WAIKATO HUNT CLUB.

Waikato Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 3499, 27 November 1894, Page 6

WAIKATO HUNT CLUB.

A meeting of the members of the above club was held at; the close of Mr W. K. Carter's .special sale at Cambridge last week. Thp members met. in the National Hotel, about : 20 being present. Mr E. Cnssen was voted to the chair. ■ • The following letter, was' received from Mr H. Bullock -Webster :- "To the members of the Waikato,Hunt Club. Gentlemen,—As I atn unable to w'a;'t to the end of the sale' to address you Ilfavethis in the hands'if our secretary, who will explain what Thave to say as well as if I were with yon. I shall be leaving the districtly very shortly, and possibly, the colony; at all events it is doubtful if I shall returned Waikato and sol propose to hand my hounds ovsr to my friend Mr Douglas, who will hold them in trust for the members of the Waikato Hunt, and should he wish to give them up he will .hand ,them over to the committee. I regret very much part* ing with my hounds, which ore I think as good a little 'pack as 'any in New Zealand,' and also regret parting'with my friends the members of the Waikato Hunt. I hope they will endeavour to keep the hounds as they should be kept, and if possible to increase the list of members and so be in a position to ka<-p a paid huntsman. I think that with a pack of hound.-', ready made, given to them and good kennels provided for them, it would be a sad disgrace- to the district if the pack were broken up; and tboush many farmers who do not.hunt or approve of hounds may not believe it, I can assure them that a pack of hounds in the district will do much to induce men from the Old Country to come and settle in the place who would otherwise slay in the South. Many will no doubt say that these are not the settlers tve want, but if they.pay for their land and spend their incomes in the district they are worth keeping even'at the expense of a broken rail occasionally. I may be all wrong in my ideas and possibly if I had spent as much money on my faim as I have on hounds, I should be a richer man today; but we are not all built alike and I am sure that we could do with a little more .hunting and a little less racing and gambling. The former does enable the farmer to sell «i useful young hunter now and then, the latter only induces him to breed a weed and lose money in racing it. I hope that if I retard to Waikato I shall find a well-established pack of hounds and ones ag'iin enjoy a run with old friends.— H, Bullock-Webstbb." Mr W. M. Douglas moved a hearty vote of thanks to Mr Webster for the handsome gift he had made to the club, and fclwfc the secretary write Mr Webster conveying the thanks of the clr.b to him for his handsome donation. Mr Douglas referred'to the immense amount of money and time Mr Webster had devoted to supplying sport for the, inhabitants of Waikato, and trusted that ere long they should have the pleasure- of < having him amongst them again as Master of tho Hounds. He should cheerfully accept the trust of the hounds and hoped that

if Mr Webster returned—and he was sure they all trusted he might—he would find as Rood nr even a better pack flourishing in the Waikato. He spoke at considerable length'and in eulogistic terms of Mr Webster's many acts of kindness to the sports* men of the district, and said it would be almost impossible to fill the void caused by such a man leaving the neighbourhood.— The motion ! was seconded by Mr Bach, and unanimously carried.

It was unanimously resolved that Mr Douglas be Master, and to offer Mr Hin'e the position of Huntsman for next season, should he think fit to accept it. The list of subscribers was read over. £B7 os has been receives!, but about £2O is still to be collected, and members are requested to pay up at once. The usual compliment to the chair closed the proceedings.,