Sporting and Dramatic REVIEW . AND . LICENSED VICTUALLERS' GAZETTE WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THIS WEEKLY STANDARD Thursday, October 4 1900

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XI, Issue 511, 4 October 1900, Page 10

Sporting and Dramatic REVIEW . AND . LICENSED VICTUALLERS' GAZETTE WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THIS WEEKLY STANDARD Thursday, October 4 1900

The season which has just drawn PAKUBANGA to a cl ° Be haß been “ eTer r HUNT CLUB, respect a very successful one. With a Master a rare sporting sort, and an extremely capable Huntsman, one of the olden style,” and an excellent pack of hounds, the followers have had every opportunity of enjoying good sport. The term, followers, of course includes members, though unfortunately for the Club, the terms are not synonymous. Were every follower a member, then the Club would be in a truly prosperous condition. But there are many who ride to hounds who never put their hands in their pockets and take out anything to augment the funds of the institution which provides them with their amusement and recreation. CI his “ something for nothing” ar« rangement is a very good one for the people who pay nothing for their fun. They ride over the farmers’ land—if they can manage to get into a paddock in crop they will—they break down fences, and they are very good hands at not shutting gates. Eor these laches the Hunt Club suffers, for after all the farmer is only human and now and again he rises in his wrath and fora bids the Hunt to travel over his land. This is very regrettable, for in time the hunting country will become a sort of chess-board—the hounds will have to be called off if they hunt beyond the limits of certain squares. That limitation of ground is likely to seriously affect the future of the Club, and unless some stringent measures can be devised to control the “ freebooters,” hunting may have to take a retrograde step. We have a horror of such a thing happening, and should welcome any scheme which tended to the ex-

tinotion of the undesirable immigrants. We have known Hunt Club secretaries and

treasurers in the Old Country, who would go, - hat in hand, to strangers who were not introduced by members, and' the man who refused to help pay for his sport quickly got the cold shoulder. Perhaps such a plan is not impossible here.

There is no doubt that everybody who follows the Pakuranga Hounds ought to devote something towards the expenses. If one and all took the same view the Pakuranga Hunt Club would

quickly be wealthy enough to hold an annual steeplechase meeting. The point to point races are very interesting, but there is no doubt that a full day’s sport, with two or three open races thrown in, would be a great draw. The Hawkes’ Bay Hunt Olub now holds its meeting every year, and a very good meeting too. If the matter could be arranged in Auckland we are

confident that it would be \ ery successful. For open hunters’ races entries would be received from Hawke’s Bay, Gisborne,, Waikato, the North,and other places.besides those from our own ■district, and in a very short time we believe the .re-union would be looked forward to with the (greatest interest by all sportsmen and sportswomen.