Years Ago.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue III, 20 June 1890, Page 2

Years Ago.

No. I Though it is not true that the old days of the Colony were better than 4h«y are now, life was certainly freer, the actors younger, and therefore the pa t offers a very amusing back" ground to our lives. Iv these columns it will be our endeavour to present a few of these incidents, that we have witnessed, or have been told about by reliable persons, There a-e a great many of our readers who will remember " Jimmy" O'Mara, a splendid sawyer, short, square built, and tremendously strong. Of course he was an Irishman. Previous to his leaving the Colony some enterprising tradesman : tempted him to start storekeeping in ■ Palmerston, just at the birth of the present magnificient city. Jimmy know no more about storkeeping than he did about French, but he gallantly stuck to it, till times became too warm, when he left, in a hurry, and without the usual pro* sentatioa. It was not much about his store* keeping that we have to relate though it had something to do with the in cideut. It must be known that the flat on which Palmerstou stan<ls, was, in the early days, densely covered wilh tutu and other scrub in which many animals lay dead Jimmy was fond of a horse aud always rode, whenever possible, aud one day he leaded up himself, and his animal with tin paimicans. plat> s &c, and started across the flat. As the hors« moved faster the tins commenced ratting. which frightened the animal into a gillop, our Ireind Jimmy stuck gallantly on, having all ? sailorNs craft in sticking to anything, aud matters were all right as long as the motion was forward, but fate directed that just in front of the horse a very dead bullock laid, poisoned by tutu, which had swollen it out to an enormous extent, it had also beeu dead anm« time, and at the sight of this, the horse came to a sudden stop ; it woii'd have been well for the rider if he had been able to, but the momentum carried him over the horse anl head first right into the bullock, with so much force that his head w»s jammed between two of its ribs. It took some tin: e before he got clear, and for months after\vard3 he had a curious dislike to beef.