THE BANQUET.

Otago Witness, Issue 1418, 25 January 1879, Page 11

THE BANQUET.

The banquet given by the Mayor and Corporation, together with the Southland County Council and suburban municipalities, waß held in the new Theatre, Sloan's Buildings. About 200 gentlemen sat down to dinner, and a large number of ladies occupied the dress circle. Mr G, Lumsdec, the Mayor of Invercargill,

was in the chair, the Hon. J. Ballance occupying the se&fc upon his right, Mr J. S. Shanks, cue Chairman of the County Council and the newly-elected M.H.R. for the Mataura, was in the vice-chair. All the M.L.C.'s and M.H.R.'s who came down on the opening trip were present, and several of the Southland members in addition. The Southland members included Messrs Joyce, Feldwick, and Shanks. The Mayors of Dunedin, Christchurch, Oamaru, Milton, Balclutha, and of suburban municipalities around Dunedin, were present. The cloth having been removed, the Chairman said, before the proceedings formally commenced, he thought it was right to refer to the sad accident which bad that day occurred, and had cast so great a gloom on the whole of the proceedings. After referring to the very general esteem in which Mr Conyers was held, he said, so greatly had the sad affair been felt in the town that it was considered whether it would not be well to greatly curtail the programme of the evening, but the Committee had decided to go on with the affair as intended, seeing that so full preparations had been made. The Chairman read the latest telegram from Gore relative to Mr Conyers, thejeff ect of which was, that if anything ho was slightly better. This announcement was received with hearty cheering. Befoie proposing the first toast he also read telegrams, asking to be excused from attendance, from Sir George Grey, who urged pressure of public business, and absence of other members of the Ministry ; from Colonel Whitmore, who hoped the Hons. Messrs Macandrow, Ballance, and Stout would represent the Cabinet; from the Hon. Mr Macandrew, who had not sufficiently recovered from bodily ailment, which had disabled him for a week or two; and from the Hon. Mr Stout, who pleaded business engagements", and expressed the hope that the railway would soften jealousies and curtail unhealthy rivalry : to which the Chairman remarked that he wished Mr Stout was present, to assure him that there were no jealousies to soften and no unhealthy rivalry to curtail.— (Cheers. ) From Mr J. T. Fisher an apology was received, and excuses were also forwarded from a large number of members of the Upper and Lower Houses, and from Mayors of inland towns. The toasts of " The Queen," " The Prince of Wales," and "The Royal Family," "His Excellency the Governor," were drunk with enthusiasm and the customary honours. Mr Mitchell proposed "The Army and Navy and Volunteers," coupled with the names of Colonel Brett and Major Macrorie. The band introduced a novel feature after this toast toast by singing in a chorus between the instru mental music a verse of a patriotic song. The Hon. Colonel Brett was received with loud applause. He said he considered Great Britain h<id never had greater military and naval resources than at the present moment, and that her prestige had struck terror into the heart of the Czar. — (Cheers.) Regarding the Volunteers, if he had said anything to cause offence in his speeches during seven consecutive years, or anything against the interest of the force in this Colony, he wa3 sorry for it ; but he had made the criticism with a desire to raise a spirit of emulation among the officers and men, and to raise the status of the force generally. He concluded by making complimentary allusions to the force as at present existing, and to the perfection of the band performing in the room. Major Macrorie also responded. The Chairman next proposed "Success to New Zealand Railways," which, he said, was the toast of the evening, and should be drunk in bumpers. The occasion they celebrated must be one of gladness, especially to the people of Invercargill and of Canterbury. He regretted the absence of two gentlemen particularly—namely, Mr Moorhouse, the initiator of railways in Canterbury, and the Hon. Dr Menzies, the initiator of them in Southland. Here upon the present occasion the pilgrim fathers of the two provinces pet to shake hands over the completion of their railway schemes. Eleven years ago, in the Southland Provincial Council, he had stated he believed he would be able to traveljbefore he died — and he was then an old man— by rail from Invercargill to Dunedin; and now that he could get over double the distance— viz., to Christchurch— he considered he had been no false prophet, and concluded by coupling the toast with the name of the Hon. W. H. Reynolds. The Hon. Mr Reynolds was received with much applause. He said he deemed it a great honour to be asked to respond to such an important toast, having been asked to do so in the absence of the Minister of Public Works. While credit was due to the gentlemen mentioned by the Chairman, he felt bound to say that for the carrying out of a through railway scheme between Christchurch and Dunedin, the , credit was due to Sir Julius Vogel — (loud cheering) and he felt proud of being associated with that gentleman when he promoted the scheme. He (the speaker) had had a good deal to do with Invercargill. When. Governor Browne and the Provincial Executive conferred upon a fitting name for the town, Captain Cargill suggested " Brownetown ; " but the Governor would have no Brownetown, and between the Governor and the speaker they decided upon calling: it after Capt. Cargill. He (the speaker) had built the first building in Invercargill, and as a visitor to Australia many years ago, and as Immigration Agent at Home he had always done his best to induce settlers to come to Southland. He took a warm interest in the progress of the town and district, and believed the railway would do much to add to their welfare and prosperity. The Chairman here read a telegram which had been sect to Sir Julius Vogel that afternoon by himself as Mayor. It was as followh : — " People of Southland congratulate you on completion and opening of trunk railway between Christchurch and Inveroargill." Mr Cuthbertson, an ex M.H.R , proposed "The Parliament of New Zealand," coupling with the toast the names of the Hon. W. H, Reynolds, Mr G. M'Lean, and Mr E. Wakefield, M.H.R'a. The Hon. W. H. Reynolds, in replying, said that while in the Lower House he had sometimes felt annoyed at the manner in which the I bills had been treated by the Upper House, but he had always been able to come to the conclusion that that body was really the salvation of thecountry\ Mr M'Lean also responded. Mr Wakefield waa warmly received. He excused the absence of many Canterbury members on the ground of its being the middle of shearing and harvesting time. He looked upon the opening of railways as likely to be a good thing for the Parliament of New Zealand, throngh its giving an opportunity to members to meet together at various parts of the Colony, and to become acquainted with the wants and capabilities of other districts than their own. He concluded an eloquent speech amidst loud applause and cries ot " Go on ! " The Vice-Chairman proposed the next toast — that ot "The Ministry," coupled with the health of the Hon. J. iiallance. The Hon. Mr Ballance, was received with I cheers, and after returning thanks, assured I the company that it had given him great plea- ' sure — he might say undoubted satisfaction — to f be present on this occasion. He was a stranger to this part of the Colony, and therefore he was better able to judge with regard to its resources

