MEERY STUDENTS

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVII, Issue 123, 22 April 1927, Page 10

MEERY STUDENTS

“ lAG” DURING DEBATE

HI SIS THROWN ON STAGE

UP iOAR DROWNS SPEECHES

AUCKLAND, April 19

Two live hens, over-ripe tomatoes and o her “properties” were used by a larg ) body of students to enliven the ui iversity tournament debate in the T« wn Hall concert chamber last evenin ;. The disorder was such that halfway tliroug i the students were ordered out of the hall under a threat that if they remaii id the contest would be declared off. '1 .ley left, and the debate was conclu ed in their absence. This course was taken at the request of the tc lrnament committee.

Fift en or twenty minutes before the debate was timed to begin, Auckland studec :s filled the gallery and beguiled the le with “yells,” choruses, hakas and Ite like. Members of the college f ,aff on tire ground floor were greeie l by name, with more or less persDi al remarks. One youth, disguised with a fatee nose,- was mobbed and p issed from hand to hand about the g llery over the heads of those who 1 id found seats.

The competitors in the'-first debate were j reeted with cheers and din when they ppeared on the stage. The chai’.'n an, Mr E. H. Northcroft, arinounc d that the students themselves had d cided that there must be no excessiv< noise and no ioterjectives except f itch as were proper to tire subpect. Tlii; was greeted with uproar.

V ARNING BY CHAIRMAN

“I im in the position of a clerk of the C' urse,” said Mr. Northcroft. “If the c -mpetitors are not given a fair field, then the contest must be declared o r, just as any sporting event would be.”

“F- r They Are Jolly Good Fellows” was i ing in chorus when the judges’ name were announced. The subject, “Tha the British Empire is in Danger of D sintegration,” was greeted with cries if “rats.”

Tin first debate was between Otago (Mis rs. M. W. Wilson and F. M. Hans l) and Canterbury (Miss M. Carringt -n and Mr. A. L. Haslam). Mr. Hans a, who led off in the affirmative, had o speak against a running fire of le larks from the gallery and a buzz of ci nversation. Bleats from a toy squec leer produced cries of “Throw the baby out.” There were thumps on the floor, peals of crackling laughter and burst ; of ironical hand-clapping. Mi Hanan, who proved a fluent spea) er, forged ahead, with his 2 - argument regardless of the tumult. He igno; ad an accusation that he was reading from his notes. At length tire chairman appealed for a liraring, and was cheered by the offenders, who allowed Mr Hanan to finish. TOMATOES AND HENS APPEAR.

Miss Carrington was given no better treatment. She struggled bravely against the noise, but her remarks we re almost drowned. They could not have been heard at any distance. “And a in ry good speech, too,” said someone in tire gallery when she sat down. Tie third speaker, Mr . Wilson, did non eossess a powerful voice, and was proc ptly told to speak up. He did his belt, but the noise was too much for him. Various students in the gallery opened newspapers. Others found a new sport in throwing rolls of toilet paper, which flew like comets, trailing long tails, and fell among the audience helm'.

Ai other appeal by the ihairman produced a chorus of “Britons Never Shall Be Slaves.” The rest of the speech was punctuated with lend snores and queries as to what Mr Wilson had been speaking about. About this time some over-ripe tomatoes jvere thrown from the gader-y at tin three judges, who were silting among the audience.- The doth'? of one were spattered and all three left thiir seats, retiring behind the stage. The speaker, Mr Haslam, had just begun when a procession of students, headed by a youth in a uniform cap, advanced clown the aisle, each grasping the shoulders of tho man in front. T 1 ie chairman called on the procession to halt. It stopped for a moment and then moved off again. One of th* marchers pulled from under his coat a dishevelled AVliite Leghorn hen and threw it on to the stage. Another student produced another hen, .which was also thrown 'on tho stage. ' As the bewildered birds found their feet, scattering feathers, debaters and audience alike were convulsed with laughter. Somebody went in chase of tho hens and secu.ed, them, nearly, everyone standing up to witch the fun.

DEBATE CONCLUDES IN PEACE

The chairman alone kept his countenance. As soon as- there was a little quietness he invited the whole body of students to withdraw, stating that the debate would be continued in their absence; otherwise it would bo declared off.

'J no occupants of the galljry, after several more warnings, filed out. With they had all gone, about five minutes later, the debate was resumed in peace a:icl quiet, broken only by somo loud thumps on the closed doors and a lus y chorus of “John Brown's Body” fro n the street outside. ‘ I am sorry that this action had to je taken,” remarked Mr Northern t, “but things were going Loin bn to worse. Some of the students ded to make this gathering the occus on for a ‘rag’—a bad old fcustom tho b has gradually grown up. The better elements among the students are, res lonsible for the course that has f>s6 l followed to-night. It will be follow ;d in future.” 1 he’ second contest was between Auckland (Messrs N. A. Leonard and S. Black) and Victoria (Messrs W« P. 1.0 lings and J. Platts-Mills), It wen) for card quietly, except that sounds of an encounter between a cat and a, nog wo o heard, apparently in the wings, an immediately afterwards two sti lents emerged through a : trapdoor ia the stagefront, solemnly shook l a ds and departed doitn separate a is es. ‘ 'he judges, the Rev. W. G. Monelctoi and Messrs J. Stanton and L J. D. Mahon, placed the Otago.teani first an l Auckland second. Mr Haslam (C nterbury) was deemed the best ep> aker. In moving a vote of thanks >o t.ie <h irman, Mr A. B. Thompson said til tournament delegates hail isl-ed th t a stand be taken against d;scri er at debates. He believed ihnt as e. lesult there would lie less troubl * in fu ure. No one wanted tiro proceedings to be dull, but a line had to I s drawn £Oi lewlicre.