PICNICS AND SPORTS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10730, 19 February 1897, Page 4

PICNICS AND SPORTS.

I KAITANGATA COAL COMPANY. j The annual picnic and sports of the emj plcyees of the ' Kaiiangata Railway and Coal I Company (Limited) was held at Mount Stuart ; yesterday. Glorious weather prevailed, and the outing proved one of the most enjoyable ever held under the auspices of the company Reserved carnages attached to the south' express conveyed the directors of the company j ana the lr friends to the scene of festiviW, I winch were located on the property of Mr J j j aimer, the use of which ha kindly granted . for the occasion. On arrival it was found that ,; the employees of the company, who were conveyed by special train from Kxitaogata, had j already made preparations for tae day's j amußemantg, and had distributed themselves . among the picturesque grounds in picnic j groups. The sun shone out with quite tropical | intensity, and advantage was freely taken of the ! £?. eatru? . sfforded by «w grower trees, j Ihe Milton Brass Band was in attendance, and j the popular airs contribated by it alternated j with the melodious strains of the bagpipes I ?;a^ ed by two -Highland* pipers—Mr C P > M'Glashan (of the Dresden), and Mr A* ; Murray. A lengthy programme of sports was ; gone through, and the contests, many of which j were of an exciting character, were" watched j with absorbing interest. Tiro' -races " were ; provided for the Chinese miners emoloyed in i the locality. Not a little ingenuity -had to ba | displayed in handicapping the contestants, and j the events_ created a great deal of merriment, ! *he Celestials exerting themselves to tha utmost ; to obtain the money prize that was collected for presentation to the successful competitor Another contest in which a great dsal of interest was manifested was an old men's race for ! t r smb. oE M°sgiel tweed presented byMrJ H I Morrison, of the Mosgiel Woollen Company" Ihe visitors also took advantagecf • the trip to inspect the mining claims of the Chinese on the nver. Mo«t of the latter had set tha day apart as a holiday, and one or two entertained various member* of the party with selections on some curious musical instruments. One Chinaman however, endeavouring to extract the precious metal from the river, had some very primitive appliance*, and he was surrounded constantly by interested groups of spectators j He proved to be very communicative, for | besides explaining the working of his apparatus, ne confided to his auditors the interesting piece ot information that he was an important man in his own country, and that his mission in life here was to provide "tucker" for IS wives he possessed in China. As he set down his returns at only three shillings a day, general sympathy was expressed for the unfortunate | wives. On the return trip the pipers kept the j party enlivened by a varied selection of Scotch music. Those residents of Milton who happened to be on the railway station prior to the departure of the express wece afforded a capital entertainment, part of which comprised several Highland reels, which were goae through with the utmost enthusiasm. Altogether the excursion was of a most enjoyable character. The arrangements effected by the general manager of the company (Mr W. P. Watson) were most complete, and besides bein» congratulated on all hands he was accorded "three ringing cheers on arrival at the Dunedin station. The following gentlemen officiated in connection with the sports :—President, Mr W. M. Shore; vice-president, Mr W. H. Bevin; committes—Messrs H. Cornish, J. M'Lelland, D. Alexander, Archibald Edmin3ton, A. Chapman, Thomas Barclay, John Duncan, A. Duff, John Pennell, A. Canningham, John Shore, P. Anderson, C. Ball, D. Marshall, W. Harkness, H. Douglas), R Barclay. W. Ramsay, K. Henderson, W. Gilchrist, J. Barlow, John Dick, Thomas Middlemass; treasurer, Mr William Dixon, jua. ; secretary,' Mr J. Fleming. grocers' picnic. The following are the results of the sports at the grocers' picnic, which took place at Quarantine lolaud on Wednesday: Boys' Race.--A. Findlay 1, C. Moore 2. J. M. luwen 3. Girls' Race.—M. Wilson 1, A. Kelly 2, A. M'Bride 3. Grocers' Handicap.—J. Cuninghara L P Smith 2, A. D. Black 3. Married Ladies' Race.—Mrs Whiter 1, Mrs Carr 2, Mrs James 3. Half-mile Handicap.—J. Fogarty 1, W. Grant 2, R. Smith and M'Donald (tie) Girls' Race.-M. Moore 1, E. Ksnnard'2, L. Jones 3. Young Ladies' Handicap.—Miss M'Bride 1 Miss Burns 2, Miss Bayli3s 3. Youths' Three-legged Race.—Arnold and Irvine 1, Rosevear and Hardy 2. Cojisibrcial Travellers' Handicap —P. Memo 1, H. Gill 2, W. Waruock 3. Married Groce«s' Handicap.— J. Robinson 1. J. Irvine 2, T. Siieodon 3. I Master Grocers' Handicap.—S. Smith 1 W Smith 2, T. Sneddan 3. Nelso.v, Moate. and Co. Handicap. -R. Harrison 1, G. Arlidge 2, A. U Black 3 Committee Race.—G. Brodie 1 H H S White 2, J. Irviue 3, G. H. Smith 4_ Band Racb.—M'Conncll 1, J. Davie 2, Miller 3 Tug-of-War (North v. South).—Won by the ! North.