FLORAL FETE AND BICYCLE GYMKHANA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2274, 30 September 1897, Page 30

FLORAL FETE AND BICYCLE GYMKHANA.

A floral fete and bicj cle gymkhana, promoted by the Ladies' Guild of St. Matthew's Churc'b, in aid of the church, was opened in the Agricultural Hall on Friday afternoon.' The affair was largely attended, the gallery being pretty well filled. At 3 o'clook,

- Hit Worship the Ma,yob (Mr H. Gourley) asceuded . the stage, and in a brief speech formally declared the fete open.

At tho conclusion ot lbs mayor*! remarks a dozen l&dies mounted on bicycles weut through a number of evolutions to the strains of music supplied by a band of four musicians, nnder the conduct orship of Mr A. £1. Yates. The ladies were all d rested in white, and wore straw hats trimmed with yellow flowers. Their bicycles wer« also nicely decorated with flowers, daffodils being largely brought into requisition for decorative purpose*. The evolutions gone through by the rider*, who looked charming and delightfully cool in their white costumes, were somewhat intricate, but at the 6* me time very graceful, aDd the performance evoked loud demonstrations of approval from the spectators. Mrs Hoxking acted as director of the movements of the lady riders, and Mrs 'Woodhouue and Miss B. M'Laren as leaders, the following also taking part in tho performance : — Mrs C. Butterworth, Misses B. Farquhar, M. Sale, Lucy R&ttray, N. Farquhar, Batlerworth, Bfttchelor, 11, Boyd, K. Mills, and G. Roberts.

At the conclusion of the bicycle ride there was a procesftion of' children with exhibits, consisting of bicycles, tricycles, go-carts, perambulators, &c, all of which were decorated with spring flowers and evergreens. The procession was headed by four children dressed in white, drawing a gj-cart nicely decorated with flower*. Then came various kinds of vehicles, some of which looked very pretty with their floral decorations. Conspicuous in the procession was a pug poodle drawing a small cart. A number cf tbe vehicles alao contained one or more babies, while a gondolier, carrying two or three young folks, formed a prominent feature of the pxgeant. Several children, dressed so as to represent different kinds of flowers, and carrying parasols florally decorated, brought up the rear of the procession. The whole display was very effective, aud greatly enjoyed by the spectators, who showed their appreciation of it by loud applause. After the procession about 20 little girls, dressed in white and decked with flowers, danced a maypole dance very gracefully under the direction of Mrs Ogston and Miss O. Turton. Each child who took part in the danca was supposed to represent a different flower, and the performance through by the whole of them elicited warm demonstrations of approval. Tbe dacce being over the bulk of the audience found their way to the machinery hall, where the floral exhibits wero displayed, not a few remaining iv the main hall to inspect the work and other stalls which had bean erected underneath the galleries. The machinery hall never before looked so attractive. All the walls were decorated with festoons of evergreens, and on every hand were to be seen floral exhibits in some shape or form. On one ■ide of the hall were displayed the decorated go-carts, and other vehicles. At one end were the bicycles and tricycles, wiih their floral decorations; at the other end,, bedecked parasols ; while in the centre was a very large Christmas tree, laden with all sorts of toys 1 . The great feature of the fete,. however, waa table decorations. There were altogether 15 of these, and the judges mast have had. a very difficult task to decide at to the merits of the exhibits. The first prize, however, fell to Miss H. M. Driver, who, it will probably be remembered, sot fkst honours at the recent

horticultural 6how. "Her table, which looked remarkably pretty, was decorated with snowflake, heliotcopt, asparagus, aud ribbou of the same shade as the heliotrope. Miss S. K. Webster, whose exhibit w«s highly commended, decked her table with snon flake, primroses, and maidenhair fern, and it also presented a very attractive appearance. A number of the other tables were likewise very tastefully decorated, and the table display altogether surpassed anything of the kind before held in Dunedin. The florally-decked go-c»rts were another prominent f- abure of the fete, and Attracted a considerable amount of attention, some of the vehicles looking very nice indeed. Mrs Ognton eecured the first pries for a go-cart decorated with daffodils and raos«, and Mrs Gjurley took the second prize, her cart being docked with primroses, ferns, and moss. The most tastefully decorated p*r*sol was adjudged to be that exhibited by Mrs Hosking, who had utilised wattle bloom iv beautifying her exhibit. There were 13 other competitors, and a number of the exhibits besides that mentioned were also very prettily decorated. Among the cut flowers on view were some lovely baskets of daffodils ; also & few shower bouquets, which excelled anything of the kind in tne receut flower show.

In the main hall, which had also bsen tastefully decorated with evergreens and flowers, there were five still*. These, as has already been stated, wero underneath the galleries, and compriiQ fljwer, work, produce, sweeb, and refreshment stills, all of which were well patrouised by the visitors during the aflernoon.

The fete in the eveniog was attended, at might have been expected, with a much larger audience than in the afternoon. The afternoon programme wt» again gone through ; and in addition there was an Indian floral club exhibition by four young ladies, whose graceful movements were watched with a goad deal of pleasure by the spectators. A hat-trimming competition by gentlemen also created a considerable amount of amusement. There were nix competitors, and the first prize fell to Mr P. Willuma, who, itrange to say, did his work in much less time than any of the other competitors.

