DEATH OF MR. C. W. HURSTHOUSE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1062, 27 February 1911, Page 4

DEATH OF MR. C. W. HURSTHOUSE.

AN INTERESTING CAREER,

The ceath occurred on Saturday evening at. the Lower Hutf of Mr. Charles Wilson Hursthouso, lato Chief Engineer of the Roads Department, and one of the most respected of- the pioneer settlers of the Wellington district. The, deceased, who was 70 years of age, was born inNorwich (England), and came to New Zealand..as, an infant /with his parents, arriving ;in Wellington' on January 31, 18-13. His pcoph settled in Tarariaki, ,^,,Tffi)fl3,,i\ ia educated in Ncw^PlylnouU.""'On .'leaving school he was appointed to a cadctship in the Survey Departmhet in Taranaki iu March, 1855, and.'between- November, 1857, and June, 186-i, ho acted as assistant survivor. During this period (on February 20,.I860) ho was sent to execute a survey of land bought by the Government' from • the Maori Chief Teira at Waitara, and was turned off the land by the Maori opnohcnts to the sale. He served with a "gallant band of Taranaki voluntesrsiii the .Maori war-of JSCO-Gi, and took part in the battles ofWaireka and Mahoetahi. and manj* other minor engagements andskirmishes. On Anril 21, IE6G,- ho was appointed an' ensign in the Taranaki Military Settlers, and in February,' 1569, was appointed lieutenant in the Taranaki Militia, rising to a captaincy in the New Zealand Militia in October, ISSI. . In March, IS7I, he joined tho Public Works Department as surveyor'for~railways, and was appointed Resident Engineer in Taranaki in 1575, and road surveyor in 18S0, being engaged for some- time in road surveying near Farihaka. In ISB2 ho was ordered t,o make an explorative survey for the North Island Main Trunk railway. It was in executing this work that he was assaulted and captured by the Maoris, who tied him band and foot, in which condition he was- kept' for forty-eiftht ■ hours. The , following year saw him engaged on a survey of tho Kowhai Road,' and 'in 18S1 ho resumed ' the work in . connection with tho prospective survey of. tho North Island Main Trunk lino. A year later (in 1885) ho began the .construction work as resident engineer, and carried it on to Mokau, 34i miles from To Awamutu. In 1901 he" was appointed Chief Engineer of the Department of Roads then first'.established,"a-position he. retained- until ho retired from the service .two years ago. - . .■ -'. .. " . .'* - . Mr. Hnrsthouse leaves a widow, three sons, and four daughters. -

An Incident.of the War. The late Mr. Hursthouse was a contemporary and a very great friend of Mr. ;Thos. Hnmphreys, the late Surveyor-Gen-eral. In tho course of an interview erabodying experiences in the Taranaki campaign the latter told the following incident, in which ■ tho deceased figured-pro-minently. It dealt with the stirring times when New Plymouth was seriously threatened by the Maoris. Messrs. Hursthouse and Humphries were sentries between two of the forts that ringed New Plymouth in 1800. Their duty was 'to pace through the fern and underscrub to &eo that no hostile .Maori came too close. On this particular' night young Hursthouse told young Humphries that he intended to have a shot at something, but tho latter thought nothing of the remark at tho timv-'Both went on duty, and were keeping a watchful oyo on the dim billowy fern, when Hursthouse was heard giving the sharp challenge: "Who goes there,?" No answer. Then again through the night: "Who goes'there?—speak; or I.fire! A silent moment, then a flash and n crack. A shot'at midnight! It was real cause for alarm, and soon every wjndow was alight in the township, as the order was,- that, on'an alarm, all windows should be illuminated to light the roads in order that tho troops could bo assembled. Tho military turned out, and the "Staff" came galloping along tho line. "Who fired that shot?" he asked Humphries.' "Hursthouse, sir!" Hursthouse obstinately stuck to the statement that ho had seen something suspicious moving in tho fern. A picket was turned out to skirmish through the fern, aiul eject all intruders—if any were still alive. Amidst excitement the search ] was made, and it was gloriously successful they found a dead horse. Hursthouse said that it must have been the rise and fall of the horse's head •as he was feeding that led him into firing. The story pasted.