MAYORAL DINNER.

Oamaru Mail, Volume II, Issue 413, 24 August 1877, Page 2

MAYORAL DINNER.

The dinner given by his Worship the Mayor last evening to the present and late members of the Municipal Council and the Corporation officers was one of the most pleasant gatherings of tlio kind that we have been privilegd to attend in Oamaru. Mr. Earle, who provided the spread, had evidently spared no pains in order to make the affair both agreeable and successful. The table was literally crowded with everything that the most fastidious could desire. Shortly after the appointed time, his Worship the Mayor took the chair, Mr. M'Leod, the Corporation Engineer, acting as croupier. The following gentlemen were also prosent :—Councillors Mainland, Headland, Booth, L'ddle, Procter, Familton, and Spence ; ex-Councillors Scott, Galbraith, Grave, and Morton ; Messrs. Church and Locke, Auditors; Mr. lloxby, Town Clerk ; Mr. Henderson, Assistant Clerk ; Mr. Gledhill. Manager of Gasworks ; Mr. Balmer, Corporation Solicitor; Mr. Kidd, Corporation Gardener; and Mr. Clarke, Corporation Valuator. Full and ample justice having boeu done to the good tilings so abundantly provided, the usual loyal and patriotic toasts, "the Queen," "tiießoyal Family," and "his Excellency the Governor," were given by the Cuairman and drunk with enthusiasm.

The Chairman thon proposed " The Parliament of JS r ew Zealand," couplod with the names of Mo ars. Hislop and Shrimski, the members few the district, and said lie was convinced both those I'ontlemen were doing their best to promote the interests of the town and district.

The toast was drunk with all honours. Mr. Headland said it had fallen to him as one of the senior Councillors, to propose the next toast, which was " The Health of his Worship the Mayor." Everyone would agree with him when ho said that a better man could not have been found to ii 11 the office. The present Mayor was one of the best; and most painstaking and energetic Mayors the town had ever had. When it became known to the members of the Council aud a number of the Mayor's friends that his Worship intended to entertain them, they thought it would be a fitting opportunity for presenting him with a slight memento to mark their appreciation of the manner in which he had fulfilled his duties during the past year. The little presentation was also intended to mark the birth of a son to the Mayor during his Mayoralty. He felt sure that the mere intrinsic value of the gift could not compensate the Mayor for the time and trouble he had bestowed upon the initiation and carrying out of large works for the benefit of the town ; but it would, he knew, be valued by the receiver as a mark of the esteem in which he was held. He had now, in the name of the Councillors and officers of the Council to present the Mayor with a silver cradle, bearing t' e following incription :—" Presented by the Municipal Councillors and Officers to W. J. Steward, Esq., Oamaru, in commemoration of the birth of a son during his Mayoralty, 1877." (Applause.) Ho also desired to present the following engrossed copy of an address (the original was scarcely completed): August. 22, 1877.—T0 W. J. Steward, Esq., Mayor of Oamaru.—Dear Sir,—ln asking your acceptance herewith, in accordance with ancient custom, of a silver cradle, in remembrance of the birth of a s>n and heir during the term of your Mayoralty (17th May, 1877), permit us to congratulate you and your lady on the happy event, and <o express the hope that the blessing of the Giver of all good may attend you and yours ; and that the son, whose birth is thus commemorated, may be spared to attain to man's estate, and provp a blessing, not only to his parents, but to his fe'low men.—(Applause.) The toast was drunk with musical honours, accompanied with hearty cheer-

ing. On risincc to respond, the Mayor was received with applause. He said it was with great pleasure that he rose to thank them for the honour they had done him. He could scarcely adequately express his feelings. He then contrasted the position and prospects of tlie town of Oaniaru when he first came to it, now rather more than ten years ago, and its position and prospects of to-day. He well remembered his coach journey from Christchurch early in 1867, and, save Timaru, there was not then a township of any magnitude on the route, thero-Wing for miles upon nvles no cultivation whatever, and nothing to be seen but sheep-and cabbage trees, and very few of these. Only a few days since he had travelled over the same

country, and the change which had taken place during.the. few years which had intervened was most wonderful. Cultivation had extended on every side, and numerous townships—he might say towns —had sprung up on the line of his journey, among which, perhaps, the most notable was Ashburton, now seeking municipal status—a town with handsome buildings of every sort, and surrounded by extensive cultivation and plantation, where, when he saw the spot ten years ago, there were only two indifferent pub-lic-houses, a blacksmith's forge, a small store, and a few wire fences. The change which that decade had worked in Oamaru was equally remarkable. When he rirst saw it, there were not half a dozen houses between the bridge and Booth's corner, and little more than as many on the Tynestreet block, while the whole of the ground now known as the Harbour Board block was a vacant piece of ground. From the hour he set foot in it he liked the place and the people, though at first it was inclined to be a little exclusive as regards anyone who did not hail from Scotland ; but he had lived to see Oamaru widen, not only as regarded its buildings, but also as regarded its sympathies, and to see it on the high road towards attaining the position of a first-class city. He had made it his home, and the dearest of all home ties had been given him in it, and it would take a very strong wrench indeed to detach him, or, at anyrate, to detach his sympathies from where his children had been born, and where one of them slept the sleep that knows no no waking. He had in various public capacities done his best to help forward the progress of the place, and had a firm faith in its future. He would cherish the gift of that night as an heirloom, to be handed down from father to son. He thanked them on hi 3 own behalf for that gift, but still more on behalf of his wife, and of the son to whom it really belonged. and who he hoptd would be spared to live to man's estate, and to point to it with pride in the days when their town would be one of the first of .New Zealand's cities, and say, " That was given to my father when he was Mayor of Oamaru, in 1577." (Loud applause.) The Chairman then proposed, "Prosperity to tile Municipality of Oamaru," and spoke of the gnat strides which the town had taken. Only a few years ago, the population of Oamaru was about 1000, and three years ago, when the census taken, it was 2SOO, while at the present time it was fully 0000. Mr. CtfCKt.-K gave the torst, '•' The Municipal Cour.>-il. coupled with the names of Councillors Mainland, Headland, and B*»vth." In doing so, he said the vary <,ivut advance made by the town was attributable In a large degree to the energy and forethought of those who had formtd its Municipal Councils. Councillors Headland, Mainland, and Booth each responded in a suitable manner. Mr. Spence, as one of the newmembers of the Council, also returned thanks. The Chairman then read a letter from Councillor Gibbs, apologising for his absence, which was caused by ill-health. He then called on the company to drink to the health of Councillor Gibbs, which was done in a hearty manner.

Mr. Booth proposed the toast of •'' The Retiring Councillors," Messrs. Galb-aith, Scott, Grave, and Morton, which having been duly honoured, the gentlemen named responded. Mr. Grave gave the toast of " The Officers of the Corporation," coupled with the names Messrs. Roxby and M'Leod, both of whom responded. The following toasts were also proposed and duly honoured : —" The Press." coupled with the names of Messrs. Utile and Mitchell; " The Ladies;" " Tiie Corporation Gardener" (Mr. Kidd) ; "The Caterer" (Mr. Earle) ; " Our Next Merry Meeting;" " Thehealth of the Mayoress;" and "The Son and Heir." The singing of " Auld Lang Syne " and a verse of trie National Anthem, brought the proceedings to a close shortly after 12 o'clock. During the evening a number of capital songs were sung, and the utmost yood humour prevailed.