TAUHERENIKAU.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 85, 3 January 1908, Page 6

TAUHERENIKAU.

A FAMOUS RACECOURSE. ' LATE MR. SEDDON ON THE SCALES. Featherston people are proud of their racecourse. at Tauherenikau.. Apart , from being by repute the biggest in the Dominion— 100 acres—it is; as the Featherston people are prepared to maintain before all the world, the prettiest. • If you drive ,to the courso, and are lucky-enough to have a good «uidc —say Mr. Curidy or Mr: : you can! have your, horse, threaded through winding lanes under,a thicket of tall tawa trees,-..which meet at a. lofty height overhead..Mentipn jjqu ~sa\v..,sojiietl]iing.-,-vas::.)good>' somewhere in England, arid you will sadly disappoint the,, local folk, for 'they fondly cherish tho thought that there', is nothing like it in the' world. 'But they have good reason for ( their pride' in ; *this-charming ; 'spot. It is. told ,in. .tholocal; gossip that a' year.' or two befdre his death' our late respected Premier,' Str.'. R.'J .'.Ssddon,; visited ■ the,, course, with. Mrs, Seddoiv and other members, of .his family, arid expressed very great 'admiration at its refreshing ' loviilihess.' \.Ypu" ; - will be shown'tho tr«S;' under .'.which'! Mr- Seddoii sat, —and where, with a thumb'iri' epch waistcoat. slpeve, he gazed upon the ;littls .duckhauhted' lake, '; two. rich ...green '''sward,' '"tho sweet succession ■ of'.open'! space and shady forest., ?nd '.observed,! characteristically',. "A racecourse! ,'What' will' the.,yoUng .".people caro about, !races here? If they! are . u;ha.t they wpro.in-my. days. thpy... will-.riof . bother tho;r heads 'qbout 1 tho' races, hilt will speud all' their ; time rambling, through!' this': beautiful "bush." Then- from -the roof of' the grandstand' of. Wairarapa. is to .'be,.obtained, and.'this also has' been a thptae-'of much praiso frojn'Mr. Seddon.' It is' probably riot' generally.-known! that" Mr, Seddon!'as Premier' of our 'important.'little part'-of thp."British 'Empire,., \Vas weighed just Hire - a'.'jockey, in -tho jockey .scales 'on the Tauherenikau'racecoiiirse.. ''His 'was pro.bably the record weight ,pn. those,'.scales. '..It was 24 stone. "It'.is Tpft to bo assuirisd. that Mrs.'Seddon,and others of the!family were also:weighed—for .it..was-not' a .race, dayhut their weights, are not! published.', ' Another fatnpiis circumstanco attached'to this interesting spot has reference, to the two Miro trees. On an, occasion, when there was "a" gathering 'of great men ' about Featherston to' talk : the!.much-pro-, posed railway to Ma'rtinborough,, they Mfe.r,o. tho racecourse. . That is a pri.v.ilego extended to everybody of distinction: by Featherston' people. And tlicy'wer'e set down at tho back of tho Stowar.ds', Stand iri a li'ttto dell scarcely bigger , than tho hollow of .your hand, Tvliero tho .local words of wisdom about tho. railway were' rained softly upon them.- Finally tho-Hon.. Jariies Carroll, Nativo Minister, got a chanco to put in . a word, and his speech was of the. two Miro trees which encompass the dell. "The pigeons that fall .from the Miro tree," ho said, "onlv the chieftains eat. They cook them whole. Theso are very firio specimens of tho beautiful Miro, which are rare, in this part of the country." The two trees aro said to bo tho only .Miros iri Wairarapa. ■Tauherenikau racecourse, which . is within walking distance of Featherston for young people, touches a. bank of the.Tauborenikau lliver at a point where tho ferry boat plied ill tho days neforo the bridge., "it has open a racecourso rescsrvo for very, many years, so that tho'Wairarapa Racing Club peoplo wcro born with'a silver -spoon' in their mouths. Still they : have been liberal their money m making tho beauties of tho place accessible, and the extensions of buildings are progressing very swiftly. A largo new! "machine" has just, been: built,' liiid tho new artistically-shaped tea-rooms,vio with tho' ladies' special retiring room, and its attached ton-room; for tho honour- of chief mention. , There aro two race meetings each year, and in tho pleasant periods between, plump farm' stock hrowso on the rich herbage., and picnic parties—forbidden but never, expelled—make "merry May Tauherenikau liavo a 'Happy Now Year!