FOUNDATION OF ALEXANDRA.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1867, 24 June 1884, Page 2

FOUNDATION OF ALEXANDRA.

Some weeks ag§, tho old identities of Alexandra inejj.Jtpgether and resolved tli&^pfviptrld'ife a fitting thing to celebiafl'in 8 1 b1ne public way the twentieth anniversary ot "the foundation of the setfelejnent, anft ag the result of that meetings dinner and ball were given on Friday 'evening last. - The anniversary fell on the 21at, but as that day was a Satunlay, and therefore unsuitable for a dance, jthe committee decided to hyld the celebration on the 20th. j£s most of oar readers know, the township of Alexandra was founded by the 2nd Kegiment of Waikato Militia, at the close of the Waikato War. The committee decided that the dinner bhonld be confined to members of the regiment and the Forest Rangers, and invitations were accord- ! mgly sent to all those Avhose addrebses 1 were known, including the colouel of the regiment, Col. Haultain, Major Tisdall, Mr Y. E. Rice, and many otheis. A variety of causes contributed to prevent many from attend ing. Mr Y. E. Rice (Auckland), and Mr W. Scott (Kihikihi), wrote regretting their inability to be piesent, and each forwarded a cheque for £1, the piice of a ticket. Col. Haul* lin and otlieis also wrote to the effect that they were unable to be present, and hoping that the company would spend a pleasant evening. The number that sat down to the dinner was, therefore, reduced to seventeen. Out of eight hundred men belonging to different companies, it Avas not to be expected that seventeen friends, as well as comrades, could be selected piomiscuously, and it was not surprising, therefore, to find that many even of those present weie strangers to one another. Notwithstanding this, a very pleasant hour was passed, and many a long-forgotten incident was recalled to mind, as, in the familiar " after-dinner talk,'' the deeds of twenty years ago were recounted, and a wish was expiesscd that this reunion might not be the last, and that on future occasions there might be more of the old comrades present to do honour to the event.

