THE QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY.

Globe, Volume VI, Issue 603, 25 May 1876, Page 2

THE QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY.

As on former occasions, the 24th of May has been marked by a steady downpour of rain, and for this reason the outdoor portions of the holiday celebration have suffered considerably. The first event of the day was THE ARTILLERY SALUTE. Shortly before 8 a.m. the Christchurch Artillery, under Captain Craig, paraded at the drill-shed and fired a royal salute of twenty Lieut.-Col. Packe, com mauding the district, was in charge. It had been intended to take advantage of the battery being on parade, to obtain a photograph of them for presentation to SergeantMajor Roberts, late of the corps; but owing to the unfavorable state of the weather it had to be postponed. FIRE BRIGADE PROCESSION. The chief event of the evening was the laying of the foundation stone of the new Fire Brigade Station in Chester street. Itis greatly to be regretted that the weather was so unfavourable for such a ceremony, for had it been fine there would have, as a matter of course, been a far larger number of spectators, and in events of this kind, multitude is everything. In the afternoon the weather looked so threatening that the question of postponing the ceremony altogether was mooted, but the majority of those interested in the matter were stronglv averse to such a proposal. People were out in large numbers, notwithstanding the unpleasant drizzle numbers had made up their minds to come, wet or dry, and besides, it was then too late to give sufficient notice to the public, and accordingly it was resolved that the stone should be laid, wet or dry, and that all concerned must make the best of it. Some time before eight o'clock quite a crowd of people as sembled in Lichfield street near the Fire Brigade station, for the purpose of witnessing the torchlight procession. By a quarter to eight the members of the fire brigade and the fire police were massed in the open space in front of the station, each man bear'ng a lighted torch in his hand. A drizzling rain was falling at the time, but this did not appear to abate one jot the interest taken in the proceedings. The forces were, marshalled by Captain Craig, of the Artillery, and as the order " Qaiek march, left wheel," was given, the band of the Engineers, which pre ceded the firemen, struck up a quick and lively tune that at once set everybody in motion towards the scene of the ceremony. There were, altogether, about eighty torch-bearers, of whom half were members of the fire brigade, and half of the fire police. As the procession turned the corner of Lichfield street into Colombo street it presented a very picturesque ap notwithstanding the rain and general that prevailed. The flambeaux threw a lurid glare over the spectators who crowded the pavement, and the light reflected from the helmets of the firemen gave them quite a military appearance, to which their steady and soldier like march ing added weight. The crowd increased as they proceeded, and knots standing at the various corners joined in with and swelled the rear of the procession, until upon reaching the corner of Chester street there must have been between 1800 and 2090 people present—by no mears a bad muster for such an unpleasaut evening, and among these were a large number of the softer sex, who were not to be deterred from the sightseeing by a few drops of rain. LAYING THE FOUNDATION STONE. Some attempt had been made to erect a platform near the stone to be laid, but it was on a very small scale, and was taken possession of by a few ladies and their friends prior to the arrival of the procession, which, acting under instructions from Captain Oraig, formed a cordon round the stone and triangle supporting it. Standing near these were his Worship the Mayor and several Councillors. Mrs Harris, the respected wife of the superintendent, also stood upon the platform ready to take her part in the service. The procession having, as beforestated, formed a cordon round the chief object of the evening, and the scene being additionally lighted up with a combination of red and green fire, His Worship the Mayor addressed those present, He said they had met that evening for the purpose of going through the important ceremony of laying the foundation stone of a new fire brigade station. The efficiency of the brigade, the way they worked togethov lit tires, and, in fact, their general usefulness to the city was a matter of great satisfaction, not only to the City Council, but to the cit : z-mfi of Christpuurch generally. They had now commenced the foundation of a building in which the brigade would be able to keep the whole of its engines, gear, and plant, which the old station certainly was not capable of doing. The old building had been a reproach for some time back, for itwas both unsafe and inconvenient. Want of funds alone had prevented the City Council erecting a new station loDg ago, in which all the desiderata would be combined. It was proposed that when the new station was completed, it should be occupied by ten single men and three families, so that the citizens might always feel safe in case of tire, as they would know that be attended to with the greatest expedition. The work they were now engaged upon would bear fruit in time of a very important character, inasmuch as expedition was a creat thing at a fire. It was decided by the City Council that the Fire Brigaie should be left to make their own arrangements with :egivd to the; ceremony of that evening, and they had wished that Mrs Harris, the wife of their popular superintendent, should lay

the foundation stone of the building. Her kindness and courtesy to the men was too well known for him to make any further allusion to it ; and, as they saw, she was here that evening to carry out their wishes. He hoped that in years to come the present occasion would be something for her to think of in recognition of her husband's services. He had had a paper put into his hand to be placed in the cavity beneath the stone. His Worship then read the document, which ran. as follows :

