sheltered situations, but is not common. It grows to 3 in. in diameter. Whangarei Heads, Manukau Heads, Mount Maunganui, and Whanganui Inlet are good localities for this beautiful species.

by Arthur William Baden Powell, Assistant Director, Auckland Institute and Museum.

Tidal currents are the horizontal movements of water which accompany the rhythmic rise and fall of the tide. At each place the phase of the tidal current has a definite relationship to the phase of the tide, but the phase relationship varies from place to place. Thus the tidal currents do not necessarily change direction at the time of high or low water. Indeed, this seldom occurs on the New Zealand coast, and the current may flow at its maximum velocity at the times of high and low water. Off the open coast tidal currents do not attain high velocities, but strong tidal currents are found between Three Kings Islands and the northern tip of North Island, in Cook Strait, and in Foveaux Strait.

Tidal currents in Cook Strait are particularly interesting. High water on the North Island side of the strait occurs five hours before high water on the opposite side, which means that when it is high tide on one side it is almost low tide on the other. This difference in sea level across the strait gives rise to strong tidal currents. The speed and duration of these currents are made quite variable by the heavy gales which are often encountered in this area and by other meteorological conditions. Particularly strong tidal currents which reach velocities of 5 to 6 knots are found off Cape Terawhiti. Fast-flowing tidal currents are also encountered in French Pass, a narrow channel leading into Tasman Bay between D'Urville Island and the mainland of South Island. The currents here reach speeds up to 7 knots, and the water flowing through the Pass gives the impression of a fast-flowing river.

by Norman MacKillop Ridgeway, New Zealand Oceanographic Institute, Wellington.

Tides are produced by the gravitational and centrifugal forces operating between the earth and the moon and, to a lesser extent, between the earth and the sun. The horizontal components of the earthmoon forces tend to produce two bulges in the oceans, one on the side of the earth facing the moon and the other on the earth's opposite side. Where these bulges occur the tide is high, and at points midway between these regions the tide is low. Since the earth rotates once per day, however, the points at which the greatest horizontal forces occur will vary, and any point on the earth's surface will experience rhythmic forces which complete two cycles per day. The forces between the earth and the sun cause smaller tides in a similar way. In some places the sea responds more freely to small components of force of a daily period, which are present in the tidal generating forces, with the result that only one tide per day is experienced. The interval between two successive lunar tides is almost 12 hours 25 minutes, whereas the main component of the solar tide completes one cycle in exactly 12 hours. When these tides are superimposed, the high-water times will depend mainly on the lunar tides which do not occur at the same time every day. The tides will vary in range (the difference in height between low and high water) depending on whether the lunar and solar tides are in or out of phase. When the earth, moon, and sun are in line, both the lunar and solar high tides occur together and big tides, called “spring tides”, result. This happens near the times both of new and of full moons. At quarter moon the lunar high tide coincides with the solar low tide, and small tides, called “neap tides”, result. With a little thought it may be seen that spring tides and, similarly, neap tides, occur at approximately the same time of day at any particular place. The tidal range also varies from place to place; for example, at Wellington the maximum range is 4 ft 6 in., while at Auckland it is 12 ft.

Tide gauges, which automatically trace a graph of the sea level against time, are widely used. Such graphs are wave-shaped curves showing that the tides are long waves. These tidal waves move regularly in set patterns around the oceans, patterns dictated in part by the shape of the ocean basins, and in part by the effects of the rotation of the earth. Adjacent places on the coast will have high tides at slightly different times. Proceeding in an anti-clockwise direction around the New Zealand coast, high-tide times generally become progressively later.

(1856-1924).

Headmaster of Auckland Grammar School.

A new biography of Tibbs, James William appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

James William Tibbs was born in 1856 in Hobart, Tasmania, the son of Charles Tibbs, a civil servant, and Elizabeth, née Hoggins. He was educated at Hutchins School, Hobart, and at Keble College, Oxford, where he graduated B.A. with second-class honours in mathematics in 1879 and M.A. in 1883. After two years (1879-81) as mathematics master at St. Edward's School at Oxford, Tibbs returned to Tasmania where, for four years, he was senior mathematics master at Hobart High School. In 1885 he came to Auckland Grammar School as second master and, upon the appointment of C. F. Bourne to Christ's College, Christchurch, in 1893, he became headmaster. At different times he served as a member of the Grey Lynn Borough Council, a member of the Senate of the University of New Zealand (1910-23), and as a trustee of the Dilworth Institute and of the Jubilee Institute for the Blind. In addition he became renowned for his fondness of open-air life. Tibbs retired in 1922 and was honoured with the C.M.G. in 1923. He died at 2 Cremorne Street, Ponsonby, Auckland, on 17 February 1924.

