ST. BATHANS.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 252, 2 January 1874, Page 3

ST. BATHANS.

"With, something of the reverence with which it is customary to approach a venerable though somewhat antiqua-ted-looking building the traveller must be filled when descending the hili to' the well-kmnrn township of St. Bathans. Presenting very" few new features in its buildings—-as the original business places were five or six years ago so thejwnostly are now—with an invigorating spirit of old age we have alBe the cause of this ap<: Earent carelessness of exterior shown; y the proprietors of good businesses —in many case* sheltering very heavy and expensive stoeksr—what it may, it is certainly not want of prosperity, fori probably np other town in the district can boastW su6h a widely-diffused and general well-toidoi showing itself! in ah ever-present feeling of neighborly fellowship, the of good, sound, ibstitutiotls," and a capital appreciation of sports^and,/indeed, amusement of all binds.' Venturing, in our., ignorance, to elicit some information of interest to our readers, we threw < out,' as a feeler, themildremarktoan v old ; and wen known resident, that "agreat deal of labor tnlist have been needed, to show fluc}v, a,clearing out of grp.und « as is visible from the street."<

were rather -ntartled by the reply:." o{-no!'-Bless your]soul; nooue wokksnt' jgSt. Batbana ! If. yjou were to go iover,' -wthat roughgroan,d away.there,.you.., might come on a man'by chance under a tunnel or in a box. One fellow was in a s dry 'goodscase' for'a week,' and amused "himself with' a spy-glass' watching the itown. . Oh, no ! nobody work* at St, Bathans!" We since discovered that this!. means, that as the alluvial ground at present principally worked is of a quartz gravel formation, , apparently simitar to that at Clark's and theMaerewhenua, water is cheaper than labor. We hardly, swallowed the St. Bathans no-labor theqiy in its literal form, for we knew th»t at this very time two difficult races were being cut by the residents—one by - the Otago Gold Mining' Company/ to .carry fitV teen heads, of which twenty-three miles, have alraady i been' cut in > nineteen months by twelve men, and it is reckoned that this'party, unaided, will complete their work in seven or. eight months more. -This, at any rate, speaks of work. Then, agbin, MFahey and party are cutting a racefrom the Dunstan Creek, running for about seven or. eight,miles oVer rough holding grond. This latter race, al-; though-coming on rather low, will yet command a ' big' block of auriferous ground—the company themselves holdiag as much as. will serve them for LLT'many years,to?come. . . # , The Ofaojo : Gold Mining Company thirty acres of ground secured : fbr; their race to go' to work upon, and fiff teen more, we believe, applied for. under the regulations. ** They will disr - charge into what is known as Muddy Creekl , Unfortunately, the outlet af- » forded by this creek is not of a sulK-. cient fall to enable the very rich ground ■ sloping-to it-to be worked to the bottom. f ( Before lqng it will, become necessary ;to< provide a public channel . to. unlock the golden treasure so abun? dantand yet' 'so hopelessly at present* out'Of reach, ; r " 1 For a .fmore careful and correct re-■' port of the Obldfield situate on the' upper branches 'of the*,Manuherikitf ■ and the D«n«tan Creek,- tlie full importance of 1 which 'has never yet beeii recognised, we must- await a further - opportunity. We prefer, at present, to dwell rather, on the nodal features of St. Bathans in her mood, : especially as {developed, at the annual race mee tinged vertised tobe.heldon the 26th arid : 27th of December. , ' ; I » ? , l ti ' A ' j HV" , ~ THB RACBS. , t To get to the racesis not such an easy matter—as we found to our? cost —i? you'believe the- Man in. the Street,, who will tell'.you the course isj barely a mUe ofr/j -and induces you to, leave' jour hnrae in' the n stable and trtyat to Shanks' pony. The Man in the the ,wayj so ' accurate of i distance;stakes the/precaution, we observe—todlate, alas! of riding. The ™ course can/however- be reached on foot,! after some break-neck work amongsandholes, swamps, and races—not to speak of.a'iqaryellous bridge over the Creek, which would have enti rely upset Si r Isaac Newton's idea of gravity, as it fairly did ours: tho planks resting on piles, .with an absurd notion asito what con■tittytes a perpendicular,. and the laws of suspension of bodies. If the visitor succeeds in the so often repeated miracle of crossing the obstacle in safety; there .will be no further difficulty «in reaching the stand—leased by , Jianraban on this .occasion, by tender,' 1 for the' su mof - £2O. 1 The course is oval.in shape, eausing the end turns to be very.sharp. One awkward dip in a damp hollow of the ground should be remedied, by cutting .away the tops or-by filling,in 1 over a good culvert, 'ps at, present/a tired horse coming. into , the, holloW at top speed is bound, to fall, rail Miss Grant did on Friday last, ; fortunateljrrnotJburting either her rider or herself. We , hope that theKace Committee . will be able to effect this much needed improvement -before another year, comes rpund./ The the first/day of. the races was verygood.v'there being, from 200 toBOO persorjaVmthe'iground. A good deal-of disappointmentjwas,.exTreated that ! there >were so .few, from Naqeby, twenty br'thirtybeingialleast expected. , \ ' -The first rnee was : the-Maiden-Plate, for -which' eighthwflre and-, well fltarted- 'by Mr, - Kenny,v,who ful- - hia dutifrf the:day •^vilh. JlitDiiw P 64TB, pflOsovg, for* all horsft thnfc

