Independent Order of Rechabites.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2531, 15 February 1877, Page 2

Independent Order of Rechabites.

: ANNIVERSARY SOIREE. . The seventh anniversary of the Star of Hauraki Tent, 1.0. E., was celebrated at the Tempkt Hall If si evening by a soiree and entertainment. About 200 persons sat down to tea, the tables being presided over by the following ladies :-—Mesdames Bennett, Honiss, Richards, Cocks; Misses A. Jones, Andrews, Cleave, McNeil, Richards, Honiss, Bagnall, Thomas, C. Thomas and Downs. ' After the tables were cleared away, Bro. Barnett,.C.R;, took the chair and called upon the brethren to form the Circle of ■ Friendship, and open the tent by singing ." The opening" ode." This was done by the brethren joining hands and singing the ode. T.he Chairman then made a few remarks, after which the choir, accompanied by Mr T. Bell at the piano, sang the glee " Come show your charity ;" at the conclusion it. was loudly applauded. Bro. E. Honiss, the Secretary, then read the annual report:—" Worthy C.8., Officers, and Members, —In reviewing the events of the past year in connection with this Tent, for the purposes of this report, your Secretary would bring before your notice the following as the .chief items of interest:—The number of members good on tbe books at the commencement of the year was 160. During the year weJiaye initiated 22 new members, and received two brothers by clearance from.other Tents, making a total of 174. During the same period 6 have left by' clearance, 26 have run out of compliance, and 4 have ceased to be members.by reason of having 1 violated their covenant of abstinence from intoxicating drinks, leaving the number i in good standing: on the books of the Tent 139, being a decrease of 11 members from last year. There has been a large amount of sickness, and a consequent drain upon the sick fund. Still, upon tbV whole, the financial statement when compared with preceding years is satisfactory. The management fund which . at the commencement of the year was ' indebted to the amount of £40 5s lOd, has now recovered itself, and" has a fcredit : balance of £4,12s 7d. The contributions i to the sick fund during the year amount , to £176 2s Bd, and there has been paid in . sick allowances £177 Is, being 18s 4d' in" excess of the receipts to this fund. The 1 excessive drain upon this fund is principally owing .to four tedious cases—one of injury to the hand, which lasted. 35 weeks; one of erysipelatic inflammation, which Ji lasted 12 weeks ;v one chronic" , rheumatism, 20 weeks'; and one of lumbar abscess, 18 weeks; and besides these ' there have been 30 other cases of sick--1 ness, averaging 4 weeks each. However, > it is satisfactory to state that this state , of things improved during the last quarter of the year, and we commenced the year with a clean bill, of health. , Upon balancing the books of the Tent upon ' last quarter-day, 25th December, the 'following ledger balance appears:—Dr. ; Bank of New Zealand, £217 6s 7d; Post office Bank, £150 Is Id; cash, £6 5s 9d— ' £373 13s sd. Or. Juvenile Tent, £40; bank fund, £18 3s 9d ; contingency fund, £4 12s 7d; sick fund, £31017s Id—£373 i 13s sd. There were also contributions due amounting to £55. Happily another year has passed in which we have had no deaths, to record, and the funeral fund continues to gain strength ; but it is with deep regret that, upon this our anniversary,! feel I cannot allow this occasion to pass without referring to the sad .event which brought" us together yesterday, and the awfully sudden m.anner in which our lamented brother Nigel Oatridge was summoned to the presence of pur Almighty Father, may well be taken by us as a warning to make such preparation as is needful both for our temporal and spiritual-welfare, and obey the Divine injunction of Hi.m who said, "Be ye also ready." —The juvenile branch of this Tent still continues under the efficient superintendence of Bro. Nodder, with a present membership of 83, and a sum of £59 7s 3d to their credit. The Juvenile Tent offers as inducements to the" sons of members of the order, and the juvenile portion of the community, to provide for the initiation of its members, when arriving at a proper'age, into the Adulfc Tent, or in case of death a funeral gift varying from £3~to £7. The thanks of the Tent 'are due to Bro. Nbdder for the interest and energy he at all times displays in the charge of j the juveniles, and I must refer all who I wish for any further information under j this head to him. We are happy to see our sister Tent, the Friendly Help, whose friendly help has been this evening ex: tended to us in" gracing our tables and dispensing the cup of consolation. May they progress and'increase in number until their Tent ropes require lengthening and strengthening.—Yours fraternally, E. Honiss."