" The Christchurch Fire Brigade—Fire Brigade Station. —This building was erected at the joint expense of the City Council, Insurance Companies, and Provincial Government. The foundation stone was laUon the 24th day of May, 1876, being the fiftyseventh anniversary of her Majesty Qaeen Victoria and Empress of India's birthday, by Mrs Harris, assisted by his Worship the Mayor (Fredk. Hobbs, Esq.) and T. D. Jones, Esq, chairman of the Fire Brigade committee, the members of the City Council being—Councillors C. T. Ick, W. Schmidt, C. W. Turner, H. Thomson, J. G. Hawkes, and J. A. Bird ; town clerk, F. T. Haskins ; city surveyor, C. Walkden, who is also architect ; builder, Jas. Gossi The Brigade was first formed by a number of gentlemen meeting together at the Al Hotel on the 7th of November, 1860. The only engine available was a small one belonging to the Liverpool and London and Globe Insurance Company. The first time the Brigade appeared in uniform was at the turning of the first sod of the Lyttelton and Christchurch Railway. In 1861 the Government procured a large manual engine for the use of the Brigade ; after this the difficulty of pumpiDg water from the River Avon to the business portion of the town was so great that the Brigade set about getting a steam fire engine, and after much delay and hard work, £llOO was raised, and the engine that is to be housed in this building arrived in the year 1865, which was the first steam engine in the Southern Hemisphere. Buildings increased so fast that the City Council found it necessary to provide further means with which to extinguish fires. This was commenced in 1867 by their undertaking fiist to find the funds for the current expenses of the brigade, the appointment of the chief officer, and also by constructing tanks, the first of which was built near the White Hart Hotel. This was found so useful that three others have been built. A hook and ladder apparatus, another steam fire engine added to the plant, also a station in Lichfield street, with library and reading room. The brigade number forty men, divided into four companies. Pioneer—Foreman, H. C. West; firemen, W. C. Hobbs, J. Hillier, E. Rose, T. Hobbs, T. Sherrif. Hand Engine—Foremen, E Turton ; branchman, E. Ashby ; firemen, A. Hillier, J. Bellemy, T. Ellisbourne, W. Ashby, A. Milne, W. T, Pyke, A. Hiscoke. Steamer Extinguisher—Actingforeman, T. R. Triggs ; engineer, J. McFriddies ; assistant do, G. Fuller; branchman, H. Childs ; firemen, J. Treleavcn, W. D. Brunsden, C. Dash, R. Green, C. Turner, C. Pentioost, J. M. Abrahams, W. Penticost. Steamer Deluge—Foreman, J. Burbury; engineer, W. Johnston ; assistant do, A. Doran; branchmen, C. Samuels, P. M. Johnston; firemen, G. Cooper, J. Johnston, J. Lowe, A. Stenning. J. Hindley, G. Winston, T. Dodd." His Worship then placed the document and copies of the Canterbury Fr ss and Lyttelton Times within the bottle ided tor the purpose, which was then placed in the cavity beneath the stone. Again addressing those present, the Mayor said that the City Council would have been unable to proceed with the erection of a fire brigade station upon the style in which this one was to be built if it had not been for the liberality of the insurance offices and the Provincial Government. The City Council had found a share of the money, but had 1-een greatly assisted by the institutions he had referred to. His Worship addressing Mrs Harris then said—l will now ask Mrs Harris to lay this stone. I have been asked by the members of the Fire Brigade to present her with this very handsome Bilver trowel, as a token of the esteem in which she is held by them. He than handed Mrs Harris the silver trowel and a small'polished mallet. The former bore the following inscription : '' Presented to Mrs W. Harris, Christchurch Volunteer Fire Brigade, as a token of their esteem, and in commemoration of laying the foundation stone of the new Fire Brigade Station. Christchurch, May, 1876." Messrs Bouvelant, Martin, and Mouldy proceeded to place the s'one in position, spread the mortar, and make all ready for the final touch, Mrs Harris then spread a small quantity of mortar upon that already placed ; the stone was lowered, and the lady, tapping it with her mallet, declared it to be " well and truly laid." His Worship called for three cheers for Mrs Harris, which were given most heartily, the band at the same moment striking up the National Anthem.

Cr Jones said Mrs Harris had just whispered in his ear, and requested him to thank the brigade for their very handsome present, and also for the honour they had done her in asking her to be present to take part in such a ceremouy, at which she had felt very proud. She hoped the building when completed would not only be a useful one, but likewise an ornament to the city. She also desired to thank those present for the hearty manner in which they had responded to the Mayor's call for three cheers for her. Mr Superintendent Harris then called for three cheers for his Worship the Mayor. Given right heartily. His Worship returned his thanks for the way they had responded to his name. He hoped that upon all occasions he should be ready to the best of his ability to carry out the duties appertaining to his office. And now as it was the fiftyseventh anniversary of her Majesty's Birthday, and as it would be showing a want of loyalty to depart without some recognition of that fact, he would call for three cheers for her most gracious Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Empress of India. Three most enthusiastic cheers were then given ; the band played a bar of God Save the Queen, and the proceedings then terminated, QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY AT KAIAPOI. Owing to the unfavourable state of the weather the march out of the volunteer corps and the firing of a salute did not take place. In the evening a Good Templar entertainment was given in the Wesleyan schoolroom, at which members of the Excelsior ch-iir took part. There was also a ball at the Kaikanni Concert Hall; this was well attended, the decorations of the room were ia good taste, and the' refreshments provided by Mr Monk gave every satisfaction, Dancing was kept up till a late hour,