THE- ORETI RAILEAY.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 74, 18 November 1864, Page 3

THE- ORETI RAILEAY.

Tu«idaj', cr the;2sth October, 1864, will ; be a day long remembered/f by itaepeople of Southland, as markihg'Hhe" first /opening o£ its railway .system,-, an event -which *>Kao been looked -forward ko, lor 'a. long lame "back, ; iwith^anticipations of, the most lively interest. „---;<.-•>; <.-•>' ■■-■-:-. Th« mbrning dawned somewhat inauspiciously, and several drops'ofr-rain which fell about seven o'clock, and a lqwririg ,Bky,.gav.e_indications of a disagreeable day, ;for the .pleasure-seekers. Fortunately, .however, the wind" veered- a little into the nortli-west/and' the 1 sky then wore a brighter; *spect, F to the'-intense satisfaction 'of hundredswho had liet' -apaa-fc the day as-one oorf r festivity ..and rojoicing in honor of tho occasion.' : , L -, ,| By-felghfc ; 6' clock the whole town was alive with, i bustle "and'' excitement, 'and great numbers ..were; observed 4 hurrying; to i;the railway station,.. deter-; mine'd-to^be-invtime"- for the. first" rtrain to the Makarewa. Nor were the members.of the General Connmttee ■' idle; Many of them had been," ; xip. and^doing " *£rom -a very. early hour, completing any necessary arrangements which required atten- . tion*ih*tdwn.- prior to the' great: exodus of the inhabitarits' to the Makarewa: "Valley. The . time," " h.oweYerJ'drewnighi and. at nine o'clock. J;he .train, " consisting of two close '.carnages and.seven opeu - ;- tracks furnished with/seats, were in a trice, densely, packed with eager excursionists. Various members of committee, "wearing silken rosettes as distinguishing hadges, were observed busily employed in superintending the operations and maintaining order ;-'but in 1 many their efforts proved unavailing; so- far as the carrying out of the arrangements'with regard to tickets were; concerned. This, ; however, was a circumstance almost antiei-. pated jpbufc thosewho were denied; atrip in, the on&fraih generally secured a seat in the following one; and -with great good--h.wm.ov they resigned their places to 'those who were. more, nimble in securing them. .Punctual to its appointed time the train moved off. from the station, with its living- freight,' i Tamidst the vociferous cheering of those left behindpwho-patiently-awaited its return, that their turn might come next. The next feature in the day's proceedings was the mustering of the children belonging to the various schools ; in . Invercargill. , The Provincial Bras 3 ;Band turned out and marched to the various Starting places, whence they conducted the juvenile excursionists to the' general mustering ground., at the .Presbyterian. Church, Tay-street, accompanied, of course, by the teacher 3. At ten o'clock the march was again sounded, and between 300 and 400 children walked hi procession to the Station, to start by the next train, which was appointed to leave at half-past ten o'clock. A short delay occurred, however, but about eleven o'clock the train returned from its first journeyr and in a remarkably short space of time thereafte, it was again packed in the most dense manner possible with a perfect swarm of youugsters, who evidently enjoyed the fun amazingly. This tram liiewise'was cheered most heartily as it moved slowly from the station, ancl it returned in good time after discharging its precious load on the verdant banks of the Makarewa. Two more trains succeeded, .on each occasion packed as closely a3 before, and leaving many disappointed would-be excursionists behind. So great was the desire to get to the Makarewa that, on the return of the children's return tram at 3.30 p.m., another rußh was made for a trip up the line, and no amount of persuasion could displace them ; not even the .threat that they might have to remain all night at the Malarewa, had the slightest effect, at least, on some of those who had secured seats. Go they would — and it turned out afterwards, unfortunately, that the threat used was fulGUed — to the annoyance of those who went, and the' regret of all who considered their situation. It i 3 calculated that there could not have been fewer than 1,800 persons conveyed from town to the Makarewa that day. THE MAKAEEWA. "When all the passengers had arrived at the Makarewa River, the scene became one of tho liveliest description. Such a crowd of people neve* before assembled in any one given spot in Southland, and the banks of the darkly liowing Makarewa (Dark-water) furnished an agreeable contrast to the dullness and monotony of life in its capital at the present time. The day was still favorable ; and by degrees picnic parties were everywhere to be seen around, while others were bußtling about, continually watching the sports provided