DELVING IN THE SAND

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 47, 19 November 1917, Page 6

DELVING IN THE SAND

TREASURE' HUNTERS AT LI ALL : . • . BAY. ' Glorious" sunshine'"and calm, and a holiday , spirit in the air, made Lyall Bay on Saturday afternoon an ideal place for the holding of the hidden treasures hunt organised by the Lyall Bay Surf Club, with' the assistance of the Marajiui Club. The effort was in aid of the Mayoress's Gift Fund, and it similar success-attends all other measures token to swell the fund, those responsible will have every reason to congratulate themselves. Hundreds of people, mostly women and children, flocked to the beach, armed themselves with little wooden 6pad«, Jind set about with no small degreo ofeagernesa in the search' for the 250 treasures that were 1 buried along several chains of sea front. Over almost every square yard of the nrea excavators were to be teen, some looking very large and some very small indeed> . Dig"ing commenced at 2 o clock, ana ended about 5. During, the precious minutes of those three hours it was amusing to note the various forms in which the Vust for tablecloths, skirts, handbags, brooches, and other articles claimable on the production of the right coupon manifested themselves. Someot tbe drivers "went about thoir task with ft fine carelessness that failed to commend ■itself to neighbouring workers, and nmny a spadeful of sand, casually disposed ol "by an enthusiast, managed to -Ami itswar into ears and hair in the immediate vicinity. Earnest eyes, expectant eyes, even desperate eyes were unremittingly dirfeoted at holes of eery shape and depth,' and finds were hailed with an exhibition of gladness that drove a hundred spades nearby harder and deepei into the sand. One feature of tho proceedings that struck the mere onlooker ■was the fact that on tho whole Iho most diminutive excavators made the fiercest and most dogged'efforts to alter the configuration of the bay; and small boys could be seen looking with satisfaction into depressions that bade fair to become in time engineejing works of considerable manitude. : The prizes ranged in value from' 2s. to 'i 5, but the most valuable of them, which included a handsome table cover, -£5, and. .£3 in cash, and a beautiful cameo brooch, remained unclaimed at tho end of the day. The unclaimed articles, of course, remained as assets to the frtnd. No record was kept by tho secretary ot the lucky searchers' nam<\s. as tho prizes were ..hurriedly handed' over as coupon after coupon' was produced. All the treasures were obtained by a canvass of firms in the city. 'Afternoon tea and nther refreshments were provided bv tho ladies of Marnnui, Headed by Mesdames Daniollß and Ball. At the close df the search a number of articles were auctioned for the benefit of the fund by Mr. .T. Dykes.