COMPLIMENTARY FAREWELL TO MR T MEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 2664, 5 April 1905, Page 53

COMPLIMENTARY FAREWELL TO MR T MEEK.

The> members of the Phoenix Bowling Club tendered Mr Tho-r.as Meek a complimentary farewell in the Sltar and Garter Hotel, on the eve of his departure on a tour round the world. The eh-iir was faken by Mr J. Patterson, vice-president of the club, and the guest of the evening occupied a chaii on his right. There was a very large gathering of the. members of the club. Messrs W. Bee and W. W. Beswick sent apologies for unavoidable absence. The Chairman proposed tho toast "Our Guest, Mr Meek," remarking that as a citizen Mr Meek teis one of the most progressive in the town, and had l.<een connected witb some most successful institutions He was also an old bowler. — (Applause.) They hoped he would bring back with him from the Old Country some wrinkles about the game. Mr A. J. S. Headland then a«ked Mr Meek's acceptance from his brother bowlers of a small token of respect. He then handed to the gu-est of the evening a handsome walking stick, a substantial piece of native New Zealand wood, silver-mounted.— The Chairman proposed the toast, "The Ihcenix Bowling Club." The club had jiist had one of the most successful years in its history. They had lost two matches this season, and he was quite sure- had Mr Meek been playing 1 those matches would not have been lost." There was one thing with Mr Meek as a player, he was always "up"' — (iaug-hter), — and tie reason they lost those two matj'ies was that they were not always "up." — In reply. Mr Waddell said he had •bat day bee-n looking up the old records of the club, and had found that the first meeting was held in th^ Criterion Hotel on July 30, 19 years ago. The-^ chair was taken by Mr Crombie. The first president of the club .was Mr M'Douall. and of the cc»nmittee Messrs Taylor, Heaclland, and himself wera- still mambers. The firsfi tender for the green was let to Mr Munro for the sum of £149 9s, but altogether the green cost them close on £250. In the second season they went to Dunedin to meet Mosgiel. and beat that club. Tho following year they met Roslyn on their own green, and were again the winners, and a >ear later several rinks came from Dunedin, picked from all the club there, and played three matches in Oamaru, and tho Phoenix won all three.— (Laughter and applause ) Nowadays the club's difficulty was not to get the rinks to play a match, but t5 find places for all the players who would* like to play. Meek had been pre. s : dent twice, and had been a most generous and consistent member. He hoped both Mr and Mrs Meek would enjoy their trip, and would oovno 1-ack rejuvenated. Mr Meek, who was §rree;eci with prolonged applause, said he couid scarcely find words to express the pleasure it had given him to be there that; evening. He could only thank them for the honour dono him. Ha was one of the earliest members of the club, and he had never had more pleasure in anything than in his connection with the club and in his play on the green. Owing lo pressure of business and, latterly, illhealth, he had been unable to play for two years, but he hoped on his return that he would be able to- play again as in the. past. The club had had many difficulti-35 to contend with in the past, but it was satisfactory now to know that it was gettirrg strong financially, and also in its play. To hi 3 mind it was one of the most sociable games that a man could play. He had played on many other greens in the colony, and he did not know* one that was better, and that _ greatly contributed to the pleasure of playing. He thanked them for their handsomepresent, which he would carry with him on his travels, and bring it back again, and also returned thanks for rheir entertainment that evening. Mr J. M. Brown and Mr Taylor mad<? some complimentary allusions to the guest ■ of the evening, and wished him a pleasaut trip and a safe return. Mr Brown, in re- • fcrring to the financial difficulties encountered, said thero was a small P-N. of his still in the bank in connection with thero, and Mr Taylor volunteered the information that Mr M"'Douall had told him that only a little while ago he had torn them all up. The Chairman thought, after what they had just heard, it was their duty to drink the health of their first president and banker, Mr M'Douall. in bumpers. A banker who would tear tip P.N.s deserved that. Mr M'Douall said he had come there to do honour to Mr Meek, and to wish him and Mrs Meek a pleasant trip. As . to the finances, he was sure Mr Waddell would remember the many letters he had had calling on him to reduce the amount of the overdraft, and he believed that Mr Waddell had to thank Mr Meek for very much that he had done in reducing the debfc on the green. As to those P.N.'s—(Laughter) — he was looking over them some time ago, and found one of his own and tore it up, and then he tore- up the- rest. — (Laughter) He was almost sorry now that he had done that — (laughter). — for he might have had them framed. — (Renewed laughter.) There were some very good marks among them and some bad ones. — • (Laughter.)

