Te weranga o te Whare Pāremete
Nā Merimeri Penfold
Pōneke, Tīhema 11, 1907
I te atatū o tēnei ata, ka mura tētahi ahi nui whakaharahara, ka wera hoki te Whare Pāremete, te Whare o te Motu. Ko te mutunga o tēnei parekura nui i Pōneke, he pungarehu anake te toenga. Pau katoa te nuinga o tēnei whare te kai e te ahi. I kino ai te parekura, arā, te weranga, nō te mea he papa katoa mai i te whenua tae noa ki runga rawa.
I te wā tonu o te kaha o te mura o tēnā ahi wetiweti, kei te haruru, kei te wawā, kei te ngunguru te papā a te kai a te ahi. Kāhore nei he ritenga o te kino. Puta ana te wehi me te mataku i ngā iwi i kite, i rongo hoki. Arā, i pongere te kā o te ahi, kāhore i roa kua pahū te rere, te hōkai a te mura ahi, me te hora hoki o te paoa. Pōuri ana te rangi. Piki atu, piki atu ki te rangi te teitei o te haere a te mura ahi me te paoa hoki. He wā anō, kua pongere tētahi wāhi, kua piki haere te kake a te paoa. He wā anō, kua pahū mai tētahi atu wāhi. Arā i roa, kua pahū, kua pakaru te mura hei whakamārama i te pōuri o te pō mehemea he awatea, kei te whiti tonu te rā.
I mahi kaha tonu te iwi, ngā tāngata, ki te patu, ki te whakawhāiti i te kai me te haere a tēnei ahi. Te roa o tā rātou mahi e whā hāora, kātahi anō ka rata. Nā, nō te ono o ngā hāora i te ata nei, kātahi anō tēnei ahi nui ka tuku ki raro.
I te werahanga o te wāhi o te Whare Pāremete e mōhiotia nei ko te Legislative Council, ko te pahuretanga atu tēnā a te maha o te pukapuka whai mana ngā kōrero ture, ngā pukapuka a ngā kōrero katoa, o ngā take katoa i pā ki tēnei whenua mai anō i te tuwheratanga o tēnei whare i roto o Pōneke i reira e puritia ana. Ngā tikanga katoa, ngā kōrero, ngā whakaritenga, ngā kaupapa whakahaere mō te iwi Māori, mai anō i tō rātou whakaaenga me tuku ki raro i te mana o te Kuini o Ingarangi, i pau katoa ēnei i te ahi.
I te wā anō i te ahi e haruru ana, i rongohia te pere karanga i ngā mema kia hui, kaua hoki e turituri, e tangi ana i tāna tangihanga mutunga. I rite te tangi ki tērā a te tangata kua ngenge, kua ngoikore, kua kaumātua. He tangi mutunga tonu, ka pau i te ahi mō te ake tonu atu. Ināianei, kei te pūrena te takoto a te pungarehu me te pongere hoki o te kā a te ahi, i runga i te tūranga o te Whare Pāremete. Kāhore he aha atu o tēnei whare i toe i te ahi. Motuhake, motuhake te takoto, he pungarehu.
He mea tango mai tēnei pito kōrero i te pepa huri rau tau o te N.Z. Herald, 1963.
Pikitia: Stebbart, G, active 1964. 1907 fire at Parliament Buildings, Wellington. Ref: 1/2-022885-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/22688761
He korero tāpiriSound: the 1907 fire at Parliament Buildings Ministry for Culture and Heritage, updated 14-Jul-2014 Parliament Buildings during the 1907 fire, Wellington. Ross, Malcolm 1862-1930:Photographs by Malcolm Ross of New Zealanders in the Great War, Maori, mountaineering, New Zealand scenery, etc. Ref: 1/2-003968-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/23008690 Parliament Buildings Fire. Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 61, 19 December 1907, page 4. New Zealand. Parliament - Buildings - Fire, 1907 - Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa National Library of New Zealand. |