THE SHOW DINNER.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 285, 26 November 1908, Page 3

THE SHOW DINNER.

AN INTERESTING EUNUTON. JIK. GILRLTH'S EAREWEEL REMARKS. The annual show dinner was held last night in tllu Brougham Sueet Hall. There was again a large attendance. -Mr \\. Amliury presided. Un his rigiil were .Messrs. n. Un'j, -Vli'., ami »,. .1. -UcCiea; uu l«s left, .\iessis. J. A. *.i«(- J rulli, A. A. i'liurnton, ami ins Worship | the JUUiir, Tile umiier was .solved .1 Ins usual lirst-class iiiaimer by .\u. •). W. Thomson, 1 lie repast over, a lengthy toast-list was negotiated. "lilt! rung,' proposed uy tile t-ii,":r----uian, was loyally honored. Tile chairman then (proposed " Tire Parliament <>f Now Zealand,' ami Mr. 11. Ulw.v, M.P., responded uriclly. lie thought the Parliament jusl eleeted 1 wknilil be fairly representative of the 'people;, a''d Hie larmors liad Bad a g<wu deal to do with it. The eyes 01 tne people were on tins Parliament, and i.e noped they would be able to restore eonlidenee m the Dominion. The president, in proposing the loust > of "Tne Judges," expressed the opinion > : that they had done their duty well, for in moving about during the day lie hail I heard no complaints Irom the exhibitors.

J .Mr. McCrea, in responding, said lie I had merely acted as substitute for Mr. Paul Hunter, a better man. lie congratulated the Society on its progress. He had seen the show seven or eight years ago, and he hadn't thought much of it then, lit was a very different tlung now. His work that day had not been all "beer and skittles,- . .a real hard work. Mr. E. O'Rorke said that this was his first year as judge here, but he JiaJ dealt in Taranaki horse-flesh for years. There had been some close finishes in the horses daring the day, and on the

whole the horses were a very good lot. He urged fanners to breed only from horses with hereditary soundness, a factor absent from some of the exhibits ■that day. lie had urged that the Government silouid take up the matter of granting premiums annually to the best stallions in the various districts, for New Zealand was going to become a great breeding-place of horses for the world. Even now Germany was buying in Australia. Horse-owners should pay more attention to "breaking." The horses should be thoroughly well ''mouthed," so that they would become well-mannered, like that of his old friend, Mr. Jas Davidson. Prizes for "manners and paces" were the most important awards. The conduct of this show was excellent, but, without making invidious comparisons, he thought, the Palmerstou North snow was the best conducted "from 'end to end.' While this show was enjoyable to him, in that he met so many old friends, there was with him the regret that it was about the last show at which he would meet Mr. Gilruth. He paid a tribute to the amount of work Mr. Gilruth had done for the farmers of New Zealand.

Mr G. Tisch, Mayor of New Plymouth, proposed the health of Mr. J. A. triirutji, referring to his forthcoming departure from the Dominion as one of the greatest of all blots on the record of the Agricultural Department. He considered it a great mistake that a man of such unrivalled qualifications should be allowed to leave the Dominion, when so much was being spent lor the education of the youths of the DoI minion in agricultural pursuits. On behalf of the Taranaki Agricultural Society, he presented Mr. uilruth with a gold medal as a memento of his connection with Taranaki and of a "little spot in Taranaki called New Plymouth,, where the sun sometimes shone ami where 'twas often wet." The toast was drunk with musical honors and a ringing salvo of cheers. Mr. Gilruth, upon rising to respond, was enthusiastically received, lie expressed his warm appreciation of the Mayor's remarks and of the manner of their reception by the gathering. He appreciated, he always would appreciate, and so would his family appreciate, the honor conferred upon him tha.t evening by presenting him with a medal entitling him to the life membership of this Society. He had always expenenc-

