BOXING DAY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 700, 28 December 1909, Page 3

BOXING DAY.

HOUDAY-MAKERS AND THEIR DOINGS, • PERFECT WEATIIEK. Perfect'' weather, hvith ' a cool breeze : from' the south, favoured tlio Boxing Day holiday-makers in their divers outings yesterday. Crowded cars carried trippers to Lyall Bay, to Miramar, to Island Bay, and to' Seatoun. Packed trains crawled up the incline from Thorndon, and .thence along the;Manawatu. line, or drew, out/from. Lambton/. bound for the Hutt Valley and northward over the Riniutaka." The: harbour ferry steamers plied to and from at regular intervals, while the sea excursion to Picton was largely patronised;-' From every point of . viewy the holiday was-a complete suewsss, andremembering the heavy gale which blew tin Saturday and. Sunday, far exceeded the anticipations of most people. - SPORTS ON THE BEACH AT- LYALL /' v,": : '/' BAY.. -' / Lyall Bay was one of the liveliest places around Wellington yesterday. The threemile beach of fine, hard, grey sand was thronged with holiday-makers. ' Children; of'-course, . were particularly in ovidence,-but there were also thousands of grown-ups.' The bathing-sheds were well patronised, the tea-kiosk did good business, and picnickers were encamped ' all along the- beach and the adjacfent sandhills. 1 Lyall Bay as a seaside resort had at last cme into its own. A Punch and Judy show, a band, clowns, a ventriloquist, and other agencies of amusement helped to enliven the throng. The visitors to the beach during the day numbered several thousands. " The City Tramway . Department had wisely. prepared for the heavy traffic by putting double-decker cars on the line from the ICilbirnie tunnel, to the Bay. , Cms were run at - frequent intervals, 'and were heavily loadded. A sports carnival was held on the , beach during the morning and afternoon. A few residents of Maranni had conceived the idea that something of that sort would be. particularly appropriate oil the Drst public holiday after the opening of the tramline to' the Bay. Mr. Mowtell was the: prime mover, and he interested'the Maranui Social Club in tho project.' A jtrong committee was got together, and completo arrangements were made. Most of the money. for the prizes and other expenses was subscribed by the Mar;mui people. . The programme was. devised chiefly for tho pleasure of the; children, and. included such events as pick-a-back races, .skipping races, potato. races, thread-the-needle racivchalking the pig's, eye, babies' Tace, bun arid lemonade race, and the Jike,'. but there . were also .the. usual Slat races, relay races, sack races, bicycle races, and so forth. It was a .long programme,- with many entrants, and'a. set of, enthusiastic, and vigilant officials. /'' The tug-of-war - was won by Mr. Sparks's. team of Wellington drivers. Each member of the winning team was presented, with a medal. The Wellington .Private < Brass ,-Band, , conducted by Mr/. Avery, performed daring'the day. " The following were ;the officials of the sports carnival: —Patronsi The Mayor and Mr. J. P. 1 Luke, M.i?.; hon. president, Mr- W. H. Morrah; president, Mr. Chas. Bono; conductor of sports,' Mr. H. Mowtell; judge, Mr. Clater; starters,-Messrs. iNealand,Younger,' and Nickerson; hon. secretary,- Mr. D. .Carman; assistant sec.retary, Mr.: il'Eaughlin., ... ;. The day was rounded off with a concert at the band rotunda in the evening. The performers included: .■ Mr., P. Barry, -hornpipe dancer and bagpipe;soloist; Jlr--Edmunds,baritone vocalist,; the Dee, : Brothers, • comedians; Mr. Gray, cornet soloist; Messrs- Davis' (2), , singers and dancers;. Mrs. Sapsford, accompanist. Encouraged by their, success yesterday, the promoters'- of the sports and concert intend to make them annual fixtures, i CATHOLIC PICNICS. - / .For., over twenty .years'.-Father-.'Lane's' igriiunds. at the Lower Hutt have_ been -the 'scene of monster Catholic'.picnics.; •This a year'i' 'however, Mia. departure,,was "niddd"froni'"the custom'. " The < 'holiday-,; makers fromthe city were taken, by train i ;to Khandallah,' while those from vhe Hutt and Petone parishes romained to, the , old picnicking grounds ;: at : iather Lane's/- ', ' ..■•./ . JJpwards of 3000 people, half of whom were children, spent a;most., pleasant day. an tlie Izard Estate at KhandaUah. In the morniiig, ! the" children belonging to tho various city parishes marched in procession" from' their respective centres to the . waiting- cars, and were- taken to Thorndon Station, ■ and thence to ; Khandallah. 'An energetic committee,had the arrangements for; the , entertainment of the holiday-makers ' completely in hand; and provided' amplo sports for the children. -Everything, passed off: with' entire success- The. Garrison Band was in attendance during the day. , 1 - At' Father. -Lane's,'/.the attendance, though' naturally-smaller : than in previous years, was, nevertheless, very large,about '500. people, young and old, being present'during tho day. 1 SportSj swingboats, band music, and . tho - bagpipes assisted to,pass, a very'pleasant outing. ;A programme of adult sports . events was prepared by the 'coliimittee, and carried .out successfully.. The results, of the events were as follow: —. •' Maiden .*Race, 100. Vards.—Moffitt, 1;. Simpson, 2. - ; ; •" : Boys' Race, 100 yards (under 16 years). —Denny, 1; TCeogh, 2. Open Handicap, 100 yards.—Hayos, 1; Allen, 2. ■ .-n 'Running High Jump.—Allen, 1; Harnett,• 2. • Young Ladies' Race.—Miss Lynch, 1; Miss. White, .2. Pather Lane's Handicap.—Allen, 1; Haye.s, 2. Irish Jig—Donaldson, 1; Barry, 2. Tug-o'-war, Hutt v. Wainui.—Won by the Hutt men after an exciting pull. Married Men's \ Race. —M;Kane, 1; Hayes, 2. ... Committee Race.—Howell, 1; Hayes, 2. In'addition, a/number of .sports-events-were arranged for the young people, tho programme being carried ..out most successfully.' '' • ; "' . MISSIONS TO SEAMEN. ' An all-day picnio was held yestordny on Mrs.' Rhodes's estate, ,'wherb a large number" of "seamen;• wero''.'present:-' 'All kinds :• of, games, and . under. the direction, of Mr.: James Mooro,. the Mis-sion'er,-were entered, into, by the men, tho following winning prizes:—Messrs; Scott, Robertson,: JJasy- i (2)/ : : Normington (2), Arnold, 'Whitton . (2), Verne (2), /Cook, Crafor (2), Johnstone, Scaife, Powell, Tracy, Maclcach.- Kamler, Vezy, anil Hodges. ■" A tug-of-war between teams representing ■ the port - and starboard . watches took place,-resulting in the former being defeated. Mrs. Rhodes, who donated the prizes, .presented them to the winners/at her; residence, the "Grange," Wadestown. In the evening a limelight ; lantern exhibition' was given; by Mr. G. W. Barltrop.in tho Institute, wliichwas crowded to. the; doors. •' Soveral very inI; foresting-scenes-of the. river Thames, and ' around -London,' were, shown, as well as ; some humorous pictures.' The following \ contributed songs to the: programme:— . Miss Baker, Messrs. Kay, Crater (Nere- ■ liana), Palmer' (Anglo-Saxon),. Robertson (Nerehana). . Mr. Arnold played tho accompaniments.- A> conundrum competi--1 Hon was won by sailors from; ships- in port. A hearty voto of thanks was given to Mrs. Rhodes (who provided the sup- ■ per), Mr. IlarUrop, and all who assisted >, in making the day: such a pronounced 1 success.:- .""'v,". , ; HARBOUR TR A OTIC. The harbour traffic to Day's Bay kept three Boats, the Duchess, Himitangi, and 3. Cobar, busily , employed all day, the total ' number of passengers caified from town 5 being' 3384., Tho Admiral rau' from Pe3. tone to the bay, and carried a consider- ) able numbor of passengers. The heaviest t load to the bay was taken by the Duchess r on her 10.45 a.m. trip, when there were 1030 passengers'on board. Tho detailed >> figures -are:—Duchess .(three trips}, 1039, 205, and-100; Himitangi (three trips), 200, - 571, and'3oo; Cobar (two trips), 682 and %: 287.- ■ - PICTON EXCURSION. . 5. -.''''''The .'.excursion run to Picton; yesterdaj r by. the turbine steamer Maori was patro--1 nised by.-520. trippers. Tho vessel lefl r the 'Queen's Wharf. : at 7.50 ■ a.m.j and .. arrived at Picton nt 10.57, after a smootli i.v passage, 1 on which, an avorage of IS knots d was /maintained. '..Tho. roturo ; trip, was .'commenced./ at - 3.45 p.m.. and Welling. { ton wharf was reachcd at 7.5 p.m.

