Anniversary of Good Templary.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2872, 30 April 1878, Page 2

Anniversary of Good Templary.

A highly succesaful re-union in celebration of the fifth anniversary of Good Templary on the Thames eventuated at the Academy of Music last evening. The entertainment took the form of a conversazione—singing, speeches, an exhibition of works of art and curios, refreshment!, 4c. At the hour appointed for the commencement of the concert there must have been about 300 persons present, and Mr Speight took the chair. He made a fewintroductory remarks, after which the band performed a selection of Rossini's grand music from the opera of Tancredi. The band consisted of piano, violin, violincellos &nd clarionette. .

A choir consisting of Messrs Hilton, Gribble, H. Robinson, W. Steward, Meachem and the Misses and Mrs J. Gribble then sang a chorus from " Faust," the rendition of which was in every way perfect. Miss E. Gribble's singing of the nigh notes was much admired, and added greatly to the success of the piece. The ttev. J. T. Hinton next delivered a short address on Good Teniplary, referring to the good done by it, and the evils of intemperance. He was attentively listened to throughout. Song— Miss E. Gribble—" You needna come courting a' me," which was rendered with great taste and feeling, and in that young lady's usual good voice, and was very well received. Mr Meachem then sang a solo from Maritana, " There is a Flower that Bloometb," and though he hardly put enough expression into. it, it was on the whole a meritorious performance. The Rev. S. Edger then delivered a rather lengthy but telling address on temperance, quoting passages from John Bright, Richard Cobden, and Lord Palmcraton to ahow the stupendous evil with which Good Templary contended. Hia speech was remarkable for strong assertion, with some good arguments. He protested that it was impossible to use extravagant language in depicting the evils of intemperance; he defied the artist to over-paint them, or the orator too fully to dcs? "be them. He was istcned to attan-,

