LOYAL WAIKATO LODGE, I.O.O.F., M.U.

Thames Star, Volume VI, Issue 1769, 3 September 1874, Page 2

LOYAL WAIKATO LODGE, 1.0.0. F., M.U.

SOIEEE AJND PJKJSSfiSNa^TJOISr. A soiree warheld in the l!A'cadcniy of Music lasfc'evening under thi,auspices of the Loyal; Wgikatq Lodg? of [Odd c Fellows, the occasion, bpin'g a presentation of a .reliable 'gold, watch and/golft-'mounted hair guard to P.:G. Bngnall for services rendered to the Lodge and to the Order. At six o'clock tea was served in the, ball to a large number of visitors, of whom 1 there could-nof, havejbefen Jess than tlii-eo i orYour'hundred.' The tea and other, refreshments were supplied by~Mr. Curtis of the Pacific Hotel. \ About half-past eight o'clock Dr. Perston, surgeon of the Loyal Waika|o Lodge, tqokthe chair, v ,on-.the stage, and surrounding him were' Me following :—- QdcUFellows: PfP.G.M. Place, P.G. Vowles, P.G. Taylor, N.G. Davey, Loykl Waikato Lodge; N.G, Whjtaker, LoyM., • CTiarlesßrufce Lodge; N.G. Bates, Loykl' Hunter Lodge Grand United Order Odd Fellow^; Eprestera?: C. Hi Schumalcer, 1P.0.2& Campbell^iand Pjp.K.C#?ornok cWt'Pride of Parne'li; P.C.E. T. Eajdon, Court City of Auckland. j - ■ : ''The* 'Chairman, in opening tho proceedings, said he had been unexpectedly called .upon to fill the chair in the absence of t|ie Mayor, who was prevented from attending thro.v gh jftbif^M yThey;givero*ll a^af e that! ilie ■principal object of the! kfiree w&s* to, make, a.^eseittation Ap ,1?.,,^ TJagnaU' for nis service's to' the Lodge as Permanent Secretary and for his services to theordor, in making himself and theni acquainted,with the,trues principles of tlie orderi- He; looted upon benefit societies as comprising the elite, of the working classes. 'i;"^hey a^brded'ybung men an opportunity of ,debating different questibn"sV;'(He '(the' Chairman) was glad to see so many representatives of othip'r societies present: it showed a good feeling. He would not detain them with! a long speech, but would call upon the Cornish Glee Singers to give them some music. . ' ! Messrs Trcwheela, White and T. Mills then givel the pretty song and chorus of " Norah.X)arling;''> < ■ j The Chairman said the next thing on the programme was the presentation fo P. G. Bagnall. The G.M. of the Auckland/D|strict,; to hafe mado the'^esenMionVhad4)eon"pfevented by unibrseen circumstances from attending, aiid the pleasurable duty of presenting the watch had therefore devolved upon P. G. 'Vowles, as the oldest" officer andmember of the Loyal Waikato Lodge. | P. G-. Vowles felt that he was unable to do the duty devolving upon him justice. The G.M. had been unable to be present, and they had only been apprised of it By telegram that day. He (tho speaker) was one of the founders of tho Loyal Waikato Lodge, and, he could say it, tlie only one left. He had entered the employ.. of Bro. Bagnall five years ago, and, having-. had many conversations with him, he had induced Mr. Bagnali 'to allow him (the speaker) to pro-; pose him for membership. He had done so, and they knew that Mr. Bagnajll had at once set about qualifying himself j for the highest offices in the Lodge. (Tlie,! speaker then referred to the various, offices which Mr. Bagnall had filled front, the time he first joined the lodge). He said as Permanent Secretary Bro. Bainall[was the best.they^ever had or would. |ti^y|^H^ begge<|! p^rdo^n, with all diie ? reference "to the*present"secretary. It was a slip of the tongue. The present secretary and Bro. Bagnall were like two pijns in a papefe: "tjiey .Tvere§bst|r good.' '|le|(the|speakef) !s&§. seen,Jh|jwofking pf lodges in O tago and Canterbury, and lie • had not seen a brother who knew more .of the:,order r .than Mr. Bagn|ill.