OTAGO ROWING CLUB.

Evening Star, Issue 8610, 2 September 1891, Page 4

OTAGO ROWING CLUB.

The Otago Rowing Club held its annua meeting in Phllp's Hotel last evening, there beine about twenty gentlemen present, 01 whom Mr L. 0. Beal (president) oooupied Itie chuir-

RKPORT. Tbe following is an abridgment of the report presented:— The number of rowing members for the season was thirty-four, and honorary members twenty. These figures show a Blight UUfDg .off « om season 1889-90; but the club suffered the loss of several old members through their leaving Dunedin-notably Messrs H. 8. Dick and F. J. Ivens, who held the posts of oaptain and deputy-c»ptain respectively during the season alluded to, and also Mr Howlison, secretary for tho early part of last season. Tho season opened on Saturday, 13th September, 1890, when afternoon tea was provided in the buathouse for honorary members and lady friends; and it is gratifying to note that a good number gave us the pleasure ot their oompany, but owing to the rather raw state o the weather, only a few ladies ventured cut ia the boaVs provided for them. i ■uiinß tho season all the club races were rowed Ltf. The Tiraaru Rowb-g Club sent dows. a crew at Easter, composed of Messrs A. O. and (} C. Matheaon, M'Lean, and Strouts, to meet the club's representatives, and in the race our rrwn were victorious. It is to be hoptd this i'-terclub match will become an annual one. Members i oiled npve:yw:ll all through the *t.vor, esp ci *lly tho new ones, among whom the-e 'are eomo very promising oars. Special thank* ar? doe to Mr M'Gowan for coaching our t: .j,v fur the Timaru match. Outing tho season the Undine was repaired, and is nearly as good a boat iii ever. The outrig.er has been c.'.cv-'lotely overhauled and fitted with roiler .-iide'*. This ha 3 made bar a very steady boat to row iu. The fixed seat pair-oar converted into a stump outrigger with roller tilde?, i.a i become more popular. Our fleet at present "• n-'sts of four tub four?, two string test UV.lina and Itocket), the pair oir, and the out- ■ i.-'.'i.r. Your Committee have csmmtsaioned ;'iors n, of Welli'gtoa, to build two stump V »irs, convertible into double scullers, of a class voiy suitable to our harbor. These boats will he "ready for the opening day of the corning s-.a or.. Several members havo subscribed together aud ordered from tho same builder two souring boats for the club's use. Your Committee havo ako made arrangements to Li.-e for the season two pleasure boats for our honorary members and their fiienda. Tho Committee trust that haviug now a g.>od_ stock •A boats the membership will materially increase, and hope the honoraiy members will iake advantage of the pleaaure boat?. Having pined the New Zealand Amateur Rowing Association, your Committee hops to see tho club represented at their annual regatta. The boathouae is in good repilr, and is insured, inducing the plant, for L 450. Mr B. Davi', Jan., caa be again engiged as caretaker for tho .-.-■• !ii -jn Tho alterations and repjirs to pjaat i.bw referred t j were carried out by him. Your ".'ommitteo desire to or? record the very hand-some donations received from tho Union ,-iteam Ship Company and Captain M'lntosh of mo Te Anau. Messrs Henry Mackenzie and T. J. Allen have each very handed in i-heir debentures, and your Committee have i>urcha=cd Mr Craig's debenture of L2, thus reducing the club's Indebtedness this year b? L 22. mikes a total reduction of L 43 off our liability under debentures. The overdraft now ..-: -lids at LSO, which ia L 7 1e33 than last year. liking into consideration the alterations and it-Hairs to boats, and addition to shed, costing s;together nearly L3O, your Committee consider :his°vbry satisfactory. After paying for the liuw boats, and allowing for next year's expenditure, it is estimated that th? bank overdraft >"i'l not be increased.