: J o*er £lO. Weight for aged Distance, Entrance, Jsa____ Mr. Holding's Maggie, aged (Buckwell) 1 Mr.Smeaton's Patch, 4 yrs (Jackson) 2 Mr. Turner's Barmaid, 3 yrs (owner) 3 Mr. Handyside's Vixen, 4 yrs 0 Mr. Hardy's Artful Joe, 4 yrs ... ... 0 Mr. Pyle's Master King, aged ... 0 Mr.Harrinzton's Scud, 5 yra ... ... 0 Mr. Towers Maritana, aged_ _ 0

Patch, Maggie, and Vixen got off best, the latter, however," soon being beaten off, -Patch and Maggie fairly tailing the field, and making a game contest, the grey mare eventually proving herself the best; horse, hereondition pulling her through. One" mile and a half is probably rather too far for a'field of half-trained horses. A rtful Joe, who was considered good for this race, bolted with-his.rider.

" The bell for saddling up for the Publicans' Porse, of 15 ; Bovb, for ali'liorses 3 that have never,.won in' advertised race : of the value of £2O, or over. No weight under lOat. Distance,-one mile—heats. , Entrance, 21*. brought out

•Mr; Foster's. b:g Coauet ... (Jackson) 1 Mr,' White's blk m Miss Grant ... ... 0 Mr. Smeaton's b g Patch ... i/.: 0 MrJ Harrington's b g Scud 0

> u Patch, who had already been hardraced in "the previous event; again singled, out . the best horse (Coquet) and challenged him till the last turn, .when Miss Grant,, who was outpaced, [fell heavily 'with her rider. Patch, in' consequence of the mare's fall; swerved ,suddenty, disposing of his. jockey, Coquet being left to canter up at his leisure, the field beingualli; distanced. Inja few minutes C.oquet was again.sent round by himself, to entitle.him to receive the stake.

l'Bri Bathato Pcp, of £2O. Weight for age. ' 'Distance, one mile and a-hdlf. Entrance,

; 30*1 ' ■ This, the race of the day, which would have created a great interest if it had not been considered to be Bach a pot for Oatnecocfe; was next on the and brought out Mr. Foster's Coquet, aged f; (Jackson) 1 Mr. Keeuan's Gamecock, aged ... " J i . (Richardson) 2 Mr. Hardy's Artful Joe, 4*iyra> (Hardy) 0 got-the best of the start, Coquet being fractious, and held. The brown horse, however, was close'on him, with: little Joe striding—a race borsein .miniature—:close beside him. Once'roundlthe had the Dunstan Creek horsesafe, as he was going, strong and (hard ;held, while Gamecock, with tongue ;out and flogged' quite dead and all abroad. At the tu'rn home Joe's saddle and jockey .slipped round, and vat the straight Gamecock would (have, no more, but fairly cut it inside the ropes, leaving Coquet to canter'- He chose, loudly cheered. {for the Hack Selling Race there were four entries. '

! . - . "T p.?f-f i 7 f .... Hack Selling Back, of £lO. No .weight ■■M underlO»t. Distance, one mile—heats. _ . be sold immediately after the race for £ls'. Any-surplus to go to < the ; race fund. Entrance, 15s. ,Mr. Morgan'a Blood Royal ~ (Jackson) 1 Mr. Hardy's Lauder ... ... 0 Mr. Smeaton's Patch r ..... ~.. ... 0, Mr; Foster's Uharley_was scratched. Blood Koyal fairly railr-away from, his : field. . .The rider,of Patch (Rtr., W., Smart) made a capital effort, but finding it would not do,, eased off his game : little mount. Blood Royal then walked' over>for,tlie second: heat.; ; , j For r the, , Hurry Scurry, ,six. horses • were entered. /•■ .. - ' - ■' I ' "" A M KHI-iUfrj 'l-ii! !■')

