CHAIRMANSHIP

Waipa Post, Volume 41, Issue 3187, 12 August 1930, Page 5

CHAIRMANSHIP

SYMPTOMS OF AN ORPHAN. Varied are the “ exhibitions ” given by chairmen when called u|)pn to preside at meetings. Some have natural aptitude, and slip into the job as a hand into a glove; others display a blundering incapacity that must be as painful to the chairman himself as to the audience or company over which he presides; and of course, there are the many grades of excellence in between the two extremes. A reference to chairmanship was made at the local Orphans’ Club gathering last Saturday night. In his opening remarks, Bro. Sinclair created some amusement by a short address entitled “ Diagnosis of the Symptoms of an Orphan when he takes the Chair.” After making an apt quotation from a scientific work dealing with the herd instinct in animals, he commented on the fact that, no matter how jully and care-free an Orphan might be when he mixed with the crowd, the moment he was singled out as chairman and faced the crowd, the victim usually experienced a reaction which reminded him vividly of that memorable occasion when he was placed on the operating table, and got his first whiff of chloroform. In spite of its terrors, however, said the speaker, the position of chairman was an honour which should not be delegated, a responsibility which should not be shirked, especially by those .younger of the club who would one day take a prominent part in the civic, professional, commercial or sports life of the community. His experience had been that nowhere would one find, more so than in an Orphans’ club, that good-natured fellowship, that sympathetic feeling, and that hearty encouragement which meant so much to the fledgling who wished to try his wings before entering the wider realms of public life. (Applause.) When extending a cordial welcome to the delegation from Cambridge Orphans’ Club, Bro. Sinclair said that these fraternal visits were one _ of three factors, which, in combination, made Orphans’ clubs unique. The first factor for fostering and developing the musical talent of the district; the second factor had an appeal much more earthly, but none the less powerful. He did not know who was the brilliant genius who first suggested that a good supper should form an integral part of an Orphans’ club evening, but after giving a quotation from Emerson stating that supper was a prime factor in the success of a club met for social intercourse, the speaker expressed the hope that, as the chief steward of the club superintended the distribution of the pickled onions, and the heating of the pies, he would be encouraged by the knowledge that so noble a work not only had the benediction of one of the world’s greatest philosophers; it was also highly appreciated by every member of the club. (Laughter and applause.) The third factor which contributed to the success of Orphans’ clubs, he said, was the fraternal visits from orphans in other districts, because these visits acted as a mental tonic on a club; and of all tonics, the best, safest and most exhilirating was that happy social intercourse, which reached the apex .of enjoyment when club members rubbed shoulders and compared notes with visiting orphans. (Applause.)