FORESTERS HALL MOTUEKA.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXVIII, Issue 98, 28 April 1894, Page 2

FORESTERS HALL MOTUEKA.

(From our own correspondent,) Great intereet was manifested lathe laying of the foundation atone of tha new hall on Wednesday 25th inst. A large and represent, tlve conoourse of people of over 500 assembled oa and near the site of tho hall to witnoes bhe oeromony, whioh was began at half pasb three o'olook by a musital parformanco by the Motueka Baud, whosa Bervioea wero greatly appreoiated, A plat* form was raised on the piles of the buildiog. and was oooupied by those who took part in. the oeremony, Mr Thonm Danoin, as chairman of th» Direotors, said thab ho was glad tj see the* large assemblage bi witness the oeremony about to bo performed by Mr Hursthow* who would lay tho stooo. As Chairman of the Directorate, aud as one of the promotera of tho Oompany, he was gratified to see the intoreab aroused in the distriot in oon" neobion wibh bhe undertaking in hand, and ho trusted that ib would ultimately prove '» Bucoesß In evory way. S)me opposition had been shown to the bnilding of the hall, bat ib now did aot amount to muoh . Ho would like to aiy that the hall waa not built M opposition bo bhe Institute, whioh was to all inbents and purposes a literary institution; whcresß the Forester' H»ll was a publioball built by a registered oompany of share-*.' holder?. Ho theu handed Mc Hursthoase a silver trowel aud oalled upon him to lay the. stone. , *, Mc Hursthouae s.iid that he had beeri honoured by un iovit-tion to lay fche found* Hum stone of the Foresters' Hall, whioh it gave him great pleasure to do, as it was a 6t*?p toward j advanoing the distriot. The want of a suitable hall had long been felt; He wa3 not an advooata of overbuilding believing that it was better to wait until a . requirement was felt before carrying out aay undertaking. The people of tha district wero a prudent people, aod it was ta fchafc prudenoo that they owed their present pro*pe<ity. They had been twitted by the rest of the oolony with being asleep, but to would say that they had lo.fc nothing bj their apparent Blowne.s, inssmnoh as they lived under conditions tbab would favourably compare with any part of the colony. With referenoe fcj the ball, he wonld say fch .fc the timo was ripe to build it, and he had heard tbat they were to have two halls in fche distriot. If tbat were so, the more the merrier. However, be hoped that they would all live to enjoy the benefit of tha hall of whioh he would lay the foundation stone that day. He also referred to the land on whioh the ball was to bo built, saying that ha remembered it when it was ocoupied by ono of its firat owners, Mr Coppin., two generations of whose family had passed away, and that he himself had held the land in trust for the third generation on. whose behalf he had sold ib to Messrs liaqkiD, Duncan, and Rankin, they in their turn had disposed of part of it to tlie: Hall Company. Mr Hursthouse then cava* the measurements of the Hall as follows •-- Body 0 f Han, 7 0fti . x 26 ft ; 6 t ag e. 20ft. x 33ft. ; onto- room 33ft. x 15ft; total length of Hall ovor all. 105 ft. A leaden casket; was then handed to Mr Hursthouse who stated that ib contained a copy of the Nelson Evening Mail of the 24th inst, and thab morning's Colonist, a cov>y of the General and By-laws of the Foresters', a copy of the rules of the Company and oertihcate of incorporation, the name of the architect (Mr C. D. Caigouj, the name c' t the contractor (Mr W. H. Jones), and Vh^ of the supervisor (Mr W. »». Molßt. ?h« signatures of the Chairman Tre^uS'3 Secretary of the Company, Ws own name as tieta of the s.^ c The caske? a so contained ourrenfc <rJins of the resdm. i fc JTf th< 5?i plaC v* Vq tho receptacle pwl pared for ib in the stone, which bore the inscription, " Unitas Bcwvolentia. et Con* cwiia. This stone was Jaid by Richmond Hursthouse, April 25tb, 1894, for the. i oresters' Hall Company (Limited) . The Btono was then plaoed in position, and declared by Mr Uurefchousa to be well and truly laid. The Britiah ensign waa then hoitt.d, and bhe Baud phyed tba National Anthem. Mr W. J. Moifatfc said that as oae of (he promoters of tho Company he was triad of the opportunity given him of tendering tha mombera of the kindred aooiefcy of Odd fellows and the publio generally his wan£st thanks for the praotical assistance thejTd given tho Foresters ia ourying out thsr undertaking. The suooeeu whioh had at! tended the floating ot tbe Compauy wa, hL S?^, Bbat6 ? inlfc ' and * those whS : «# w R J° rW *-7 BBBißted wlth donations, all of which ooaolusWely proved the popularity . , ofthe undertaking in* tbo distriot. He be> Roved tnat it would from a floanoial pofofc of view prove a good investment. H« had been oonneoted with Oourb Perseverance for about six years. Whea ho joined the mem-* bership stood afc thirty-five; now ha waa p'eased to be able to cay that it wm qaarly , Qiotty, itod bo hoped tW Mm Ifoijwt:

