A PIECE OF LOCAL HISTORY

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LVII, Issue LVII, 16 March 1910, Page 2

A PIECE OF LOCAL HISTORY

FIRST RACE MEETING IN PATEA TOWNSHIP.

(W.K.H.) If ever a genuine lot of sports existed in this world it is that body of men who control horse racing in Patea. They have had to surmount difficulties and face troubles .that would have daunted many men, but they have always come out triumphant, and to-day , the little Eastor meeting — held on the ! "run," skirted by the high precipices that hold in check the great wild waves of the mighty Pacific, that dash i against the cliffs with a fury that on a i wild day sends the salt spray foam into | the faces of the horses and riders as j they career over the old sand ridges, j levelled and grassed now so that few j can recognise the old land marks — is a , marvel of activity and good sport. , The annual meeting is close at hand again, and it is interesting to contemplate at such a season on the first race meeting ever held in Patea in the year 1867 or 1868. The old township at the heads was then in existence, and military rule was the order of the day. Scouts w©re sent out, and a suitable course was found on the present site , of Patea township. The starting point \ commenced somewhere near where the j lamp stands in the triangle, then across past where Mr O'Grady's house now is, then on tip between where the Albion Hotol is and the Post Office, then on down past where Mr Palmer lives, and the winning post was in rather a soft i bit of ground in front of Mr Cowern's ! old saloyards. This spot was fixed as : the winning post because there was a natural grandstand, where the people could soo the whole of the races on the hill where the Fir© Brigade water tank stands. It was also chosen for the reason, too, that the natives were troublesome at the time, and sentries were posted everywhere to give warning to the onlookers in case an attack was made upon them by their enemies. In fact, to enable more of the soldiers to see the racing a number of "dummy men were put up on points of vantage so that the natives would think a really good look-out was being kept. The Maoris' love of sport is well known, and they got wind of the race meeting and rolled up in groat numbers under cover of the sand hills up past where the hospital stands, and watched, it is thought, the wholo meeting. All this was proved by a vory sad incident towards the close of the day. A ridor whoso name I cannot for the moment tell was coming in an easy winner, when his horse, sinking rather deeply into the soft ground just in front of the grandstand, stumbled and threw his rider. The horse soon recovered himself, and frightened no doubt by the cheering of the crowd as the second horse passed the winning post, he cleared away up past the direction whore it was proved the Maoris were in hiding, and his rider followed him. The man was warned of the risk he was running, but lie did not want to lose his steed, and from what was learnt afterwards it was found that the natives saw him coming and let him go past and get his horse, and then shot the poor fellow when he was riding back. They stripped him and left* him lying on the spot. A Maori wearing* his shirt' was afterwards seen at Waitotara, and this same native was eventually shot in a skirmish with 'the* whites.' '<-<.) < j „ .- s,. -, ■ ■' , The whole fprpgrammei of the meeting comprised pnly.-.a few, events, and the, prize money""' was, 'riot' large, .but generally aboxtti'¥i> l ur torsos started, in each jpace, - „ P,rajjiin.ent amongst the riders tl^a't dayVas young Bob Er-skine, who a few years a^ftorwtfras had a r livory stable -tin the site Where the borough foreman now lives. ridor ;,was M. Coffey, who lived for a good many years in Hawera^ and it is said that Mr R. B. Hamilton, of Manutahi, if he did not ride- that day, owned one of tho best horses. There were about 300 people present at' Patea's first race meeting (that isj the first race meeting held in the*, township), mostly military settlers and soldiers, but many of theso men had their wives and families on the ground. * • I Most of the older people present that \ groat day will long ago have reached j tho last grqat winning post, for 42 or , 43 years is a long period in one's life history. Many of tho youths present at the meeting will be scattered in various parts of the world, but one boy of about 6 or 7, who is just now in the prime of mature manhood, was there, and has with the exception of a visit of a few months to Australia spent the whole of the intervening years in Patea. It is to him chiefly that I am indebted for this information, and which I rather imperfectly chronicle. Mr H. Locker is tho man I refer to. Mr Adam Sergeant, of Hawera, was another lad who was present, and Mr Mat Carey, the well-known rifle shot, may also have been there, but of this I'm not quite sure. After the Maori troubles got less the races in Patea were held for a few seasons on the land now farmed by Mr Percy Locker, and the people^ used to take a short cut from the township up through the back portion of Mr J. Crlbson's section, then on -blirougli -trhtvfc is no iv Dr Simmonds' paddock, right over the sand hills near the cemetery on the hill, till the course was reached. For years this place was known as the racecourse paddock./ Afterwards races were held half way to Kakaramea in Fairweather's paddock, and this brings us down to the period when, after a lapse of years, racing was again revived in Patea and the present course selected. Those who know my initials will be surprised to have an article on racing from me. I have not spent one sixpence on horse racing in my life, but this subject of the first race meeting strongly appealed to me, and is a most interesting event in connection with the early history of Patea and the, stirring days of over 40 years ago, when men enjoyed their pleasures all the more on account of tho many hardships and trials of pioneering which they had to go through. They enjoyed sport for sports .sake, and from what I can gather the highest sweepstakes that day were "two bob" affairs, and the winners probably would not got what is now the price of one ticket on the "tote." In this one respect I think tho ways of the good ' old' days were tho best.

CHRONIC RHEUMATISM EFFECTUALLY CURED. No matter how long you have suffered from Rheumatism ; no matter what other remedies have failed, RHEUMO, if civen a fair trial, will effect a cure. Thousands of other sufferers have been permanently cured by RHEUMO, when all else had' been tried in vain. Many have spent large sums of money at Rotorua and other thermal springs, but it was RHEUMO that eventually effected a cure. If you are suffprinsr from Rheumatism, or from Gout, Lumbago, Sciatica, or kindred complaints, <*ive RHEUMO a fair trial. It has cured others and will cure you — find that at little cost. All chemists and stores, 2s 6d and 4s Cd. 2

S»uie3, ZS