THE BRYDONE MEMORIAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2677, 5 July 1905, Page 11

THE BRYDONE MEMORIAL.

Mr Gilbert Anderson, managing director of the Christchurch Meat | Company, suggested, in the paper on " The Frozen Meat Industry " that was read by him on Thursday at the Winter Show, that it would be a fitting thing if a monument were erected in Dunedin in memory of Mr Thomas Brydone, " the father of the New Zealand meat trade." The opinion expressed by Mr Anderson is undoubtedly shared by the agricultural and^ pastoral community, which has benefited considerably as the result of Mr Brydone's foresight and enterprise. The only question about whicK there was any disagreement has been that of the form the memorial should take, and it is a gratifying " circumstance that the discussion on the subject at the annual meeting of the Agricultural and Pastoral Society seenia ' to foreshadow the adoption of each of the alternative projects that have been supported. The difficulty which the prompters of the Brydone scholarship 1 m'ovenfent encountered through the -insufficiency " of, the response to the appeal for subscriptions vanishes if farmers are prepared to act upon the , > suggestion that has been originated in Oamaru and to apply the proceeds of the sale of the produce of one lamb to ; the scheme, and if, moreover, the offer of Mr Fergus, to make one of 100 subscribers of equal amounts to a fund of £1000 i.s7taken up. There is really no reason at all why, if the farming community approaches the movement in the -spirit in which it was discussed on Wednesday night, a memorial bursary and a memorial hall should not both be provided. The necessity for the provision of additional space for the accommodation of .exhibits at the Winter ,■• Show has become urgent. The space that is at present available' does not .admit of. the exhibits being displayed £0 ■ complete advantage. The Society is, indeed, as was remarked from the chair at .the annual meeting, greatlf/ hampered by want of room. And there can of expansion so 'long as the ■^^elS^tmg premises are made to suffice for "the : shpw. , The Society cannot well delay longer about arranging for the c possession of another hall, and the pro- J posal that such an addition to the build- \ ings should be '"provided in the shape of j a Brydone Memorial Hall has a very ! ' practical ring about it. T-he establishment of a memorial of this kind ? would connect Mr Brydone's name permanently

with the Society that has so much cause to Be grateful to his memory and with the show that annually provides an

excellent collection, of the products of an industry whichrowes its present position of prosperity in large measure to his

exertions. Mr Pattiillo eutertains no doubt that the funds sufficient to pro"vide a, suitable memorial hall can be - raised, and -it does not seem to us that the. view he has taken -of the matter is unduly sanguine. In that case the - Society should be in possession, at the time of its next Winter Show, of premises that will enable it to provide a better display than it has ever yet been in a position to offer. It may be added that the Society Eas already been exceedingly fortunate in the manner in

which its friends have ■ assisted it in 'regard to town buildings. Mr James Hazlett, who is the president of the

Society for the year, treated it, as the

members were informed at their annual meeting, .in an exceedingly generous way in handing over to it at the price at which tney cost him, without any interest charge whatever, the premises it itow possesses for Winter Show purposes, and His Majesty's Theatre and its annexes are to be transferred to the Society, absolutely without any consideration, when they have been freed from debt. In the course of time, therefore, the Society will hold a noble asset in its city property.