Post by NZBC on Sept 7, 2014 16:05:16 GMT 12
A Chinese is not often beaten ill business by a European, but Chan Yuan, a fruiterer, sits in his little shop' near tho railway lino at Ohakune, and muses and dreams of the manner in which Caucasian triumphed over him. It was in tho midst of the Docomber land boom at Ohakune, when quarter-acres of bush were being sold at per foot, that a small section upon a bush gully near the Ohakune railway station was sold for £lO3. Thoro was ii certain amount of murky uncertainty about tho whereabouts of the Miro Road, which the Government is going to run from the station to tho town in a straight line, and this particular quarter of an acre became a thing for serious speculation, owing to tho fact that it was understood to be the corner allotment of tho new thoroughfare. Chan Yuan offered to buy tho section from its new owner for £2OO. This offer was refused, and next day when ho came along and stated that lie would agree to the price, he was informed that it was now £llOO. Wondering deeply why ho should be exploited on such sordid lines, Chan Chuan went away and thought tho matter out for twelve hours, when ho decided to capitulate. It was n deeply chagrined Chinese who heard then that his offer could not be accepted, as the price was now £4OO, and that in another hour it would be £SOO. With much bitterness Chan Chuan closed the bargain, and took possession of his little bush gully plot, where he erected his fruit shop, only to find now that tho property will not be a corner section, and that tho new road from tho railway station will be constructed about five chains away from his place.—Dominion. Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume IX, Issue 2492, 4 March 1909, Page 2 paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=WHDT19090304.2.6&srpos=26&e=-------100--1----0chinese+fruiterer+stratford--