WAREPA ENTERTAINMENT.

Clutha Leader, Volume IV, Issue 169, 5 October 1877, Page 7

WAREPA ENTERTAINMENT.

v The splendid Weather of Friday, 21st "hit., and the fact of its being the last entertainment of the season, attracted the largest audience which has ever -been known to assemble for a similar purpose at Warepa. In anticipation of a crowded attendance every superfluous piece of furniture had previously been removed from the schoolroom, and every inch of space was made available, but notwithstanding these precautions it was so densely packed that had not the recently erected gymnasium presented a counter attraction to several of the youngsters, many could not otherwise have been accommodated. As -showing the interest which these musical and literary entertainments -have excited, it may be mentioned that among the audience were many from Kaihiku, Te Houka, Waitepeka, South Molyneux, and even the districts heyond Balclutha. The Committee who got up these meetings have succeeded far beyond their expectations. At first they were started for tbe pur•pose of defraying the cost of a piayshed for the school, but such was their -growing popularity that they were continued long after that object had been accomplished. Although the charge for admission was almost nominal yet about L 25 has been received, and all of if has been expended on improvements in and around the school. It would be almost invidious to single out any one as worthy, of special credit where so •many have wrought both wisely and well, but there can be no doubt tbat the first impulse was given to the movement by Mr Christie, who possesses the merit of pushing to a successful issue everything he takes in hand. Wherever readers or a singer were to be got, Mr Christie ivas never backward in bringing them forward. Another thing that has contributed to the popularity of those meetings, among* .young people especially, is the fact that, after, the literary and musical part of the programme was completed, an hour so was usually devoted to dancing*. But lest any of these whose milk of human kindness is uncommonly sour should feel dangerously horrified at this innovation, we may mention, as a sedative to their outraged feelings, j •that in no case has this most healthy i amusement been protracted to the | -small hours ofthe morning. Of course : we make the evening ot Friday last an exception, for that was a special occasion which called for extra indulgence. Punctually at eight o'clock the chair 'was taken by Mr Waddell, who, after a word or two of welcome, called upon the brothers Ayson, who sang a trio 'with great taste and steadiness. Mr Howie followed next with one of his Scotch readings, in which j 4 be spoke to peifection the native Doric, "which is particularly refreshing to ears -accustomed to the Newcastle English of Otago. Mr Moore, Kaihiku, recited "with great force and expression two 'specimens of forensic eloquence from the •Scotch and Irish bars. Mr Moore was -slightly interrupted by the rude behaviour of a stray larrikin, who was

taken in hand by the Chairman and silenced for tbe rest of the evening. It is to be hoped that Mr Moore won't visit the sins ofa single senseless youth mpon the people of Warepa, by whom j that gentleman is much and deservedly j esteemed. Mr Campbell, of Glenf?lloeh, ! read a story from Chambers's Journal, J but unfortunately pitched his voice too j low for such a crowded apartment, j However, those who did hear him en- j , joyed the story, and at the close of it j the reader was heartily applauded, in token, we presume, of the kindly and active interest which Mr Campbell has all along taken in these entertainments. Mr S. Young recited too humorous extracts in his well-known felicitous style, and got the warm reception due to an old favourite. A new performer was introduced in the person of Mr J. S. -Fleming, who read " Here she goes •and there she goes," acd like Sam Weller's valentine, we wish there hid •been more of it. Nor would it be fair' 'toomit mention of two youths, one of 'whom recited a short pom, and the other read an extract irom a work of Mrs Beedher Stowe, Both read with a clear, distinct enunciation, and with -an amount of expression not often met "with in boys of their years. We notice Miss Begg's reading last, because it was .the best. The highest praise we can • give her is to say that she reads as well as her sister sings, and all Warepa knows that is saying a great deal. A glee party, under the leadership of Mr Robert Ayson, sang " Let the hills resound" with great power and precision. The same gentlemen, in company with Miss Begg, sang Huntingtower very sweetly. Miss Gregg, the .prima donna of the district, again favoured us with a specimen of her rich -contralto voice, while tbe songs of Messrs Lake Ayson, Porteous, Mosley, Collins, Denford, D. Munro, and Fal•coner, added greatly to the delights of the evening. Towards the close, tbe.Chairman rose -and spoke as follows: — I have often been asked by people who knew no 'better, how it was possible to spend •one's leisure hours in such a dull district as this, but I am sure that if any of them had been here to-night, or at -■any of our entertainments this winter, they would at once have come to the ■conclusion that for means of amusement -■and opportunity of enjoyment, Warepa & most wonderful place for its size.

