THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 1910. UNPRECEDENTED PATRIOTISM

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10055, 1 August 1910, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 1910. UNPRECEDENTED PATRIOTISM

Saturday, yJuly 30th, 1910, will be marked as a rea-letter day in the kalends of the IvJasterton Agricultural and Pastoral Association. It was the annual meeting, and a whisper had got round that an important Jisclosure of a favourable character was about to be made. The hall in which the* meeting was held was veil filled by &n eager crowd of nembers, and when the pr sident ook the meeting into Mis confidence here was no disappointment. Afler ealine with the report in ii balance heet the president,. Mr <J. C. Sum lerell, itfo. med the meeting that

tie Solway Syndicate hud prepared j a balance sheet of their dealings ! with the Solway estate. The result shewed a balance in favour of the syndicate of something like £IBSO. , The meeting looked a3 if they would ; like to have been in such a good thing, but no one seemed to begrudge j the syndicate their good fcrtune. J But when the president, after allow- j ing time to digest the position, j went on to say that the whole of the profits made on the Solway j transaction had been handed over | to the Association and paid by j cheque that day, the meeting cheer, ed to the echo. The excitement was not lessened when Mr James McGregor rose to second the motion for the adoption of the report and balance-sheet. Facing the audience,' the "father of the Masterton Show' proceeded to relate the history of I the purchase of Solwav. Certain of the leading breeders of South Wairarapa had approached the Masterton Society and offered to cast in their lot with them in favour of one great show for the Wairarapa if Maeterton would find them a suitable site with a railway siding. This seemed to be a fairly large order as it was necessary that the site should be within reach of the population and yet conform to the requirements of exhibitors.

The question was discussed amongst the people interested, and at last Solway was selected. Then came the question of most importance—the means of securing it. Ultimately five Wairarapa gentlemen, keenly interested in the success of Wairarapa as a show cc tre, cama forward and purchased the e3tate. The Association decided to remote to Soiway, and then they were laced with the problem of how to get rid of their existing grounds. Agaic, patriotism stepped, in and a number of gentlemen (including the Syndicate) enthusiastic to secure a show for Mastertoii. second to none in the Do

minion, came forward and took over the old showgrounds, thus removing the last and not the least difficulty that had to be faced in establishing new grounds. Never in the history of Wairarapa has there been more patriotism shown in the establishment of a great undertaking for the public good than this movement at Masterton. All difficulties have been swept away by the action of these Wairarapa breeders. In addition to what has been stated a free gift stock auction was held, and donations came in towards the cost of the new grounds totalling over £ISOO, and when the amount is tallied it will be found that the Masterton Association haa ■ benefited to the extent of about £3500. The people of Wairarapa will not be slow to acknowledge their gratitude to these worthy men who, in the face of inuendos and charges of exploiting the Association for their own benefit, have gone on the even tenor of their ways and completed the good work they took in hand of establishing a showground for Wairarapa of a capacity and with conveniences to excel any other centre. There is no district in the Dominion that produces finer sheep than Wairarapa, and it is only fitting that suitable grounds should be provided for advertising the fact. A!l those connected with he financing of the movement, and the executive 01 the Association who have so wholeheartedly backed them up deserve the heary thanks of the whole community.