THE EARLY DAYS

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXVI, Issue 110, 22 April 1936, Page 4

THE EARLY DAYS

Maori-War Veteran Recalls Experiences TE KOOTI MASSACRES The fighting, the adventure and the hardships experienced in the sixties and seventies by troopers under Major von Tempsky, Colonel Whitmore and other notable soldiers during the Maori wars, were recalled yesterday hy a well-known resident of the Wairoa district, Mr George Beachem, aged 86, who Is at present in Napier. Born in Wellington in 1850, he has taken an active part in the building up of this Pacific corner of the British Empire and has every right to be classed among New Zealand’s distinguished pioneers.

When talking to a reporter yesterday, he recalled many interesting happening?, of the early days, when he fought against tho Maoris. He re ferred to Te Kooti, wnom he considered to have been the most bloodthirsty of all the old Maori chiefs. THE TAUPO MASSACRE. “I fought against the Maoris from 68 to ’70,” he said, “and well remeni her the time when Colonel St. John returned from an excursion with the news that nine troopers had been massacred by Te Kooti. That was in the Taupo district They had been left at a camp by themselves because there happened to be plenty ot leed for their horses. Colonel St. John and other officers —since dead —returned to the spot some time later, and every (pan was dead. “Te Kooti was a bad fellow. He swooped down on a settlement at Poverty Bay and massacred women and children. There was an uproar about this massacre, and some years later, when news was received in Gisborne that Te Kooti was approaching the town from the north, a force set 'iff and met him at the Motu. He was taken, but was allowed to go free, and be returned north again. “Later on Te Kooti Went to Te Kuiti and lived there, He received a pardon for his misdeeds and died several years later in the Bay of Plenty.” FOUGHT UNDER VON TEMPSKY. Mr Beachem • fought against the Maoris under Von Tempsky and other notable officers, since gone. He was born in Wellington and came to Hawke’s Bay at the age of 25, at the tine serving with the armed constabulary. Most of his time he was stationed at Lake Waikaremoana “The armed constabulary was considered a good thing in those days,’’ he said. “The pay varied. Sometimes we got 7/- a day and sometimes 6'- a day, according to who was in power. I was with the foot constabulary. The mounted troopers got an extra 6d a day.” Mr Beachem sees a bright future for the Wairoa district when the East Coast railway is completed. He remembers tho time when there were no roads giving access to or from Wairoa, and all communication was by the sea. THE CHANGING TIMES. Tinies change quickly, and in Mr Beachem’s 60 years in Northern Hawke’s Bay he has seen steady improvement in transport facilities. He has seen tough horse tracks develop into roadways; the advent of the motor-car, which revolutionised the comfort and speed of travel; the propellor replacing the canvas sail on the seaways; and, lastly, the development of airway communication.

Those who affirm that tobacco-smok-ing shortens the life span should meet Mr Beachem, who has been a confirmed smoker for over half a century, and to-day wouldn’t be without his pipe for ail the world. He has a brother in Waipukurau, aged 93. Mr Beachem weighs nine stone, and is rather worried because during the past few years his weight has gone down by two stone He is afraid that his health might be failing, ‘o is in Napier to recuperate. For a man over 80, however, he is as active in mind as a man in the prime of life.