' . TRAIN SERVICES. There, was a big. demand -for accommodation on, the trains in the morning, the figures l»ing approximately as under:— Napier mail, loO; New Plymouth, .300; ■Auckland, 150; other trains up to Paekafcariki, 1100; beyond- Paekakanki, 800; to-Khandallah," 2000; to Upper . Hutt, 3000; boyond Upper Hutt, 200. In the afternoon' the Auckland - express carried about 200-, passengers, and the other two trains were well filled, although the figures were not available last night. IN OTHER CENTRES. (By Telegraph-Special Correspondent.) Wanganui, December 27. Tho • chief . attraction, in town, to-day , was - the' amateur athletic. sports,' which ■were well attended. The local rule meeting ; also made a sood beginning, and shooting will be continued- to-mor-row. The local railway, postal, and telegraphic staffs have had, a busy time during the holidays, business in every »- partmcnt being apparently a /record. Feilding, December 27. The weather was fine for the Feilding athletic sports on Boxing Day, and resuits were as - follow: —Sheffield Handicap V/ M. Cuff, 1; R. M'Kenzie, 2; W. D- Shiolds, 3. Half-mile Handicap: -F. Carroll, 1; G. Hall, 2; C. A. Jones, 3. Manchester Mile Handicap: G. Hall, 1; D. A. Wilson, 2; V. Carroll,'. 3. 220 Yards Handicap: B. Campion, 1; A. E. Richleben; 2; S. Barnes, 3. 410 Yards . Handicap: B. Campion, 1; R. M'Kenzie, 2; A. E. Richleben, 3. The bicycle races .were won by" M. Jansou- (mile), A. Schlayer (two miles), A. G. Donald (halfmile), and W. R. Bradey (U miles). '(By , Telegraph—Press Association.) Christchurch, December 27. Fine weather' was experienced for the holiday, though the sky became overcast late in the afternoon. The principal attractions were the cricket match and the trotting at Plumpton / Park. The seaside resorts were well patronised. Nelson, December 27. _ Fine weather : prevailed for the holiday, and there iiere many excursions aud picnics in the country; " Timaru, December 27. ' The holiday passed off , well, with the Caledonian sports at .Temuka and races at Fairlie. One or two minor accidents occurred, a' cyclist .'at Waimate having- . his collarbone broken in a collision, and, a child being run over by a bathing machine at Caroline Bay. The jveather was fine after the' Christmas Day storm'. Diinedin, December 27. . The weather is fine for the' holiday. The principal attractions ore the regatta at Port Chalmers and racing at Wingatui. - - . -