The following are the names of the stallholders : — Flower itall : Mesdaraes Rose, Butterworth, H. E. Williams, Bennett, C. Rattray, Misses H. Williams, G. Robert*, Myer«, Batbgate, . Farquhar, Cook. Work stall: Mesdiimes Rat tray, Curzon -Siggew, John Watson, James Smith, Austin, M. Clarke, aud Robert Gray. Produce stall : Meadames Cap6tick, Culling, Fothergill, and Miss Gore. Sweet stall : Mrs Dow ling, Misses Ada Burton, Gray, Clarke, and lbbotson, Refreshment stall : Mcsdames Boyd, C. B. Grierson, P. Williams, Gnllaway, Dal!, James Watson, and Arthur Thomson.

The judges in the various competitions were as follow: — Fancy work: Mesdnmes Hart, Cook, J. Sinclair Thomson, Pirn, Gnei\son, W. G. Neill, Hosking, Downie Stewart, and Ogston. Cookery and sweets : Mesdames H. Driver, B. C Httggitt, Theomin, aud J. M. Ritchie, Table aud basket decorations j Metdames J, Mills, Lindo Ferguson, J. S. Williams, Ogstou, and Hart. Decorated parasols, go-carts, &c. : Me-darues Joachim, E. C. Reynolds, and C. Turnbull. Decorated bicycles : Mesd.imes J. T. Wright, Ogaton, and Bowden. Buttonholes and bouquets : Mesd»mes Hart and J. Mills. Pinafores and pincushions : Mei'dames GL Turobnll and Butterworth and Misses O. Turton and Brodrick.

The fete was open on Saturday afternoon and evening, when there were very large attendances of the public. It has been a pronounced success, and it is estimated that St. Matthew's Church funds will ba benefited by it to the ertent of fully £200.

The traffic manager of che Dunedin section of the railways (Mr Thomas Arthur) and the traffic manager of the Invercargill section (Mr Wbi'tcombe) were waited upon on Tuesday morning by a deputation consisting of Captain Wing and Mr O Meara (Queenstown) and Mr W. Ji'.nkin's (Arroivtowu), who urged the desirability of securing a faster set vico on the Qore aud Kingston line. The traffic manager*, after fully considering the matter, promised to endeavour to arranga the service so that 40 minutes would be saved on the present time iv the run between Kiog«ton and Gore, and 35 minutes between Gore and Kingston. Mr Arthur and Mr Whitcombe have also been considering the feasibility of rearranging the Dunedin-Invercargill service so that the through trains may be enabled to leave and arrive at Ddnedin earlier than at present, and perform, the journey in leaa time than is now occupied. The result of the deliberations is that a new time table has been drawn out, which will be submitted to tbe head office. If adopted, it will doubtless ba brought into operation at once.

A meeting of the Committee of the OUgo Anglers' Association was held on Monday evening, 27th, Mr R. Forrest being in the chair. The following competitions wero fix-sd for the season :— October 13, Shag River ; November 9, Waiwer* River (bare fly competition) ; November 10, Waipahi River (Acclimatisation Society's bare fly competition) ; December 1, Tomahawk Lagoon (porch competition) ; Decembev 11, I'omabawk Lagoon (perch competition) ; December 27 (Benevolent Institution day), any stream in the. southern acclimatisation district ; aud Cup D*y (hospital day), any stream in the south district.

The Tokooniriro District High School Committee Investigated, on Monday nighfc, a charge brought against oue of the school staff of a breach of tbe csrporal punishmout regulations. Mr H. White complained of undue punishment of one of his children by one of the under teachers (Mr Parlane), and Rfter considerable dUcu3sion it was resolved — " That the complaint from Mr White that his girl had been strapped has been admitted by Mr Pdrlane, and the committea consider it was done under extenuating circumstances and in the best interests of discipline, and that this committee cannot see their way to take further steps." The 8.-uce Herald reports further that the committee unauimously resolved to ask the board to abolish subjections i, 2, and 3 of regulations 93, 98, considering them to be detrimental to discipline and not in the interests of education.

Th« Palmeraton Agricultural and Pastoral Sccwty recently appointed a committee of its members to look out for a nrtit-claia Clydesdale stallion for the Waikouaki, Goodwood, P»lmeniton, aud Shag Valley districts. The committee attended the annual sales laxt week, and have since besn visiting various studs to secure a horse. The committee has at length . been successful, having made choice of the well-known Clydesdale stud horse M'Callum, the property of Mr James Florence, of Winton. M'Callum is by Lord Lyon (Lord Salisbury — Molly M'K^sock), and he is out of the far-fnrned Russ«ll's Princess M'Cormick, by Young Prince of Wales (imported from Scotland). The society is fortunate in having obtained to noted a horse as M'Callum for its districts.

Colonel Pole Penton is engaged in preparing a scheme for the reorganisation of the volunteer force. la the meantime no new corps will be accented*