SOCIETY OF DORSET MEN BEYOND THE SEAS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1238, 21 September 1911, Page 8

SOCIETY OF DORSET MEN BEYOND THE SEAS.

A meeting of the above was held in Godber's Rooms, Cuba Street, on Monday evening, September 18, mid in spite of the . stormy conditions there was a goodly muster of members, their wives, and daughters.

The president, Mr. A. M. Smith, gave a very interesting lecture on his impressions of the county as a boy, and his views on the same after an absence of thirty years, when he revisited it. At the commencement ho said the society should be congratulated on its membership, and it has only been formed three months and it now has a membership of 81, and tho parent society in London has granted it affiliation. He went on to speak of his determination, at the age of seventeen, to seek pastures new, of his departure from England, and of his arrival in Now Zealand. He also spoke of the trials that beset tho early colonist, having tried his hand at farm life, in the shearers' shed, and also at making tho daily bread, as was used in thoso days. He then referred, to the time he was in a solicitor's office in Christchurch. He gave a very graphic description of his meeting with the "good Samaritan" when his bed was not one of roses, and his meeting with the same gentleman many years afterwards when Dame Fortune was kinder to him. He then described tho old county town of Dorchester when ho revisited it after an absence of 30 years. There it was as he had left it, the old county school (where he had been subject to many chastisements), not in the least altered; the same old bus he used to ride to school in, lie recognised it by the broken pane of glass in the window. Whilst sojourning in the Old Country, ho replied to a toast, "Our Colonies," and he could not refrain from remarking in his speech on tho contrast between New Zealand and the Old Country. The official weekly organ was as it used to be. It comprised the news of the same five counties, whereas in his adopted country a great many of the. towns were able to support two or more daily papers, and although it was many years ago when ho revisited it, just the same customs predominated. The lecture was humorous, and was thoroughly appreciated by tho members and their friends. On the motion of Mr. T. S. Neave, seconded by Mr. J. S. Cornish, a hearty vote of thanks \va,s accorded Mr. Smith for his very ablo address. The society provided refreshments, and altogether a very pleasant evening was spent.