ORPHANDOM.

Franklin Times, Volume XX, Issue 79, 11 July 1930, Page 5

ORPHANDOM.

PUKEKOHE CLUB’S GATHERING.

FINE SPIRIT PREVAILS

Enthusiasm was the keynote at'the Pukekohe Orphans’ Club’s gathering held in the Masonic ball on Wednesday evening. From the eommence- - ment to conclusion that true spirit of ; orphandom was manifest, and one felt 1 at home and. among a host of friends. • This is as it should be, for orphans’ clubs were founded with the object of enlarging and cultivating the spirit of brotherhood among men. At an orphans’ gathering all are supposed to be on a. similar plane, be one employer or employee, or master and servant,' and ~Th endeavour has been

made by the Pukekohe Club to devlop this spirit, and so far it has been rewarded with a measure of success. It is Irue that the membership of the club has fallen away, compared with the membership roll when it was first constituted, but it can be built up

again. The quality of the entertainments provided so far this session have been such as lo retain the very close interest of members and Wed- • nesday’s function was no exception to j the rule. There was a good attend- |

anee of members and visitors and a very enjoyable evening was spent. The chairman was vice-president Dr. .T. McWhirter, who carried, out his dutes with credit to all concerned, and it vas due, partly to his capabilities, that ;he evening passed off as pleasantly is it did. During intervals between terns the chairman related a number >f amusing stories at the expense of he medical profession.

The Official Visitors.

The official visitors were members of the Onehunga club, including the president, Bro. R. G. Speight, the' secretary, Bro. C. Osborne, the past pres-

ident Captain R. Gibbons, vice-presi-

dents- Bros, E. Marks and L. Bray, the | treasurer Bro. Kirk .Tones and. several .members of the executive. The president of the Papakura club, Bro. W. . K. Francis and two members of bis club.’ were also present. The chairman welcomed the visitors. and in doing so said Pukekohe orphans always spent an enjoyable i time at Onehunga and lie hoped Onc- ; hunga orphans would spend an equally ; enjoyable time at Pukekohe. As far j as Bro. Francis was concerned he was ; a neighbour and was expected to pop ' in at any time. Bro. Speight, in reply, said it was his first visit to Pukekohe, and he regretted very much he had not visited the club before, as be had spent a j most happy evening. He said he. was exceedingly pleased that the Pukekohe members had struck the proper note as far as orphandom was concernedsociability. • He congratulated them on this and also on the fact that they bad filled the ball. He mentioned that' years ago Onehunga was famous for its onions, and potatoes but the mantle i had now fallen on Pukekohe.. ‘II congratulate you on your baked po- j 1 aloes,” lie said, adding that if such dainty morsels were always provided they would* always be sure of getting a crowd from Onehunga. He thanked the hosts for their hospitality and concluded by saying that he was pleased to see such enthusiasm prevailing, and hoped that the membership would increase when better times

loomed up

The Artists. The club's orchestra, under the conductors]! ip of Bro. M. R. Grierson, opened Hie programme and contributed three items in delightful style. Tiny orchestra lias shown a marked improvement in its latest efforts. The ever popular Captain Gibbons sang his old favourites, “Sweet Refrain,” “Paddy McGinty’s Goat,” "McNamara’s. Band” and “Murphy. McCarthy. McGinty and McGee”; Bro. T. Cooper sang “Devonshire Cream and Cider.” “Pray for me Mother.” “The Company Sergeant Major” and “Drinking.” Bro. Marks sang “Life on the Rolling Sea” and “Little Irish Girl.” The star artist of the evening was Bro. Elton Black, who kept the audience in a state of hilarity for over half an hour with comic-numbers, stories and patter. tils first number was “I belong to Glasgow,” and lie followed this up with some highly amusing Scottish stories, by “Wedding Bells” or “I am the Seventh Husband.” and an entertaining parody on “Mad Carew” entitled “Fat Garew’ or the “green tail of the little yellow dog. In the second half he contributed "the lain of an egg which was not quite now laid,” and “Nell.” Bro. IT. V. Cribble sang “Maire My Girl” and “I come to you.” The accompaniments were played by Dr. L. J. Forman-Bull-On the motion ol the chairman the artists were accorded a hearty vote ot thanks. It was announced that the. next, •function would be held on August 0, and that vice-president. Bro. R. G. May, .would preside. The official guests will be the members of the Otahuhu and Tamaki orphans’ clubs. The Pukekohe club will pay its official visit to the Auckland dub on Saturday. July 26. “We’ll all be there,” shouted one member, “because it is the day of the great. Rugby test I match.”

i A dainty sup par enhanced the sucI cess of the evening. I The singing of the National Anthem terminated proceedings.