DEATH OF MUSKET.

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 125, 24 October 1885, Page 5

DEATH OF MUSKET.

It is .with regret, that we have to reoord the death of the New Zealand Stud Company'a famous stallion' Musket, which tojok place at Sylvia Park early on October i 6 geveraldaysagohis condition caused nosmalt amount of anxiety to Major Walmsley ahd Mr B. D. Halstead the veterinary surgeon tithe Company, but he gradually came rouno again, and g»»t quite himself, while late last evening, when his box was c osed for Hie night, he appealed to be in good health Ou opening it this morning, however, his attendant, to hie great surprise, found him stretched out quite dead. Mr HaMead is making a post mortem of M.usket's body today, bo th t at the present time the exact cause of his death is not known, but it may be mentioned ihat the main cause, of hir* illness prior to his dea'h was indigestion. ThH wus brought on through his not being able to take his usual daily exercise owing to a flight injury he sustained to bis shoulder two or three weeks back Thenews of Musket'sdeath, which wasta^ed early this morning in the shape of a Star h)xtra,it ia needless to say, has caused quite a commotion throughout the town during the day, and on all hands may be heard expressions of *>ymputhy, nut only at the heavy loss the Company ha* sustained, bu' the Colony generally. Musket was ltn ported from t ngland to Auckland in January, 1879 having been leased for life from Lord Glasgow by Mr Thomas Ku»s«ll, on behalf of hitnetlf and Messrs Bailey and Vlcl can The consideration given for him was £550, for according to Lord Gla-gow's will none of his horses could be *old He afterward* papsed into the hands ofthetwoold Auckland M"d Companies, and event", ally became the property of the New Zealand Stud Company It would be difficult at the present time toe»timale Mu-ketV worth, but it i-< not long -ince the C >tnpany were offered pomething like £12.000 to deliver him in England His lose, indeed, will be a hea^y one at this period, for the horee waa ju->t in the very zenith of his fame, and added to thi«, his services are almoot lost for this season, he having only served one-half of the mares allotted him. As a sire, Musket had many tradncers in hi* early days, but thi« he lived down by the de< d 3 of his proge >y, and the many bril liant son* and daughters he ha* now racing «nd springing up in Australia aid New Zealand will long serve ro keep hi» innnorj trreen. Unfortunately he w-ih not insured, the Australasian Live Stock Society not being prepared to give a ri«k for more than £500, but he was injured against fire Major Walmsley in communicating Musket's death to Mr T. Morrin this morn ing, wrote aa follows : "He mut-t have died in his sleep for there is no appearance of the slightest struggle At 2 o'clock a m he was crying out for his food, and at ' o'clock was found stone dead " In connection with the de*th of Musket, Vl r E. D Halstead, the veterinary surgeon, has made the following report to the directors of the S'ud Company: — "I hereby certify that 1 have thin day made a po^t mottem examination of the thoroughbred titulliori Muf-ket, and upon opening the ab domen I found a large quantity of blood, caused by a rupture of the left kidney, the immediate cause of death being a rupture dind hemorrhage from the left kidney. I may also state that the other parts of the ab domenand chest wpre perfectly sound and healthy.- October 15th, 1885."