THE QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 680, 19 January 1883, Page 2

THE QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY.

It may seem almost premature to talk about making arrangements for tbe ;Queen's Birthday when the middle :of January has barely passed, but the four months will soon slip away, and if we are not first in the field with a definite proposal of what we shall do on that day, other amusements will doubtless be devised in other parts of the district, and so there will be less interest and less chance of a thorough success. It is by no means a light task to arrange a programme so attractive as to awake the sympathies of the great majority of the Peninsula residents, but we believe it could be managed on this occasion, for athletic sports are in favor with most people, and no one can deny that they are health promoting, and that they teach great moral lessons of patience and endurance —better than most amusements. The proposal to make the Queen's Birthday the occasion of a great athletic gathering in Akaroa is by no means new. It seems to us a day thoroughly fittea for that especial purpose, and we warmly advocate the" At that time the busy grass seeding and cheese making season are over, and there is leisure for the farmers and their families to. nttend and assist; besides the weather is cooler, for the great heat of the year has passed, and the Indian summer, with its charming tints, sunny sky, and long calms, has not yet yielded to winter. The time therefore is good ; and there is one other recommendation which the day has, and that is; that it is at such a distance from the other holidays that it is generally more appreciated. We should certainly " like to see a Caledonian Society started here, for those associations ■are almost universally successiul,.and succeed in drawing visitors from outside. Once start it, and we believe it would go ahead ; but nerhaps, as time is short, it would be well not to try the experiment till after the Sports are held. In any c se it is time now, if a gathering is to take place, to elect an influential committee to prepare a programme, and test public feeling on the matter. The sooner this is done the better, and we should recommend that the committee elected should be a very large one, and that it should iac'.ude representatives from'the various country localities. -If somebody would only takd tne initiative and c ill a meeting, or get.up a petition to present to the Mayor, asking him to call a public meeting to consider the question, general interest would be awakened. We hope earnestly tint before many days have passed we shall hear of this having been done, and that a goo 1 and representative committee tvi I have been elected, and commenced their <york with tliat energy that renders success almost a certainty,