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Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 166, 4 July 1908, Page 4

ißan.,Grii'na NstionaLgkrdle upfor decision to-day. r? fc " • W ;W *t Gisborne on >;* • • * *

HsjS-W<sjgM» for the principal events at gPfJahe'snteruury J.C. meeting are due Thursday next. sf,l ' The Xew Zealander Waipu was quoted f-- for tie' Victorian Grand Xa- '*! ttoaal Hurdles by Australian lkey Jlos / "at the end of last week. • WW*

f .,. Hector Gray's fruitless appeal against \'i ■ his disqualification, by the Auckland /. • Ginl) was a costly affair. Besides the x f expense incurred in travelling to Napier, his deposit of £2O was forfeited, and the Taranaki lad was eventually put •r- out .with a bump!

'' The three-year-old colt California (by San Fran—Dazzle), who won the Scurry Hack Handicap at the Hawke's Bay meeting, is said to be the makings of a champion. He won his race in firstclass style, and one paper alleges that a thousand pounds was recently refused for the slashing big chestnut, which ''. shows that somebody rates him highly. * » * •

The well-known Australian horseowner, Mr.,W. 8. Andrews, has named his pair of rising two-year-olds Squires and BSftw respectively. It will be interesting to see if Squires settles Burns on the turf, and so makes amends for the rough time the Australian pugjlist has experienced at the hands of Burns, the world's champion boxer. • a • •

The weights for the Melbourne Cup - are interesting reading. Poseidon is loaded With top weight, 10st. The New r Zealanders engaged carry: — Waipuua ;t ' 8.11, Grenadier 8.7, Frisco 8.3, Dr. Shimose 7.U, Putty 1.9, Seddon 7.0, Apa - 7JB, Maranui 7.7, Cross Battery 7.6, Golden Slipper 7.5, Delaware 6.9, etc. Hie weight-adjuster made a huge mistake ? "when he awarded to Dr. Shimose 7.11, land in setting the son of Advance to i J give away 31bs. to Apa over a two miles Syl course he is taking no chances. It is • a pity Australian handicappers do not -< \soUcit the assistance of New Zealand * ~weflto?adjusters when Maoriland horses are entered for their big handicaps, and . then such'blunders as the above would .' not make the list of weights a laughingstock, as is the present one.

'" fc m ■ • * * Tlie mating of Sceptre with old Carbine, the brilliant New Zealander which Australians almost claim as their own, m~- is a distinct honor to the grand old horse, and the result of their union will occasion no end of interest throughout :- the colonies. Carbine was foaled away ?L ' back in 18SS, and has seen 23 summers, •/Awhile Sceptre, who was a bright star of >X, We .English turf five years ago, is only te . eight years old, and the mating of the | Musket horse with a Persimmon mare '\\ wants nothing in the way of first-class ,«' \ blood—of royal blood as far as racing &'. goes. 'What made me mention the fact s£'. that people across the Tasman look upon *?'' Carbine as an Australian was an incij.'\- dent which came under v)s notice a few s•&> - days ago, A Sydney-aider and I were ».:,, discussing the merits of New Zealand | J£' imd 'Stralian gallopers, and he okyed H*" what te considered bis trump card when jg, •he asked, "What about Qarbiuet Au2,rt »wer me thatl Do tot'ever breed as |i.i. good a horse as When the laughter had subsided the crowd ex- |||., plained in their loudest (and proudest) K?.. voice that "Old Jack" was New Zealand W> bred and born, and that Carbine, like fe' * JToctulform and a host of otters, was tnerely a Maorilander who went across whipped the best Australia ever t?. bad! We showed it to him in black

'<; • and white, and it isn't safe to mention '* Cartine to Mm now. Even a few X months ago the "Lone Hand" printed £;". an excellent photo of the champion of fe champions which was ignoraatly labelled »«"" "Carbine, the great Australian racefc," horse!" %'■[ : S * » » jpt\ In referring to some riders who are ✓•»", in the forefront in England, a writer •;> : . alluded to the erstwhile New Zealander S'jt-Ix H. Hewitt as follows:—Hewitt, who E, has taken up his residence at Newjg„" market, is a well educated and cxtremc-||afely-intelligent little man. Certainly, Spwfiat year enough criticism was levelled j||J'.at the Xew Zealander to cause him to Eljpbe much discouraged, but his is one of HsLtbose natures that fight against all rcBppbnffs, as he was determined to " get I|fv there." Those whoTiave seen Hewitt Wf ride admit that they have never seen a