■ and of potential wealth such as he saw around him. Nothing struck him more in passing 1 along the railway — and he had been a close ob1 server of the country— than the large area of 1 magnificent land apparently awaiting settle- . ment. Now, he held that if our railways were to become reproductive, if they were to justify the [ large expenditure on them, we must have popui lation— (cheers)— we must have hoicoesteads and homes. If there was one thing more than another that he noticed with regret, it was that such a splendid territory, such a vast extent of firstrate land, or at least so large a proportion of it, had so very few homes on it.— (Cheers.) He believed that that was the great want of the country, and although he was not prepared to propound any heroic means or measures by which homes could be supplied, yet it must be the aspiration of every citizen of New Zealand to see the land covered with homesteads, and then it must be a great and prosperous country. He would take the opportunity of apologising for the Hon. Mr Macandrew, who had intended to be present, and to whom it would have given the utmost satisfaction to have been amongst the guests. Serious illness, the consequence of long journeys in the North Island^ confined him to his house, but his medical advisers held out hopes that in a day or two he would be able to return to the discharge of the official duties that sat so lightly on him, and which he continued to take such a vital interest in. With regard to the railways, he was amongst the first to acknowledge the bold imagination which conceived and put into force the railway policy of the Colony. He thought all honour was due to Sir Jnliu3 Vogcl— (loud cheers)— for his inception of the great Public Works policy, and for the courageous stand which he made in the face of great difficulties in inaugurating and carrying out that policy to a successful issue. Although that policy waa conceived by another Ministry and another head, the present Ministry have made that policy their own, and are prepared to carry it out to the utmost, so far as our means will permit, until the whole of New Zealand is covered with one network of railways from the north to the south. It might be said that we had gone to the extent of our means in this direction ; but he did not believe that. H6 believed that the more our resources, and the more the character of the Colony was known, the more readily would the English moneylender be inclined to stake his interest in the Colony in preference to European countries, such as Turkey and other States. He believed that in order to give fair play to our railway policy, we must concentrate the whole of our strength, by which he meant the whole of our available means upon railways and immigration. He believed that a great deal of the money that had been borrowed had been frittered away in expenditure on public works which were unproductive.— (Applause.) We must continue the subsidies to local bodies. Let them perform the functions proper to them, such as the construction of the main roads, and let the local road boards make the district roads, while the General Government should perform their works, which held to be paramount— namely, the extension of the railway system of the Colony— bringing in at the same time sufficient immigrants to make the lines profitable and reproductive. In conclusion, he alluded to the substantial appearance of the town, and predicted a great future for it. The Chairman proposed "The Visitors, coupled with the names of the Mayors of Christchurch and Dunedin." The Mayor of Christchurch, in responding, contrasted the appearance of the country and of Invercargill with that presented when 20 years' ago he walked from Dunedin to Invercargill. The Mayor of Dunedin shortly responded, and by way of an innovation' upon the ■ programme, proposed the toast of "Success to Invercargill, coupled with the name of Mr Lumsden," who suitibly replied. Mr Wade proposed " The Commissioner of Railways and the Engineer in charge of the Middle Island." The gratification with which he had looked forward to proposing the healths of Messrs Conyers and Blair had been saddened by news of the melancholy accident which had that day occurred. If that accident had the unfortunate re&ulfc of causing the loss of one of New Zealand's best citizens, then, glad as he was to see railway communication opened, he would have rather wiahed that opening delayed even ten years. He concluded by asking that a speedy recovery to Mr Conyers should be drunk with the toast. Mr Blair, in responding, excused himself from making any speech, in view of the accident through which he alone was present to reply to the toast. Mr Shanks, M.H.R., proposed "The Contractors, Messrs Proudfoot and Mackay," which was not responded to. As the hour was getting late, and people were leaving, one or two of the toasts on the list were omitted. "The Ladies," responded to by Mr Feldwick, M.H.R., and "The Press," responded to by . Mr A3hcrof t, closed the proceedings at about 11 o'clock. THE ACCIDENT TO MR. CONYERS. The event which has excited the deepest interest in connection with the opening of the railway to Invercargill is unfortunately a most painful one, and may deprive the Colony of its most efficient and most popular railway official, How ardently it is desired that this should not prove to be the result of the accident to the Commissioner of Railways can be appreciated by those who are acquainted with Mr Conyers, either in his public or private capacity. The first information regarding the accident was an urgent message from the Hon. Mr Ballance to the Hon. the Attorney- General, which was at once made public. Eroni this time a large mimber of telegrams were received, but most of them were mere repetitions of what was contained in the first telegram. It seems that the train, on nearing Gore, ran over a dog, and that Mr Conyers was leaning out from the engine, looking down the line, to see the result, when his head struck against the stand of the water-tank, which was near the line, and inflicted very serious injury, causing concussion 1 of the brain. One of the telegrams states that he wa3 knocked off the train at once, but a 1 more recent one says that Mr Conyers held on for a distance of fifty yards, and then fell to the ground. The following are the principal telegrams i received subsequently to the one which the ■ Hon. Mr Stout placed at the disposal of the 1 Press, and which is published in our local : columns :— , "Gore, 8 p,m. " To the Hon. Mr Macandrew. 1 " Mr Cony era still remains insensible, showing slight symptoms of improvement. Doctors : of opinion he will be some time before he recovers consciousness. Locomotive engineer and ; myself have examined the spot where Mr Conyers fell, and there is little doubt he was ; knocked off by the water tank standing along1 side the line. A dog was run over a few seconds before, and Mr Conyers, standing on the i engine, must have seen the dog, and, leaning [ out to see the result, came in contact with . the water4ark stand, inflicting several deep 1 wounds. Will wire you immediately any • further change in Mr Conyers' condition takes 1 plaoe ( 1 (Signed) "A, W. Webby."

(FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.) Gore, 3.30 p.m., January 22nd. As the train on the opening trip was approaching Gore, before crossing the bridge, a man was observed to fall off the engine. The train at once drew up, and, to everybody's surprise and horror, it was found to be Mr Conyers. The train was not going at great rate, and was stopped within 100 or 200 yards. On going back we found Mr Conyers lying senseless, much cut about the face, and bleeding from over eye and ears. He appeared to have struck a pile of stones. Dr Smith, of Balclutha, and Dr Murphy, of Dunedin, attended him. A stretcher was procured, and he is now being brought into the township. Between Clinton and here Mr Ollivier, of Christchurch, went through the train and gathered a Bum of money to purchase a ring as a momento of the trip for Mr Conyers. Inveroargill. A telegram was received from Gore announcing a sad catastrophe. It appears that Mr Conyers, the Commissioner ©f_ Railways, was standing on one of the engines, as the train approached the Gore bridge, 'when he suddenly overbalanced himself, falling to the ground very heavily. A Bevere gash was inflicted over the ieye. Latest intelligence reports him lying at Gore in an insensible condition, and bleeding profusely at the nose and ears. This sad occurrence cast a deep gloom over the whole of the after proceedings. (Per Press Association.) He Mr Cooyers. — The latest telegram received here at half-past 8 from Gore, where he lies at Green's Hotel, is that appearances are more favourable ; he is in a critical condition, however, suffering from concussion of the brain, and remains insensible. It appears the tank he struck was temporarily erected on a pile of sleepers, and was thus closer to the line than is usual. There is no doubt the accident occurred through his striking the pile of sleepers men tioned. (from our own correspondent.) Inveroargill. The latest information concerning Mr Conyers is contained in a telegram received by the Hon. Mr Ballance, and sent from Gore at 10.30 p.m. It is as follows :— " Conyers certainly cot worse ; if anything, a little better." We received the following special telegram at midnight, from one of the medical gentlemen attending Mr Conyers :— " Goßtf, January 22nd, 10.30 p.m. "Mr Conyers was on the engine, coming into East Gore, when he had occasion to lean over the side, something having attracted his attention. His head came in contact with a water-tank, which, it appears, is dangerously near the line. He was stunned, but held on for some 60 yards, when he tumbled off, and when picked up was insensible, suffering from severe wounds on the right temple, causing concussion of the brain. He is still unconscious, but is progressing as favourably as can be expected. " J. Gibson Smith." A special train left Christohurch on Wednesnight with Mrs Conyers.