LYTTELTON AND CHRISTCHURCH RAILWAY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XVI, Issue 907, 20 July 1861, Page 4

LYTTELTON AND CHRISTCHURCH RAILWAY.

TURNING THE FIRST SOD BY HIS HONOR

THE SUPERINTENDENT,

The " Vanity of Human Wishes" has from time immemorial formed a theme for poeta and philosophers to exercise their respective talents upon. Human wishes, however, may be more or less intense, according to the character of the exciting cause. Nero wished that the people of Rome had but one neck, that, he might show his proficiency as an amateur headsman; many devotees (we pity their tastes) piously wish for the skull, or it may be the toe-nail of a saint. But of all the things that were ever wished for in this wishing world of ours, we will venture to say that none was ever more devoutly desired than that embodied by the people of this province in the words, " I wish Wednesday, the 17th July, may be a fine day." And we make a less hazardous venture when we assert that the Johnsonian theme, or the futility of eartly hopes, could not have been more strongly exemplified than on this—one of the very worst days of one of the worst of July's that it has been our lot to pass in Canterbury. True, however, as the axiom may be that "nice customs courtesy to great kings," the weather on this day showed no dispositiorito make any exception in favour of his Honor, or. the mission on which he was to be engaged;' for, although on the Port side one or two fitful gleams of sunshine in the early part of the morning gave the Lytteltonians hopes of a change for the better, their hopes and their ardour in a very short time received a very material damper, in the shape of a few smart, drizzling, penetrating showers. There was no lack of excitement, however, even under this unpromising state of things: for the steamers-Avon and Planet, which had been chartered for the occasion, started at the same moment from the Government wharf and indulged their respective passengers in as pretty a bit of steamboat racing as the greatest sporting men amongst them could desire; which truth compels us to add resulted in favor of the first-named craft. It is but iair to say that the machinery of the Planet did not appear to have arrived at perfect—we will notsay safe—working order, as twice on the passage the word was given to " ease her." Her enterprising owners, however —to continue ihe sporting analogy—when once she is in 'sea-going trim, declare they will be prepared to lay any odds upon her beating everything of her class that hails from Lyttelton. Arrived at the Ferry, the Lyttelton companies were met by the Christchurch and Kaiapoi men, and the Christchurch Fire Brigade, and were warmly received by their comrades of the plains. At this time several hundreds of persons must have congregated, as well as horsemen, and vehicles pf° all descriptions ; indeed, many horsemen/despairing of being able to get across the Ferry, from the rush there, took ' heart of grace,' and turned off to the Hills Road: so that by the time of his Honor's arrival, about twelve o'clock, the. procession, with some slight deviation from the order originally intended, was ready to move forward, in the following order:— s

POLICE INSPECTOB, MOUNTED. POLICE OK FOOT. CHBISTCHUBCH AND FOBESTEBB' BAND. LYTTELTON BAND. VOLUNTEEBS ABSTED. VOLUNTEEBS UNABMED. CHBISTCHUBCH VOLUNTEEB PIEE BBIGADE. ' THE SUPERINTENDENT. - v HOBSEMEN POUE DEEP. In this order, the bands playing music of a martial character, in most excellent style, the procession proceeded up the Heathcote Valley, and upon arriving on the spot selected for the performance of the ceremony which was to be the great feature of the day, the various companies of the Volunteer Rifles were put through some manoeuvres by the Adjutant, which they performed in a manner to make the people of Canterbury justly proud of the torce, whether from their soldierly appearance, their excellent drill, or the probability of their real useiulness. Ou the ground, the Volunteers and Fire Brigade were paraded two deep on one side of a hollow square, the visitors occupying the remaining three «des. At this stage of the proceedings, there could not be less than from 1,500 to 2,000 persona present.

