ON A BRITISH BASIS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 77, Issue 209, 4 September 1934, Page 10

ON A BRITISH BASIS

WORK OF KINDRED CLUBS ELOQUENT APPEAL BY LEADED ACTIVITIES TO BE WIDENED For the first time for five years a ► Dominion conference of the New Zealand Association of Kindred Clubs (Orphans and Savages) was held in . | Wellington on Saturday, about 30 dele- ! gates being present from various parts ■ of the country. The annual report stated that there i were 25 affiliated tlubs, 18 orphans’ and 17 savage clubs. Since 1929, five clubs had gone into recess. Efforts had been made to resuscitate these clubs, • but so far without success. An e?ti- ( mate of the aggregate membership for the Dominion was 8327. The assoeia- • tion was established in 1926, and taking all factors into consideration, had - justified its formation. It had become a bureau *£ information and the means I of the exchange of ideas, and apart from the encouragement of the transfer of members from one club to an- ’ other and the interchange of cluhyisits k much had been done in a personal way. i “A Brief Outline of the Part Played in Life by Savagery and Orphandom,” ■ was the subject of an address by Dr. G. J. Adams, Ariki of the Wanganui Savage Club. The doctor said:— “It is perhaps appropriate on such 1 an occasion as this, tho first tonference of Kindred Clubs of Savagery and Orphandom held in this Dominion since 1929, that some reference should be ‘ made to the cause that -we all so earn- , estly foster. The factor that concerns ; me most at this stage is that it ia such a fine cause, enwrapped in such great traditions and sentiments if viewed in | Ihe proper light, that I think one more ' worthy than myself could have been ’ chosen to address you on the subject. *‘Since both Savagery and Orphan- ► dom are almost identical in their object.s, and are so intimately interwined in their origin, T propose to-day to ask • you to accept the general belief that they are more or less the same. Savagery and Orphandom are trulv British in origin, and have remained so throughout the whole of their lives. Their influences have spread throughout the Empire, although in a somewhat scattered manner, and we find offshoots in South Africa, one of the most notable being tho Savage Club of Johannesburg; in Australia we find the Atheneum Club; in Sydney, the Yorick Club in Melbourne, the Johnsonian Club in Brisbane: and in Now Zealand our Savagery and Orphandom which includes the affiliated clubs of Melbourne and Sydney. These all have similar objects to, and reciprocal relationship with the parent club in London, and, I understand, other clubs in Great Britain. Staunchly British “Whilst Savagery and Orphandom have remained British throughout, their objects—viz., the •creation of good-fel-lowship and the encouragement of artistic tastes wore too noble to remain unattractive to other nations, with the result that clubs of similar nature have arisen outside the Empire and particularly in that great English-speaking race of the United States of America, where we find the Lotus and Lambs Clubs with similar ideals, and both enjoying reciprocal relationship with our paient club in London, and I feel sure, with all other Savage and Orphans ’’ Clubs throughout our great Empire whenever sut'h relationship is sought. “Furthermore, Savagery am? Urphandom are genuinely British in spirit, and particularly so when imbued with the correct ideals, viz., clo.se cooperation in, and loyalty to the common cause, coupled with the comrade* ship that must be pare and parcel of honest good-fellowship of a reciprocal nature. \\ hat ideals could be better in the world to-day than those? What better solution could there be for our present troubles than the adoption of the spirit of Savagery and Orphandom throughout the world? What greater pleasure cuuld one be blessed with than the opportunity to .spend one’s spare moments in an endeavour to inculcate tne true spirit of Bavagery and

Orphandom in tuose with whom we come into contact, with the earnest dei>ire that the cause should be spreac throughout the world to such an ex tent that its presence and beneiicia ellects must be felt io -some purpose. “We know that ttavagcry, and subsequently Orphandom, originated in a lowly and simple manner about iht year 1857 in Bohemian London, with Andrew Halliday, Dr. G. L. btrauss the Brough family, W. B. Tegetmeiei, George Augusta bala amongst its pioneers —a bold band of but twelve al told, all of whose names have been since recorded on the scroll of fame in their respective spheres of life. As toe years rolled by, surrounded by simplicity in both oomicile and associations exposed to a multitude of vicissitude* in regard to finance and abode, these noble pioners fought onwards endeavouring to brighten one another’s lives during day* that were perhaps even darker than to-day, with such British tenacity, suca honesty of purpose, and such loyalty to cause, steadily adding to their numbers, that tangible success had to follow. W'e therefore find them on April 16, 1881, after eleven changes in their home during the 24 years of their existence, moving into their first pretenious domicile —Lancaster House; out now they are to be found endowed with a substantial membership of considerably over 200, including such well-known personalities as George Grossmith, J. L. Toole, Henry 8. Leigh, the Earl of Dunraven, Mr. . Kendal, Mark Twain, Carl Rosa, Harry Furniss, E. A. Sothern, H. B. Chatterton, Aaron Watson, Artemus Ward, Henry Irving, and a multitude of others that time will not permit me to mention. It was about this time (to be exast, 1883) that our late King Edward VII. (then Prince of Wales) became a member, and subsequently even occupied the chair, and we find such men as W. E. Gladstone, H. M. Stanley. Bennett Burleigh, the Khedive of Egypt (Ishmail Pasha), Oliver Wendell Holmes, llu&sell Lowell (United States Ambassador), and other equal notabilities intimately associated with the club. “Therefore, I think I can safely say chat the Seal of Savagery, and we can also assume of Orphandom, had by this time been w’ell and truly cast, and I am sure that your hearts must beat with pride to think that the foundation of the cause that you so enthusiastically represent was laid by such men as 1 have mentioned, and was honoured in its membership by Royalty and the best in the land. Progress and prosperity still continued, and in 1890 we find the London