Teaching was more than a profession to Tibbs; it was a vocation. As headmaster, he inculcated a sharp sense of responsibility in his boys. Each one, he believed, had a unique contribution to make to the life of a great school and through this to the wider community. His knowledge of boys and their problems was profound and gentle; he was deeply loved for his own intellectual gifts, and especially for his genuine regard – even affection – for his individual pupils. Nearly 40 years after his death, the tradition of James Tibbs still evokes respect and admiration in a generation who never knew the man himself.

In 1882, in London, Tibbs married Alice, daughter of Frederick Kelly, of Chelsea, and they had two sons and two daughters.

by Herbert Alexander Horace Insull, M.A., DIP.SOC.SC., Principal, Marlborough College, Blenheim.

• New Zealand Herald, 19 Feb 1924 (Obit)

This group of small islands, lying 33 miles north-west of Cape Maria van Dieman, was discovered by Abel Tasman on 4 January 1643. He anchored off them on 5 January 1643, with a view to landing and obtaining vegetables and water. But when he saw “thirty-five Natives of very large size, taking prodigious long strides, and with clubs in their hands”, he abandoned the idea. As it was the eve of Epiphany, the day held in memory of the visit of the Magi or Wise Men of the East to the infant Jesus, he named the tiny group of rocky islands the Three Kings.

The islands are in latitude 35° 50' N and longitude 172° 10' E. The largest of them is Great Island (875 acres) in the centre of a string of rocky islets and has pinnacles rising so steeply out of the sea as to make landing difficult except in the calmest weather. In structure the islands resemble the north-western tip of the Auckland Peninsula, of which they may be regarded as a detached part. Great Island is made of a variety of basic volcanic rocks resting on a base of greywacke like that of the peninsula. At the time of Tasman's visit the islands had a Maori population but they have not been occupied since 1840. The total number of Maoris probably never exceeded 100.

To most people the best known incident in the history of the Three Kings is the wreck of the s.s. Elingamite there on 9 November 1902, with the loss of 45 lives. The ship was bound from Sydney to Auckland with 136 passengers.

Today, interest in the islands is focused on ecological studies of the plant and animal life of an isolated and uninhabited land area. Unfortunately four goats were liberated in 1889 to provide food for possible castaways, but they multiplied so greatly and did so much damage to the plant cover that the herds were shot out in 1946. Marion du Fresne described the islands in 1772 as “grassy” with “groves of bush”. T. F. Cheeseman made a survey of the vegetation in 1887 and 1889 and noted it as being mainly of low scrub, with some taller manuka and kanuka, and some residual patches of primitive cover. Cockayne in 1919 noted some endemic species of genera common in New Zealand as Hebe insularis, coprosma macrocarpa, Paratrophis smithii, Pittosporum fairchildii. He noted also that puka (Meryta sinclairii) and cabbage tree (Cordyline australis) were features of the vegetation of islands of this group. The regeneration of plants since the destruction of goats has been remarkable and is of special interest to the ecologist.

by George Jobberns, C.B.E., M.A., D.SC., Emeritus Professor of Geography, University of Canterbury.

(1882-1956).

Labour leader and politician.

A new biography of Thorn, James appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

James Thorn was born in Christchurch in 1882 and educated at the Christchurch Boys' High School. He volunteered for service in the South African War and, after his return, went to work in the Addington Railway Workshops. He became secretary of the Metal Workers' Union and, in 1905, contested Christchurch South as a Labour candidate, polling over a thousand votes. In 1907-08 Thorn organised the Canterbury farm labourers. He was elected chairman of the Canterbury Trades and Labour Council and of the Independent Political Labour League, and he again contested Christ-church South in 1908. The following year he left for Britain where he worked as a Labour propagandist until his return to New Zealand in 1913.

