The Volunteer Drill Hall Bazaar.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXIV, Issue 7491, 14 April 1899, Page 4

The Volunteer Drill Hall Bazaar.

As announced, the bazaar in aid of the new drill hall fond wm opened last evening in the, Theatre RoyaL \otwithstanding that the weather was cold and the streets were damp.there w*a a large attendance, the buildB*'benig fairly well filled- The Garrison Bandplayed in front of the Theatre for a while, and there was a good sprinkling of uniforms within the building. The opening ceremony was performed by his Worship the Mayor, at the invitatioi of Major Headland, the officer commanding the district. The Mayor made a happy speech, remark* ftig that volunteering was said to be one of the noblest virtues. Volunteers mnst naturally be unselfish, and the Uamarn contingent were one of the moat patient and unselfish bodies of man. Their present drill hall had been bnilt over thirty years ago. and during that time it had been used by the public for & variety of purposes. It had baen a chnrch. a theatre, a concert hall, a lect-ire room, and many other things ; but for the last ten or twelve years it had been of little use even as a drill shed, and the Volunteers were nowendeavoring to obtain better building Volunteering required sacrifics3 of time and money, and met with little reward, except at times disbandment by an unsympathetic Government, though he was pleased to see that the present Government were disposed to give greater encouragement to the Volunteers. Seventy or eighty years ago soldiers were looked upon merely as fighting machines who required to know nothing but their drill. But that had beeo changed, and it had been fonnd tha' soldiers might Ltj educated without spoiling them for fig iting purposes, and now lirga numbers of intellectual men were to be found in the Army. The building which it was proposed tc erect would, therefor?, provide for something more than drill. It was to be furnished with gymnastic appliances, reading roo.n, and other things, so that the Volunteers would have something more than a comfortable drill halL Every young man should be a volunteer, and he would like to say to parents that they should get their boys to join the Volunteers, foe they would rub shoulders with their fel!ow-mcn and get the rough corners knocked off. The Volunteers had been fortunate in enlisting the assistance of the ladies, who had been working for the bazaar for mouths, with the results placed before them. It was no ordinary baznr, but the public could rely upon getting valuo for their money. He declared the bazaar open, and to remain open until every article was disposed of. Business was then entered upon briskly by the stall-holder 3 and their assistants, the various stalls being under the "irecfion of the following ladies : Mr.l Headtand (who, as President of ths Ladies' Committee, ably superintended operations), Mrs Lee, Mrs Gledhill, Mrs Brown, Mrs Potter, and Miss Chisnell. the various bav3 of octagonal stall; Mrs Gould and Mrs Nichols, at the Japanese stall; Miss t'h>ae and Miss Mitchell, at the Bower and fern stall; Misses Brown, Wylie. and Gledhill, at the tolly stall. The refreshment st*ll, which occupies the assembly ruom upstairs, was under the care of Mrs •'Smith, who had quite an army of assistants. Hon. Captain harl had charge of the pioduce department poral M'Combie of the men's work, neither of which was quite so well furnished as was expected, altogether a very fair amount of business was done.

The bazaar was open again this afternoon, and will be open Chu evening, to-morrow, and Monday.