Mr. Riohabdsph, who reprewnteduTf Holmes & Go., then came forward and t •*** °f tune had now arrived for the comment I<WiV Lyttelton and Chmtchuwh 5^ f thought, as the chief magistrate of t\ and l>e there was no person bo fit as His Honor «Provin(* mtendent to commence the work He h 1 Permuch pleasure in calling u pon him to cut t«erefore sod. uc tne ii rs j. His Honob, (vide ' Bell's Life V 1 * in getting to work," but at once i/roc*.S i'? time form the "great event." This, to 2o S -° Per" he set about con amove; arid we are sur JUstice take it in an uncomplimentary sense' Ji WIIIl >ot thaC he handled his B pade " wTth\ '"", We 8a V dexterity" that the most throu!lX ed ! ?'" *'J ' navvy' could not have done better. The Z h r °bus|; plaudits which greeted His Honor boH, I T^^ during the ceremony, were HteraUv'dp-iL- c and ceremony over, His Honor made a w"?T Tl» the following effect :— horfc ad(lres S to "Ladies and Gentlemen,—l n such an nn e Btate'of the weather I will not W de t l Urable is not for me to take any credit to ml i/^' Tt success of this undertaking up to the™ ? r the By the blessing of Providfnce it has iT^^^' I hope will continue to prosper and thaT'^' and the dawning of a great Future Cc^t^ friends, the contractors, have provided a S'i-l y enlertainment, and I cannot d Po better S Wal an adjournment to the tent." su °=cst ; The close of this address was followed hv « , the most interesting incidents of the day „ ,° f a feu de joie, and a ' present arms,' \l &I J* Canterbury Kifle Volunteers, which"S Seei c \ were executed m a style that would hSr7S ! them some credit even on Woolwich ConWn"2 must tend, far more than anything we ZS' d to convince the public and the GovlrnS !ft .volunteering is not the mere amusement 80 t have supposed it to be, but an institution in eS xespaot-worthy of.their countenance and suSpS?7 His Honor was then presented by the con*L£, with a silver; trowel, bearing a .nitab^SSSf commemorative of the event.

The company at once proceeded to "the t Ptl f which was on a most extensive scale th display within fully corresponding with it» out ward dimensions: presenting a sight which by dmner-loving Englishmen—dare we add women ?-! is certain to be looked upon with; pleasurable sensations : a well furnished table". Grace was• 3 by the Venerable Archdeacon Mathias- and Z gueats forthwith proceeded to « take the goods til gods provided." The ladies, who mussedl JZ strongly, thought it not undignified, «f or Hip nonce, to let it be thought that they were possessed or such an unsentimental thing as an appetiteand we can only say .that if the desire on the part or the company generally for the success of the railway corresponded in/any degree to the vigour witlvwhich they attacked the viands, His Honor and his coadjutors in the scheme may count upon a considerable number of most devoted adherents « rm Rl° HAEDSON begged to propose the first toast — lne Queen —which was responded to with ~ %ar enthusiasm;. This was followed by The Royal Family, " which was equally well received. -

. .Mr. RicHABDSosr in proposing'the health of his Excellency the Governor, Colonel Gore Browne, said,—Every ioyal subject must sympathise with his Excellency in the arduous and difficult circumstances under which he was placed; and it must be a source of great satisfaction to him to know that he could rely upon the people doing their duty which was, to give him all the support in their power.