Hcbbt Scpbbt Back, 0f,£5.., .Catch weights. , i DistancA, one mile." Entrance, lOa. Mr. Holding's Maggie ! . 1 i Mr. M'Qilvray's Jimmy.. ... 2 , Mr. Jenkins' Jeannie ... ... 0 Mr. Harrington's Mignonette ... 0 Mr. Nelaonwi 0 Mr. Turner's Barmaido Ona of the "(We 'tliinlc; Jimmy) galloped for'ttfe first half mile ,m if he must win it, nothing else appearing to have a show'. Maggie was only biding, her. time, keeping up, .the same steady pace' which "at the" last ! turn brought her field back, to her, she winnings pretty easily, by. five or six - : ThiTconcluded the first day's sports, whichjwere a little marred by the dust 1 blowing in the early part of the afternoon. , In the Evening the hotels were pretty .busy . providing good, cheer. 'ln one we observed a fiddler'discoursing dance music of ,a most execrable character, as an accompaniment to about i, dozen sonsofcErin, ; in & iroomj I about i twelve feet by .ten, who, amidst noise and smoke, were dancing in couples, to their own .very evident satisfaction! Ladies are' apparently >ery scarce at St. Batbans. .; Earljr on the morning of Saturday the-raii-had-setinso~heavily,.andwith determination, ,tbat the Stewards thought it *pru|ient ( to ! postpone the secondlday's rakes till' Monday. Although it cleared up~between two and ihree'/i'clcick' in* the aftfernootij ppstponemcnt. i-was * the wisest ,course to ibllbw, M the ground would have been \dkngerousr'to gallop upon all the . afternoon. However, several private matches were run off.

j V.Sfecwiro Day, I The attendance on the bourse* on Mondaji was not quite so good as - on the first day. but the races •better ,contested. l '' ,The coiirse was in capital order, and the weather delightjfully cool and pleasant, with a total absence of dust. . " I Th'efirstrace Was the Minims' it»d Packers* Pros*, .of ,15, sow, .[ ". r for all 'hordes that hatfe, never won on adj Tf>rti«ed rwee of the ralno of £2O, or 'over. Weight for age. • Distance, 'Vitie mile heals. Entrance, 20s. " 'Mr. K m Magcde ...1 1 Mf,. Foster's Charley *...' ... ... 0 0 Mri' Harrington's Scofl..' ... .;v-0 0 Maggie came in the winner iu both heat a,.by a eoupleoflengths. XiADinl Pu«ar, of lOsovs.. Welder wttight ■I for a«e. Oentlem'ert 'riders.- IHrtsnce, ..OH9 wte vnd

Mr. Foster's b g Coquet (owner) 1 .Mr. Holding's Maggie ... 2 Two others started. The race waa a gift to Coquet, who was admirably ridden by his owner, and won easily.

Hack Selling Race, of £lO. No weight under 9st. Once round the Course—lieata. Winner to be sold for £lO. Surplus (if any) to go to the race fund. Entrance, los. Mr. E. Morgan's ch g Blood Royal ... 1 1 Three others came to the post. A capital race, Blood Eoyal coming in the winner in both beats, closely pressed by Mr. Holding's Maggie. Mr. "Washer bought the winner for £l2 10s.

Consolation Handicap, of £lO, for all beaten horses. To be handicapped by the Stewards. Distance, one mile. Entrance, 10s. '

Mr. C. White's blk m Miss Grant, 7st. 71b (Richardson) 1 Mr. Smeaton's b g Patch, Bst 2 Mi\ Harrington's b g Scud, Bst 3 Mr. T. Turner's b m Barmaid, a feather.. 0 Mr. Harrington's b g Roebuck, 7st. ... 0 ; An excellent race, won cleverly by a couple of lengths.

Hospital Race, of £ 1015s 6cl. To be presented by the winner to the funds of the Mount Ida District Hospital. Catch weights. Distance, onemile. Rider of winning horse to receive a whip; second horse, a pair of spurs, JEnt ranee, 2s. 6d. .Mr. C. White's blk m Miss Grant.

(Richardson) 1 Mr. J. Phillips' ch m Lady Blane. ... 2 Four others started. This was a fmost exciting race, all the horses being closely packed, till, within a hundred yards of the winning post, when the black mare left the ruck and came in the winner by a couple of lengths. The money for this race was collected on the course by Messrs. R. Brown and A. Denniston. Although Mr. Foster's victories were not in the least grudged—on the contrary, hailed with satisfaction—it was not expected that tbis year the principal money would have gone outside the immediate district. We should not omit to mention that Mr. Hanrahan appeared to be kept busy at the: booth, supplying thirsty and hungry souls with drink and luncheon. Mr. G-. H. Smith, assisted by Constable Morton, kept the course efficiently—Mr. Denniston giving every satisfaction as Judge,