by the Committee of Management, and which furnished so much amusement to all. By and bye the school children were mustered in circles on the bants of the river, and then they were treated to a feast of buns, cakes, tarts, &c,, &c dealt out gratuitously by the liberal hands of Mr! Jones, of the Southland Club Hotel. This scene was really a aaost enjoyable one, and the youngsters appeared thorouglny to appreciate the treat provided for them. Alter discussing their buus, &c., ginger-beer and milk were likewise handed round in plentiful supply, and ample justice was done to all the good things set before them. The Committee of Management were entertained at another part of the grounds, by Mr. Jones, and here the healths of Mr. Paries and Mr. Jones himself were drank with the greatest enthusiasm. Everything progressed in the most ■atisfactory manner, and the day, though still ■lightly marred with fitful gusts of wind, kept up wonderfully, to the intense satisfaction of every one. A goodly number of tents and booths were on the ground froiu Invercargill and elsewhere, and -all appeared to be driving a roaring trade. As the afternoon wore on, and the excitement became more intense, we observed sundry parties at convenient distances from the crowd, enjoying a dance on tho green banks of the river, while others again joined with great spirit in the ;exhilavating old game of football. It was evident that one and all that day -had' «*one to the ; Makarewa to amuse and enjoy "; themselves to the utmost, and no circumstance .has been reported to us of any accident or other contretemps occurring on the grounds during any part of the day. , >Vp observed, we might here mention, that a considerable number of visitors appeared on the scene who had come from . jurrounding districts on horseback, wlule many ■ had also in like manner journeyed from Invercargill in vehicles and on horseback, who preferred -to avoid the bustle and excitement of an excursion train. .■ ■■■■■'■ THE SPORTS. The following is an account of the sports, which . •commenced shortly alter one o'clock, and were ■moat spiritedly and successfully carried out by the . stfcwardßappoiuteii for the purpose :—- --1. TXAYBLI.rN« A^LOHa HOBIZOUTAL POIiB PUOJECTIXG- OVKU BIVKE. This sport was entered into with great zest by both competitors and spectators, who crowd«d the surrounding" ground on either s-de of the river, and the densely packed throng ou the bridge itself lent additional animation to the scene. The pole—a tree stripped of its bark— projected horizontally o\er the river nearly Lalt way, which at 'thia place will be from 30 to 40 yards irom bank to bank. A banneret -was attached to the end of the pole, and the competitor who walked along and succeeded iv snatching ltr was entitled to tho prize. Several men entered the hstß and secured -> rt • not one, however, escaping from a right good plunge into the river. As each man suddenly clutched at the banner, and immediately thereafter went headlong into the water, the hilarity and cheering waxed more and more intense, till the surrounding forests rang again with the •chocs of many hundreds of merry voices. The first man who accomplished the feat was GK ' Gord -who therefore claimed the Committee's prize'of£2 2s: 'Several prizes more of similar amount were afterwards won, as follows :— a Q-ora, (Committees' Prize, £2 2 0) 1 Samuel Morton (£2 2 0) 2 ' - Joh» Cameron (£2 20) 3 , 2.— -DUCK HTOT. Co»»idertible amusement was likewise caused b» thi» *W$- B«TC|ral persona Btrippqd and took $, «&r in good style, hut the « m

..and j thp, grasp of its pursuer^ TTfts | quickly jcaughtV x ;' The Committee's r p~rize of 7£2 2s.i was won Dy*;T.3i'<3towati:" ir^.^i-V;.; 1 --; ,-r .- r|&'Grdwan,"(duck) caught by Henderson 'XI-. b£2 "M ........ .■; . .v:1 : ;: r; .'. . : : .7. :.■ ';. /1V; ; .. . W 1 ' .Henderson, (duck)., caught', by '"- Brown ;:_! j£2 28.;;...,..;:...?...^. ..:;■., ;. ; ...;.. ; .. ; .v..? a Henderson and. Brovra tlius each ginning '■■■£&■- 2b. ;•.-■;.*' | 0 ';■ 3.— CLIMBING ,GBEASY POLE. >: '" :, ;"^ ■•■.'•■3'Fjor a long time this feat baffledall,the ateuipts of the'competitorsfto reach the summit. It was, howeYer,;at.length accomplished. ,.; . ijreeman, (Commitee's prize, £2 25.) ......... 11 ' V?' ';■' A. — MEN'S HTHU3LE . RACE.; ■> : ';,; Yy-,' Eor this race there were eight entries, the distance to be run being 400'yardsV aiid 'bver' eight flights of. hurdles,' each 1 three feet high. 'Some capital' running Teas' displayed, but it was evident vfroriitnesfeart thafc Stapleton, a tan,, strapping ' 'fellow, was top much ibr the others, as he came Abounding along at. a tremendous pace, to :the great admiration of the spectators,- and coming in to the winning post with a lead of twelve or'fifteen-; yarids. .. ; " " • • ■ ■ ; " - Staplcton, (£3 35.) '.'