RURAL SKETCHES. OUR TOWN.

Otago Witness, Issue 1704, 19 July 1884, Page 8

RURAL SKETCHES. OUR TOWN.

ll.— Oor First Entertainment— A Free Ball and Supper. I have heard it said that the majority of hotelkeepers are Irishmen or Scotchmen, and my experience teaches me that there is a good deal of reason for the remark. Another thing which those nationalities have made a speciality of is the police force. Whether the ease wi h which life is passed in one, or the near proximity to comfort in the other, induces the partiality I can't say, but nevertheless such I believe is the fact. Our host of the Farmers' Arms combined in his own person two exceptions to the above rules as he was not only an Englishman, but was also a policeman, from which occupation he retired with enough capital to encroach on another of the partialities of the sister kingdoms and become a publican. He was a big man, fully six feet high, well built, with fat, jolly looking face which gave one the idea that plenty to eat and drink was his opinion of a good life ; while a large developement of the organ of acquisitiveness showed making money was the principle of his existence. This, with the exception of hi 3 wife, was the only power he knew on earth now he had left the force. Hia wife was a little woman, about 25 years of . age, much younger than her mate, who was near 50, and who, as well as being afraid, was also jealous of her. She was a good-looking woman, and had been cook at one of the metropolitan hotels when she won the heart and hand of her husband. She was a strange mixture of religion and frivolity, greed and generosity. When the hotel was finished and a license obtained (a not very difficult matter inthose d»ys, before local option was thought of) mine host determined to open business by a grand "free ball and supper." This has a double advantage, as it gives a night's enjoyment to any who wish to accept it, and at the same time is a source of profit to the publican. As to the new-comer to tho country this would seem a problem not easily worked out, I will explain the principle on which this species of entertainment, once bo popular, but now almost extinct, and likely through the stringency of Licensing Acts now in force to be entirely done away with, was conducted. A " Free Ball and Supper" meant just what the words imply, and both ball and supper were often of the best description to be procured, but the " freedom " stopped at .that, as the liquid refreshments required by the guests had to be paid for. If "beer was your fancy, a couple of bottles was the least you called for ; if wine, a botffle ; and as you only perhaps drank a glass or bo, the balance war left after you at table, and was very likely retailed to you again did you require any further stimulants during the dance afterwards at the same price you would have to pay did you never own it. The preparations made for this great event in our social histpry were at last concluded, and their fame having spread through the settlement, almost everyone was anxious for the advent of dark, when the festivities would begin*. There was no anxiety as to whether you would be'invited or not, no staying away on the score of want of respectability, none of the little peculiarities <of the present day which make the inauguration of a ball a source of excitement, and the result very often a failure. AH were sufe of a Welcome, particularly if they came accompanied by a " thirst," and a double welcome was assured to one accompanied by a lady partner, as want of female society was most severely felt in those days by the subduers of the wilderness. The greatest difficulty our host had to contend with was in procuring a musician, but after great trouble one who could perform on the violin was engaged, and another to assist with a concertina. It is a good few years since, but I can yet plainly remember the trepidation with which I took my place at the table, alongside my father, who was placed in front of a magnificent tqrkey, to the dissection of which he was requested to attend, and soon nothing was left but the dish and some stuffing. Our opposite neighbour was, however, not so fortunate with a goose on which he was experimenting. He was not tothe "manner born," and as the object of his exertions showed a great desire to escape from the dish instead of lying quietly to be cut up, he principally devoted his energies to restraining that desire, until the clamour for goose excited him, and, throwing caution to the winds, went in to do or die. In an effort to dislooato a wing he deposited goose, stuffing, dish, and all in the lap of a lady who sat beside him, and then, without waiting to apologise, rasaed from the room amidst a yell of laughter from those who had witnessed his failure, Afte x I had done justice to the good things oefore me, I was able to have a good look round, and the sight was | worth indulging in. On both sides of a bench, j formed by boards laid on boxes and tressles down the centre of the room, eat fifty people of both sexes, the male predominating largely, all paying their best attention to the demolition of the viands provided for their use. On all sides the landlord and his wife, assisted by anyone they could get, we;e busily distributing bottles and glasses to their guests, till the boards of the table bent with the weight of glass and liquor. Then ' began the sharp cliok of the corks ag they left the wine bofcfcles, and the more sonorous cluck of those from the beer, intermixed with, "Here's luck," "My best respects," or the other courtesies of the period as the people indulged in their liquor ; the smiling recognition of some compliment ; and the loud laugh «af enjoyment that without knowing it brought •a emile to the face of the listener. The cracking <«£ the nutshells between tne teeth of the iSedker fltffor kernels, or tho low titter of the iruatic maiden as she deciphered some sly j allusion fr iutended witticism on the conversation lollies passed to her by bor admirer, all forming .a picftuu«K»f simple happiness too rarely to-be mat with ia &g?e days of railways and fast living. As it wan pob to mine host's interest that hia guests ehouW git long at table tha hint was given that now tiles ,rpom would be cleared for dancing. Soon the bes**^ were div«sted of their covering, the unused %uor again transferred to the bat', And busy hands j were Bpriafcling water on and cweeping the j floor, whilst the ladies were leaxvsMging their j attire in tbs bedrooms, 'their lords fit #weet- , hearts again buying their own liquor at- £he. bar aa tfhey "ahouted " for their cronies. The squeak of the coaoeefcina and the Btroke . off -the bow on the fiddle .stringa at length proclaimed that everything was ready for dancing, and saon from alll sides .came trooping* in the -disciples of Terpsichore. No formal introduc-'i tfions were necessary to procure partners, and in » very few minutes sets were formed andi waiting for the music to begin. Here, however, a difficulty occurred, as the concertina was!, much higher in tone than the ,-fiddle strings j : would stretch to, resulting .in, the breaking oft one of them every time it was tried, until at( length it was agreed to play the fiddle alone, 1 the concertina to do duty whea the fiddler was lj having a " wot," and vice versa. ji Under these conditions the ball began, and \ after every dance, either the male dancer or his ; partner, and pften both, indulged in a lemonade '

