ATHLETES' DAY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11509, 4 October 1915, Page 8

ATHLETES' DAY.

EVENING PERFORMANCE. ABOUT £350 NETTED. Atli!oi<V Day. which was celebrated | on Saturday was continued daring 1 the ot ruing. A magic, lauh'Mt was shown near tlv main_ piawonn., and from time l.> time topical remarks wore ! thrown on the si ■ re-en to stimulate the ! crowd's generosity. lu the intervals j of item* on the Mage, the Lyiielton ."Marine, Citizens' Defence Corps and | Tramways Bands performed' on jh>' : shelter stand, am! from time to time ! tho crowd was invited to shorter its j monev on the otage. Ihe ret-poiiH* wa:fair, 'although it contained a. big pro nnrtion of penniev- Then the brilliant •idea was discovered of appealing lor a. shower of shillings, and on half-crowns, and in th'.s way the hind slowly grew. A number of gift,- wort offered at auction by Mr It. S. MKcn v!io, but bidding was not brisk, the crowd beiug evidently " dry." as the auctioneer remarked. Mr J>. M Lareii. who assisted in the evening, offered a M.ver watch at auction, and got the very fair return of I"3 2s 'id. Mrs Bailey gave a. clover _ exhibition of '>all punching, and .Miss Hart, using Mr A. Mitchell as a euoject, demonstrated how easy it is for a- woman to throw an assailant with j:u jitbU holds. Tho tug-of-war was limited' to teams of three men each, to allow it lie s.caged in the limited space available. An ind.catior showed tho crowd the position of the rope, and gre*t on- ' thusiasm was evoked. In tho fir-st I pulls Ireland beat Scotland, and New 1 Zealand boat England' by very narrow margins, and in the final New Zealand beat Ireland by a little under a foot. FINANCIAL RESULTS. Yesterday the honorary secretary (Mr F. A. Hornibrook) reported thetotal takings at £492 10s. exclusive of the returns from picture benefits, which will be continued until )Vednes clay. It is expected thnt the total ' proceeds will be £530, but this has to bo deducted tlio cost of tobacco, sweets, etc., wlrch had to bo j purchased. The _ profits from the entertainment will he about £do<o, and a balance-sheet is being prepared for publication by chartered accountants. Claims have been received by the Ath-otes club fiom the representatives of various funds, and these will bs considered caretudy by the Financo Committee before ailoea tion. In conversation with a reporter Mr Hornibrook said that where so manv had helped so loyally it was hard to make comparisons, but the very best thanks of the club were due to Mr Fairhur.st, of the Bank of New South j Wales, and his assistants, who worked ; most lovallv from noon till riearlv m;dI night, and 'had handled every collecting box and counted the money. The day s proceeds, ho were below extations, but on the other hand the Elic had been called on so often and given so freely of late, that tue returns might not be so bad after all. Tho trouble was that an enormous number of people were congregates closely in one Dlace and the collectors could not get" amongst them, while their interest was centred on the performance all the time. _ t The Canterbury Caledonian Society provided the following pipers and dancers for Athbtes' Dayln the Square—Pipe-Major S. R. Craig, Dancers Misses Clara M'lntosh, Doris Petrie. Ne!l : c Sinclair, Drucy Turner and Mr R. E. Evans, Riccarton and Sockburn —Pipe-Sergeant J. Shanahan, Dancers Misses Jessie Har&'e and Sylvia Stark. Belfast and Kaiapoi—Piper James Erskine, Dancers Mss Mabel Edginton and Mr Harry Edgmton. Among the gifts not previously acknowledged were the following: J. Nicoll, case of oranges; Mrs Cunningham and Mrs Geddies, tea; Mr E. Watkins, six bottles of cordials; Mr A- M'Kellar, 10s.