TAKAKA RACING CLUB.

Colonist, Volume LXI, Issue 14961, 8 January 1919, Page 2

TAKAKA RACING CLUB.

ANNUAL HACK .ME-cTNG, To be held on THE RACECOURSE, TAKAKA, on TUESDAY, I'EBaiT-VUY 4tli, 1910.

Officials:—Patron, Captain R. Kirk; President, R. W. Kirk; Vice-presi-dents, J. T. Moore, James- Page, sen., C. E. Brown, H. T. Goodwin, J. a! J. McLaren, J. Keilly, and H. Byrne; Secretary and Treasurer, Goliu E. Scott; Auditor. J. B. Sadd; Judo-e, Godfrey Bostj Starter, J. Reiliy; Handicappers, N. L. Emms (flats), «J. .Reiliy (trots); Timekeepers, J. Glen and L. Kerr; Press Steward,' ■B. R. Gapper; Assistant, C. Hodgson: Clerk of Scales, A.'Canii; Assistant, W. Pagc>; Clerk of Course, T. Wilkie; Assistant, J. S. Page; Stewards, C. Hodgson, P. Fellowes F. Reiliy, D. W. Mcßae, J. S. Page F. Byrne, N. L. Emms, Hansen Winte--,, P R. Gapper, A. Cate, J. and A.-Hanson; Judicial Stewards, R. Hyland, F. W. Falconer,- J. Madigan, 0. Hagen, J. H. Finney.

PROGRAMME.— j 1. Maiden Fiat Race, of £S; second! Jiorso £1 from stake. Once round Minimum weight, 9 stone. Nomin-! ation,-4s; acceptance, 4s. 2. Birch Hill Trot Handicap, of #IQ-l second horse 30s from stake. Opii tional saddle or harness. One and \ a-half miles. Nomination. 5s- ac-i ■ ceptance, ss. j N-B.—Provident Fund fees' must be! paid direct to the Association before' nomination. Penalty for non-comoli-i ante, £5. " j 3. Takaka Cup,-of £S3j second horsoi £3 from stake.. Winner to carry 71b j in Races 5, 6. and 7. One mile" and | a quarter. Nomination, Us Gd • ac-! ceptance, 11s 6d. ) 4. Rototai Trot Handicap, of £12; second horse 30s from stake. Two miles. Optional, saddle or harness. Nomination, 6s; acceptance, 6s. N.B.—Provident Fund fees must ho pam direct-to the Association before; nomination. Penalty" for non-compli-ance, £5. 5. Welter Handicap, of £14; second horse 40s from stake. One mile .Nomination, 7s; acceptance, 7s. G. Publicans' Handioap, of £11; second horse 30s from stake. Five furlongs Minimum weight, 9 stone; Nomination, 5s 6d; acceptance, Cs 6d 7. Farewell. Handicap, of £7; second horse.£l from stake. Six furlongs. Nomination, 3s 6d; acceptance, 3s 6d., RULES AND REGULATIONS. j 1. All nominations must be in the; hands of the Secretary not later than! « o clock p.m. on January 10th, 1919 j Nominations must be addressed to the! Secretary, Takaka. Handicaps declar-! Ed on-lGth January, 1919. Acceptances' close 29th January, 1919. i 2. All nominations and acceptances' must be made in.writing and addressed.: to the Secretary, and contain full: amount of_ entrance money. Descrip-.' turn, pedigree, performances, age of', horse, and colours to he1-worn by the! jockey must also be enclosed. ',- #3. Entrance received only on condi- i tion that all disputes, claims, and i objections arising out ..of the races shall: be settled by the Stewards, cr whom j they may appoint, and their decision; shall be subject to right of appeal under N the Rules of Racing. j. 4. Fiat races run under the New Zea-j land Rules of Racing, and trotting races: under the Rules of the New Zealand i Trotting Association. 5. The winner of Race No. 3 to carry , a penalty of 71b in Races Nos. o, 6 and 6. Protests must be made in writing! not more than 15 minutes after tbe-i race, and be accompanied by a deposit i, of £2, which will be forfeited should! \ the protest be dismissed. |» 7. In trotting events the decision of', tho Stewards is subject to appeal, ex-'' ! cept-on fact, and in case of protest thol' I sum of £2 must be deposited within ten:. minutes after the race and, if dis- ' missed, to be.-forfeited and paid to the i I Association. , • iB. Every person applying for admission to any course, and every person - , entering or endeavouring to enter a '. horse for any race, and every person j having or subsequently acquiring any ■ interest in such horse, shall be deemed \ to accept all the conditions and restric- i tions imposed or implied by these Rules, ■-, and to be barbed from questioning the action of the Conference, Appeal < Judges, Association, Club, Racing Club " or body, Committee, Stewards, officials, ] agents or servants in respect of any ', such person or horse, or any person connected therewith otherwise than ;<? i provided for in Part XXX. of ihes--. Rules. ' • ' Approved: J: B. Norris, Sec. N.Z. ; Trotting Association. ; Approved: Greymouth District Com-' niittce. M. Fogarty, Sec. • , COIJN E. SCOTT, Secretary. ' I