§B". better jockey at the gate; it is simply fet wonderful the way he gets away. Cerf . tainly some of his fiiti«MTe displays arc i* not quite "orthodox," and on more than Err one occasion last year it was considered EV .that he did not display that artistic Ifo'style which one is accustomed to in jjs' many of our horsemen. There are two «""; sides, however, to this question. On |,. Nightfall, in the Queen's Prjje last i- ~>E aster Monday, it struck me that he i.J\yr»a not at his best, but it must be re■t ■" menibered that this very moderate mare fc „ ran very badly on subsequent occasions, fc'-' and that she was alongside a very great Wjt horse in Bridge of Canny. With anKr other jockey in the saddle she might not ||p.: have been where she was. Hewitt will EyVget all the riding he wants, and his Kfe-ability over sprint distances is extrap^.vordinary.

|-_ Ait exchange is responsible for the ac- ;< count of a somewhat humorous incident l* jn connection with the recent Tingha fff race meeting. The course, which is i& about a mile and a half from the town, j ,i(rfls very well attended, principally by and residents of that localAfter three events had been disgf posed of proceedings were arrested by fr-the alarm that there was a big fire rag- • .-ing in the town. Evejy man becoming » l possessed with the belief that his place " 'W being rapidly consumed, there was I rush for horses, buggies, and :nd the crowd dashed away for mid a cloud of dust, the thunlioofs, the cracking of whips, jrells of the multitude. AccordTisitor, the judge, the starter, rest of the officials, and the :e, made strong running in id in a couple of minutes the 'as deserted. There wasn't a ! "None?" queried n listener, y. "Well, I stayed, liecause, [ didn't have a house in Tingha; tt I peeped into the publican's m blessed if the 1 1 earedn't also remained," he added, orrowful tone. After the fire d came back and finished the ne—and the beer. • « * * rence to the London cable pubew days ago anent the arrest of Seivier during the progress of eeting at Sandowu Park on a [ having persistently published the sporting paper Winning cerning J. B. Joel, it may beat this event brings to a bead so and bitter feud which has w»en the pair for several years s the .Evening Post. Joel has at his boats, and Seivier can ded on to drag into the light nany transactions the truth lich will make edifying reading ious public. Commencing with (US open letter of three years ier has never rested in his aton the South' African multi-•e.„He_JiajL_aa«H4«4--both his (change methods and TusTSr?*. ana. As recently as February ier denounced J. It. Joel as a from justice and one who ■om standing his trial for illicit buying in South Africa. Sbortthe open letter to J. B. Joel n the Winning Post, Seivier ut Joel engaged a mob of desin order to assault and batter Woof of wliich the numbers of notes alleged to have been rcV Mnrray, heal of the gang, IpweT'ei-pubiished in tli'i Wint, J. B. and Solomon Joel in" i colossal fortune from the rney Bamatu, which by shrewd Uoas of tile Stock Exchange 0 largely increased. Sol Joe} lOtoricty a few months back the Von Veltheim blackmailing t which Von Veltheim was cono imprisonment for life. Woolf eldest brother, was shot, so I, by Von Veltheim, while Barlato died by his o<fn act, and B. Jneih with Seivier ipear tluit of a .South llillionairc is sometimes strewn , attractive objects than diaid mining stocks. '

iMt the revij

troops were European soldiersMßser Lawrence and _Caiiipl>eVL w ibe name of "The Guides" Rwafc. large. The latter were a corps formed in 1840 by Sir Henry Lawrence, who, at a time "when soldiers fought, inarched, and lived in tight scarlet -lumcs, high stocks, trousers tightly strapped over Wellington boots, and shajtos whit l ' would now be looked upon-as almost certain death, decided to/raise a troop of comfortably and suitably clad soldiers —trustworthy men who iould, at a moment's notice, art as guides in the field, collect intelligence, and, in addition, give and take hard blows.

