NORTH TARANAKI HUNT.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 April 1916, Page 3

NORTH TARANAKI HUNT.

THE ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting of the North Taranaki Hunt Club was held on Saturday afternoon. Mr. A. E. Standish presided over a good attendance. The report and balance-sheet, which has already been published, was adopted. ELECTION OF OFFICERS. The following officers were elected:— Patron, the Hon. 0. Samuel, M.L.C. (reelected) ; president, Mr. A. Alexander; vice-presidents, Messrs L. A. Nolan, G. W. Clifford, F. 11. Sampson, C. Topliss and 11. J. Okey, M.P.; lion, surgeons, Mr. D. S. Wylie and Drs. Fookes and I.eatham; veterinary surgeon, Mr. E. Mason; master, Mr. A. H. Halcombe (reelected) ; deputy-masters, Messrs B. H. Chancy, L. Jennens and A. Mason (all re-elected); committee, Messrs A. R. Standish, E. W. Wheatley, W. C. Weston, W. Hookham, W. Cole, J. Cole. N. Fulton, G. Foreman, P. Sampson, R. H. Pepperill, C. Stockman and E. iPepperill; auditor, Mr. E. P. Webster (reelected); secretary and treasurer, Mr. E. L Humphries (re-elected).

VALUE OF HUNTING. A very hearty vote of thanks to the farmers for placing, their lands at the disposal of the hunt year after year was carried with acclamation. A prominent hunting member, in s peaking to the proposition, said he hoped and believed the time was not far distant when hunting would be the most popular and the most profitable sport for the New Zealand farmers. Military authorities and remount officers had emphatically declared that Hunt Clubs had been and would be the most reliable source from which to draw any remounts. This class of horse, and the artillery horse, could be and is being, successfully bred by the small farmers. Mr. C. J. fieakes, D.V.Sc, M.R.C.V.S., in his very abje article "Horses for Military Purposes," published in the journal of agriculture of May, 1915, said inter alia "The majority of the horses secured for the New Zealand forces during the present war have been bred by farmers on small holdings, and it is evident, artf rightly so, that we must look largely to tliese farmers for the provision of our future military supplies." If Hunt Clubs continued to conduct their clean, healthy, and profitable sport in a thorough and efficient manner there was good reason to believe that the near future would see a keen revival set in, when a greater number of even the more elderly farmers and their wives and daughters would take part in following the hounds. The" speaker concluded his remarks by expressing a hope that the Taranaki Agricultural A. and P. Society would arrange for an address to be given by Dr. Reakes or one of the hading officers of his staff.

GENERAL. It was decided to rent twenty acres of land at Sentry Hill, the property of Mr. and Mrs. Sampson, for kennels. The following were elected new members:—Messrs Edmunds, A. Wood and E. Goldsmith. Votes of thanks were passed to the Taranaki Jockey Club for its valuable assistance during the races and its donation of a cup; to Mr. and Mrs. Sampson for the generous manner in which they had met the club in regard to the lease of property; to Mr. E. P. Webster for assistance at the race meeting; and to the master, Mr. Halcombe, a nd Mr. R. H. Pepperill, for the valuable assistance rendered to the Hunt.

The secretary was voted a tonus for his past services.