A LIVELY MEETING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2201, 7 May 1896, Page 53

A LIVELY MEETING.

The meeting of householders *•■ .: ) ou t« elect a aohool committee was of ,m ixc-ediugly lively nature. A recent squabble botwen hit Gibbs, master of the Central School, and the retiring committee, over the letter's interference with the time table of the school, seems to have excited the townspeople, who mustered in strength at the Provincial Hall, filling it to drscomfort. bath on the floor and the gallery. Mr John Sharp was elected to preside. Me Graham, M.H.R , was one of the first spe*kers. •and soon lauuehed into an attack upon Mr G.bbs, who, in response ta calls from the audience wont upon the stage and made a vigorous reply. Then ensued a discusiiou which lasted foe an hour and a-half, a f tar whioh the billob was taken amid great confusion. One laughterprovoking incident was the droppiog of a ball of string from the ladies' gallery in the middle of a long-winded speech, with the exclamation, " Tie it up." The poll was one of the heaviest taken in -the whole colony, and the result was not known until 2.15 a.m. There is a considerable infu«ion of new blood, several members of the old committee having bean rejected. The Evening Mail thus describes tha .scene during the taking of the ballot-— "In the wild ruah of 300 or 400 people for the b*Hot box. blackboards fell on heads, resounding hollow and making the welkin ring ; elbows found themselves • planted ' under other people's chins, women and man, .in a huddled mass, 'scrooged' aud pushed and struggled towards the dais, while ch.\iroun, sorutineaM, and all and sundry made pathetic: appeals to the free and independent to ' Hold back/ • Sit down,' -' Stand up,' ' Come and vote.' • Don't move,' and •We can't get on unless you assist the serutiaeers by keeping order.' The scene was one of iudesoribable oonfuiion, and' • in the midst of it unscrupulous persons could very easily have 'stuffed' the ballot to theii heart's content, passing in and out of the build« ing as they pleased for at least 20 minutes af fcex the voting was nominally begun." Our contemporary hopes the Nt l«>>n experience will be the means of bringing about an amendmeut of - "the utterly eyatemlecß and mefchodlett manner" in whioh such elections are held.