or other refreshment, and everything passed off well till about three a.m., when a Scotch reel was indulged in, after which an Irihh jig was called for, several of that nationality being present. It passed off well also, but produced a discussion on the merits of the different styles of dancing, which easily passed into one on the different countries, thus arousing the patriotic feelingu of the disputants on all fiidos. Love of country is no doubt a noble fooling, but I could never see where a man added any lustre to his country by breaking the head o£ another man of a different nationality. This was the way patriotism worked in this instance, and as from " You mistake " to "You lie" is an easy transition, particularly with whiiky and tradition to point the way, it cannot be wondered at that such was the mode of argument in this case. " You're anolhov " brought a blow as a rejoinder, then a rush of friends* on oither side as peacemakers ; a f ew more blows given at random in some cases recoived by the peacemakers, who returned thorn amidst a curse or two, set the ladies screaming, and they were hurried from the room, and our freo ball blossomed into a " free fight," whose guiding principle is " Whero you see a head hit it." For nearly an hour the noise and confusion lasted till hard work, crushing, and 'in some cases loss of blood brought the contestants to their 'senses. Though the fighting was over, peace was far from being proclaimed, aR the recriminating part, not so dangerous but moie disagreeable, was next indulged in, and ultimately broke up the meeting. I've been at many a ball and supper since, and in ona other instance also saw a tight, but never such a scene as I witnessed from a form which 1 hurriedly pushed into a corner, and on which I took my stand during the scrimmage, the only part of which fell to my share was an occasional squeeze now and then as the excited mass foil to my side of the room. On describing the affair t$ my father, who had gone home oarly, and to my mother, who had not come at all, I asked the cause of so much bitterness, and was told it was the result of education, particularly the religious instruction, which in a manner taught each that no good could result from the other. It is many years since, and I've paid a little attention to the subject, and am inclined to believe it is the true cause. I now nee growing up around me the second generation of the native born of New Zealand of the three extractions, and though there is not so much bitterness of feeling, still the old leaven is there inculcated by the traditions of grandparents and others. Thuß ended our first' public entertainment, looked forward to so anxiously, ending so badly for us ; but still inine host did well by his venture, much better, I fancy, than he would had there been no row, as reconciliation is a more thirsty operation even than dancing. It lasted longer, however, as some did not go home for a day or two, the others, particularly any who suffered In the fray, getting home before daylight had exposed how much they suffered for their country's good. It took some days to settle back into our humdrum existence, but the town was never again the saino to us. A new business now opened amongst us, as one of the carpenters who helped to build the hotel elected to commence operations, and a store was also talked of.