RELIC OF PRECIOUS PAST

Taranaki Daily News, 8 January 1934, Page 6

RELIC OF PRECIOUS PAST

EXIT BROOKLANDS STABLES HORSES, SADDLES AND BUGGIES. HOW KITTY AND COMET WON BET. EPIC DRIVE TO URENUI AND BACK. The announcement that tenders are being called for the purchase of the old stables and outbuildings on the Brooklands estate will be received with regret by members of the older generation at New Plymouth. To them the demolition will mean the disappearance of another rare relic of a precious past peopled by horses and men. Not dimmed, but mellowed by the receding years, memories of those days will always be hallowed by stories of hard gallops and of fast friendships between man and beast. . The motor-car put an end to all that. The stables at “Brooklands” could tell many a stirring tale of journeys accomplished by a fine master and his fine horses. As head of a business with ramifications throughout Taranaki and its hinterland, the late Mr. Newton King found it necessary to make many long rides and drives in the early days. Then, as now, time was the essence of the contract, the difference being that the race involved hardships and physical endurance that are entirely foreign to the luxury travelling of to-day. There was, for instance, the day when, the sun scarcely above the horizon, Mr. King turned his horse’s head towards Stratford where, after a hard ride over a rough road, he spent the day in the saleyard auctioneering cattle and acting as his own sales clerk. Then, the sale over, he mounted to ride back to New Plymouth and. spend a few hours in the office! But that was only one of many strenuous rides. There was another day when, having conducted a sale at Stratford, he quietly saddled and rode through the dusk and into the night over a mere bush track to Patea. “FASTEST PAIR ON ROAD.” Mention of horses will always _ recall to Mr. King’s contemporaries his two bays, Comet and Kitty, “the fastest pair on the road.” With the improvement of the roads, the saddle had to a large extent been replaced by the buggy, into which was harnessed a single horse or . a pair tandem, as the occasion required. The buggy was in turn superseded by the Courtland buggy, resembling the American buckboard. It was with Comet and Kitty drawing the Courtland that Mr. King’s journeys by road are mostly associated in memory. . There was his famous drive to Urenui and back, an epic of the road as popular in Taranaki as Dick Turpin’s ride to York is in the lore of England. Could Comet and Kitty do the trip from New Plymouth to Urenui and back in four hours? “Impossible,” said two travellers from Auckland who doubted the quality of the bays. So sure were they, indeed, that they backed their opinion with £2O, a challenge that Mr. King accepted with alacrity. “They’ll do it all right,” he said as he covered the bet. Then he turned to the late Mr.' Fred Watson. “Say, Fred,” he said, “see what you can get that we’ll do it in 3 J hours.” But the Taranakians knew what Comet and Kitty could do and were not to be tempted. The Scottish cautiousness of the travellers had been roused, however, and they decided it was time they covered themselves against the possible loss of £2O. The race had assumed the proportions of a public affair—not the money only, but the honour of the province was at stake—and it was therefore with special care that the liveryman (Mr. Fred Calgar) attended to the equipage and its harness. There must be no chance of a breakdown. ... JOURNEY MADE IN TWO HOURS. At the appointed hour Comet and Kitty, their coats shining with reflected vitality, started from the firm’s office in Currie Street. Good time was made to Waitara, where the pair were spelled, and then the run was completed to Urenui within two hours. While the horses were being rubbed down, fed and watered, Mr. King obtained confirmation of his arrival in the form of a letter from the hotel-keeper. On the return journey Waitara was reached about tea-time. There, again, the horses were spelled and Mr. King had a snack before taking the road once more. Meanwhile at New Plymouth the excitement had grown intense. As the hands of the clock passed into the last half-hour it rose to fever heat. Devon Street was thronged with eager watchers, each of whom felt he had a personal interest in the race. “Can he do it?” they asked anxiously. “Easily, there’s 20 minutes to go yet,” replied Mr. King’s supporters. Nevertheless their confidence was strained as they peered up the road for the first glimpse of the dashing buggy and pair. Three hours and 40 minutes had gone by, and still there was no sign of the equipage on which so many hopes were centred! Only 18 minutes were left! Sixteen! Fifteen! Fourteen! Then a roar of triumph mingled with relief ascended from the crowd. “They’re in They’re in!” they shouted as Comet and Kitty appeared smartly over the rise at Liardet Street to receive the royal welcome that awaited them at the foot of the hill. They had won the wager for their master with 12 minutes to spare.