^ Before he had; beetf^a fortnight, : a memher| he" knew more of ithe order than the~speaker. Mr. Bagnall had neglected his owjn businesß to forward their interest's^ H| f(t.he/spgake^)' hadf |bften beejn accused %ff naving' tod' much tongue. • There was one lady present who,, would say no, but he would not say toor much then, as he knew some of theixi" were waiting for tho second part of tho,' programme. Mr. Vowles . then called upon Mr. Bagnall, and in making the,, presentation he said, " Take this watc;hand wear it, and may you continue to be a shining light to the Waikato Lodge;" (Applause). . | „ (The watch is a handsome gold hunting 1 lever by Eotherham, and is valued at' thirty guineas.) _ ' j Mr. Bagnall, in responding, said he had not expected to hear his good qualities'' 1 extolled to such an extent; indeed he did not know he had so many good qualities as those enumerated. It gave him great pleasure to receive so valuable a present, from the members of the Waikato Lodge/ for he felt that it came with the hearty good wishes of nearly 300 of his brother Odd Fellows. He dated his', career on the Thames (as a citizen outside his own private "circle) from the date he joined the 'Loyal Wbikato Lodge. He said it to all that heard him that these benefit societies were of the greatest importance "to their members, and feeling j thatr> qn joining he h&d devoted himself to forwarding their intorests. lie felt the greatest pleasure' in seeing so many representative' of other benefit societies present. He had endeavored to cultivate a good feelirfg between tha* benefit societies, and 'to him was due the f jlnited demonstration which took" place last year. He •had not the jCdfre'ct figures but he Relieved tlie benefit societies numbered 1000 members on the Thames, which was a " large" proportion of the population, cdriaideripg 'th^t members were all adult males, they hot having yet arrived at thp point of admitting females, He believed that number would shortly be considerably augmented. From the recommendations of, the Royal Commission which had just „ concluded ,its sitting s in England, the Parliament had decided upon giring en-

larged powers, which would also increase the members there, who already numbered eight millions interested in friendly, focieties. He would not detain them' long, but ho would impress upon all, in conclusion, the necessity of joining some friendly socipty. He did riot see anything against merging all the societies in one—they And one' object. He would again express hisv hearty th'anka to the members of the Waikato Lodge for their presentation. -He would continue to take adeepinterest in tho welfare of the Lodge. When he joined the Lodge it had only some 40,membcrs, and £70 in funds.—lt "now numbered about 250 rueinberi, and had funds amounting to upwards of £1006/ It had seen unexampled prosperity, an;d he had no doubt it would bo equally prosperous in the future. (Cheers). [ Mr. W, H. Eced then sang a serio-comic song " I'll bear it like a man." He was encored most heartily, and gave " Sindej we, were .boys together.",. „ * c , ! •P.P.G^M.'Place'hext gare'an tddressd n the. Manchester,.uuity. ~ Ho said the^ei were now something like five hundredthousand „ member-a^.andr sixr thousand lodges.' gavfe%fo%reat pieaWo to ue present at.a gathering Jikc.that at whichj thej were •assembfed; 'because it was suc!h members .a? P.G,. B^gnn.ll who,had made the M'ah'bhester'tJnity \vhat"'it was.'' He' would not detain^them, but hpjpedtheL<jyal Waikaid' Jw i6uld''gb:; bu"increasing^' aiid. . that mauy^xH\einbecs > like r P.G. r ßagaall 'wb'urd'ris^C" to'sustain its reputation.' "'' „.-,.Song—•'.JTennyj-who ji^e* in the,dell]" ' Mr." T. Mills.'assisted by Messrs. White and, Tre.wheglain the .chorus.;;,; . *'i« ; , Chief *' Eanger ■ Schumaker, A.0.F., hoped they ]would not expect much from him, as it was out of his line. He was ;under,..obligntions'lto the Loyal'WaiEato Lodge for the invitation to bo present atsuchia^gathering^as^itl was an evidence of the good feeling which existed. Their objectsi -were a fll -'the 'same/ahd'ho hopedall present would ; encleayorj to induce their friends tb! ■b'ccbme'inbiiibers of oiie r or other of the orders, that they might the better secure tlio objoefcs in view, which were to assist those in distress. 