THE EASTER REVIEW IN CHRISTCHURCH.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1232, 30 March 1880, Page 2

THE EASTER REVIEW IN CHRISTCHURCH.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT;) . THE DARK SIDE. As a gathering of Volunteers nothing could have been grander than the review which was brought to a close last evening, But in point of management. anything of a worse description would have been very bad indeed. There was a very decided want of proper organisation, in every respect tha,t very conclusively proved that very little heed had been paid to matters of detail, and that the undertaking was too big for those who were entrusted with its management.. No programmes, .were issued, and even officers of companies were kept entirely in the dark. The result was that everything was done in an unsystematic manner/ and what might under better management have been the grandest turn-out of Volunteers that has ever been held in the Colony was made somewhat of a muddle. This remark, however, I am glad to say, does not apply to the review proper, which took place yesterday; but of this more anon. The arrangements for the billeting of the visiting corps, with few exceptions were of a j wretched kind, but this in some measure may be, attributed to the fact that many of the'hotel keepers declined to take in volunteers, owing to their establishments being full of civilian visitors. A few.of the corps, however, managed to obtain comfortable quarters and respectable meals; but the majority had neither comfortable quarters nor decent provisions, while the corps on arrival' discovered that no provision whatever had been made for their accommodation, and had placed before them the unpleasant prospect of having, to walk the streets all night. _ When I mention that the corps in question was that from Queenstown, which had consequently .travelled the largest distance jto attend the review, the fact that they were unprovided for will appear the more extraordinary. : Fortunately for the men they , were eventually billeted, and in some measure the committee of management a,toned for previous oversight. In many : other respects the arrangements were. unsatisfactory, and ~ there was very, general grumbling amongst the visitors. Many expressed their determination never again to attend a review, in Christchurch, while visiting volunteers from Wellington and Otago" stated very plainly that if ever the Christchurch Volunteers attend reviews in either place they would receive far better treatment. As it is, I believe,. proposed to hold the next review in Oamaru—a very central place, by the way, for the Middle Island, at any rate—your volunteers should take their cue from the expressions used in connection with the Christchurch Review, and carefully make their" arrangements accordingly. There was manifested, too, a very strong feeling ou the part of the Christchurch Volunteers that was in execrable taste, and not what the Volunteers from other places were entitled to expetit as visitors. This was perhaps shown to the greatest extent in the big gun competition between the Christchurch and . Oamaru Artillery Corps. In the- dismounting the Christchurch detachment resorted to every device to obtain a victory, and I have no hesitation in saying that although they were awarded the pride of place the Christchurch men were unquestionably beaten, for they did not in many respects complete their work, and were guilty of several omissions in essential particulars, as any practical gunner who witnessed the competition will testify if necessary. It is unnecessary for me to go into the full particulars of the affair, which was discreditable to the Christchurch detachment, by far the most powerful looking body of men as compared-with their opponents. I have merely mentioned the matter to show how visitors were treated, and were it expedient, I might occupy columns of your spaice in the enumeration of acts of discourtesy, butlno good purpose qould; be served by doing so. Nor weire the people of Christchurch generally blameless in regard to the want of courtesy shown to the visitors. No.matter what was going forth, there was always ready hands to applaud the local corps, while strangers: were generally treated with silence,' if* not combined with contempt. I!need hardly mention that this was unfair, nor will it be supposed for a moment that, the Christchuroh men displayed superiority in every respect. The con- | duct of the public was in keeping with the petty local feeling displayed throughout. One other matter and I have done with this branch of my subject. It is well-known that .eyery visiting Volunteer was called upon to pa,y 10s for his maintenance while in the townj fudging by aj satnple of the provisions supplied to some of! the visitors which l saw wheeled about in' a dilapidated wheelbarrow for public inspection, I should say that this amount was more than ample to cover the cost of their keep. Iu addition to their contribution of 10s per head," visiting Volunteers, were required to pay for admission to the grounds in which the " sports" ' "were' held, .and to the promenade concert the same evening, while the bands, whicK gave their services on-bothfoccasions,.,.wers p.ot ey.en;,invited, to -partake'of the slightest- refreshment. Thb whole of the proceeds from these affairs,, as. also for admission to: the racecourse and grand stand -at the review yesterday, went-.-to, replenish the exchequer of the promoters, of the review who must have netted a very handsome sum, while the tradespeople of the town reaped a very good harvest. - NAVAL ROWDYISM. Another matter for regret in connection with the gathering was the, disgraceful manner in which a number of members of Naval Brigades acted in Dunedip brigade .figuring most promi. nentiy jn several transactions disoreditable to themselves and. calculated, to, bring disiredifc' upon the Volunteer force of the Colony. A few instances of-their indecent, radjm many cases ; dishonest, conduct will je sufficient to show fiiow a number of the STavals "abted. On Saturday a arge numbpr of these counterfeit" ;ars|" rushed »oing through t|ie usual, form of .paying or admission! Having; .obtained access to he pit, at number or them,clambered over he partition between the. stalls and pit.

