"ORPHANS' DAY."

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 302, 21 December 1926, Page 9

"ORPHANS' DAY."

C.T.A. ENTERTAINMENT. EIGHT HUXDRED MERRYMAKERS. "0 it ain't gonna rain no more, no more; it ain't gonna rain no more," sang a chorus of 800 child voices at the Town Hall this morning. The rain was drizzling down outside, and it looked to be "set wet"; but that did not affect the heartiness of the chorus. There followed, "I Want, to Go Home," but the youngsters sang it derisively. Certainly they did not want to go home when there was Burnand's Band to play for them as they shouted merry songs —and there was a real "spiffing" lunch awaiting their assault, with all the things that children delight in on the menu, such as ice cream, jellies, cakes, fruit, sandwiches, raspberry juice and lemonade. Want to go home? Certainly not! One could hear the humour of the suggestion as they sang. It was all part of the grand joke. At 7 o'clock this morning, 200 motor cars had set out to collect them and carry them to the city for a day's joy. The good "commercials" had promised them a whole day of it, and a whole day they were going to have. The Governor-General was there, and Lady Alice Fergusson, with words of kindly humour and cheer for the children —boys and girls from the orphanages of Mt. Albert, The Pah (Onehunga), Takapuna, Devonport, Richmond Road, Heme Bay, Manurewa, Papatoetoe, Meadowbank, and St. Helier's. The Mayor was present, too, and he spoke kindly words to the orphans. In the intervals of song and speech, there was no silence. Each boy and girl, it seemed, was armed with an instrument of noise, and used it lustily. It was an ordeal to the elders, but they stood it heroically and with cheerful grins. The youngsters revelled in it. Lunch time was a more silent period. You can't talk and eat at the same time —not without missing bites. And there was such a lot to be got through. If eating is a duty, the' children did it nobly. In fact it may be said that they played their parts like men and women —only more so. Lunch was in two relays; whilst one lot was on a boating and motoring trip, the other was attacking the eatables, each having its eat and its trip in turns. It was a great trip, as it was a great lunch—a cruise on the harbour and a motor run out along the Great South Road, through Green Lane, past One Tree Hill, and back via the Manukau Road, the Domain, Park Road, and Queen Street to the Town Hall. This afternoon there was a fine concert programme for the children, followed by the distribution of Christmas gifts. It was altogether a great day for them.