THE ART-UNION—THE DRAWING.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XVIII, Issue 27, 29 October 1886, Page 9

THE ART-UNION— THE DRAWING.

The drawing in connection with the Art-Union, promoted in aid o£ the building fund of the new Roman Catholic Church, came off on Saturday, at the Town Hall, Hawera. The hall looked pretty gay, for the prizes were laid out on a table, and made a very bright display, the first prize, the one hundred guinea picture, specially painted for the Art-Union by J. Rubie, of Sydney, being, of course, the centre of attraction . Tbe arrangements for the drawing seemed to be very complete, and extreme care had been taken to prevent even the most captious having a word of complaint, and we may add that not a word of complaint was made, so far as we heard. Shortly after half-past two o'clock, the Mayor (Mr. Major) opened proceedings in a short speech, in which he explained the modvs operandi to be followed ; and then the drawing commenced. There were two revolving boxes employed : one containing the numbers of the tickets sold, and the other a corresponding quantity of tickets made up of prizes and blanks. A boy at one box drew a ticket bearing a number ; simultaneously another boy at the other box drew a ticket, and declared it either a prize or blank as the case might be, and the draw was duly recorded. This went on till the numbers in both boxes were exhausted. The scrutineers were Messrs. McGuire, Barton, and Caplen, and Messrs. Brophy, Jno. Malone, and Haughey acted as a committee in charge of tbe boxes. The drawing was not completed till half-past nine, having continued since half-past two o'clock, with the exception of an adjournment of about an hour and a half for refreshments. There was a large attendance, especially in the evening, and there was great interest, not to say excitement, manifested in the proceedings. The winner of the first prize waa Miss Melville, of Manaia ; the second went to Wanganui, the third to Marton, the fourth to Wanganui, anl the fifth to Hawera. A full list of the winning numbers appears in another column. Every part of the colony came in for a share of tbe prizes. It may be mentioned that about 2500 tickets had been sold. The proceedings passed off most pleasantly, and we hope that the church fund will derive substantial benefit. It may be mentioned that the refreshment stall was presided over by Mrs. Flynn, and the Misses Hall, Leydon, and Bnright, the stall being provided by contributions from the ladies of the congregation. — Hawera Star, October 18.