THE HOLIDAYS.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume V, Issue 448, 30 December 1876, Page 3

THE HOLIDAYS.

The Christmas Holidays, commencing on Saturday evening last and terminating on Wednesday morning, thus allowing a good spell for the hard worked citizens of Tauranga, passed off in a decidedly quiet and -sober manner. The morning of

, ; OHBIBTMAS DAT was not ushered in by the sound of merry peals of church bells, rung by the, hands of willing volunteers, as many will remember was the good old custom in the " days of long ago," nor was, the quiet of the Christmas nights broken in upon by the music of tho;. waits... Holly and. mistletoe and j the decorations of ; the churches^ and jpther signs- of Christmasrtide, were* als^ wanting to remind one of the season, but there was.lovely weather, -and:.the shopß were religiously closed, and most people seemed fcent on at least doing aU.they could to celebrate the day bydoing nothing thoroughly. 3?ri.vate Christmas gatherings there doubtless .were, but. we only write of the outward' and visible signs which Christmas timep. bring with them wi> ere : Christmas is Christmas. There was service at the Ghurcii of England in the morning,when tKe grand old lilt of the Christmas music was heartily sung by a full choir to a large congregation. Services were also held at the Catholic Church in the morning., at

9 and : 11 anda service of song and story^ >for the young was given by Mi* Paxtorif a visitor to Tauranga, . in the Tem.perance Hail in the afternoon. "With the exception of these opportunities for meeting, very little was seen byanyone of. anybody else, until, the,. arrival of ./ BOXING DAY. Also a qtiiet day as far as public amusements ■ were concerned : no, regular sports haying been; organised, as is sometimes usual on similar- occa< sions. :. The shoj)B\were : again all shut however, aYift a sprinkling of holiday makers/was hovering- about. One inducement to pleasure seekers was held out by- the s. s. Eowena : ; which was notified to leave '•: the .Wharf at ten in the morning and two in the afternoon, and land passengers at . various places of interest about, the harbor, and fetch them, home in the evening. She left at ten' with a. goodly number of passengers on board, .who, however, rather foi> tunately, did not want to land any .where in particular, and it; was therefore decided, that she should take a run down., the Katikati Channel and round Motuhoa Island- and back. < splendid run was made as far as the, entrance to the Katikati Channel, but here there was a . slight, mistake as- to the route, antl a temporary sojourn was made on a mud bank. The steamer soon- got off. however, and the next portion of the trip along the channel as far as Motuhoa, with Otu- ! moetai and Te Puna on the left, and the flourishing , native settlements on the right-hand, was very enjoyable. Eefreshments were here called intorequisition,, and heads were seen disappearing in the direction of the steward's department. That obliging functionary was heard to remark, however, that there were. more. Good Templars on board than were allowed by the regulations for the proper supporfeof his department. Off Motuhoa, whether for the convenience of passengers to have a better look at the island, where, by the bye, there is not much to be seen, or from a wrong reading of ' his chart by Captain--3? n, the pilot for the day, stoppage on mud. bank No. 2 was made, but as it was not yet high: tide, and not very late, not much anxiety was expressed. But when having got off the bank, and the steamer had been capitally | steered by Captain Sellara 1 round the island (in the course of .which a good view was obtained of that splendid property, Omakaroa) the man at the wheel calmly. put his helm down when he ougljt to have put it up, or did something equally i atuitous, and thereby i got out of the channel which is not very broad, and ran the vessel splendidly on to mud bank No. 3, and did it* so well that it seemed as. if there was no chan-ce of her getting off again, some slight feeling of relapse* from joviality was evident among tlio passengers, especially as it was now two o'clock and the tide high. Captain Sellars was as usual equal to, the emergency, however, and after, as a preparatory, measure, smiling blandly on his crew; : and quietly blessing them all round, . kedges were- thrown out, the steamer full steamed a-head and a-stern, a nd other correct action taken, and the gallant ship was once more got afloat, and arrived at the wharf on her return trip shortly after' four.; The second batch of excursionists did not, therefore,, take their trip, or express their desire to be landed at any point of interest about the harbor.

In town, some impromptu races and sports, on the beach, came off during the day, and in the evening, there was an excellent performance by the members of the Amateur Dramatic Club at the Temperance Hall, after which, a dance concluded the day's amusements.

Christmas of 1876 was a very quiet one in Tauranga, however, taken altogether, but next year, it is to be hoped, that better times and brighter prospects, will find its inhabitants in a more holiday-making moodi