THE ANNIVERSARY HOLIDAY.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5252, 23 January 1878, Page 3

THE ANNIVERSARY HOLIDAY.

Yesterday the anniversary oi the foundation of the colony iu 1840 was observed as a general holiday. The weather unfortunately was not favorable, which threw a damper on the whole proceedings, otherwise a most enjoyable day would have been spent, ample provision having been made for the celebration of the holiday. A detailed account of the several sports and festivities will be found in another portion of our columns, from which it will be seen that notwithstanding the uupropitious stare of the skies several of the events came off creditably, although not with so great an amount of success as would have attended them had the day been finer. The early morning gave promise of good weather, but daring the forenoon the sky became overcast, and wind and rain were, with short intervals, the order of the day. Afterwards the number of holiday-makers who showed ou the wharf to witness the Regatta, the leading event of the day, was very much smaller than that of last year, attributable, no doubt, to the weather ; and the same remark will apply to the rest of the sports. Thera was still, however, a very fair gathering, considering the before-mentioned drawback. On tho occasion of this annually recurring holiday, when viewing the fleet of shipping in harbor, and the large and handsome stores and warehouses in the vicinity of the wharf, and in other central portions of the city, a spectator who thinks for a moment how very few years have elapsed since the first settlement of Wellington took place, cannot fail to be struck with the wonderful progress that has been made, and of one thing he can hardly fail to take notice of—that whatever may happen nothing can take away the magnificent harbor which Nature has given to this favored city. Since the first immigrants landed here in 1840, the strides which have been made in the population, trade, and commerce of Wellintrton are certainly astonishing, and ou no occasion is this more forcibly brought to mind than on the day of the Annual Regatta, when the Queen’s wharf is the centre of attraction. The number present yesterday, for obvious reasons, fell short of that of the previous year, and the interest in the several events was not quite so keen as would have been the case under more favorable circumstances. Upon the whole, however, the Regatta, if not brilliantly successful, was less of a failure than would have been the case had the committee not been so energetic in their endeavors to do all they could to bring it to a satisfactory conclusion. The Rechabite fete, considering the unfavorable weather, was fairly successful, and the same may be said of the other festivities of yesterday.