and then ; cir V tho stage, flourishing bottles of liquor. 'ln another - a number of them, after ill-treating an inoffensive pie-man, took charge of his stall, and moving off some distanoe with it, greedily devoured the contents* "leaving the unfortunate pie-dispenser with nothing but sore bones to compensate him for tho stolen pies. Again, a number of them charged a fisherman -to a. large watertrough and, without any cause, threw him bodily into the water. But one of the most disgraceful acts perpetrated was the forcible ejectment of a lady and gentleman - from their*» conveyance. * This • ivas done by a strong body of Navals,a number of whom afterwards droveoff in the vehicle. On Sunday evening innumerable acts, disgraceful at any time, tut still more ho on so sacred a day, were perpetrated. It is usual in Christchurch~ for some enthusiastic proclaimers of the Gospel toholdopen, air service in Cathedral Square, and they proceeded to follow the usual course on Sunday evening. They had not got very far on with the service when a largo mob of these blue-shirted larrikins soon made it apparent that they had no respect for things sacred by molesting the preachers to such a degree that the police were compelled, in order to prevent a more serious disturbance, to request the preachers to abandon their services. The shop of Marks, the Sundayfruit trader, was the scene of another disgraceful riot on Sunday night. Here a number of N avals attempted to help themselves to the full, and a general disturbance was the result, about 1000 persons gathering in front of the shop. < The police were utterly powerless to disperse tho mob, and orders were given for the Cavalry to turn out for the purpose of restoring order. This extreme course was, however, not followed, the order being countermanded and strong pickets of infantry being told off to patrol the streets. These are only a few instances of the innumerable acts that tended to' m&ko honest, order-loving Volunteers aphamed of belonging to the force. I have no doubt these " land-lubber sailors" imagined they were doing the correct thing in indulging in acts of rowdyism, and were attempting to imitate British tars ; but they , failed to, recognise the fact that tho British sailor* however mischievous ho may be when sent ashore on leave, does everything good-naturedlyj and is ever ready to pay for any damage, he does. These imitators, however, did .not, and would not pay for anything. Of course, these remarks do not apply to all Navals, for even in the Dunedin Brigade, which was undoubtedly the worst-behaved, there were many honorable exceptions, while special mention must be made of; the general good-behaviour of the Nelson and Wellington Brigades.