The toast of Mr A Mackay, the president of the Meadowbank Club, was next proposed and responded to, after which the. medals for the Club Championship were presented to the winners by th-e Chairman. The winners for last year were Messrs Proc-

te-r and Swindley, and this year Messrs D. Bee and P. A. Smith.

The toasts "The Chairman" and "Our Host and Hostess"" having 1 been proposed and responded to, the proceedings closed •with "Auld lang syne."

BOWLING AND TENNIS CLUB FOX

MAORI HILL.

A meeting was held in the Maori Hill Council Chambers on Thursday for the pur-

ipose of forming a bowling and lawn tennis club. There were about 30 persons and Mr P. Duncan was voted to ithe chair.

The Chairman explained at some length. ;ithat steps hed been taken by himself and -some other gentlemen to secure a suitable '.site for the propoeed green, and after

fmaking inquiries in various directions they Jhad waited upon the Misses M'Glashan, /who had mefthem in a generous, spirit, and ~Thad given them, an acre and a-half of the "SBalmaeewen Estate at a peppercorn price \ — viz., £250. The site was an ideal one -jfor the purpose, and adjoinedthe Education Board's ijchool site, andiilso had a jl2ft- entrance from Balmacewen road. As .an'__evidenbe of the- public spirit that - had !«iiaraoterised the selling of the land at so 3ow a figure, he mentioned that the acre J/oi land adjoining, which was sold to the

"£Education Board, cost £500: The area a- larg-e one, and when the bowling Tgreen and tennis courts were formed the "tfotal- cost would be about £1000. The offer lhad' been closed" with, and the purchase •anoney was advanced temporarily and paid 'Ovee. When the land was purchased it mentioned to the sellers that it w^s intended to pay for it- and hand it over -as a bowling and tennis reserve, etc., to Ofche local Borough Council for the use of 'Jfche residents. That was the intention of

~4he promoters, but it had been found that

"jbefore the land could b© put to the -purposes for which it was intended a further -sum of £750 would require to be expanded upon it, and he proposed that this sum =»nd the £250 purchase money should be raised by donations, subscriptions, etc., and - ->rhen everything was paidj the property should be handed over to the Borough •Council, as the land would then be a public apeserve for the purpose, and would Lot "be liable to be cut nc for building allot-

'^nents or other purposes, -as might be the case if a company was formed and had con■fcror of it. /

Mr S., N. Brown mentioned that the purshase money had been advanced 1 by Mr 'I?. Duncan ( and that it was owing to that •gentleman's' efforts and represeatations they •■were able to report as satisfactorily as they •Viid that evening. He moved — " That those form themselves into a bowling

-and lawn tennis club to be called J 'he Bal-

snacewen Bowling and Tennis Club, Maori - 3BKH:" - The motion was seconded by Mr

•C Grater,- and- carried. ,Mr' O. Balk moved— " Tliat • a fund for , -jnirchasiiig the -site be raised by voluntary f subscriptions, "and that a. nueleas for wcrk- "" $ng expenses /be- raised by ccntribuuons . inf £1 per gentleman and 10s per" lady from ' jH- 'enrolled members."VSeconded by Mr . and carried.

.On -the motion of Mr Duncan, seconded jijpMr Muller, tbc meeting -also recorded its thanks to the Misses M'Glashan for their ' generosity in handing over a site at so .moderate a price. The following ladies- and gentlemen were

appointed an Executive Committee to ad-

■*vance the club and submit a constitution to * genera.! meeting of members ai an early

date: — Misses Sparrow, Church, Robertson. •Child, Pilkington, Brown, and Messrs

sWales. Duncan, Balk, Brown, Grater, J. | -Sparrow S. N. Brown, "jun., Allen, Wilson, ! "Hodges, Butterfield, M 'Donald. B. Robertson, Flelt, B. Sparrow, -R. T. Wheeler,^ -and Passmore, with power to add. The meeting throughout was enthusiastic, and augured well for the future of the jslub and ground.