Xiie Chaihmax s.ud from what he could hii\r the membership was to ba greatly in-;-r;iicd this year, and in that way the dub vroiikt be placed beyond any suspicion of .veaknesa. Alluding to the old times of the ciub, he did not think it out of place to state that at one time the membership was .educed to seven men, and the advisability of selling the sheds and boats and dividing the funds was Beriously discussed; but ho r-kttd another member would not hear of such ev thing, the argument that they advanced being that the members were not possessors A the plant, but were merely the custodians t'r.r the year, and that the club waa kept alive not so much for their own pleasure, but to provide rowing for the district. For a man who was mnch confined to an office rowing was, be considered, about the finest exeroiaa that could be got; and if the members sjave as much attention to the manning of -„he boats, as used to be given, there need be uo sense of risk. The Committee and obtain used to be very strict ia their supervision of the manning of boat?_, and there rauet bo a certain amount of discipline. By misiog up juniors and seniors in a beat, he pointed out, they ascertained every mm's weak and strong point. He expressed pleasure at the establishment of & match with the Timaru Club, and said he would be very to hear of the Christchuroh match t-f/iDg taken up again during the season, He thought a special vote of thanks ought to be .uecorded to the Union Steam Ship Company and to Ciptain M'lntosh for their donationa, and also to tho gentlemen who Lad returned their debentures to the club. He thanked the members for haviDg last year re-elected him to the presidency of the club, but thought that, as the club was now old and in a good condition, the office of president should be a moving one, and, jf they would allow him, he would retire this jeir. As far as the management of the club was concerned, he said that it was a private club, and wa3 not likely to get into disrepute or bad ofor; but, if there was anything calling for attention, he thought the public prints should be the last resort of membra. Besides, there was a rule providing for the calling of a special meeting upon any complaint, and he thought the Committee were quite right in ignoring anonymous correspondence in the papers. He moyed the adoption of the report. Mr T. Kerb said he had heard complaints about the maaner in which the affairs of the club were conducted all through the season. When he firßt joined the club there used to be a "club night," when 3 committeeman would attend to superintend operations, but he very rarely saw a member of the Committee at the sheds last season. As to the rule about the calling of a special meeting not being observed, he asserted that there were other rulea of the club that were not observed. The object of young members in joining the ciub was to be taught about rowing, and there used to be a time when there were honorary coaches in attendance; but the young members were left now to their own resources. He spoke with the best interests of the olub at heart, and declared that, aa another club had now sprung up, it behoved them to do their best umi keep their standing. It was atated, in reply to a question, that the cost of the new boats was L 59, and an opinion was given that that was a very hrge liability for the retiring Committee to incur. Mr C. Butterwoetw pointed out that if left to the now Committee tho boats would not have been obt&intd for a couple of months.

»?r Dawson urged that the unclaimed interest on debentures should have been written up as a liability in tho balance-sheet, and expressed the opinion that the outlay ..f LlO 13s for cups and engravings, with subscriptions from rowing membersamounting to L7O 163—was a very large (proportion to pay on •« pota." " Mr H. Park claimed that the retiring Committee had done pretty fair work, and they had spent a lot of money in effecting repairs to the boats and additions to the Bhed. With regard to the cups, he said that members did not feel disposed to subscribe bo aa to obtain decent "pots," and he did aot think that LlO was a great sum for the club to expend on prizsa, for the members must hays something to row for, otherwise the club would lose its popularity, He considered the club was in a far better condition than it had ever been in before, And he believed that laafc season was the first in which all the club's cups had been rowed vor. No doubt the young members had been somewhat neglected, but it was very difficult to get them to do what was wanted, and he Sloped that in the coming season this would ;?.ll be altered. The report was, after further slight discission, adopted with unanimity. ELECTION OF OFFICEBEARERS. Mr C. Bftterworih, in proposing the Hon. George M'Lean, M.L.C., as president for the year, expressed the deep debt of gratitude the club owed to Mr Beal, who was, he said, practically the father of the eiub, and had piloted it through many difficulties. Mr Park seconded the motion, and en* doreed Mr Butterworth's reniarkß regarding Mr Beal. The election of the Hon. G. M'Lean as president of the olnb was unanimously agreed to.

The other office-bearers were appointed as follow:—Vice-presidents, Dr Roberts, Mesws H. Maokenzle and James Allen; oaptain, Mr R. S. M'Gowan ; deputy-captain, Mr F. W. Mitchell; hon. treasurer, Mr S. B. Gibson (re-elected); hon. seoretary, Mr W. J. P. Hodgkins (reelected) ; committee— Moron, H. Park, W. Dawson, H. A. Le Cron, W. F. Edmond, L. R. Wilson, and T. Deehan. NBW MEMBERS. Messrs H. A. Le Cren, F. Hyanu, J. Wright, L. R. Wilson, P. Hume, P. Neill, A. P. Burnes, R. S. Gibson, A. Paterson, P. Hodgkins, J. Finlayson, A. H. Tonkinson, J. M. Ramsden, C. Mouat, F. H. Fish, and C. Davies were elected working members, and Messrs Alfred Burt, P. R. Sargood, R. M. Clark, and the Hon. George M'Lean honorary members of the club. COMFUMENTARY. On the motion of Mr Dawson, a vote of thanks to Messrs Mackenzie and Allen, who had returned their debentures to the club, was recorded. Mr L. 0. Beal was, on the motion of Mr Park, unanimously elected a life member of the club, aud the meeting terminated with the usual vote of thanks to the chairman.