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Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 550, 4 September 1869, Page 2

The members of the Loyal Westport Lodge of the Manchester Unity of the Independent Order of Oddfellows celebrated the second anniversary of the formation of their Lodge by a ball and supper on Thursday evening at the Empire Hotel. Of course the local journalist is expected on such an occasion to give a " gushin" - " description of incident forming an ingredient in the " complete success " which characterised the affair, and which, if the journals are to be believed, characterises, without a single exception, all affairs of the lind. He is expected to be thoroughly convinced of the meritorious character of the institution of Oddfellowship, and to express the hope that it requires only a few more such meetings to convince the world that the spread of Oddfellowship and the Millennium are synonymous terms. He is expected to be acquainted with the "indefatigable exertions " of the Ball Committee, and to congratulate them upon the happy result which their exertions have produced. He is expected to bo a connoisseur in ballroom decorations, and to state that, on this occasion, the decorative taste displayed by Mr Somebody was of a most pure and chaste description, with a slight touch of the serene or the sublime. He is expected to know the moaning of a series of contorted forms in evergreens and bunting displayed upon the walls, and to state how eminently emblematic they all were. He is expected to have an enthusiastic appreciation of anj iking in the disguise of music, and to refer to the orchestra, led or misled by Mr So-and-so, as having, during the evening, "discoursed sweet sounds." He is expected to speak of "mine host" as the most liberal and considerate fellow that ever set a table or drew a cork, and of his myrmidons as the very models of civility and attention. He is expected—on account of the shockingly depraved habit of local journalists—to speak of the wines and the cuisine as if he were a blood relation of the butler and the cook, or had been kept in the kitchen or cellar for a week previous to the event, lie is expected—very properly and naturally—to exprt-ss, in a few rapturous sentences, his sentiments on the beauty of the gentler sex, on the elegance of their attire, or on the bliss of being a ball-room floor to be tickled by their toes. And, of course, he is expected—if, by any possible chance, it can be done—to iutrono report of such an event "is genuine." Shall we do all this that is thus expected of us? Certainly not. And for two simple reasons. First, because everybody in Westport who is an Oddfellow, or an Oddfellow's wife, or an Oddfellow's sweetheart, was present at the ball, and knows all about it. Second, if the rest of the world don't know by this time of day what an Oddfellows' Lodge can do in organising a ball, and what Messrs Tonks and Hughes of the Empire Hotel can do in laying a supper, the rest of the world ought to be ashamed of its ignorance, and remain there. It will bo enough to state a few facts. There were upwards of one hundred and twenty persons present at the ball, and the number of ladies and the number of gentlemen were so equal as to be highly satisfactory in connection with the "delightful task" of filling one's programme. To shelter the ladies from the occasional rain or vulgar observation, there was erected, in front of the Empire door, a temporary wall of incongruous but suitable material—galvanised iron and fern-trees. Rooms were reserved for the purpose of ladies "titivating" their external appearance previous to entering the ball-room. The ball-room itself—the Masonic Hall was decorated. That is to say, leaves, and flowers, and pictures, and a few were very prettily and properly arranged." There was nothing of the clothes-line style of decoration. From the ball-room to the supper-room, which was some distance from the hotel, there was a covered and floored passage, rendered cheerful enough by bunting and kerosene. The supper-room itself was profusely " decorated " with flags. A bare interior was converted into a comfortable, commodious dining hall. The tables !

Is it necessary to say that tlioy " groaned ?" The " viands !" Is it necessary to say that they were " sumptuous ?" The wines! Is it necessary to say that they were recherche? Perish the thought of anything contrary to the " established reputation " of Messrs Tonka and Hughes. Everything was everything that could be desired. Of the speechifying 'after supper our reporter has not provided any reliable notes. In an interval between the dances he was detected employing hiinself in the delicate operation of removing an obnoxious wooden pew from the interior of a lady's white kid boot. He is in delicate health, and was not seen afterwards. Brother Mirfin, of Charleston, responded for him when the toast of " Tha Press" was proposed, and made a touching allusion to his friend's native modesty. Briefly it may be stated that, at the supper table, N.G. Notinan was in tlw chair, and V.G. Simpson was in the vice-chair. There were loyal, lodge, and local toasts proposed ; and, in the responses, N.G. Moore and P.G. Collings, of the Loyal Charleston Lodge, acquitted themselves as men and. brethren. In Oddfellowship Charleston was, in fact, most satisfactorily represented. A number of bretliren, and also a few sisters, rode or drove up from Charleston under a pelting rain to be present on the occasion, and their presence especially the presence of the sisters- -was a great acquisition to the pleasure and the personal comeliness of the company. It was decidedly daylight when the company separated, and, when they did so, they did so with the conviction and the credit of having taken part in the most homely, wholesome, and happy family party that has been held in Westport under the common designation of "ball and supper." Until it is excelled, the Oddfellows may iw t0 i tkeir souls the flattering unction that the social meeting held under their °"spices has been the one social meeting wnicn ii M , nost ~ recommended itself to saving of in referring to it* despatch of the English mail from Westport, we

