ANNIVERSARY of the PROVINCE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 30, 4 February 1873, Page 2

ANNIVERSARY of the PROVINCE.

The thirty-first anniversary of the Province was celebrated yesterday, the Ist of the month having fallen this year on a Saturday. In town it was as usual the gala day of the Foresters and Oddfellows, and a little after 1 1 a.m. the members of the two Societies left their lodges, headed respectively by the Wakefield and Nelson brass bands and marched round the town, the two processions meeting one another in Bridge-street, and walking in opposite directions while the lookers-on wondered why these things Bbould be, and gave expression to the wish that, as in previous years, they bad both been bound for the same goal. The Foresters had pitched their tent in the Botanical Gardens, and the Oddfellows had selected the Maitai Valley as the scene of their sports, but it soon became clear that the former was to be the more largely patronised, the additional distance to be overcome in walking to the Maita, and the superior attractions offered by the Foresters deciding the question in their favor. The sports during the day were carried out with considerable spirit, some of the events being keenly contested, bnt rather too long a time elapsed between them, the result of which was that the programme had not been brought to a close when darkness set in. The great feature of the day's proceedings was undoubtedly the performances of the gymnasts belonging to the Circus troupe who had been engaged for the occasion. Their daring featß on the trapeze were performed with an amount of ease and elegant activity that delighted the lookerson. To describe those feats in detail would take up too much of pur space, nor .could we do justice to the performers who

certainly for excelled aDy professionals in the saame line who have yet visited Nelson. At 3 o'cloc'k'-;'an interekiftg. ceremony r took place, namely, the presentation to the Treasurer of the Society of a handsome silver tea service . bearing the folio-wing inscription : — Presented to W. R. Waters by Court Robia Hood 8930 of the A. O. F.,in testimony of the faithful discharge of his duties as Treasurer lor upwards of five years. February Ist, 1873. P.C.R. R. Burn addrepsed the Treasurer as follows : — Mr W. R. "Waters, Treasurer of Court Robin Hood — Sir and Brother : Having been appointed by the Testimonial Committee to present to you, as a mark of respect and esteem, this silver tea service, allow me to say that do .testimonial has ever been presented to a brother who has so laudably earned it. Language is too beggarly in its expression, and it is a task of no ordinary'undertaking, to describe the debt of gratitude the members of Court Robin Hood owe to you for the careful and energetic manuer you have always displayed in seeing to the welfare and interests of the Court, and it is mainly owing to the zeal you have ever displayed of the great success' which has attended us, also the flourishing condition of our funds. I feel sure you will accept this present, not on account of its intrinsic value merely ; it is not presented with a view to compensate you (for that would be impossible) for the time and labor you have devoted to our interests, and the years you have held the office of Treasurer, but that it will ever remind you and yours of the good will and respect the brethren intend it should convey. I now beg of you to accept this testimonial, and on behalf of Court Robin Hood, I hope you may long enjoy the blessings of health and happues?, and that it may grace and adorn your home for years to come." Mr Waters then replied as follows ; — " Gentlemen and Brothers, —la acknowledging your kindness to me this day, nothing could have given me greater pleasure than to receive such a spontaneous mark of respect from my brother Foresters, and I hope it will stimulate to still further energy on my part ; and I also trust that I may be enabled to merit your kind wishes for many years." Three cheers and the (i Foresters' Fire " brought this part of the proceedings to a close. In the evening there was a display of fireworks, but owing to some cause or another — the late hot weather perhaps bad deprived them of their customary energy — many of the rockets obstinately refused to soar aloft, preferring to grovel on the ground, greatly to the consternation and inconvenience of the bystanders, while the wheels were similarly afflicted, and would not turn round without the assßistance of an occasional poke from the wand of the master of the ceremonies. Had they behaved properly they might perhaps have been described as very fair specimens of the pyrotechnist's skill, but under the circumstances it was impossible to judge of their merits. The Oddfellows, who mustered more strongly than usual in their procession, reached the Maitai Valley about noon, and the sports soon commenced and were entered into with] much spirit, and to the evident enjoyment of all present. A very pleasant day was spent, and the festivities ended with a ball at the Oddfellows' Hall, from whence the strains of the Nelson band were to be heard up to a very early hour this morning. In addition to these two fetes, there were several boating parties and private picnics, the beautiful weather lending its aid towards making the day a most enjoyable holiday.