Bro. Cyrus Brown was called upon to move the-adoption of the report. He said he had much pleasure in so doing, as though it was brief it showed their position exactly. There, were, however, several points which needed explaining. Oue item was the large amount dispensed for sicknsss. it was not sickness properly so called, but accidents, &c, that had caused such a drain on the sick fund. .Referring to the management fund, he said that'they had been a little too kind, and had given away money before they

had it, but, of course, knowing that they would get it, and, as would be seen by the report, they had recouped themselves. He then feelingly referred to the death, of the late lamented JBro. N. H. Oatridge, and mentioned that only four llechabites had been buried on the Thames since the founding of the Tent here, and that two of these deaths had been the result of accident, so that only two had died in their beds. This proved that they were a healthier lot than any of the other Societies on the- Thames. (Applause.) They had now a clean bill of health. He was much pleased at seeing so .many young ladies wearing the Rechabite uniform or regalia, and considered that it should be a great inducement for youngmen to join the Order. He said that they had under their control nearly £400, exclusive of the funeral fund. These facts showed that they were doing the work they were trying to do. In concluj sion lie referred to the benefits of total I abstinence.

Bro. J. P. Jones in seconding the adoption of the report expressed his pleasure s,t seeing so many present. He had been an abstainer from his boyhood, and had never given the doctors much trouble. Since he had been connected with the Star of Hauraki Tent he thought ho had only been laid up for one week. He seconded the adoption of the report which was then carried by acclamation. • The next item on the programme was a song by Bro. J. Somervel—" Beware of a musical wife." The audience were evidently highly delighted with it, and in response to a most decided encoie Mr Somervel sang " Ye Banks and Braes." " Only a little faded flower," a song by Miss Kevan, followed, and was well received, after which Bro. Vowles'sang " Good-bye Annie," and being . encored sang the last verse over again. Miss Cleave sang " A. Gipsy's Life is a Joyous Life," and in response to an encore sung "Come, Birdie^Oome." Bro. S. Meachem then rendered "The Death of Nelson," after which the Chairman called upon— • Mr T. Vowles, representative of the Loyal Waikato Lodge of Oddfellows, was then called" upon to address the meeting. Mr Yowles referred humorously to the difficulty of facing such a large number of ladies, saying that he sometimes experienced great difficulty in facing one. ■ The society he belonged- to was the largest and most influential one in the world. The lodge he represented had £1400 which they had accumulated in seven years. The Manchester Unity numbered 400.0C0 members with an accumulated fund of £4,000,000. Last quarter the Charles Bruce Lodge had only paid £1 10s sick allowance, and the quarter before £2 16s, -which was not bad for a drinking society. ; He then thanked them for the invitation they had sent to- his lodge for a representative to be present that night.

Mr Dillon, representative of the H.i.C.8.5., briefly thanked them for the honor done his lodge by inviting a representative. Miss Carr, an Auckland lady, sang " Jessie's Dream," and being encored sang " Put me in my.little bed." Mr J. Doidge, representative' of the the OPride of the Forth Court, A.0.F., after returning thanks for his invitation, said this was the first time he had ever met the Grand Order of Eechabites, though he had early recollections of them. He related humorously, his idea of the Eechabites when he was a boy. He referred to the unity existing between Friendly.Societies here, and concluded by referring to the death of Bro Oatridge. Bro. W. Pitkethley jecited a Scotch piece, " The Wonnerfu' Wean," and was rewarded by a most enthusiastic encore. He -then recited "The Spanish Champion " in a manner, which enchained the attention of the audience., ; This was really one. of the gems of tlie evening^ Mi*. J. Jones delivered two of his temperarce songs in his usual first-class style. ' • ... Mr Coombes, representative of the Court Pride of Parnell, A.0.F., returned thanks for the invitation to his lodge, and complimented tne Tent t on the progress, they had made. • . Bro. Carr, of Auckland, next addressed the meeting, complimenting the lodge on being able to sspend £170 a year for the relief of sickness*. : . " j A duet by Misses Eevan and A. Jones, and a glee by the choir followed, and were well received. , After Bro. Nodder had moved a vote of thanks to the ladies it was seconded by Mr A. Bagnall, and carried; and; the singing, of the National Anthem concluded the entertainment. .