tively, and waa applauded at the conclusion of the speech. Mr 6. P. Hilton made bis debut before a Thames audience, and sang "The Brave Old Oak." Besides possessing a splendid baritone voico, Mr Hilton lings with an expression and verve rarely found j in the amateur, and the audience ■ thoroughly appreciated his effort by de-1 manding an encore. Mr Hilton responded i by singing " God defend the Right," ; which was also exceedingly well sung. | Mist Gribble then Bang " Time may ■ ■teal the Hoses," for which she was de* J •crvedly applauded, after which the choir | and band performed Reitzinger's fine: chorus "The German Students' Song." j This certainly was* one of the best features of the performance. The Chairman then announced that a j short interval would take place, during j which the audience might take the opportunity of examining the curios, and refreshing the inner man at the refreshment tables. The majority of the audience took his adrice, as a few minutes later a large number might be seen near the refreshment stall putting away coffee arid cake in an alarming manner. The other side of the hall utt-acted a good number who examined the mechanical and other exhibits with great interest. An inlaid table, the workmanship of Mr Arnold, attracted considerable attention, as also did a number of handsome paint* ings from the brush of Mr H. Driver. Several small steam-engines were also exhibited,' and considerable amusement was created by the antics of those undergoing a shock from the galvanic batterjr. At another part a gorgeously decorated doll's house was to be f ecu, and near it a number of fine photos of the grand mountain scenery of the Southern Alps. Other attractions were a piece of the Atlantic cable, swords used at the Irish .Rebellion and Crimean War, full rigged ship, coins, etc. Tue followis a complete list of the exhibitors:—R. N. Smith, inlaid table; Everett, engine and boiler; Smith, doll-house and model bedstead; Murray, model ship, sword, coral and pictures ; Driver, 17 oil paintings ; Green, model ship amongst icebergs ; Holdsworth, 3 cases, two pictures; Spencer, 19 photos Mount Cook scenery; Nicbol, 5 paintings and cabinet; Walker, 27 pictures ; Fulleine, 5 pictures ; Cook, 3 diagrams; Mrs Richards, book Cruikshankiana; Horsbrugh, mineralogical specimens; Mrs Sprague, silver Spanish lamp; Doidge, piece of Atlantic cable, puddling machine; Day, Galvanic bat* tery; Bull, Electrical apparatus; Faull, engine and boiler at work. The special attraction which drew the greatest attention was the exhibition of a small Albion printing press at work, lent to the committee by the proprietor of this journal. A small two-color .postquarto memoranda of Thames Good Templar Lodges, and " The Past, Present and Future of the Thames," compiled by a member of the Order employed in this Office, and printed off by Mr G. J. Cooper (machinist, Star Office) and one of his assistants, was distributed gratuitously iv the room. The paper on the I Thames was as follows:— ; To those residents of the Thames who have identified their interesto with those of the place for the lost ten yearn—and they are not a few-and also to such an date their arrival from a more recent period, a brief review of the Thames, or rather its career, must have some interest. To pioneers many, of Its principal features must be still quite fresh in their memory; and to them, probably, the change*, which have overtaken the field, and which seem to have brought us into that steady-going township it now appears to be, have been carefully noted. For upwards of five yean in its existence as a Goldfield the Thames occupied the position of one of the richest quartz-gold-producing fields in the world, i.e., taking into consideration its are*, the number of productive mines, &c. The world heard and wondered, doubtless, at the enormous yield of the precious metal, first from Hunt's (the Shotover), then the Golden Crown, the Long Drive, the Caledonian, and several other mines in the vicinity, which different mines, it is remarkable, seemed to spring up into the foreground consecutively, so as to keep up an almost continuous supply, of gold, and the effect wan that the Thawte made rapid advances. Within about two years from Ita discovery as a goldfield there must have beeto quit* aa many miners alone as the present entire population. The field was the scene of life and activity, and, of course, some sharp practice—" Jumping " shares, for instance. Many date their luckiest days at this time; but many have had to deplore the speculative disposition which lev." them to vest their. "little all" in some "firstclass chance," which subsequently proved to be one among the many "duffers" which were long'and earnestly workodoy hundreds of men. Hadthsre been a more equal distribution of the large amounts of gold, which'chiefly fell to the lota of a few of the owners of the several companies above mentioned, perhaps today the field would be iv quite a different state. The Golden Crown paid dividends to the time of £200,000 in one year, while the Caledonian unearthed something like 10 tons of gold in the same period (worth nearly £000,000). Hunt's general stuff is said to have yielded an average of sojm to the ton—some of the quartz found near the surface containing as much gold as stone. Latterly, the most of the gold has come from the Moanatairi and Alburnia, and these mines are by no means worked out yet, though they have considerably augmented the general return of gold during the whole time they have been worked. At a moderate level, in both cases.has the gold come to hand. In 1878, the Thames finds itself in that position, as a goldfield, which may be termed mediocriticai; it is considered by some to have reached its level, tut by others it is confidently believed there are bright days yet for the Thames-other CalcdonUns and Golden Crowns. Time alone can prove what foundation there is for such hopes. However, as to the future. Supposing that the indifferent yield of gold obtained lor the year so far is not improved upon, the prospect for shareholders and their employees is not encouraging ; and not only to these but to the general community is the outlook unpromising. It is just at this period that reflecting minds will speculate on the future of the Thames. It cannot be disputed that with the decline of the mining industry goes the decline of business In every class. Let the Thames bo rid 6! its mining population, mid indubitably it will be bereft in the course of time of all that goes to make up whatever it now possesses of prosperity. Seeing things in their proper light, and with a commendable anxiety to provide for the district some other source ■ of support, our local bodies have bestirred themselves, and iv one direction particularly do they seem to sco a way open in which to make the Thames so that it need not be dependent upon its one resource—vie., milling: they are negotiating for the construction of a railway which there is every reason to believe will be the greatest boon to the Thames township and dlsdiHtrict generally. Without it the second decade of the field may sec it a nearly deserted town; with it completed, "it may rise to such a state of permanent pros, sei Ity as has not yet been reached. X D. After an interval of half jhi hour the programme was proceeded with. After the band had performed a valse, Mr F. A. Pulleine sangtflo "Three Jolly Smiths," which was exceedingly well rendered. Mr Hilton and Miss E. Gribble then delighted the audience by the singing of the duet, "Sing Me an English Song" This was followed by a reading from Dickens by Mr Phillips, which took well with the audience. Mr Hilton sing II The Heart Bowed Down," and was loudly applauded. Mr Phillips delivered a short address on " Nothing succeeds like success," after which he moved a vote of thanks to those who had exhibited, and the ladies and gentlemen who had sung. This was carried by acclamation, and the proceedings were concluded by the singing of the National Anthem.