... -V. ■•• i. . Siminonds, (£2 25;).. 2 : : 5. — sack race. . _ This was a well contested race, and created • inucli merriment. '^Bha ground, however, being very i uneven," operated fnueli- against the speed, as great caution had to be observed to nroid tripping. '" Simmonds, ,(£1 la. Od.) 1 Hanan (£O;ids. 6d.) 2 The hurdle race for Hacks did not come off, it bemg'fourid impossible to get suitable ground and hurdles for the occasion. A great variety of other games and sports were entered into, and every, one appearec. to enjoy himself to the utmost. The . stewards of the 'sports were Messrs. John Hare, Wm, Livesey, Wm. MoiFat, F. Hamilton, W. M'Culloeh, W. H. Bray ton, J. B. Carey, H. E. Osborne, ,T- Conner, A. Sayers, Isaac Broad, and J. Stock. As the afternoon wore on, the whistle of the locomotive was sounded for the return trip of the children's train, arid punctual to the appointed hour— rhalf-past three o'clock — the crowd of youngsters were huddled into the carriages, and, in a short time thereafter, safely landed on the platform, at Inyercargill. A small private train of Mr. Davies' • followed shortly afterwards, conveying some personal friends and a few of the members oi the committee of management. At halffive o'clock another crowded train left the llakarewa for Invercargill ; but before it returned the clouds, which had for a short time worn a threatening aspect, with the wind changed from the north-west into a westerly direction, began to pour forth their contents in a continuous and heavy shower of rain. This had a rather discouraging effect on tlnse who remained for the return cf the train, which, however, ai-rived in good time. Now, however, came the only contretemps which occurred during the whole of this eventful day. When .'ill the carriages were filled, it wa9 found that tho rails had become so slippery with the rain and with the clay which the feet of the multitudes of people passing along them from time to time deposited, that the wheels of the locomotive could not act properly, and the result was that the train had to stop short at the commencement of the heavy incline which occurs on this part of the line. The gradient here is 1 in 90, but, notwithstanding this, and the slippery condition of the rails, we are informed that had there been a supply of sand at hand — which it is customary on all lines to have in cases of heavy rains — there would have been no occasion for any delay. "We are reminded of several similar cases of delay ; inter alia, at the Sunbury Bank at the opening of the Mount Alexander line, in Victoria, where the train was delayed for four hours under precisely similar circumstances. This line, however, is an iron railroad ; and we daresay, innny of our readers will recollect many instances of trains being detained in the home country from similar causes. However, all that now can be done is to regret sincerely the inconvenience caused to hundreds of people wiio were compelled to remain behind for several hours— and many of them the whole night through — in consequence of this unfortunate and totally unforeseen occurence. A portion o£ the train arrived at Invercai'gill about lialf-past eleven o'clock at night, while many walked the distance into town, in preference to " camping out," and the remainder were brought in by train the following morning. Mr. Davies, throughout the entire day, kept his station on the engine, and displayed the utmost solicitude for the safety and comfort of tho excursionists under his charge. Great praise is also clue to Mr. Marchant, the railway engineer, for the interest he took, and the watchful anxiety he displayed to prevent accident of any sort. To these gentlemen, in combination with tho persevering attention and self denying spirit exlubited by the committee of management during the entire day and evening, may bo fairly assigned the wonderful circumstance that not the slightest accident to either life or limb occurred ; and so far, the opening demonstration is to be regarded in the light of a complete success. THE BALL. In consequence of the detention of tho Provincial .Brass Band at the Makarewa, the ball which w-9 to have taken place at the Theatre Royal, did not come off, notwithstanding the Committee did all they could under the circumstances to keep faith with the public. They have arranged, as we have elsewhere announced, that it will come off this evening at the same time and place, and there can be little doubt but this" wind up " to the public opening of the Oreti Kailway will be such as to entirely satisfy those who participate in the evening's enjoyments, and to be alike gratifying to those gentlemen who have taken, from* the outset, such a deep interest in all the proceedings.