THE CITY GUARDS' ART UNION.

Press, Volume XVIII, Issue 2553, 7 July 1871, Page 2

THE CITY GUARDS' ART UNION.

For the last week or so the great event talked of, dreamt of, and expected, has been the art nniou on a scale never before attempted in Canterbury, nov we think, so far as we can learn, in the colouirs, projected by some ingenious irember of the-City Guards as a means of augmenting the somewhat slender pecuniary resources of that company. During that period. a steady stream of heterogenous articles, from a packet of seidlitz powders to a real live fat bullock, has poured in upon the indefatigable and ihard-wovking committee, Captain Hawkes. Lieut. Wolfe, Ensign Black, and Corporal Fountain, until the brains of these unhappy gentlemen must have been fairly dazed by the multiplicity and variety of articles contributed.by the tradesmen of the city and others in response to the appeal made to them. During the interval that elapsed between the public notification of the event coming off, and its actual realisation, wild and improbable legends as to prizes which the lucky ticketholders would have to receive, floated about the town. One of these was that an enthusiastic admirer of the defenders of our municipal hearths and homes had magnificently contributed a full paid-up quarter share in the far-famed Caledonian miue. This information—so ran the legend —was only known to a select few, who imparted it—under fearful pledges of secrecy most appalling to listen to—to the relator of the legend. Of course, as is usual in these cases, it was public property in less than half-anr-hour, but unfortunately it was not founded on fact, and vanishecf into thin air before the scrutiny of an intending purchaser of a one shilling ticket. But if there were delusions of this description to mock the eager fancy of those Micawbcrs who believe that something will turn up to their advantage, there was really substantial prizes of value to be disposed of. For those who affected equestrianism, there was among the prizes an order on a well-known stablekeeper for a saddle horse on hire for a day ; and should the lucky ticket-holders' ambition lead him to aspire to handle "the ribbons," a buggy and pair only waited the touch of Fortune's magic wand to be at his disposal for one whole day. On the other hand, for those afflicted with litigous longings, a wish to " have the law " of some oa&rr-for which, entre nous, Christchurßh has a reputation far exceeding that of a.ny city in the colouy—there lurkod ainkl the prize tickets, perhaps in close proximity to that bearing oa its face "one box antibilious pills," an orde- on an eminent legal firm for the usual amount of advice purohaseable by the tender of the magic amount of 6s Bd. Let us hope that the party who drew this last eveniug will not soon have occasion to make use of her shilling's worth. For the nervous, there was comfort in the magic bag before Mr Ollivier, for did not Captain Wilson, undertake to administer five or six electrical shocks to the iortmiete-»weU, we

are not so sure about that, but never mindholder of that precious a well-known dentist take 6ott a x&; fractory tooth, and the/rhenroi Chriseburch to trim the locks and ambrosially perfume the same of any one drawing these bargains. Of other prizes oE more or less value there wasiar too many eveu to hint at, suffice it to say that, almost eveiything grown, manufactured, or produced, was represented. The Drillshed, thanks to the hard workiug committee before mentioned, was very prettily dec.or.ited with flags, ami along the east side, from one cud to the other of the shed ran a long counter, behind which, in ' recognised departments, were placed the priz'.'S. First in order was a very nice collection of evergreen shrubs and pot plants, flanked on either side bj substantial looking , cheese, and hams and bacon of tempting aspect. Next in order was a rather mixed lot, comprising bottles of Worcester sauce, tins of salmon, and other preserved fish. Then came a splendid array of what our old friend Mrs Partington would call •' bigotry and virtue," amongst which were some really elegant nic-nacs. Still passing onwards our attention is arrested by the department allotted to drapery goods, and here we are fairly astounded at the quantity collected. Mountains of hats, caps, and scarves ; billows of ladies' personal varieties—looking very tempting; piles of boxes of collars, and so on, until one gets fairly tired at seeing so much clothing and other articles of adornment. Of course, round the next department a knot of ladies are congregated. I need hardly say that this is the jewellery stall. Audible invocations that the fair possessor of ticket No. 1621 maybe lucky enough to draw that " love of a brooch " or " duck of a pair of earrings," float about and mingle with the buzz of conversation and laughter arouud. Still pressing on as fast as the crowded state of the shed will allow, we arrive opposite the next stall, which is devoted to such an array of potables as would delight the heart of that bibulous Hollander of whom the songster discourses so pleasantly —Mynheer Van Dunck. Here is every liquor known, from Imperial champagne to the modest little bottle of raspberry syrup which absolutely blushes to find itself in such distinguished company. Next to this is a whole treasury of knowledge consisting of books of all kinds, and in the corner is the butchers' and greengrocers' shop, where legs of mutton and turnips, and corned beef and savoy cabbages fraternise au naturel. Of live stock too, there is no lack, as the gobbling of turkeys is heard and the suppressed gruntings of several animals of the porcine genus proceed from various sacks, in close proximity to the feet of the visitors.

As the hour for opening the doors drew nigh, it became evident that a crush was imminent, but scarcely anybody expected to to see the crowds who steadily poured in from the moment of the doors opening until the whole expanse of the Drillshed was tightly packed with a dense mass of persons. Mr Ollivier was mounted on a sort of extempore platform near the large centre doors, having before him the magic bag, within whose folds lay the precious tickets which wei-e to bring perhaps the much coveted bovine animal to the lucky drawer. But here we mnst say a word or two anent the management of the affair. Management there was really none—those in authority soemed to have lost all control, and for an hour or so chaos reigned. No one knew anything about what was to be done or going to be done, and the consequence was that murmurs both loud and deep began to arise from the ticketholders, a large number" of whom were ladies, on account of their being unable t<? get even within coo-ey of Mr Ollivier to exchange their numbered tickets for the precious documents which was to make them the envied possessors of a diamond ring or an order for the extraction <f a troublesome molar. This continued for a long time, the ciush being something tremendous, until at last Mr Ollivier had to flee before the multitude and set up his habitation uuder the verandah. The crush then became to get but at the one small door, and a number of persons were more or less hurt in the melee. But Mr Ollivier. like the dove of old, could find no rest for the sole of his foot, and again he— to use an Americanism—skedaddled. This time he took refuge in the Engineer's orderly-room, which was soon besieged by a clamorous multitude, thirsting and hungering for tickets, and to appease whose ravenous appetites in this respect, taxed the genial good nature, which is Mr Ollivier's characteristic, to the uttermost. Meanwhile, chaos still reigned throughout inside, until his Worship the Mayor, Messrs M. B. Hart, G. Gordon, and other gentlemen extemporised a. platform in one corner of the room, aud disposed of the tickets as fast as possible. At' last all were drawn, and then the fun began ; one could tell in a moment whether a man had drawn a good prize or not by the way in which he presented his ticket at the stalls. The one who had drawn a plated cruetstand or a pair of ducks came boldly up and loudly demauded his prizes, whilst the unfortunate wight, whose two ventures had returned him a box of pills and a bottle of castor oil, modestly put forward his tickets and having received his prizes silently vanished, and was seen no more. Some of the prizes fell remarkably nial apropos. Gentlemen never troubled with toothache drew orders ou a city dentist to extract one of their teeth, and a young lady the order for legal. advice. The bullock was won, we'believe, by Mr Hutchins, and Mr F. C. Bowler took the merino sh.eep. While we cannot help remarking upon the cvideut want of management in the affair, we must still remember that the effort is entirely new, and that therefore some consideration is due to the promoters. We understand that a number of prizes are yet in the hands of ticket holders, who naturally desire to have the articles, but we have no doubt this will be arranged to-day. The drawing terminated shortly after 10 pjja.