supply of vegetables for' consumption on the spot, something like ,£165 was realised last- season by the sale of vegetables at Covent'Garden Market, Lou-1 don. Everywhere one saw signs of thrift, industry, and enterprise and visitors fronuthe British Army were loud! in their praise of the system carried out at our camps. The'hospitals I visited! —Walton-on-Thames,\Ontlands. Horn- i church, Codford, and Brockonhurst—' .belonging to tho New Zealand forces, ( were models of efficiency from every j point oi" view; the men were well treated and well fod, the medical service was of a high standard, the nursing could not be improved upon and the latest scientific treatment and appliances were in. evidence. A system of salvino- of ;v,lmt we call "waste" was adopted and . resulted in extraordinarily largo savings. I visited several English military hospitals, and while I am not in a position to speak of their efficiency from a medical point of view, I am sure lliev did not compare favourably in any other respect with our own. | The nurses were very fine, sticking {to it for long hours, often- days without more than an hour or two's sleep, and many of them keeping at it till they dropped from sheer exhaustion. If that wore possible, they were often too considerate and too kindly to the patients, for they did not think sufficiently of their own health, with the inevitable result of a severe breakdown. Of their treatment by the authorities, the :less said the better, for it was of a piece with the administration of military matters in New Zealand—it could not well have been worse. At the risk of being tedious, I want to produce some of the evidence and opinions upon, which I based the conclusion that the New /Zealanders were amongst..the best of the Allied armies. Hiv Majesty King George V.,-during our visit to Windsor Caatle, when I took. the opportunity of thanking him for all lie had done for the'"wounded boys, said it was a privilege to be able to show.in some way the high opuiioin he had formed of them as soldiers and as men. -Field Marshal Haig, General Lawreuee, and General Home, speaking in France in September before the Pressdelegates from New Zealand, Australia, Newfoundland, and South Africa, all used almost the same words—the New Zealanders have don© all we have ' asked of them, and more. A Canadian General, whom we met in Scotland, said, "If I were asked to choose a model for an army to conquer the world, I would take tlie New Zealander." Brigadier-General Stewart, of the Rifle Brigade, asked Colonel Livesey, who had been in charge when a number of our men were associated with j the Grenadier Guards, how they compared with the Guards. "Well'" was the reply, "the Guards are the best; fighter^ in the world—they will hold on to a difficult position till'the last man is killed. The New Zealander will not do that, but he will do better. If he! ,is in a hole like that he will do some. • | thing to extricate himself and gain hi S | j objective, and if there is any loophole! jof escape from a possible disaster he* | will not miss it." I Captain Vane Vallance,. of the sth . Lancers, whom I met on the journey back from Ireland at the end of September last, told me that a friend of his, a captain in the British Army, had just returned from Palestine, and j referring to the operations there, said j tho New Zealanders were tho pick of j the troops over there—he preferred . them to any others. j Tho llij/ht Hon. R. C. Prothero, ; Britain's gre;tt Minister of Agriculture said his daughter had hocn engaged in hospital work from the beginning of the war, and she gave the palm for* the nicest, most patient, and most likeable of the soldier patients to the New Zealandp.rs. j Their officers cannot speak too highly 'in their praise, and instance after"itij stance is