KAITUNA v. CALEDONIAN.

The match between the ELaituna and Calelonlan Clubs, postponed" on the occasion of the "amateur athletic sports, was played on Saturday on -the Caledonian Green. The "heavy rain did not seriously affect the green, "which became quite keen as play went on. "^Che Caledonians were in the lead at the 14th Siead, but in the next seven heads they only •ndied 8 to their total, while Kaituna scored 84, the Kaituna Club thus winning by a . majority of 21 points. A rink of colts from pach club also met in friendly contest, which jthe Caledonian members won by 5 points. "^Afternoon tea was provided and much appre.•«a*ted. Complimentary speeches were made *y Apr C. F. Greenslade. on behalf of the Cale--clonisms and- by Captain Sundstrum for KaiTiuna, and" the proceSings closed with an ex.ichange of "cheers. Players and scores : — K. C. I <3a*>tain .Sundstruni, J. F. Bailey, E. I W. Davies, T. Spiers (s) . . .* . . 24 — "3".. Smeaton, W. Cessford, D. Smith, J. Collins (s) .. '. — 11 IW. Mills, D. Cameron, F. Holmes, E. Cook (b) .- 14 — V. F. Greenslade, J. A. Kirby, K. C. TTorra-nce*, J. S. Evans (s) — 20 jG. B Smith. T. J. Monson, A. W. Stables, G. B. Ball (s) 16 — J". Perry, J. Wedderspoon, A. Waugh, ! G. Capstick (s) — 16 W. Dawe, W. Taylor, D. Melville, H. Smeaton (s) 22 — I". Gebbie. J. Hogg, A. E. Evans, E. Hogg (s) — 15 W. Watson. D. L. Hutton, J. .Lindsay, T. Sneddon (s).. .. „ .T .. .. 20 — >T. Scott, J. Dee, F. Foley, C. Barlow <s) — 14 &.T Thomson, R. Taylor, A. Crawfoxd, J. Stokes (s) 23 — f. C. Abernethy, J. F. Mills, F Carter, D. Murohison (s) .. ... — 22 Totals • „, .. .. 119 98 Colts. 7E. Lambourne, — Lamb, J. Scott, T. Bottmg (s) 18 — $.. Barclay, T. Morris, T. Callender J. Ji'Lennan (s) — 23 PALMERSTON v. KAITUNA. 'A most enjoyable niatch of three rinks a-side was played at Pa-lmerston yesterday I "between the local club and a team from Kaituna. The green was in splendid playing, erder, and the weather perfect. In the early «tages the play was very even, but at the sixteenth head the scores were 48 to 33, with the aocal team leading by 15 points. At this stage the visitors, recognising the serious aspect of affairs, and fortified by tea kindly dispensed by the Palmerston ladies, made the necessary ■effort Payne's rink materially assisting by Bcoring 8 points on the last two heads. Rmks 2 and 3 were the first to finish, with a lead for the local team of 5 points, and Kaituna's honour was in Corliss's hands, with an eager j&nfi excited audience. At th» twentieth head

Corliss was 7 points ahead, and Ferguson required 3 to win the niatch. With the two skips to play Palmerston lay four bowls close to the jack on a long head, and the excitement was intense. Corliss with his last bowl lay second shot with a- beautiful draw, and won the niatch for the visiting team. Ferguson attempted a drive with his last bowl, which might have been effective had there not been a short shot in his way. Players and scores : — P. K. A. M'lntosh, D. Ross, Jas. Sloan, D. Ferguson (s) 16 — R. W. Smith, W. Mills, J. A. Haslett, P. C. Corliss (b) — 22 D. M. Darrell, C. Good, E. H. Clark, E. Lefevre (s) 15 — W. Taylor, J. Arkle, J. Stone, C. T. Paterson (s) — 16 M. Allan, Jas. Ross, D. Porteous, Dr Hislop (s) 24 — E. C. Woodward, E. Philp, F. Smith, C. J. Payne (s) -^. • — 18 Totals 55 56 Dr Hislop welcomed the visitors, and Mr Taylor (vice-president of the Kaituna Club) responded on his club's behallf.