DAY BY DAY.

Waikato Times, Volume 86, Issue 13103, 10 February 1916, Page 4

DAY BY DAY.

Harmony prevailed. It might be doubted by those who have Harmony followed the course ot ar.ii Opera, events in connection with amateur musical and dramatic societies of the town during the past ten years, hut it is perfectly true that the first annual meeting of the Hamilton Operatic Society, held a tew nights ago, was marked by the greatest good feeling amongst the members. This is (juite an unusual occurrence, for in the past discordant notes have often marked the proceedings of the musical bodies of the town, and the meetings have invariably been productive of anything but a concord of sweet sounds. Congratulations are therefore due to the Society upon its smooth running and upon the excellence of its first production. "The Geisha," probably the finest amateur performance ever presented to the public of Waikato. The Society lias therefore every reason to he proud of its achievements, and especially of handing over a sum of something like £IG4 to the Wounded Soldiers' Fund. As a rule amateur societies emerge from their first year's operations with the balance on the wrong side, but here the Operatic Society has again done the unusual, for not only is there money in hand, but assets to the value of £2O are also possessed. But the thing the Society should feel most grateful tor is the fact that its ranks are not serried by dissension, and that the committee feels confident, in undertaking the next production, of having the enthusiastic support of members. It is only by unity of spirit and the existence of general good feeling that success can he attained by such bodies. Wo feel quite sure the Hamilton Operatic Society has an excellent future.

According to reports there is a great deal of discontent Railways among the men emplovand ed at the Petone railway Recruiting, workshops, in common with Railway Department employees elsewhere, in consequence of the departmental attitude towards those men who desire to enlist for foreign service. There is also much feeling in respect to the dismissal of married men, while single men are retained on the staff. These matters have been the subject of correspondence between the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants and the Ministers for Railways and Defence. In the letter attention was drawn to tho fact that railwaymen who were willing and anxious to enlist were being prevented from doing so by the department, also that in certain districts single men were engaged to the exclusion of married men, and married men were being dismissed, while the services of single men were retained. The General Manager of the department complained to the executive of the A.S.R.S. respecting certain passages in the letter, which he characterised as offensive, but the executive declined to withdraw or modify them in any respect. The men employed at Petone have just decided to send a deputation to the general secretary of the A.S.R.S. asking him to proceed further with the matter in the endeavour to obtain satisfaction on the points raised.