Martinets of. the school gravely shook their heads and trembled for the discipline of men without stocks and overalls, .says Colonel U.J. Y'ouugluisoand, C.8., in his "Story of the Hunk's' (Alacmilhiu). Hut. without exaggeration, it may lie said tiial no body of Jinish troops have, in the history.of Inc. Empire, displayed greater courage and more ready obedience at all tunes than '■The Guides," in -pile ol the fact that thev were recruited Iron! a great number" of dill'erciit trd'es. Their Hist com maiider was Sir Harry Lum;den, a scion of a line old soldier stuck in Aberdeen-' shire, who was iduliu-d by liis nice. This devotion is Well illustrated by the folio iug incident. One day Sir John La wren e said sunn-thing to annoy Lumsden, a:.il this became evident to 'the faithful fellows who were ready to rush iiiln any danger at his order. In the evening an orderly came to Luiusden secretly, and Said:—

"it is only this, sahib: 1 and my coin rades noticed that the Lord Sahib spoke to-day words that were not pleasing to your Excellency, and that you were angry and displeased when you- heard them So we have consulted together as to how best we may serve the proper end; for it is not right anil proper that we should allow our colonel sahib to be harshly spoken to by anyone. There is therefore, this alternative: the Lord Sahib has arranged to leave by the straight road to-morrow morning for Peshawar, but with your honour's kind permission and by the grace ol God there is no reason whatever why he should ever reach it!" One the most famous feats accomplished by the corps was their march to JJehli during the Indian Mutiny, at a time when their arrival exercised a great moral effect on the force they came to assist. In the hottest season of the year and through the hottest region on earth they marched 580 miles in just over twenty-one days—an average of twenty-seven miles a day—and when they were asked, at the end of then tremendous march, how soon they would be ready to go into action, the reply was: "In half an hour." Such was tne lighting spirit of •'The Guides'' but ten years after they had bee,, formed.

Perhaps the most striking exploit nf ■•The Guides" described in colonel Younghusbaud's book is the story of how a handful of "Guides" captured the formidable fortress of GOrindgar, together witb seventy a regiment of infantry, with lij*le or no loss to themselves.

"A native'commissioned ollicor, with a party of the Guides, appeared before the gates, bringing, it seemed, three prisoners. On the ground that the m-i-nners were desparate'ruffians, with ,',„„,. 0 „ their heads, he gained'admittance, asking that they might be sin:. ,<p in the guard-house (luring the nig.:.!. Though at first he met. with some -M.-:>',cion he contrived to gain the trust of the Governor. Leaving a couple of men 'to assist m guarding the prisoner. h t . ,-,.. mained with his force outride, ib-i during the night these two men overpm* ered the sentries, set free the time in.priooed men, and with their assistinc opened the gates to the Guides -who .-ained a firm footing in the fort befoiv the garrison knew what was happeifm..» It was the -The Guides" who furnished an escort of some seventy men to Cavagnan's mission to Kabul' i„ i B -c, fourth sortie from the Residency the tart Englishman was killed. Knowing this to be the case the enemy culled on the remainder of "The Guides" 1,, surrender, promising them their liv,. s "Left in command was Jemadar Jcwand S,ngh, a splendid Sikh officer of the tin?f n V f r,> ' ; i,n<l ~ot ">* "hit I, - h.mlliis British oilier in brave resolve He deigned no word of answer to the' howling crowd, but to a few brave -, viyors within, perhaps a doxcu or s 0 ; he ' «Ud: i'"-- *"' ibs gave us (his duly o perform, to defend Uis liesidc,,- i the hat Shall we then disgrace he 1„ h we wear by disobeying their ord us low they are deadr Shall we hand over 1property of the Sirf-ar, and the dead bodies of our officers, to these sons „•• perd.t.m,? I for one prefer to die iWit-i lag for duty and the fame of the Guides, \ and hey that will do likewise follow me. And they marched out to die. •The annals „f no arm>- and no regiment can show a brighter record of d ■ voted bravery than has been achieved by this small band of Guides." So reads the inscription on the. memorial at Alardun, which the British Government raised in memory of Kabul. There has'always been a keen competition for enrolment iu '• The Guides " and in the early days, when Lumsden was m command, there were sometimes as many as thirty men receiving no pay and maintaining themselves and their horses while awaiting a vacancy. '"And great indeed was the excitement when Lumsden, in his bluff breezy way, would say: 'Well, here's a vacancy and I don't for the life of me/ know winch of you to give it to. Come alon« down to the rifle range and shoot it off amongst yourselves: the best shot "ets the appointment.' The demeanour" «f the winner on such occasions would have made a Master in Lunacy look grave The happy young fellow would jump into the air, yelling and pirouetting, brandishing a sword, and at frequent intervals lettiug oIT a gun. while most of his friends did likewise."