Waimate Volunteer Fire Brigade.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume III, Issue 143, 19 December 1901, Page 1

Waimate Volunteer Fire Brigade.

PBESISNTATION. OF SERVICE DEOOKATIONS. On Tuesday evening, in the uppe* room of the fire brigade station, there was a good muster, of members and friends at a gathering . to'. present service decorations to several of thfc officers and man. Two long table were under the superintendence (I Mr J. y.yinon and s»aff, a sufficieit guarantee that they were well filUd with the solids and liquids usual to such gatherings. His Worship the Mayor (Mr John. Manchester) occupied the chair, and in opening the proceedings said he .vas proud to be pn-s'iut that, evening to hand over cerium recognitions to those entitled to thoiu. Tim brigade looked a line lot of fallows, and their uniforms looked well. The speaker humorously remarked that it was to be hoped that these uniforms would not be burnt or soiled, but, lapsing into a serious vein, said ha knew, and the people of W.aiumte knew, that the brigade' was ahv-iys ready at the shortest notice to help to- secure the property and suuVy of the town, lie thought there was not sufficient recognition oi' tire brigades throughout the colony, even in high quarters. Legislation should be brought forward to compel insurance companies to hehl in the upkeep of b.igades. The Waimaie brigade should bo congratulate 1 on th« general efficit-hoy and generosity displayed in doing ail, they could to assist in the saving of property and life. .'Hs had mitc-a pleasure in proposing the iirst toast, that of "The King." The toast was ' drunk with enthxifaasm.x-!

"The next tcnst was that of tha " Awnv, Navy aud Volunteers," proposed "by Mr C. A. Wilson, wh-i touched on the events at_ pre-senG transpiring in South Africa, nmi which showed that the British army and the volunteers assisting them hud iu no way fulio t from the high fighting standard Which had Bet Great Britain in the forefront; of nation's. The navy had hud iitd-s to do in t'ns struggle-, but that little hud been done in ft manner worthy of bheir best traditions-. He would couple with the toast l;ha names of Farrier-Sergeant Ward (la.e third contingent) and Tiooper Twoui iy (Studholme Mounted Rifles). Thy toast was drunk with musi al honours, after which Mr A.%Phil p contributed " Tommy Atkins." _ Farrier-Sergeant Ward Said the work of the army in South Africa w a well kiiown. The voiunioors from th? other colonies and New Zealand h.i 1 done their very best, and should they be called on" again they would ba ready at once to go. Trooper Twomey endorsed thass rematks.

•'The Borough Council," couple I with t!u names of the Mayor and Mr Freeman, was proposed by Mr "Wills, who said thai after a stormy tims extending over some months ths Council had settled down to I'eahV hard work. Water was a great necessity in town, and provided it could be gor without in any way burdening the borouglv, the Council should push on the HCliume.

The Mayor, replying lot the Council, said that in his time be had sat on » good many councils and boards, but never on one easier to work with tlun the Waimate Borough Council. The men who form-ad that body weie not jelly-fi&h; they had opinions of their own, and kuew how to express them and allow others to do the same-. He had noi been anxious to vnter 'the Council, but had not regreui d doing so. The Council was well ablo to deal with the two big qui'stio&s now b.foio them—lighting and water. He thanked them very cordially for the toast. Councillor Freeman said be was A young couucilior, and as yet not as well up to the work as he hop'ed to be, but he said what be thought aud did his best to do his duty to the ratepayers whom he helped to represent. A water supply for the town was badly needed, but they must first see what they were doing and not r m themselves too far iiko debt. Ab they wertJ uware, Dr. fcjynies had reported adversely oh the lva!cy"s B.ish supply and want< d th.'in to go to t'.ie Waihaot This, he thought, would never be done on account of the great expense. Ho thought, aiso, that the Firft Brigade should have a more up-to» date plant, so as to enable them to cop 3 with their \vo)k.

Song, " Home, Boys, Home," Mt W.J. Wilis.

Corning to the business of the evening, the Mayor said he had notf to ptutfent the decorations, wbicb represented years of service and haid work. The fir«t was that tb Captain Sinclair, an ofucer of whom the rneui» bers and the town were proud. It was not certain when tiiey would have another lire hue as Mayor he congratulated Captain Sinclair on being the head of *>.uch an organisation as the Wainiate Volunteer Fire Brigade. He then handed out tba medals and bars to the following recipients:— Captain Sinclair/ bars representing twenty years' service (Captain Sinclair joined in April, 1881) ; Lieutenant Oolville, medal arid bars representing seven years' service; Fireman L>uiheld ) uj<2dafnnd bars representing eighteenyears' service ; Foreman Mines, medal representing five years' service ; Fireman Wilson, bars to Irepresent nino yeara" service. Each of the recipients was heartily applauded, with an extra for Fireman Duffield, the " Father of the Brigade." , Mr W. A-. Osborne proposed "Comtherctal Interests," coupled with the name of Mr Wi T. Wills. . Mr Wilis said he thought the town had a good future before it, if it con* tiuued to advance as it had done in the past few ye&ig. He had every reason »o be eftiisfifed with his shave in the toWiVs proßperity. Fireintia linit'rßon,-Teoit»tion. Oo behalf of the brigade, Captain SirioUir thabkifil ihe.lM.ayor for pre* BLMiting the bftrs and medals. , Bei»4

in a fire' brigade was, the speaker's hobby, he haying." as a youngYman served an apprenticeship, so to speak, inDunodin. When he came to Waimate bje joined the local brigade and had coo* tmued with it ever since, only missing one fire through being out of town. The work of tiie firemen witV the ' present out-of-date plant was arduous, . and he thought this should, be more ' generally recognised and some effort , made to assist in securing better plant ', for fire extinguishing. There were ' only two of the " old brigade " now members, Fireman Duffield and him* self. As for water, if they did not soon got a water supply they would have to get mora tanks, for at present ' inany places were right out of reach \ of water, and the wells were' usually too deep for their engine to cope with. Some years ago the Works Committee of the Borough Council had decided to put down one tank per year, but this had not been.continued. Ha thanked the Mayor for so kindly attending and making the presentations, and hoped he would long be Bparad to attend similar gatherings. In reply, His Worship said he wee glad they appreciated his services. There was no place in the world he liked so well a* Waimate, and amo g the local societies he classed the Waimate Volunteer Fi;e Brigade as a very important body. His Worship then (10 p.m ) bade the gathering good-night. Captain Sinclair took the chair, and tho following toast list was gone through : "Licensed Victuallers," coupled with the names of Messrs Twomey and Osborne; " The United Fire Brigades Association," responded to by Lieut Colville; " Our Captain," " Honorary Members," respo ded to by Messrs Wills, Philip and Osborne $ " Press," responded to by Messrs C. A. Wilson and Kilgour ; " The Ladies," coupled with the names of Mesprß Fr«eman and Presland; and " Tde Caterer," responded to by Mr Symon t Daring the evening songs w re contributed by Messrs J. Freeni n A. Philip, W. Wills, and Foreman Mines and Fireman Dockerill. An enjoyable gathering broke up at 11,30 p.m.