related of the digger aecorn- : plishing the seemingly impossible/ [Trnvis,. who-was awarded" all tho decor- ! n.tions given, except the Victoria Gross, j which w.as gazetted after he was killed. ' used' tn make quite a habit of walking , over No Man's Land to the Gorman I posts and bringing back one or two I Gorman gentries as tamo as kittens, if ) information was required. Fitzgerald j who was killed while Hying, was equally ! brave,, when be was brigaded with the j infrfntry'; on ono--ocoJasion going out wit)i ! a foreo of 14 men, and -defeating- ami j taking prisoner two hundred of the enemy. Thousands of similar cases, j iTiany, unrewarded, are extant in our forces, but I cannot help recounting ■< this instance related to me by Ca-wtain ■ Papps, of the llifio Brigade: 'it was ii; November, 1917, when he was at the company headquarters, a pill-box of concrete built by the Germans, in front of Polygon Wood, with two signallers of about 20 years of age. . The Germans were strafing shells liko fury, and suddenly the telephone gave out—the wires had evidently been severed. One' lad offered to go out and mend them, hut he was told it was too dangerous. Soon after both the boys were missing, ( and they did not return for an hoiir. (They said they had found nino breaks iin the wire and had repaired them all. '■■ And while they were doing that the shells i.were rained on the locality. Noxt day ! one of the lads was paralysed and was j returned to New Zealand. j. Nearly all the great war correspond!-' ; onts speak highly of their work." and .tow-ards the end of October Phiiio I Gibbs, describing nn action in which .the New Zealanders had "dene their ; bit," said the men, "as usual," had ! taken all their objectives. lOn August 26th, 1918, the special correspondent of the "London Times" I telegraphed from France: '"The New fZoaianders have never failed to do ex-jtrem-sly well whenever they-have been |in action since the beginning of the war, and I believe, there is no commanding officer in. our Army who would, not at any time be rejoiced to know that they were fighting in his left or right. Their, fighting in the last few.days," near' Bapaume, "has only been in harmony with their whole record." j ;On September 29th, Percieal Phillips wired from France: "The New Zealanders had a wonderful sucecss. They at-j tacked at about 3.30 in the morning,} spreading put funwise as they tvent ( forward, and reached Lateau Wood, on j the-Mesmsves-Courtrai road. The only istrong point encountered was. La Vac'-M querie, on the old Hindenburg Line.'' They worked into it from the north and ' south, along the sunken roads, and are *i reported to have pinched it out." : On, October Bth, the "London Times" • special correspondent in France wired:'! "On this sector of the. front, ■•Enrrh'sK i Welsh and New Zealanders were fight- : ing, and all were doing splendidly. The! i New Zealanders are reported to have ' taken 1000 prisoners, and to have killed ;: a great many Germans. The valley of ' Esnes was full of German dug-outs and i machine-gun positions, but they fought, their way'along both sides of it and. into Esnes, where-.'also there was de- i' "termined opposition." _ ;■ General Haig's report, on October': 24, paid: "North-west, of Chissignies we have secured the river crossings at • Beatifliginies. Here also vigorous resistanqe was encountered and overcome ;.. by Inev,- Zealand troops who, in .thr-: locality, have captured a number of " batteries, including guns of heavy calibre,". Referring to this, Beach!' Thomas wrote: "The success was crown-;-I rd. : towards evening by the forcing of i i the river crossing and the development c of air attacking position on the further Is side." ... ; ' : - 1 referred in a previous article to * f the-capture of Le Quesnoy. last Novem-i 1