noticed indirectly some complaint which wag made as to insufficiency of notice given when such mail is usually despatched. The fact is that, in consequence of the irregularity of communication, it is quite impossible for the Postmaster to say when the mail shall positively and finally close. This accounts., to a certain extent, for the absence of postal notices in our columns. We are informed, however, that monthly time-tables of the New Zealand steam services are usually supplied by the Postmaster to business people in town, and they are thus, at least, furnished with the information. Whether they comprehend it or not is a different matter. These tables unfortunately do not happen to state the particular dates on which the English mails are despatched. At anyrate, they do not specify the destination of the mails. The next three mails, we understand, will be despatched from Hokitika on September sth, October 3rd and 31st, and November 28th. The first English mail to arrive is due on Tuesday, the Bth inst., but will probably reach Hokitika even earlier than the regular date.

At the last meeting of the local Hospital Committee, a letter was read from Mr Poole, the House Steward, asking an increase of salary and some improvement in the condition of the room which he occupies. In his letter he spoke of the room being " unfinished," and not "ivnfurnished," as was printed. The " colored man " who was charged at the Resident Magistrate's Oourt.on Wednesday, with attempting a criminal assault on a child at Giles Terrace, was again brought up on Thursday. He admitted the offence, and was committed for trial at the Supreme Court, Nelson. The dredges on the Molyneux between the Dunstan and Alexandra are still doing remarkably well, as much £7O per man having been realised by each of the owners of one of them for a week, clear of all expenses. There is a long reach of the Bullcr river betweeen the Lyell and the Inangahua, the dredging of which might very probably prove profitable. It is in that neighborhood that the largest nuggets have been got, and the beaches along the whole distance are more or less auriferous. The bed of the river itself is likely to contain gold in even greater quantities. The river Hokitika has a competitor in the Missouri. At a place called Omaha the latter is described as a tortuous, shifting, shallow, muddy, utterly unreliable stream. Its channel is to-day here, and to-morrow is next door to nowhere.

Writing from Hokitika, a correspondent of the Greymouth Star says :— " Business is very dull here just now, and one may walk up and down Rovell-strett and scarcely see a soul. The block which was demolished by the late fire is now, however, filled up with new buildings." We notice that at a recent sporting meeting at Melbourne 100 to 4 was the opening price of Manuka for the Melbourne Cup, but as it oozed out that a commission was out to back him, he speedily rose a point, leaving oif firm at 100 to 5. The commissioner, however, got on £ISOO to £2OOO for his clients, who evidently belong to New Zealand. A few others followed suit, but only to a limited extent, and it is evident, says the Age, that it will require three or four more commissioners to arrive before Manuka becomes a prominent favourite. A new building for the Dunedin Athenffium is to be erected in the Octagon. At the brick buildings are being substituted for the original wooden erections.

By the accidental omission of some linos of print, a paragraph in the Greymouth Star reads thus:—"At present there are only five patients in the Westport Hospital, and they are all becoming steadily convalescent into a tub of water."

A gentleman residing in Torquay, England, has made some experiments with the Toi-toi grass of New Zealand, and he says : — 9 I believe this will prove a valuable plant for cultivation in this country for ropes and strong hempen fabrics. The fibre is nearly as strong as that of the New Zealand flax, while the plant is much more prolific, and seems as if it would grow anywhere in this country and yield a heavy crop." It was lately stated that there is a probability of another All-England Eleven visiting the colonies during the next season. A small proprietary has" been formed to carry out the scheme, and iUOOO was despatched to England by the June mail, as a guarantee of the lon a fides of the projectors. The negotiation is in the hands of Mr J. G. Shoosmith, who is well known in Melbourne cricketing circles. It is also proposed to engage some British pedestrians. The manufacture of starch is one of the industries most recently introduced ia Victoria. A new institution for the treatment of diseases of the eye and ear, with which is combined a department for diseases and deformities of the foot, has just been opened in Melbourne. A bill has been introduced at Adelaide to restrict the importation of all lucifers to those known as the safety matches, that will not strike except upon a prepared surface. The intention is to reduce the risk of fires.