His Honoe rose to respond,—He was glad to avail,-himself of the present opportunity, and felt proud; as' Superintendent, in being abb to vouch for the loyalty of the people of Canterbury. It was our bounden duty to assist his Excellency to the extent of our power. From his knowledge, of him as -a; personal friend, he could ; say he" was thoroughly a soldier, and a gentleman,. He was quite sincere, when he said " Long life to him." He hoped for many years tocome nothing would happen tp inar:the relationship that should always exist between a: good Governor and loyal subjects. (Prolonged;cheejjuig).,-.- ,,:._•-■ - . Mr.,Hichakdsoh called upon the company for bumpers, as he was sure that the toast he was about to propose would: be. well received—The health of his Honor, W.S. Moorhouse; Esq. Personally he had not had much opportunity of knowing him ; he was quite sare, however, he? had-the' interests of the province atheart; for if proved in no : other way, his efforts to carry out the railway scheme were a sufficient guarantee. He sincerely hoped that his Honor would live to see the completion of this great work, and by retaining his office as Superintendent, be enabled to devote his attention to assisting the contractors to carry it to a successful issue, and at last be present at its final opening. [Loud and enthusiastic applause.] His Honob rose to reply, and was received with a perfect ovation. He said—lt required no great effort on his part to come forward on the present occasion. From the, commencement of his official life lie had looked forward to it with feelings of hope. Certain' material facts had stood in the way _of the progress of the railway scheme at starting, but after much consideration and a careful study, he was certain, when carried out, the benefits it would confer on the province would be incalculable. When he cut those sods and trundled that barrow, it was only_ like a rivulet to a mountain torrent in comparison to the difficulties to be overcome and the work to be accomplished. He hoped to see the work successfully and efficiently carried out, and to maintain a guard over it sufficiently long to see-it flourish, in spite of the senile prejudices |that tvere brought to bear against it, and tp be able to preserve it from the hands of the destroyer. [Tremendous applause.] He had endeavoured to bring this scheme before the people of Canterbury relying upon facts. - He-had kept the facts before him every hour of hi^life: he had breakfasted, dined, supped, and slept upon them. The enterprise, however, was only- in its infancy; the seed-was but just sown; but. he hoped to see it erelong like a fruitful vine, having many branches springing from* it His efforts, however, would be vain, if he were not supported by the people: if they wished the undertaking to succeed they must work for it with him, and he was sure that tho result would be productive, of-a- present and lasting good to Canterbury. Before concluding, he would say, as he saw among the company a goodly number, from Lytteltdn,. while he sympathised with them on the disagreeable homeward journey they would have to uhde take at the close of the proceedings, he sincerely hoped and believed that on the next similar occasion he would have the pleasure of meeting them, he should be able'to welcome them through the hill instead of over it. [Tremendous and long-continued cheering.]

The next toast proposed was the health of the "Army, Navy, and Volunteers," by Mr. Richabdson, who said, that as one of the oldest volunteers in Victoria he had much pleasure in coupling the Volunteers of Canterbury with the regular armyFrom what he had seen, that day he was quite convinced, that if called upon to act, they would be found ready to take their place with the regular troops. Mr. Oliivibb then proposed the health of the Provincial Engineer in a few complimentary remarks, which were totally inaudible. Mr. Dobson we believe was unable to reply, having to protect some ladies at that moment from the pressure of the crowd outside the tent. His Honor the Superintendent in a few words expressive of his confidence in the ability of the

