THE GLOBE. SATURDAY, MAY 13, 1883. THE HOSPITAL CONCERT.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2526, 13 May 1882, Page 3

THE GLOBE. SATURDAY, MAY 13, 1883. THE HOSPITAL CONCERT.

It appears to ns somowliat ungracious that our visitors, the Dunodin Motett and Glee Club, should have been allowed to leave ns without somo public recognition of tho kindness and liberality •which prompted them to give thoir very valuable services in aid of a deserving local charity. Tho chairman of tho Hospital Board was present, whose powers of oratory are unquestioned, but not one word of thanks was expressed to tho. visitors for their kindness, at considerable trouble to themselves, in coming forward to aid by their talent the funds of a vory excellent adjunct to our Hospital. A very few words would have sufficed to convey to them what, wo feel sure, tho public of Christ church would desire, to

have done, their gratitude for the. kindly feeling which prompted the offer of the services of the Society on the occasion. A recognition like this would have been a graceful tribute on our part, and we regret that, through some oversight the opportunity was allowed to pass without I being taken advantage of. However we can assure our Dunedin friends that their services were highly appreciated by the public generally, and though they were not, as they should have been, duly acknowledged, the feeling of gratitude is none the less sincere. We think it is only due to the Society that this act of kindness on their part should not go quite unrecognised, and, therefore, we have felt it our duty, on the part of the citizens of Christchurch, to thus publicly record their appreciation of the efforts of the ladies and gentlemen composing the Club who have visited us. MUSICAL CHRISTCHURCH. llt has been the fashion for some time past to speak in terms of self-laudation of the high appreciation of music in Christchurch, and it is quite true that we do possess amongst us amateur musical organisations whose performances are highly creditable. This being so, we are somewhat surprised that none of these came forward on the occasion of the late musical competition at the Exhibition. It seems strange that we, on the spot, were nnable to get together a choir or society to meet a club which has had the enterprise to come from Dunedin to compete. In a city which claims such pre-eminence in music, it would surely have been easy to have found enough voices to have made a contest on the occasion. That the Dunedin Club acquitted themselves admirably on the occasion all will allow, and those present fully enjoyed the performance; but the interest felt therein would have been much enlivened had one of the local societies entered the lists as well. The committee to whose care the arrangements for these contests was committed is composed of gentlemen taking a great interest in the cause of music, and it was to be expected that their influence would have been sufficient to induce some of our local amateurs to have come forward on the occasion. That the performance of the cantata on the opening day, and the concert which was subsequently given were not so successful as could have been wished, should not have acted as a deterrent, particularly when vocalists from a distance had the pluck to come here to sing. We are not prepared to say why this was so, but the fact remains that with at any rate one strong musical society in on*' midst, Christchurch was entirely unrepresented at a vocal contest in which it might reasonably have been expected we should have made a fairly respectable show. It is satisfactory, however, to be able to note that in the forthcoming contest, on the 19th inst., Christchurch is well to the fore, and it is only to be regretted that when the chance of measuring our capabilities with the musical representatives of a sister city occurred, we were not equally well represented. Apart from the fact that, as we have said, it would have lent additional interest to the performance, it would only have been courteous to our visitors|for some musical organisation here to have met them in friendly rivalry. THE EXHIBITION. There is just one point in connection with the Exhibition which we should like to bring prominently under the notice of the promoters. As already pointed out, the present uniform scale of admission for adults and children prevents, in a large degree, tho Exhibition being taken advantage of as an adjunct to education, by enlarging the minds of the children with reference to the products of the various countries represented therein. We are not for one instant saying that the charge made is exorbitant, but we think that the promoters would find it to their interests, particularly as regards the large Government schools, to set apart one day on which a reduction would be made such as would enable the scholars, under their teachers, to make themselves acquainted with the exhibits. No more effectual method of instruction can be devised than that which directly appeals to the mental, faculties through the eye, and two or three afternoons spent in examining the exhibits, acsompanied by such explanations as could be supplied by the teachers of thejvarious objects, would go very far to render the Exhibition, not only amusing, but instructive to the rising generation. We hope, therefore, that Messrs Joubert and Twopeny, with that liberality which has characterised them during their sojourn amongst , us, will be able to see their way clear to give effect to the suggestion we havo made. One afternoon a week during the continuance of the Exhibition would suffice for the purpose, and a large number of children would, we feel sure, take advantage of the concession.