1 1 > P.G. Eanger Comes, A.0.F., nest spoke, and congratulated the committee on getting up the presentation and gathering. The numbers present were an evidence ©f the success. He was happy to pay Ja tribute to the worth of Mr. Bagnallf an sd; it was.confirmed, by the,.presejatatio p n. JHjje thotigßt th^ la3ijgsllnfei:e3ts;rQight"be in-, yoked to further the objects of the?e orders, but at present they were, perhaps, anxious to indulge dtt aylance. The Loykl 1 Waikato Lodgeiaa%i€it a good, example iin ■■. rewarding merit/ aa^^example which could welllbe imitated:;"bj" others.^ /., \, PIC. Eanger Angus' Campbell testifie*d to j]the worthTof Mr^lfagnall. Hie woulfi lik^to have seen: the|fcestimonial,a united demonstration from'the friendly societiefe, and he was quite sure that if a subscriotion had been. Tasked 'from the members : Qf'.bisj CjQurt ifc; would; have been giv^Uj heartily. He enjoined upon the young' men- to joiif'tHeir order.'' 'They wouH find s in; the lodges wives! whp would lbclk after them welL . ■,;,;■,; I P.C. E. Eawdbn felt it an l|(Qnor to be .pre/^nt at,thejgatheringt-\ It\J|howedth!e feeling^lq^Mri BagyiUa)d!d' he hqpejd the ladies .pre ( se.n| .^wp.uld,induce;their sweetliearts to^oin .one -;br^tlier iP^thV orders^ "Some' 1 eight :^dr'pwe^iy;yetit : a ago his present, wife had said to him he , h&d; better ; join.,, the; ;Forestejfsjias 4 her •Jb/pthjerj was a; forester i and/they coulii be mate«. ;ille,hadijoined; and^they (hts wife and he),-had been pretty- gdq&jmdt&a ever since. He could see; ho^'eVer^tfiey, ; Wianted dancing'partners ;tb-Highti and he would not longer:d:etam' them." v; (Ghee,rs>) '<^ Sbng^";O?er 'tlie Wrn'te and Messrs. Mills' "and ''CWewheeli. (cheers,,),.... r . :' '..;;. , r , „,r ,-, Vi „,, I :-\a^:G;^Whi^ket, ,Ch^rl^: Bruce Lodgj^ i said speefehesl were gerierally dry, except when given .by good men, and not, being:a" [^bbd* 'man': '(a'a ,a; spbakbiO fh,e w;bMd jnake robm"fbf one el!se in order''to'ailojir I-them toget to the dancing." "He'was'gla'd to be, present at sijch a nleasantgathering. ?'.'. -JSp^g-" :p3f;thp {^ohawlc Yalef-f----/|tr ' f '(\ A..... Towles. , J: ;An; rencore ■ was de - 'wanded,', and,- tjie singer repeated a verie of his song. ,')•;* i'Vifj-fiO i "* ..,!, £T.G. 71 Batea^,. Q.JJv OiunteiCv-scliodgfe^ thpugftt iti.hia ; duty^o.; telli them something about the first lodge of his order in ]STew 1;[ Zealand,-r-It i , i had.' ! Qrdyw J ,beeh in existenbiß abou| 20 months,;but It'^ay;e,'fiim^^.pleasureVio' be pre'%eiX'^i£ 'such' a"'pre' l sentatipn..tcr a worthy^ brother. He had. noticed him during* cases 'otieial distress, 'stfcli'' as' '^Bciqents. Heif3ibped :this: ■^'bllld ;i!nbt"b'e!''thb last gathering of the,kind, because^such meetings werfe'balcu^ interests; :h6p'ed. to see somekjnbTr|d ';siociety' ;making "■£' "preaentation like thaftP Bro. Bagnall) and.,he hoped lie would live long.to wear the v watch. No doubt the presence of so many ladies would be taken as a great compliment by Mr. Bagnall, as much so as the presentation just made. ; Mr. Davcy proposed a vote of thanks £o tho ladie*-and to the'musicians who "had favored' .them, which wai parried by acclamation. * , ' ■> > - P.G. Bagnall proposed a rote of thanks to the Chairman, who had filled the' duly •at.a short notice. The Chairman was a very old Odd Fellow, and a medical who'took a great interest'in the , Order. Carried by acclamation. *>* . „, j This concluded the programme, and the room was then cleared for dancing, which was 1 entered into and kept up.with great spirit until an early hour this morning,; a .large company beiDg assembled 1. , I The members ot the different ,orde>s wore their regalia, and the iicene ,wns quite gay. - : We must not omit "to mention that the accompaniments to the $ongs*and tlie dance music were rertdored in excellentstyle by Messrs. W. H. and F. Eecd.' ■ , r ,At thoroughly enjoyable evouing .wiis spent by all present. - > ,t■•. (.' j