Night after night, all through the winter, in spite of wind aud weather, of long roads and bad ones, our meetings have been attended by numbers which far exceeded the most -sanguine expectations, while the amount of local talent which on such occasions was called into action was at once amusing and amazing. But unlike Tennyson's stream, these readings cannot go on for ever, and before bringing them to a close, 1 shall, with your permission, briefly review them, for I think that the pleasures we have experienced here are pleasures that will t-tand inspection. I shall not waste many words upon these modern Jeremiahs who look askance at meetings such as ours, who shrug their shoulders at the large amount of the humorous whicli has entered into our programmes, just as if laughing were a sin, and who shake their solemn heads at the devotion of an hour or so for dancing, as if that were monstrous iniquity. I have noticed that peopJe with notions of this sort generally suffer from a diseased liver, or a disordered stomach, and therefore the best way of anweringthem is lo administer a dose of antibilious pills. — (Loud laughter). The man with a healthy mind in a healthy body — the -mens sana in corpora sano — is not the man to set his face against rational amusement, or to letloose a rasping tongue upon the subject of hi? neighbour's pleasures. I do not mean to say that our proceedings have been entirely beyond the reach of adverse criticism, for it is possible that we may have bad too much of the comic ancl too little of the serious ; that the humour of some of our stories may have been as broad as tbe Scotch in which they were told ; that some ot onr songs may have belonged to the unmitigated trash of the singing saloon, and been dedicated to the loves and adventures in thelife ofa London costermonger. Bu-t there is oue fault irom which the.se entertainments have been singularly free, and lam proud to say it : that never at any of them have I heard a single word uttered, or seen a single action done, which in tbe least degree trespassed beyond tbe bounds of propriety, or that could by any possible means have caused the blush of shame to mantle the cheeks of modesty. That, however, is a mere negative virtue : have these meeting.-; been productive of no positive good 1 Well, it is possible tbat many of you may not be able to place your finger upon any particular item which you could place to their credit, but it is none the less true that in some way or other they have affected all of us. though we may not be -able to tell exactly how. Some ol the most powerful influences on human life are never felt by the individual on whom tbey act. They steal gently and glide guie f ly over his nature like the vernal breezes from the womb of winter, which re-clotue the unconscious earth with beauty ere even we can say that spring has had its birth. So while I cannot say that these readings have produced any striking change iv your character, or any startling revolution in your habits, yet I think I see their influence quietly and unconsciously manifesting itself in a closer intimacy and fellowship with each other, in a better understanding of each other's natures, and in a gradual softening down of some uf those unamicable asperities wbicb are perhaps inseparable from the self-isolation of colonial life. Besides, from an educational point of view, these entertainments have not been without their uses. Only think of the grand panorama of literary characters and scenes that during the winter has passed before us. Here Brutus and Cassias quarrelled afresh, and the Stairhead Battle was -fought anew ; here the Raven of Allan Poh croaked its dreary " N evermore," and Mark Antony shed tears (crocodile ones) over Ocesar's tomb; here died " ta valiant Phairshon " ot Professor Ayionn, and here too tbe !Vl<sy Queen of Tennyson meant to die but didn't j 5 here *fc*am Weller wrote bis " walehtine," with all its blots, and the Bashful Man of Mackenzie repeated all bis blunders*; and last, but not least oi a lengthy train came our old friend Tammas Bodkin, all the way from Dun dee, to have a crack wi' Tibbie in the school at Warepa. Our song«, too, have covered a wide range of subjects : from the Braes ot Balquhither to the Banks of Waitepeka; from the Highland Mary of Burns to the Kaihiku Mary of somebody else — (laughter) — from Robin Tamson's Smiddy to Willie Christie's — (loud laughter) — and they were sun j- byvoices, which, in the words ol the Ancient Mariner —

"Now were like all instruments, Now like the lonely lute, And now 'twiis like an angel's voice That bade the heaveus be mute."

Well, then, having introduced you to so many favourite authors, ifc is bufc right thac we should place them in your company. Having shown you the sample it is but proper that we should supply you wi'h the stock, and therefore I think it is an appropriate conclusion to these literary and musical meetings that we should devote part at least,") f not the whole, of the proceeds of this evening to our district library, on whose shelves you will find rhe works of many of the authors who huve helped to beguile our winter evenings. I ask you to support this institution, not only by contributing to its funds but also by reading its books, and in my capacity'; of librarian, you may ut all times command my services. It is with deep personal regret that I pronounce these I social meetings, for this season at least, [ at an end, but if you use your eyes and

ears aright you will find that in the coming months we ara only entering upon a sin-ila*- entertainment on a grander scale. Foi* we may spend our summer evenings in lie tuning to silent readings full of truth aud beauty, from the exquisite page of nature, and to songs of matchless music from the woods' full-throated choir, while in the joyous gambols of creation you may find God's own warrant for expressing, as you hnve so often done this winter, the gladness of your young hearts in the poetry of motion. — (Loud applause) Mr J. S. Fleming proposed a vote of thanks to tbe performers, and suggested the starting of a Lodge of Good Templars as a suitable means of supplying the vacancy in their social gatherio»*s* caused by the end of the readings. There was no urgent necessity fbr such a thing in Warepa so iar as individual reform was concerned, but he believed the cause a good one, one which would sooner or later gain the ascendancy, and exert an immense influence for good throughout the Colony. Were young people ofthe district to establish such a Lodge they would ba lendin°* their aid in a good- cause, and at the same time extending the social entertainments which had already proved so popular and successful in the district. However, he only made the suggestion for their consideration.

Rev. Mr Waters said tbe amusements of tbe people was a very serious question. He was by ho means opposed to tbem, on the contrary, had tried to get them up. He thought, however, that great care should be exercised Jest they should be carried to excess, and warned the young of both sexes against keeping late hours as being destructive both to health and beauty.

Mr Campbell said he would like to see the tone of our readings elevated. Me- would much prefer the songs of Burns, Tannabill, and of his namesake, to those of the "costermonger" type •referred to by the Chairman. He did not see why they should not have a Dramatic Club, and he was sure that tiie Chairman would give them a course of lectures on some scientific subject, and probably also their friend Mr Moore, would do the same. lie proposed a vote of thanks t-u the Chairman, which was loudly responded to.

After singing " Auld Lang Syne," the room wus cleared for dancing, which was kept np with much spirit for several hours. Refreshments- were provided in the master's residence, whioh wns thrown often for the occasion, and not a single incident occurred to mar the pleasure of a most delightful meeting.