CHRISTMAS SHOWS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 841, 24 December 1878, Page 2

CHRISTMAS SHOWS.

That Christmas is once more near at hand is made fully apparent at every turn by the displays made and in course of preparation at the various shoj)s in town. Every article generally supposed—at any rate in the Colonies to he necessary concomitants of a happy Christmas to old and young were last night and to-day temptingly displayed by the most of our shopkecpors, though some of them did not make any effort in the way of providing a Christmas show. In other cases almost every device was adopted for attracting the notice of passers-by, and, taken as a whole the display was a very good one. As is the usual custom, we purpose devoting a small space to some comments upon the Christmas shows. BOTCHEKS' SHOPS. Messrs. Eddington, Bust, and Co., of Thames-street, turned out a superb show of meats. The beef was obtained from Messrs. .Brown, Sutton, and Co., of this town; the mutton was bred on Totara ; the veal came from Mr. Thos. Shalders, "North Road ; the

pork by Mr. Jessop, of Ngapara; the lamb by Mr. Collis, of White Rocks ; and the sucking pigs by Mr. Hargreave's, of Devil's i Bridge. The window is tastefully dressed and decorated. A speciality is given to a fat young Berkshire pig buruing a gas jet from its nose. A rare show of small-goods completes, with flowers and evergreens, one of the finest Ghristmas meat shows ever seen in Oamaru. Mr. Xane, of the City Butchery, exhibits .an ox weighing 14S01b. and a heifer 9701b. in weight, being two out of the four fat beasts which obtained the gold medals at the Christchurch Show and the prizes for fat cattle at the late N.O.A. and P. Association's Show last month. These cattle were bred by Mr. Garforth, of Christchurch ; the mutton by Mr. Morrison, of All-day Bay ; the lamb, pork, and sucking pigs by Mr. Norman Lane ; the veal by Mr. P. Russell, of Otepopo. The small-goods in the window which atti'act so much admiration are from the skilled handiwork of Mr. Robert Harvey, the well-known smallgoods-man. Mr. Henry Fry's exhibits next call for a passing comment. His beef weighs from SoOlb. to 9601b., and was obtained M» Corriedale and Mr. Henry Conr> cl l; the mutton, running from 651b. to 701b., comes from the Hon. M. Holmes and Messrs. Patton Bros., Papakai" 5 lambs, averaging 501b., Mr. All-day Bay ; veal, Mr. W. Meek ; sucking pigs, Mr. George Graham, "Waiareka; and pork, Mr. Harbridge, Waiareka. Mr. Farr, of Upper Wharf-street, shows some very superior beef, weighing upwards of lOOOlbs, and bred by Mr. Gibson, of Papakaio. Mr. A. Thomson's Christmas ox weighed llOOlbs, from Mr. L. G. Fenwick's, Otepopo; the cow, 9701b5, from Mr. M. Morton, Kakanui ; mutton, Wilson Bros. ; lamb, Mr. Robert Thomson, Kakanui; sucking pigs, Mr. A. Thomson, Kakanui. POULTERERS AND FRUITERERS. A look in at our poulterers' and fruiterers' shops is a very pleasurable duty in these fine old Christmas times. Mr. G. W. Draper's window is dressed in his usual usual creditable manner. His show of fruits is not only very choice and large, but fresh and tastefully placed, and for the most pai't the rich productions of Mr. Barraclough's orchard, at Meadow Bank. His poultry and vegetables are unexceptionable, while he shows a large and varied assortment of confections and fireworks. Watch and ward is held over the fruit in the window by humorously got up automaton fashionables, who though dumb, keep up a perpetual motion with their heads, exciting the smiles and

laughter of old and young. Mr. Alexander Familton's shop window is also very tastefully dressed with flowers and fruits of all kinds. His poultry presents a fine appearance, and he has a large stock of well picked vegetables. The confections and dried fruits are evidently carefully selected. The front of the shop is gracefully ornamented with evergreens, a splendid fern tree occupying a central position. Mr. Lenuon's shop is also decorated with evergreens, and his poultry are very good. Mr. C. TV. Matthews, of Itchen-street West, exhibits in his window a beautifully trussed turkey and a larded pollard, supported by prime fat fowls, ducks, and green geese, skillfully prepared for the table. The major portion of those birds came from the Totara poultry yards, and are very tenderlooking and fat. Some very tempting fruits completes his display. Mr. H. Mote's shop, Itchen-street East, has a fine show of poultry, fruits, and vegetables. Mr. Main's department in fruit is very good ; and Mr. Marshall also shows the fruits of the season. We next come to the

CONFECTIONERS. Mr. T. Pratt, in Tyne-street, has a grand display of Christmas cakes, together with all kinds of lollies and sugar plums. Mr. Earle renews our acquaintance with cheery Old Christmas standing a-top of a mountain of a frosted cake and crowned with holly. The remaining portion of his window is filled up with plum cakes, flags, bannerettes, and automatons, whose beads wag not until Father Christmas nods assent. Air. Farr's window and shop are prettily decorated with evergreens and flowers, while an abundance of Christmas cakes, mounted with Hags, are piled up in the window. Mr. Davidson, of Cocjuet-strcct, has dressed out in Christmas Cheer, consisting of cakes and shortbread, backed up with a line assortment of confectionery. Mr. M'Kenzie, of Thamesstreet North, displays a fine assortment of confections of his own manufacture, together with cakes of all kinds and descriptions.