"~~T~u*sto cany the work through to its com--00 • nroposed the health of Messrs. Holmes and Co- Richardson, in returning thanks, said— ite agreed with what had (alien from Mr. l} c lL u , e ' respecting the scheme requiring and • • r the support of the people. ,It would be a to him to proceed, if he felt • lie could rely «P»" their co-operation.^ That s Id do so, he saw sufficient evidencein that l ie .'COl«roce«Hn{fs,- and it afforded him great plea.^to see, i» sP' te °^ tue oadness °* the weather, sure iv of the inhabitants of all parts of the settleS°Tnow assembled to do honour to the occasion. vi -i-shed it to be understood that as far as lay in 1 •^mnver. it was the intention m the contractors { Ll'the money voted for this undertaking '"f? t ] ie limits of the colony. He wished to say I " words more. Some misunderstanding had 8 -i rejecting the rate of wages given by himar[fj ir( his partner. He wished to say that they Sre now payi"S a higher rate than was generally i cut for similar work m the neighbouring coloC'U The> by no means wished to lower or inter- j J rf'with the rates paid for labour in this colony, f, if they could not supply themselves at the -<ent rates, they would have to resort to other I colonies. It may not be out of place to mention a few incidents which occurred during the day in connection with the event:- - ■ ■■ . '■ ■' Too much praise cannot be awarded to Mr. Dale, 0 ceaerously threw open the Perry.to all who /' chose" to avail themselves of it. Considerable i amusement was caused by the impatience of some ' of the passengers, and we are happy -to say all were eventually crossed and recrossed in safety. %. Dale and his assistants throughout the day displayed the utmost good nature, and worked ! Ye are sorry to have to report that a very serious accident occurred to a man named George Toiulinson, of Kaiapoi, who was driving a pair of i j iorses with a cart down the road: the horse • harnessed to the outrigger kicked, and btoke the small bone of his leg. The * surgeons of the Volunteer Companies being present, rendered the pooi' fellow speedy and effective assistance. A man named Hurry was knocked down twice by horsemen on the Ferry Road, but fortunately received no serious injury. : Mr. Pierces hostelry, the Heathcote Arms, was in a perfect state of siege for some hours by belated travellers, compelled to wait their turn for conveyance homeward by the carts. The scene here was enlivened by an occasional boxing match,; got up, it maybe assumed, by some enthusiastic Railway -ites, who seemed to prefer the ' knock-down' style of argument for the enforcement of their views. In Christenurch, the ball at the Town Hall, was numerously attended —about 200 being present. It is considered by those conversant with these matters, to have been the most animated and successful affair that has taken place. The dancing was kept up till a late hour with untiring energy.' We cannot let this opportunity pass without paying a justly merited tribute to the manner in which the Cbristchurch and Foresters' Bands, combined for the occasion, acquitted themselves: without exception, for style, time, and tune, we have never heard a better performance by a band mostly composed of amateurs. Nor would we omit a word of congratulation on the very handsome and becoming uniform adopted by the Lyttelton Band, presented we believe, by the officers of the corps; at the same time it is a matter of deep regret that they did not muster in greater force, several of their most effective performers being absent: this is to be deplored for many reasons, but on this occasion more especially, as it told materially upon the effect produced. To those not aware that they are capable of something better it gave but a poor idea of their ability as musicians. Would it not have been better to have adopted the plan followed on the occasion of the match at Sumner, and have joined their forces ? We hope, if on any future occasion circumstances should prevent a full attendance, no feelings of rivalry or jealousy, will operate to- prevent the accomplishment of that social and harmonious combination, which was one of the most attractive features of the occasion alluded tol ; Recurring to another subject, we are quite sure that the majority of the visitors will unite with us in commendation of the excellent fare provided by Mr. Birdsey, and the arrangements made by him. ne must also sympathise with him on the loss -we tear he must have sustained from the violent conduct ■•♦I s u Dg °f disordeil 3' ruffians, who, not content with the very ample provision made for them on the ground, which they wasted and destroyed in a most wanton manner, afterwards'made an attack upon the tent, which was literally torn .and rent to nbbons. The police, who were too few to cope successfully with the number opposed to them, aided Jy the Volunteers and Fire Brigade, certainly aid then- best at last to stop the mischief. Indeed, as far as the police force were concerned, we witnessed more than one hand to hand conflict, and in one instance, had it not been foe the courageous conduct of Constable Lee and Sergeant Elkid^e, *c aw qm te certain that the destruction of glass ana other property must have been greater than it was- At one time, the viot assumed sucl} a serious character, that one Volunteer officer suggested »ie necessity of fixing bayonets; we would oo»erve, however, that though we admired to the Jtmost the praiseworthy efforts" of the Volunteers to restore order, charging rioters with fire arms J'fft weapons, is an illegal proceeding, till we Kiot Act' has been read by a duly qualified or justice of the peace. We mention is, because we know full well that on occasions mL i nal e sPeakinS of, the zeal of persons suddenly called upon to act is apt to get the better 01 their discretion. On any similar occasion when the Volunteers desiS if UT t2 s aot as an escort, it would-be seri 7u re °fficer in command to retain their havplVu. he Su Perintendent and his friends in ft ground. Had this course been pursued fusion 6 Pre ien, t instance > great-inconvenience, :conPrevented °f pro Perfcv would have been whtrik bei;. eveihis » the first public occasion on , 011 it j F!!' e B, ri^de hay« made an appearance .hands t' • ?{ dT Ye a Passin^ notice at our ' 1,;,, tW' lbe Emitted that the bearing of the and an • 7 6ir handso«>e semi-military uniform feawTfi entS) was not the leaßfc attractive utilirJ He i c S3eae- And considering the practical themL) F"rpose for which th« 7 «aye enrolled small S) not only those who have even the Wpvm °Un*,, of P r°P erfcv t0 lose, but every in til '-I W- lU hearfci!v wish them » God speed" n Uleir meritorious undertaking