THE BRIGHT SIDE. I have already mentioned, that nothing could have been grander than the turn out of "Volunteers. I will not go into particulars, for you have no doubt been posted up by telegraph. There must have been nearly 2000 men of all arms present, including large numbers of representatives from Wellington and Nelson in the North, and Invercargill and Queenstown in the south, with large bodies of men from all the intermediate places. The North Otago district was well represented, the Artillery, Oamaru Rifles, and Hampden Rifles each sending good sized detachments. The whole force was divided into three battalions, each battalion being fwell supplied with bands. The first battalion had the Dunedin Head-quarters Band, the Wellington Naval Band, the Christchurch Cavalry Band (playing at times on horseback), and the Oamaru Artillery Band, though the latter seldom turned out. To the second battalion were attached the Invercargill Garison Band, the Dunedin City Guards Band, and Wellington City Rifles Band. The third battalion had attached to it the Christchurch Garison Band, Oamaru Rifles Band, and the Queenstown Volun* teer Band. The three battalions wepQ exercised on Friday morning in different parts of the town under their respective commanding officers, the different bands enlivening the proceedings with music. In the afternoon the sports were held on the Agricultural Show Ground, and comprised tilting and other exercises by tha Cavalry, gun competitions by the several Artillery corps, running, &c. The proceedings, were, however, somewhat slow, and would have been more so had it not been for the music supplied by the Christchurch Garrison Band, relieved at intervals by the Christchurch Cavalry Band, Oamaru Rifles Band, and the Queenstown Band. In the evening there wag 3 pro* menade concert, in which the Inveroar* gill, Dunedin City Guards, Wellington Naval, Wellington City Rifles, the Christchurch Garrison, and the Christchurch Cavalry Bands took part. The music supplied by all was excellent, but thq palm must be given to the InvergargiU Band, the playing of which Wfts the theme of general admiration, As, ft whole, the Bands drawn together in Qhristt church could not have been surpassed in any colony, The town was made alive by the sweet strains of the ten bands drawn together. This was particularly noticeable on Sunday morning when the chnreh parade took place. The different battai lions were divided into seventeen bodieq and each proceeded to one of the many churches in the town, headed by one op more bands. The music supplied wag chiefly sacred and ranged from selections from- Masses, and " The Heavens are telling " from the " Creation " down to Moody and Sankey's hymns. To the credit of the large body of Volunteers in the city be it said that the attendance at the several churches was very large, Monday was the great .field day, Ejarly in the morning the several companies marched to the parading grounds of the different battalions, and afterwards pro-. ceede4 tq the railway station. They They were then oonveyed to the racecourse where the review was held. The ground was not a very suitable "one for the purpose, being uneven and. covered by high grass, but despite these backs the marching past VTAS c|°ne remarkably well, an 4 forjned a grancl | sight. Tl}o §hanfi fight follo\ypc|, and wag wgll tft give spectator§ an idea of the excitement and din of a battle field, Qn the right and left of the line were detachments of artillery, the booming of whose big guns with the rapid and almost incessant body firing of the infantry created a glorious and almost deafening noise. The revieuf was unquestionably a grand affair in respect, and had it not been fa? the rpatterlj alluded to above, there would have been no oause to question the success of the meeting, After a short respite the three battalions were reformed and the'force marched 1 baok to town, where they were dismissed, The ofSoers messed at Coker's Hotel each evening, and were cheered by music supplied on Friday and Sunday evenings by the Invercargill Band, and on Saturday evening by the Wellington Band. I may mention that the Garrison Band, which declined 'to take part in the regular concert oh the. ground that, having paid for being present in Christchurch, it was a pieqe ci "cheek'* to ask them to play for the benefit of th§ promoters, gave fr§e qpen air concerts in the pity on Saturday afternoon. I may also mention that it had been announced that the whole of the bands, numbering something like 180 instrumentalists, would play the National Anthem together, but owing tp, o| management this promised grand achievement fell through. No steps whatever were taken to bring the bands together, What should properly have been done would have been to oaU a meeting of the whole of the bandmasters, with a view to the rehearsal and proper rendition of the grand composition with which Handel is credited. Nothing of this kind wtyg

done, and what might have been the grandest musical achievement of the Colony fell through from some neglect on the part of the Committee of Management. I hope that when next a review 13 held, this, to music-loving people, important matter wili not be lost sight of.