Thorn then joined the staff of the Maorland Worker. In 1916 he was sentenced to a year's imprisonment for an anti-war speech in Auckland. He edited the New Zealand Worker from 1921 to 1932, and held many offices in the Labour Party. In 1935 he was elected to Parliament for Thames, a seat he held until 1946. He served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Prime Minister (P. Fraser) between 1943 and 1946, and in 1947 was appointed High Commissioner in Canada. In 1949 he was Chairman of the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

Thorn returned to New Zealand in 1950 and devoted himself to the work of the United Nations Association and to writing on international affairs and labour history, including a biography of Peter Fraser. He died in Wellington in 1956.

by Herbert Otto Roth, B.A., DIP.N.Z.L.S., Deputy Librarian, University of Auckland.

• Evening Post, 21 Nov 1956 (Obit).

(1821-84).

Civil engineer.

A new biography of Thomson, John Turnbull appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

J. T. Thomson was born on 10 August 1821, at Glorum, Northumberland, the third child of Alexander Thomson and his wife, Janet, née Turnbull. After his father was killed in a hunting accident in 1830, the boy went to live with his mother's people in Abbey St. Bathans, Berwickshire. He was educated at Wooler and Duns Academy, later spending some time attached to Marischal College, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh University before studying engineering at Peter Nicholson's School of Engineering at Newcastle-on-Tyne.

He arrived in the Malay Straits in 1838 and was employed by the East India Survey. In 1841 he was appointed Government Surveyor at Singapore and in 1844 became Superintendent of Roads and Works. He was responsible for the design and construction of a number of notable engineering works including bridges, roads, and hospitals. He conducted the allotment survey of Singapore, the topographical survey of the island of Singapore and its dependencies, and the marine survey of the Straits of Singapore and the east coasts of Johore and Penang. His outstanding achievement was the erection of the Horsburgh Lighthouse on Pedra Branca Rock. In 1853 his health failed and he returned to England where he studied modern engineering techniques, and travelled widely through Britain and the Continent inspecting engineering works. Early in 1857 he emigrated to New Zealand and landed at Auckland with the intention of practising his profession, but decided to try sheep farming in the South Island. Such was the then limited knowledge of the hinterland that he was told by the Canterbury Survey Office that all suitable land was already occupied. On the eve of his return to England, however, he was engaged by Captain Cargill as Chief Surveyor for the province of Otago.

In May 1857 he arrived in Otago. He found the Survey Department badly administered and surveying lagging behind settlement. His Malayan experience had convinced him that systematic surveying was an essential prerequisite to the orderly settlement of new territories. He introduced the method of survey which was in use by the India Survey as a cheap, accurate, and speedy system suitable for the Otago situation. One of his first duties was to select and lay out the town of Invercargill. The interior of the country was unknown and he conducted a reconnaissance survey in 1857, exploring the Waiau, Aparima, Oreti, and Mataura Rivers to their sources. At the end of the year he explored the northern districts: he followed the Waitaki River to its source and discovered the Lindis Pass, which he traversed, and came upon the sources of the Clutha in Lakes Wanaka and Hawea. As a result, 7 million acres of new country were opened for settlement.

In 1858 he was appointed Provincial Engineer and formed the first metalled road in Dunedin. In the following year he laid down the main trunk road, via Blueskin northwards and through the Taieri southwards. His engineering work included the levelling of Bell Hill and the construction of the Taieri Bridge. But the discovery of gold in Tuapeka in 1861 resulted in the rapid development of settlement, for which the Survey Department was not prepared. Thomson reorganised to meet the new demands and in 1867 the Gold Fields Surveys were placed under the supervision of the Survey Department. Thomson decided to divide the area into four districts, and established survey offices at Lawrence, Queenstown, Clyde, and Hamiltons. By 1869 he reported that the progress of minor triangulation had made possible the correct recording of every land claim within the area. After the passing of the Otago Waste Lands Act of 1872, the offices of Chief Commissioner of Crown Lands and Commissioner to the Waste Lands Board were separated from that of Chief Surveyor and Thomson retained the two former offices.

Thomson erected an observatory at his home in 1869 to ascertain the longitude of the initial point of the provincial surveys by independent astronomical observations. In 1874 he was asked to advise the American and British expeditions which came to observe the transit of Venus and, on his recommendation, the American party made Queenstown its base, instead of Bluff as originally planned, with very successful results. The New Zealand Government asked the leader of the British party, Major Palmer, to undertake an examination of the state of the New Zealand surveys, and his report to Parliament revealed serious shortcomings. Thomson's direction of the Otago Surveys compared most favourably with that of the other provincial departments. On the abolition of the provinces, Thomson was appointed as the first Surveyor-General of the colony. He proceeded to coordinate and reform the various provincial departments and to introduce a uniform system of surveying. In 1877 he left his lieutenant, McKerrow, in charge and returned for a visit to England during which he lectured to various learned societies. In 1879 he retired to Glastonbury, Invercargill, where he was Mayor for a time and contested the Mataura seat unsuccessfully in 1881.

