GORDON MUTUAL IMPROVEMENT SOCIETY.

Mataura Ensign, Volume 7, Issue 386, 26 August 1884, Page 2

GORDON MUTUAL IMPROVEMENT SOCIETY.

The closing meeting for, tlu? session of; the above society was held on Friday evening ' last at ? M'Kay's Hall, Gordon, • , The night w&s bitterly cold and w«t, yet a good number attended. The president, Mr Jno. Neill, occupied the chair, and in, a few opening remarks and in the name ; of the society, welcomed the Visitors. v " ft had baen arranged, he said, that each member should hare the privilege of inTiting a friend, so that there was nothing invidious in the selection. He would not make a long speech, but get to the pro- 1 gramme proper. H© jjcalled upon Mr; Brett for the first item— a pianoforte solo. It is unnecessary to do more than mention the name oJ: the player as a guarantee for the excellence of the piece. Mr Gardner contributed a solo " Dublin Bay," and was followed by a glee party consisting of Misses [Brown and Buchanan and Messrs Boyne and Roy. \[ *j«spli" £& s ! r F iau tkeia Jxia ad^ ■Ehizj uad been fciore atr3lt : iolp^ this session, and aspired to higher things , next winter. It was higlilj creditable that Grore should be able to support (two i such flourishing societies of the kind. ■ They held meetings every week, and only two or three had lapsed, -then not 1 from M want of interest, but from the ; fact that what were considered more important meeting were to be held. The [ object* the society had in view were the cultivation of literary tastes and public speaking. The latter had so much improved that the meetings were often prolonged till a late hour from the members' i newly born fluency. "With regard to the , former he was glad to be, able to say that all the papers read were up to the . mark. These were "fully Icriticised and he thought, Nothing was so good for beginners as a little adverse , criticism. With regard to the scope of the Society, he said it was not ao un- ■ limited as some others. For one reason, they met in the church, and it was , thought that f rivolous (although he did not mean tftat others were fpifolous) subjects could not well be introduced there. Therefor* religion had not been lost sight of, , An evening or two had been devoted to purely religions subjects. The meetings had been well at* tended— how well, the secretary's report would i how, and great interest had been manifested in them, He might say, however, that about 50 members were good on the booki and it was hoped that a large addition would be made shortly, ---~it the present meeting was nomi,Altttou & ~ * —inn it had been nally the last of th© se&oxv, _ " — arranged that in the interval, meetings should be held at least monthly, bo Jthat the bonds of association might not be : loosened during the spring and smm•mer. Mrs Brett then sang, beautifully, a '. raosfc pathetic song "Peace to the quiet ,1 d«ad." The Mis acs Buchanan and Brown ' sang a duet " Juanita," assisted by Mr : Mansford (cornet). Mr Palmer sang : " When other lips "in his usual vigorous ;j style, and Miss J. Canning made her debut < amid much applause, in " Cherry Ripe." This concluded one portion of the pro* :; gramme, and an interval of five minutes ; was allowed. Upon the resumption of '" business," the Misses Canning played a duet — a waltz, and ['.

; The; Secretary, and Treasurer, Mr .M'Caw, read the annual report. He said that 16 moetings had been held during the session and at them had been .read eight papers of "gigantic" size. The subjects had varied from the highest speculations of which the human mind was capablo down to the question whether stoats and weasels were better colonists than rabbits. The membership roll showed 47 names, and the averago attendance had been 25. With regard to money matters, the income had been L 2 17s 6d, and the expenditure LI 14s Od, leaving a balance on hand of Ll 3s 6d. The report was a highly entertaining one, and elicited frequent bursts of laughter. He humorously referred to the proud position the society occupied — ■ second to none in OtagO; — and to the good order maintained. This latter feature, he said, was owing to the moral and physical force of the president, and perhaps he was aided in his work by the fact 4 that he (the president) kept a. "tanned kieL" establishment.

Mr TV. M'Uaw then recited "Curfew must not ring to-night." Mr Salmond then sang "The Midshipmite " with such approbation as to be vociferously requested to sing again. He complied by repeating the last verse. An instru,

mental duet by Mr Brett (piano) and Mr Mansford (cornet) succeeded, and was followed by a quartette "Home Sweet Home." The quartette was composed of Mrs Scott and Miss ; Irvine and Messrs Gardner and M'Gaw, and another part of the programme was c6n« eluded by Mra Scott (giheing p" Be kind torioild Granny " in thte;Scottisn;diaie'et. Th' 67 next interval was dispensed with, and Miss: Irvine sang "JSorah-'^withjo much expression that aha had, to submit to ' an" encore and gave " I can wait " Mr Robertson recited "Begulus before, the, Homan Senate," and was succeeded by Kiss Buchanan, who sang," B^athieea Maryourneen " Mr Eoberton again came io^the'frbnfc witKa Violin solo. He was accompanied by the feet of the audience. The Paganinian utrains were, moreorer, so^i seductiye that the audience uUo voce cried " Haustus repetitur," bufc,6ur -••ort<*r shrewdly suspects'Hhey wanted 10 warm their feet. A solo by Mr Boyne was to hare concluded the prograiame, bubhe procured a substitue in the person of Mr M'Dougall, who rendered '" The dear little Shamrock " with all the expression that: his natire : tongue is capable of and in response to a determined encore began- to warble something about his endeavors to gain employment, but postponed the greater part of the song ; to a future occasion.

The chairman, theii said lie had reeeiyed an apology from Rev. Mr Hobba, who could not attend on account of illness, „ A number of Yptes of thanks •■vf*re then carried as follows :— To "ike ''lames and gentlemen irho had Toluntarilj assisted, ; including . Mr Brett ; to , Mr Murdoch, for the gratuitous use of'tKehalTj to Mrs W. Henderson^ for the use of the piano; and to the office bearers and committee of the sbeiety. A rote of thanks '*ral also ■ aceordeaA to <M. v\ T. ? T. King for draTring up a testimoHial to Mr Qilcnrist, former president, ttlio had recently left €rpre. , . ; , f The einging of ; ** Auld I^ang Syne " brought the entertainment to a close.