ber by our- boys, and I believe a cablegram was published hero a. the time giving some particulars. As this was the last great feat of the war, further reference to it should not be out of place., especially as it crowns the splendid record of the New Zealand LliHe. wigaue. The "London Times" special correspondent in France refers to the I^ t~~X tno surroundinp; and reduction ox i,e Quesnoy by the New Zoalanders" —as "one of the ontstanding incident* of the attack in that sector/ .and "undoubtedly the most dramatic episode of the battle. Leaving Le Quesnoy beleagured by a section of their troops tho mam body of the New Zealandere won* on and got among the German guns, taking about 100 with the waggon* iiiiu personnel of all the batteries praettcjuly complete. It was like a passage xrom sonic old war suddenly interptInced into a modern battle." Writino of tiie actual .storming of the town, tho special correspondent of the London •Aiornmg Post" said: "The storming or Le Quesnoy was tho most dramatic feature or the battle. Hard fi"htin« went on from the start, raid the Geiman resistance was stubborn. It is an (ndtowu, with ancient ramparts, and io nas been besieged many times, but not oven its ten-day, investment by the Annans in 1793 resulted in harder lighting than that which engaged the •New Zealand division. . . . The New Zealand commander sent in two parties each with a German officer, to point out the futility of further bloodshed, but tm officer at the head of the garrison stm declined to give tip the fight. Lat" in the afternoon, tho New-Zealanders attacked again, pushed through the ramparts, wiping out the machine-gun nests, and into the streets of the town. They had to fight their way for some distance from one barricade to another before the remainder of the P-arrison laid clown their arms. ... The capture jot Le Quesnoy will be remembered as one of the most thrilling episodes of this campaign, and I believe it is the first time that a besieged, town has been formally called upon to submit to British troops. .. . Our men witnessed the extraordinary spectacle of German batteries being driven by their own i teams to the prisoners' cage." ; One of the New Zealand batteries of field artillery in France, which has done magnificent work, was selected as a I model battery for the British Army. ' j, Lieutenant Andrew, of Wahganui". S who won the V.C. by exterminating the ; crews of two machine-guns, with the aid of two'■men, when'our forces were 'Being stuck up, was in Sling Camp when 1 was there in November. He could have returned to New Zealand unfit for further service, but he preferred to carry out the work of instructor at the camp whilo he was able, and for which he was specially w^ell fitted. Ho had charge of a demonstration platoon of 60, who were noted throughout all the camps at Home as the best trained platooii there. They were frequently being invited to give demonstrations of good drill at the li!nglish camps. ;ind wore roost enthusiastically welcomed. To'see them at their! drill and physical exercises was a genuine treat. At the Lord Mayor's procession, in. November last,, this'pla-l toon represented the New Zealand infantry, and their marching and denicanbur elicited great demonstrations. It is quite a common thing for requests to he made from the English Southern I Command for our men to take on instructional duties in the various camps —-specialists as they are called—and it is /with a very bad grace that tho men who have gone to Aldersliot and other training centres for a course in artillery work, engineers' work, etc.. were! reluctantly allowed to return to their units. It was a number of thopo men who were told in New Zealand by themilitary quidnuncs, after being specially selected by General Richardson and sent out to improve the crude methods j of training in vogue, that they were not wanted, and were shipped back at, the first opportunity for fear they would interfere with the perquisites of tho "lead-swingers." The New Zealand prisoners of war' taken by the enemy were less than half the percentage taken from any other force, and even that small number was swollen by the fact that last, year 250 members1 of the entrnnchinfr battalion were.taken prisoner before they really knew they were in the war. _ the work of the Pioneers (the Maoris) too high praise cannot be given. .They were mostly engaged, in .-entrench-. in.<x work, and they laboured h-om day-1 light to dark unremittingly, taking no notice of danger and proving niore efficient than any other men engaged in i similar work. . : j T could give hundreds of as good opinions -of. our men's work in the firing j line, but have endeavoured to! confine I

myself to "new matter," in the endeavour to justify ,the exceedingly hir/h opinion we all formed of the prowe-s of the digger's part in this groat war. ■ j j } | I I !