Thomson was an able administrator and a tremendous worker. Accurate and exacting in his standards of professional competence, he was equally exacting in his personal relations, and his cold reserved manner was intimidating. Humourless and austere, he was a demanding employer who expected loyal and industrious service but was scrupulous in recording the merits of his staff in his official reports. His integrity ensured that he carried out his professional duties with strict impartiality, avoiding issues which involved political considerations. He was a prolific writer and published many articles on professional subjects. Other publications included an English translation of a Malayan autobiography, reminiscences of Singapore, and philosophical reflections on moral and religious problems. A highly intelligent man, with a logical, analytical mind, he delighted in the methodical and systematic investigation of natural phenomena. He considered that natural laws governed the universe, including the relationships of man to his fellows and to God, and attempted to reconcile his Anglican faith with these laws.

He was a founder of the Otago and Southland Institutes, to which he contributed numerous papers on scientific subjects including ethnological studies. Through his knowledge of Hindustani and Malay, he became interested in comparative linguistics and developed a theory of racial diffusion based on philological evidence.

He was a keen amateur painter of landscapes, working mostly in oils; his paintings have little artistic merit but from a topographical viewpoint are of some interest today.

Thomson married Jane Williamson of Dunedin in 1876. He died at his home on 16 October 1884.

by Gloria Margaret Strathern, B.A., DIP.N.Z.L.S. formerly Librarian, Hocken Library, Dunedin.

• Early New Zealand Engineers, Furkert, F. W. (1953)
• History of Otago, McLintock, A. H. (1949)
• Dunedin Punch, 17 Nov 1866
• John Turnbull Thomson, Hall-Jones, F. G. (1964).

(1881-1928).

Scientist and scientific administrator.

A new biography of Thomson, James Allan appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

James Allan Thomson was born at Dunedin on 29 July 1881. His father, the Hon. Geo. M. Thomson, was a noted naturalist and later a member of the Legislative Council; his mother, Emma, née Allan, was the eldest daughter of the Allan family of Hopehill, East Taieri. Allan Thomson was educated at Kaikorai School and at Otago University, where he was elected the first Rhodes Scholar for New Zealand. Four years were spent at Oxford University and two as a petrologist in the goldfields of Kalgoorlie, in Western Australia. In 1911 he joined the New Zealand Geological Survey as Palaeontologist, and three years later became Director of the Dominion Museum. He made a particular study of Tertiary and Recent sea shells called brachiopods, and his textbook Brachiopod Morphology and Genera, Tertiary and Recent is still in demand today, a rare achievement, for textbooks are usually soon outdated by further research.

Thomson is also much respected for the most valuable contributions he made to New Zealand Tertiary stratigraphy – to the problem, that is, of determining the order in which the younger sedimentary rock strata were deposited, of how they might be grouped and named, and of how, too, they could be compared in their ages with the strata of other lands. Although amended and elaborated, his scheme of classification is still in use today. In addition, he continued an active interest in petrology and general geology. Thomson was an innovator in other respects: he helped to establish the present Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and founded the New Zealand Journal of Science and Technology, which became the vehicle of publication for government-based scientific research.

Thomson's health was poor. He had contracted tuberculosis in Australia in 1911, from which he died at the age of 46 at Wellington on 6 May 1928, while still Director of the Dominion Museum. He left two children, his wife having died in 1915.

Allan Thomson was one of these rare scientists able not only to administer but also to conduct brilliant research and to bring his results to publication. Consequently his position in New Zealand science is an eminent one. Most New Zealand palaeontologists and biologists in their researches on past and present animal life have been content to describe species and genera. Thomson went much further, exploring the relationships of fossils within a broad framework of evolutionary development.

by John Bruce Waterhouse, M.SC.(N.Z.), PH.D. (CANTAB.), New Zealand Geological Survey, Lower Hutt.

• N.Z. Journal of Science and Technology, Vol. 10, Part 2 (1900) (with list of published works)
• In Memoriam James Allan Thomson, Thomson, G. M. (n.d. privately printed)
• Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute, Vol. 59 (1929), (Obit).