RACING UNDER ARMS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17077, 28 January 1916, Page 5

RACING UNDER ARMS.

A TALE OF OLD PATEA. SPORTING PIONEERS. The paragraph in a recent issue, referring to the old coaching days; when Cobb and Co.'s coaches were the only means of communication throughout New Zealand, and giving special credit to Messrs Shepherd and Young for their coi:h service between Wellington and Wiinganui, and subsequently on to New Plymouth after the Maori war, was to many of us I'ke a breath from a bygone age, writes W. K. Howitt, in the ''Auckland Star." There are not many now living v 'ho remembered the tu;<e, forty-eight years ago, when the service was extended from Wanganui as far .is Patea. The first coach was piloted through by Mr Shepherd himself,, ono of t.he..galitest and largesthearted of men. and a sportsman in every sense of the wovd. The journey up .'iad to be done mostly along the sea coast, and although he left Wanganui in the early morning, it took "him the whole day to do the journey of forty miles, for the last dangerous stef/e :if th-2 journey -crossing the Patea Piv-jr at the head*'—was accomplished just at nightfall. The coach did not run through to Hawera till some time afterwards, and it was at Hawera that later Mr Shepherd established his home. He bousht a small hotel there, and while Mrs Shenherd managed this he still continued to drive the coach till he met his death trying to cross a flooded river with some urgent mail matter he had on board. KEEN SPORTSMEN.

There is one little incident in connection with old Patea in which Mr Shepherd was a central figure that shows the love of sport the pioneers had, even in the face of the greatest dangers. It was. towards the end of 1867 or beginning of '6B that the first race meeting was held at Patea, one of the outposts of civilisation. The old township at the Heads was then in existence, and military rule was the order of the day. Scouts were sent out, and a suitable course was found on the present site of the Patea township. The trouble was to get fast enough horses to make the meeting interesting, and it is said that it was through Mr Shepherd's efforts in bringing one-or two good horses from Wanganui that the success of the racing was due. The winning post was fixed at. a point, where a natural grandstand' in the shape of a. big mound was situated. From this spot a good view of the course, which was a pretty big one. could be had. It was also chosen for the reason that the Natives were troublesome at the. time, and sentries were posted everywhere to give warning to the onlookers in case ian attack was made. It is quite true that to enable more of the soldiers to see the racing a number of dummy men were put up jit posts of advantage, so that the Natives might think a really good lookout was being kept. The Maoris' love of sport is well known. They got wind of the race meeting, and. rolling up in great numbers under cover of the sandhills, watched, it is thought, the whole meeting. A RIDER SHOT.

Tin's was proved by a very sad accident towards the close of the clay. A rider: whose name is probably long ago forgotten, was coming in an easy winner on one of the horses that Mr Shepherd had brought up the coast to take part in the racing, and the animal sinking rather deeply into the soft ground in front of the grand stand, stumbled and threw his rider. The horse soon recovered itself, but frightened no doubt by the cheering of the crowd as the second horse passed the winning post, he cleared away up past the spot where, it was .proved afterwards, the Maoris were in hidi,ng, and his rider, not wishing to lose his steed, followed. The man was warned of the risk he v r as running, but took no heed of danger. From what was learned afterwards it was found that the Natives saw him coming, let him go past and get his horse, and then shot the poor fellow when lie was riding bark. Th'cv stripped him and left him lying on "the spot. A Maori, wearing his shirt", was afterwards seen down at Waito'tara. and this same Native was eventually shot in a skirmish with the The rescued horse must.have been of a, cood tviv, for long years afterwards h G was the favourite riding horse of Patea's second Mayor, and when the faithful animal died it was said that h« was thirty years of age. There were about 300 people present at Patea's first race meeting, mostly

military settlers and soldiers, but ninny of these men had their wives and families on the ground. As I hinted at tho commencement, all the other people that were present on that great day, for it was a great day, will have long ago reached the last winning post -themselves, for forty-eight years is a long period. If kindness of heart, courage under depressing circumstances, and absolute fearlessness count for anything in the great life Beyond, these old colonists will have a very high place, and can we wonder at the boys of the present generation doing so* well on the battlefield when we remember the blood that flows in their veins?