Ed great pleasure in visiting Taranaki, where farmers and everyone else had always treated him with the greatest kindness and courtesy. He had come here many years ago as the exponent of some regulations, which were then opposed by tile fanners just as a more recent set had been opposed. But even then he had been met with the usual courtesy and kindness, the farmers being quite willing to listen to him, recognising that what he was doing was an endeavor to beuclit ;uul assist the fanning community. That had been his one endeavor always. Not even his greatest enemy could accuse him of always trying to please people—(laughter)—but 1c uad yoae on working for what lie bc-

loved was the people's good- Jt was not given to every man to know >.v nelly what was for his own good. His work here had been made possible only by the great assistance given him uy the fanners and the auctioneering firms. It was of no use for him to deny that he was sorry to leave New Zealand. His ejeeisiou hud only been arrived at alter a great deal of thought, lie wis glad that in his new sphere he would not be too far away to render what assistance he could to New Zealand at any tune—(applause)—or to render it impossible for him to meet and welcome New Zealanders. If he heard of any of them visiting Melbourne without giving him an. opportunity of assisting to inakc their stay plcasnrabje and profitable he would feel it as an all'ront. His position iu Victoria he considered wis an honor to himself and, lie might be pardoned for saying, to the Dominion, ft had been represented to him that unless ho accepted tire position offered him the scheme of endowing this agricultural college in Australia would lapse. And in the interests of his profession he

could not allow that to happen, for in the medical profession more than oth l * -8 every member was dependent upon th; research of his fellows. Every facility had been guaranteed to him to do good work. Already four acres had been secured almost in the heart of Melbourne for the establishment of the research laboratory and college. As a contrast he mentioned that he bad been twelve years here before the Government secured a single acre, and only now was the roof being put on the stables he used for experiments on horses. Fifteen years was a long time to wait for a couple of loose boxes! In his present laboratory he had not. even a room to himself, and the nearest house from which he could get to his experiments was ten miles distant.

Now, despite all our labor laws microbes refused to observe an eight hours' day, I and animals would persist in dying during the night. Thus, unless he were on the spot, his work was often nearly lost time. He had begun to fear—he had even threatened—that he would fall into 1 the groove which lie understood was the prerogative of the civil servant, to fix his eyes steadily on the end.ot the month and watch the calendar foi" tlie civil servants' holidays, gradually drifting on to hw old age pension. But he could not do that. It has been said that he had had several trips Home at the expense of New Zealand, and that thus In- had fitted himself for this post in another state. He pointed out that he had had Hi mouths oil' in 15'/» years, mid of that ten months were sjient 'a (ravelling. W itli the exception of a couple of weeks spent with his people, he had spent the remainder of his time in study for the benefit of the Dominion. According to his agreement, he had been entitled to 15'/ 3 in«-,it..

leave, i-o lie did not tliink the state-! mollis were warranted. lie endorsed j and emphasised Mr. O'Rorke's remarks coucvriiinir the importance of looUiny to the .soundness of sires ill horse-breeding, la Victoria no stallion was allowed to compete in show rings or to enter in a horse parade without the (lovernment ccrtilicate of soundness. This system was worthy of application to New Zealand. Concluding, he said he would al wavs look back to this night with delight. The pleasure of a'n event, lie said, was not so much in its aatkipaItioji or realisation, but in the recollection, and this night would always remain a very bright spot iu his memory. Mr (lilru'lh proposed "The Exhibitors" in a liappv speech, and Messrs. .1. k>. Mitchell, iiividsou and Wilde responded.

Mr. Wihlo proposed ''The Taranaki | Agricultural Society." Sir. Newton king replied, saying that the linanciil success of the show would depunit largely on the weather of the morrow. The show of dairy cattle at this show was indeed a credit to this essentially dairying district. The pri-sidenL followed, slating thai the public and the exhibitors should be well siitislicd with the improvements 'effected in the arrangements, in the class of stock exhibited, and in the amount of prize-money. I.i conchidhg, he toasted "Kindred Societies,'' Messrs 1 11. 0. Gibson and A. Buchanan respondcd. Mr Buchanan said that the Society by continuing along its present lilies | would draw further exhibits from Hi" Falincrslon a'ad Wairarapa districts. Other toasts were "The Ladies," proposed bv Mr. E. P. Webster, response by Mr. Mabeii; "The Secretary, Mr. E. f, Webster," proposed by Ska prcsl- flt,

' lcspons'' by Mr. U'cbtser; and '-'The ; Press," proposed by the president. The pleasure of the evening was 011- | liiineed by songs rendered by Messrs. W. Perry, J. (). Summer, A. A. Thornton) and G. Sheppard, Mr. Golding playing, the accompaniments. They were aecor 1cd a hearty vote of thanks. "Atild Lang Syne" and "God Save the King" brought the proceedings to a close.