A SPRINTER WHO BEAT A HORSE

Hokitika Guardian, 28 December 1929, Page 7

A SPRINTER WHO BEAT A HORSE

IN OLD ITOKITJKA. (From N.Z. Free Lance'.)* Do;*- "Free Lance,’' —1 get your ■bright and interesting paper by every steamer calling at this Island. You would need to live on an isolated little island in the South Pacific, such as this, to realise how very keenly the arrival of the paper is awaited, and how eagerly it is sought after by my friends. Aly purpose of writing is to find out if any of your readers to-day were among those many hundreds who s.nv the sprinter, Austin (Hewitt?) defeat the racehorse Black Prince in the match decided in Tan/creel Street, Hokitika, away back in 'IBGP or 1870. 1 was there. The match was for CSO a side. The distance was 50 yards—from "Bob” Walker’s 'Duke of Edinburgh theatre to opposite a willow in "Durkin” Green's back fence. Austin (Hewitt?) was a remarkably quick starter, and at the word “go’’ was well up the course before the horse could get into his stride. Once under way the animal was overtaking the man rapidly, but Austin (Hewitt?) 'breasted the tape half-a-yard to the good, amid tremendous excitement.

Incidentally I got from our schoolmaster, Air Lorenzo Tyndall, a most severe caning over that race. The race wars timed for three o’clock and our school,' "All Saints’ Day School” —by the way the neighbours considered is quite the reverse of saints—did nob close till four o’clock. But the marvel of seeing a man pitted against a racehorse was too great a temptation to be resisted and, obtaining permission to leave the room. 1 at once made tracks for the convincing ground. I saw the race, hut next morning our schoolmaster asked, "Why didn’t you come back into school yesterday afternoon when I allowed you to go out?” Full well 1 knew he understood. and, meek as Moses, I replied. "Please, sir, I went to see the race.’’ During the next few minutes the rest of the school saw yours truly get the father of a whaling. But that was immaterial, having actually seen the race I was the hero of the occasion, and had to tell, over and ovei again, to my admiring schoolmates the wonderful story of a man defeating a racehorse. "NORFOLK PINE.” Norfolk Island, November 1. [There are still a few in Hokitika who will recall the incident above quoted; also not a few who will lemember Lorenzo Tyndall, the dear old schoolmaster. Tlis "whalings’* were not severe, nor perhaps as hard as seme of us deserved. We used to try and fpol the old gentleman with leave to retire and in doing so had to place a card on the exit indicating there was a scholar "out.” By arrangement with one of the pupils' remaining, the "out” was soon reversed to "in.” and then another pupil was allowed out, and much ‘ extra play resulted, but the scheme did i ot work for long. The old gentleman caught, some of us in the act. and we had to submit to the usual course of correction They were the brave days of old. Mr Tyndall was an artist and taught many of us drawing, but few of us showed artistic promise. Later, the old gentleman had a fruit farm at Kokatahi, and died in the fullness of years as he had lived truly a- fine old English gentleman.—" Old Boy.”]