olosed it would amonnt ti a hundred, In comparison with tbe Oddfellows of tho cJtktrict the membership wns low but tb i. Foresters intended to ocmprte, if hp mi^rbt "»e that word, in a friendly way with thr ki-dred society in irorpnsii'g lho tnfmhernbfp. The erfotion ff a Foresters' Hall wn.* ft thing he had desirea years ago, and it wbp gratifying to him to see tbat it would Eor n be accomplished. Mr 0 Thorp faid that be Was present by invitation wbioh he was pleaeed to accept, "nd he would congratulate the people of Motuek* on the publio spirit whioh they had ahown witb reference to buildiog the hall, whioh tbe community undoubtedly required. A cerrmony of tbat desoription was of great interest to him, as one of tho olde* M Bet lfl»s. In oomrany with two friends he trumped to Motneka from Nelsen fi'tj»three years ago to nettle in this plaoe whioh was then in a vtry crude elate, iheppot on whioh they were standing was covered by dense bnsb. He bad seen Motueka grow to What it now was, aad it was a great pleasure to him to be able to attend on tbat day to •See the ceremony of laving tbo foundation Stone of tbe Foresters' Hall 5 also to ccc the large assemblage of people representing ao ttnoh youth and beauty. Mr Thorp'B re. marks wero greeted with great applause three hearty obeers being aocorded him. Mr Jordan said tbat he wan a Forester of fciany years, and that whsn the question of building the hall was first talked of he oertaioly was not in favour of It, believing the Undertaking to be too great, but now ho thought that it was praotica'ly accomplished, whioh soid much for the energy shown by tbos.i who had taken the matter op. Mr Jan. MoGlasban stated that he was a member of the Kindred Society of Oddfellows, bul th.t hehad assisted the Foresters in building thiß ball as he believed thry were doing tbe right thing. He was pleaßed to be preeent to witness the ceremony of laying tbe foundation stone of the hall of wbioh hn was one of the direotors Mr Jbb. Satherley, as an Oddfellow and a Dlwofrj* of tbe Company, endoreed what Mr MoGlsibaa had said with refereuce to the hall ond said that he waa bappy to have tho ■Opportunity of co-operating with thoae who were ao mnoh interested in the matter. Cheers were then given for Mr Hursthouse.) who had performed the ceremony. ' Cneere were also accorded the Oddfellows. Mr Hursthouse, in acknowledging the compliment paid to him and to ihe Orderof which he waa nc>w Provincial Grand Mastor, in a niort f orcib'io speech, impressed on all those who were not members of a Friendly •society to join, tis the societies were intended to Dromote thrift and to provide for those misfortunes and calamities which befall most men. He pointed out tho benefit conferred by tho society of which he was a member to the district at large, stating that for years many of the members had been assisted by the society. Last year it disbursed between £200 and £300 in sick pay. With reference to the Ancient Order of Foresters, lie would say that they were engaged j.n the Bame work as the Oddfellows, and that a friendly and brotherly spirit should bo inculcated between the two orders, and that lovo, unity, and brotherhood shou'd characterise their relations Their motto should be. " peace on earth and goodwill toward all men." He then called for cheers for the Foresters, which were heartily given. MrH. B, Gilbert, who replied on behalf of the Foreeters, said that be bad not ocme to make a spec< h, but wa< told that it was his duty as an excoutive officer of his Court .V>doßo. He Hanked the Oddfellowß for t L Vir expression of goodwill, aDd said that tho DDe waß n«t taking ajpart in the Hall C'la. >an y» fxopp's asa shareholder, he was glad to 1 Bee tlmt "ucceps bad Btt<nded it. and thit Me. rB W*> J • Moffatt and T. Duncan had wort ' cn * h'-ril in connection with it. Grent proi'w wo,t due to them for theße tx-rtioDS. The proceed" §*"•• olosed by the. band playing "Auld Syne. 1 ' Tho wbolo ceremony was . Vl unqualified RUcceps, the scene beiDg enh" enc d by tbe uniforms of the band, tbe Ft testers' banner, aud tho flags whioh were fl) '» C X across tbe street.