THE PASSING OF A PIONEER.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 1095, 18 January 1912, Page 3

THE PASSING OF A PIONEER.

THE LATE MRS. SAUNDERS

A FEW REMINISCENCES,

In our last issue we chronicled the death of Mrs James Saunders, which took place at her son’s residence, Moutoa, on Tuesday morning last, and as we go to press to-day the mortal remains of this once sturdy pioneer of the forties are being laid to rest beside those of her husband, who predeceased her some years ago. The ceremony at the graveside was conducted by the Rev J. A. McKenzie, a son of an old friend of the deceased. Few people in the Poxton district realised that among the inhabitants was included one of the Dominion’s oldest colonists —one who arrived by the good ship Lady Nugent, away back in the year 1841.' When she arrived with her parents at Port Nicholson (Wellington), the Empire City was then bush clad, and settlement by the pakeha was only in its infancy. She well remembered the troublous times among the Maoris when Te Rauparaha held sway along this coast. The present generation can hardly conceive of the hardships endured by the settlers and their children in those stirring times. When in the mood she would relate stirring incidents oi the past relating to the Hutt district, where her parents resided, and our only regret is that we did not interview her prior to her seizure. More than once, as a girl, she was compelled to flee to the bush for refuge with her brother and parents when the frenzied Maoris approached their humble home with evil intent upon lives and property. On one occasion’, when the devastating party had passed on, the fugitives returned, only to find the house and garden ransacked, the wheat stack burned, and the pig killed. On another occasiou, her mother, Mrs McHardie, could not be persuaded to leave the dwelling, preferring to remain and trust to Providence. The natives shook the old lady by the shoulders, and again ransacked the house, and passed on. Mrs Saunders has told us how the women and children were at such times kept in the stockade for safety, guarded by the militia. At one time, she said, two hundred soldiers, to whom the women and children looked for protection, were all more or less intoxicated. Why they were not all massacred on that occasion by the Maoris no one knows. The story of the death of Bugler Allan on Boulcott’s farm has been told again and again by writers ot colonial history. McHardie’s farm joined Boulcott’s,'on what is known as Bloomfield road, Lower Hutt. We understand that the Maoris crept stealthily, at night, to where the lad was keeping sentry. He heard objects approaching, and sounded the alarm on his bugle. A Maori promptly cut off his right hand. Seizing the bugle in his lett, the brave lad again sounded the alarm, and the Maori immediately cut off his head. Mrs Saunders, though young at the time, remembered the incident, and has often told how she heard the two historic blasts which preceded the sad end of the faithful youth. There is another incident worthy of notice of which the deceased lady was the only remaining eye witness. It appears that Mr John Speedy (an old veteran who still resides at Blackhead, Hawke’s Bay) performed a very courageous act as a young man serving in the militia in the early forties. Amid a shower of bullets, young Speedy rushed out, picked up a wounded sergeant, and returned to safety with him on his shoulder. Medals for bravery were not bestowed indiscriminately in those days as they are now, and the brave rescuer received no recognition for his noble deed in rescuing Sergt. Palmer. Mr Speedy’s claim on his country for a medal was brought forward a few years back, and after con--siderable inquiries it was found that the late Mrs Saunders was the sole surviving witness of the incident. At the time in question she, with her parents was hurrying away to the stockade for protection. We could go on multiplying incidents of her remarkable experiences, but still more remarkable was her strength of body and clearness of intellect. As evidence of the former, some years ago she walked from Moutoa to Lily Bank (two miles beyond Bulls) a distance of nearly 40 miles, in one day. A walk from Moutoa to Foxton and back, along a track, and with a baby in her arms, was a mere circumstance. During her last illness her strength of body and will seemed to defy even the hand of death. During the last few days preceding the dissolution, the family gathered round the bedside several times to witness her last moments, but she rallied again and again, but finally passed peacefully and quietly, away in the presence of three of her children. Throughout her illness she suffered no pain. She was an ideal wife and mother, with a simple faith in an all-wise Providence, and a stout heart which enabled her to brush aside dangers, real and imaginary, and withal kindly and hospitable. She enters into her rest full of years, and leaving behind a memory of which her children and children’s children should feel justly proud.