CROMWELL ATHENÆUM.

Cromwell Argus, Volume V, Issue 266, 15 December 1874, Page 7

CROMWELL ATHENÆUM.

ANNTTAT, .MEETING OF SUBSCRIBERS. The annual meeting of subscribers to the above institution tool; place on Friday evening, December 3rd. There was Osgood attendance. The business of the meeting was to receive the resignation and report of the retiring Committee, and to elect a fresh one. Mr J. A. Preshaw, President, was in the chair. Mr D. A. Jolly, the hon. secretary, read the following report from the retiring Committee : . . REPORT. Gentlemen,—lt has now become the duty of your committee, to lay before yon the sixth annual report of the Cromwell Athenamm. In accordance with the usual custom in making that report, we propose to shortly lay before you an account of onr stewardship for the past year. Financially, your committee can only claim credit for a balance in favour of the funds for £9 3s. 6d., although they may call your attention to the fact that the supply of magazines and periodicals for the coming year have been ordered and paid for by them. Altogother we are aWe to report the funds in a healthy condition. Pnring the year yourcommittee had many extra expenses to meet, which should and may at a future time, if thought necessary, be charged against the building fund. This will, however, be seen in due time by a reference to the balancesheet which is hereto appended. During the year, as you doubtless are aware, the erection of the Athenamm Hall was begun, and your committee can now point with some pride to the handsome structure which has just been completed. The various negotiations necessary to carrying out such a great undertaking were not. we can assure you, conducted without considerable anxiety and trouble on our part; and although, when the details come to be discussed, some of our resolutions on the subject may not appear the wisest, we yet trust that on the whole the result of our deliberations will meet with your hearty approbation. The original intention, as you may recollect, was to have erected a reading-room also in connection with the present hall, but we were precluded from carrying out the full design by the enormous cost which we should have had to incur. The lowest tender which we received for the full work was as much as £1529, and after considerable discussion and consideration, it was arranged to proceed only with the hall, at a cost of £822, with the addition, it was thought wise to make, of a retaining wall, £35 45., and alterations, £32. When this amount was under consideration, it must always be bornS in mind that a sum of £l5O would, in addition, be required for furnishing the hall with seats and lamps, &c. In resolving to proceed with the erection of the ball, it was not thought an unimportant matter for consideration that it would be the means,

apart from Athenaeum purposes, of raising a considerable annual revenue. The cost of the hall, furnished with seats, lamps, and all things necessary for large meetings and for letting purposes, is estimated by us at the sum of £1059 10s. What amount of this has actually been incurred, and what yet remains to be incurred, will be seen by a reference to the separate balance-sheets appended to this report. If, after consideration, it appears to you that our proceedings are worthy of approval, as we trust it Will, we do sincerely hope that every assistance will be given by you in your individual capacities to reader the hall a success in a pecuniary point of view, and thus enable s-mie succeeding committee to proceed with the completion of the original plan. The building as originally proposed, and as intended now at some future time to be erected, would, your committee think, form the common meeting ground'upon which all creeds and denominations could meet, and from which a general taste for literature should be diffused throughout the district, and thus complete the purpose for which Athenaeum bodies were originally intended. The value of the books and properties last year was estimated at £2BO. This year we estimate them fairly at £1373 7s. 2d., with debt of £265 16s. Of the value of the, property, the sum of £313 17s. 2d. may be set down as the value of the reading-room properties. We have to regret that the endowment on the Lower Flat has not yet been granted to the Atheneeum Committee, but the committee are now in communication with the Government, and they hope to bring it to a successful issue. The copy of letter sent last to the Government will fully explain how the matter stands at present. Further, in accordance with suggestions made by a former committee,-we have still borne in mind the importance of encouraging a local museum in connection with the Athenaeum, and have to hand over to our successors a box of specimens and fossil stones, a gift froin the Otago Museum. With this short resume of our labours during the year, we now tender our resignation, and in doing so we feel certain that you, as the subscribers of the institution, will elect gentlemen to fill the vacancies that will faithfully and energetically carry out the various works that have been successfully initiated and partially comple'ed during the past year. The following are the balance-sheets : Cromwell Athenaeum. — November 23, 1874. Dr. £ s. d. To Balance last Audit - . 22 5 3 Total amount of subscriptions up to November 23. 1874 - - 54 2 0 Government subsidy - . 16 18 7 93 5 10 Or. £ s. d. By mngizines and periodicals • 10 11 7 Lighting expenses - • . 412 3 Purchase of seal - - . 911 6 Advertising, - • - 13 18 0 Librarian's salary - - - 613 4 Purchase of books - • - 16 18 7 do. do. - - 16 18 7 Sundry expenses - * - 418 6 Balance in Bank - * - 9 3 6 93 5 10 Cromwell Atlienaum Building Fund. Dr. £ s. d. To Receipts from Popular Entertainments - - - - 189 8 9 Government subsidy • • 150 0 0 Deposit on contract - - 61 10 0 Money on mortgage - - 500 0 0 900 18 9 Or. £ s. d. By Retaining wall ... 35 4 0 Mr Burwell on account - - 25 0 0 Mr Grant on contract - • 200 0 0 do. do. • - . 100 (fc 0 do. do ... 200 0 0 Mr Cowan's account - • 8 4 8 Cartage on chairs - - - 9 19 0 Sundry expenses - - - 010 2 Balance in Bank - - • 322 0 11 900 18 o On the motion of-Mr Wakefield, seconded by Mr Murrell, the report as read was adopted. Hearty vote's of thanks were then accorded by acclamation to Mr Preshaw, the President, and to Mr Jolly, the lion, secretary, for their services during the past year. The election of a fresh Committee was then proceeded with, and resulted iu the choice of the following gentlemen :—Messrs Colclough, Baird, Marsh, Fergus, Preshaw, MacKellar, Marshall, Arndt. Wakefield, Taylor, and Jolly. Mr Preshaw was re-elected Presiden ; Mr MacKellar, Vice-President; Mr Jolly, Secretary and Treasurer ; and Messrs Gudgeon and C. Johnson, Auditors. The Good Templars made application for the use of the new Hall once a week for the purpose of holding the meetings of their Lodge. The application was granted, and the rate per annum fixed at £3O. In connection with the matter of letting the hall for public meetings, entertainments, etc., Messrs Preshaw and Jolly were em powered to treat with applicants. This concluded the business, and with a vote of thanks to the chairman, the meeting broke up.

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