I EARLY DISPATCH RIDERS. I

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 183, 2 August 1923, Page 9

I EARLY DISPATCH RIDERS. I

A VENTURESOME BAND. A correspondent (Mr. P. B. Chefct) , writei:— The death of fHspatch Rider , May not only reminds mc of their hazard- I 'oue' work in war time but it recalls ft 1 j specific caee that a neighbour of mine in * jNew Plymouth gave mc. It is a story i that I think should not be lost to this er i future generation* as a epeci*en of de- ' termined pluck regardleie of the danger \ of death. « "One morning our dispatch rider left the redoubt on the hill, creased a gully | and was looking for hi* horse among the I tupaki and flai bushes when suddenly a 1 Maori firwl point Malik at him. He \ hastily drew hie revolver Ahd fired at th* i j running Maori. Both fnisaed. The Bound I lof shots caused the redoubt to be lined ; I with eoMiers to wititeee thie impromptu j< ; duel. Now this dispatch rider stated 1 j that he would have rathfcr ibeen safely in j! the redoubt, but he felt he muet see this i through at any cost. He was searching ■ for the Maori when again he encotih- t tered a point blank shot which again I missed him and he missed the Maori Aβ j I lie ran and dodged for cover. A third, ft j ; fourth and a fifth tltne he ibore the i brunt of a close shot by the Maori. < After the second miss he was without j ammunition, but followed the Maori who ' must have spilt some powder v he fan . loading his Tupara, as his lact shot was I limply a 'ponf, , there not being enough [powder for either sound or power. The ! dispatch rider made a better shot by throwing hie revolver at the Maori than he did in shooting, for he struck him on the head and secured liim. The soldiers at the redoubt wished to make a short shrift for the native, but the officers intervened. To »how that "red tape" was ac rampant sixty years ago as to day, the dispatch rider received a notice for damaging a revolver, the property of Her Majesty. He was aaked to pay £5, but the matter was explained and the amount remitted. To those who believe tin heredity, I may state that a son of this dispatch rider, with hie mate, eared the machine fun by bterturnHif it into a donga or fully when the Boers made a midnight raid on Colonel Porter's e*h- i tingent, Where ire Suffered teverelv." j