The Dinner was served at Mr Finch's Alcxandia Hotel. The spread was an excellent one, and reflected the highest credit on the worthy ho>t and hostess. The chaii was occupied by Major Jackson, and the vieochair by Mr G. C. Y. Tisdall. The following are the names of those piesent with their tespeetive iegiment.il rank :—: — Messis Nabbs (provo sergeant), R. F Saudes (colour beigeant), 11. Reynolds (colour-soigeant), T. Finch (sergeant), J. Sage (sergeant), T. G. Sandes (coipoial), H. Halle tt (eoiporal), W. Higginscm, senr., W. Higginson, junr., Hnghe a , Foitunc, Hope, Pistrucci and Abinuss (piivatcs.) Major Jackson was in command of the Foiefct Ruigeis, which coips was at one tune attached to the 2nd Waikato Kegiment. The vice chairman sv.\b an ensign in the regiment Mv George Wilkinson, Government Native Agent, was a guest at the dinner. Mr Wilkinson dining the war was attached to a smvey paity, but served as a volunteer in tho memoiable fight at OraUan. His patty were canipe I in the site of Alexandia when tlie Militia arnved After an ample di&cussion of the good things pio\ided, the chairmin proposed the toasts of " Tl)e Queen" and "The Governor,"' both of which were received with e\ cry denionstiation of lojalty. The Chairman next pioposed "The Army and Navy." He remaiked that the Waikato owed agic\t deal to the A uny and Navy. The Naval Biigade, as then all If new, had done excellent sen ice. He hnnselt was with them a long time and could speak authoritatively on that point. Had it not been tor the At my and Navy they would not bo occupying their present position. He coupled with the toast the names of Messis Sage, Nabbs and Hallett. Mr Sage wished the duty of responding had fallen into abler hands Nevertheless he could say he was the oldest military man in the loom, and one of the hrst of H.M. tioops,' to laud in New Zealand. He arrived in 1545, just in time to take part in Hove Hekes -\\ai He could assme them that the soldieis in those dajs had not veiy rosy times of it. They who seived only in the "Waikato campaign could form a \eiy indistinct idea of the hardships which he and Ins comiades had to undergo dining the rebellion in the north. Every man was his own pack-hoise, two men had to carry 000 rounds of ammunition between them, while others had to drag the guns accross a paiticularly rough country for miles and miles, and all this upon very scanty ration?. So far as his e\peiienee went he could say that the Aimy and Navy had always done their duty, and he w as proud of them. Mr Hillett said it was now twenty threes since he left the na\y, an arm of the service that had always upheld the honour ot England, and, he trusted, always would. Mr Nabbs said he had seivcd in the army for a little while [Mr Nabbs wears the Indian medal, and the medal for long set vice and good conduct], and wherever it went he could say it did its duty. He, in his individual capacity, whether as an linpeiial soldier or a Waikato Militiaman, had always striven to do his duty. He was grateful to them for the kind manner in which they had iecei\ ed the toast. The vice-chairman in proposing " The Legislature of New Zealand," said it would compare favourably with that of any other colony, lie had been asked to couple with the toast the name cf the chaii man, Major Jackson. Majoi Jackson, in lesponding, said he supposed his name had been associated with the toast becansC he had formerly sat for the distiict of Waikato in the House. He thanked them coidially for honour confened upon him, but he was sony their member (Mr F. A. Whitakei) was not picscnt to peifoim the duty which properly belonged to linn. Tfi (.LUild tell them that members ot I'ailia.i mt had ,i veiy uiduons task to poiiotin and their actions were ofti-n liable to be misconstrued. He would ask them not to pass judgment upon their member until they heard w hat he had to say. (Hear, hear.) When lie came back he would piobably be able to give them an explanation. Membeis weie very hard worked, and the least they could do was to give them ciedit for doing what was right until it was found out that they had done wrong. (Applause.) Before sitting down he would propose the toast of "The farming interests of Waikato." Twenty years ugo their thoughts were directed moie towards the sword than the ploughshare, but it was worthy of remark that since the day w hen the 2nd Wnikatos arrived at Alexandra, there had been no resort to the sword, and duriog tho interval many of them had tried to get their living by the plough. He was sorry to say that farming was not now so profitable as it had been at the first, but he entertained a well grounded hope that better times than ever were in store for them. When thiugs came to the worst, it was said, they begau to mend. Wool and wheat had never been so low before, and it was possible that H'heat had not reached the bottom even yet. India had entered the market and was, excepting only the United States, now the largest exporter. The cause of this was to be found in the low price of labour in that country. Labourers there worked for about 4d a week — or month, he was not sure which— and "found" themselves (laughter), and it was by no means an easy matter to compete with such people. With improved methods of farming, with smaller holdings, a better class of stock, and more settiers of the right stamp, prosperity ' would, however, return to Waikato, and that prosperity was, he hoped and believed, not far off. He coupled with the toa&t the name of Mr W. Higginson, jnn. Mr Higginson, in responding, said the hope of the farmers lay in mixed farming, j If they did not succeed in one, thing they might in another] 1 He hoped' the development of the freezing business woiuvVftlsa assist) tfwfl. S)vi &y,p tjwj

pp6e of wheat was cohcernecV^lie" jdid not £hink it affectodithern'vbfy.'much/as^ they did not as yet grow sufficient for" the' provincial- market, Op.fcs, it wpa true,*had been rather low in price, , but oil the other hand the yield hail been good. If farmers would only make up their minds to keep up with the -tunes, to learn from one another, instead hf keeping obstinately to old methods, there need be no fear for their success. (Hear, hear.) He proposed, " Prosperit}' to Alexandra." He was one, of the first to airive at the place, which was ■ then a mere fern flat. As a township it had not gone ahead as fast as they could have wished, but its progress had been sute, and he had no doubt that it was permanent. Mr G. 0. Y. Tisdall responded. It afforded much gratification to him to have his name coupled with the toast of the evening. When he first set his eyes on Alexandra he did not expect to be present at the celebration of the twentieth anniversary of its bit th. He held many pleasant rt-collections of the toy. nship in those early days. He landed on the river bank about two months after the foundation of the settlement, though he was not at that time connected with the regiment. The little steamer Gymnotus, which brought him to Alexandia. also brought the first tew sticks of timber for the first wooden building. In a letter which he had received from Colonel Haultain not long ago, that gentleman gave a description of their first night at Alexandra. He said it was a very severe one. The heavy S. W. wind levelled nearly all the tents. His bi other, Major Tisdall, had also written to him explaining how the township came by its name. It was called Alexandra, at the Major's suggestion, in honour of the young brido of the Piince of Wales. When some font teen or fifteen years ago, he (the speaker) decided to take up his residence in the district, Alexandra was undoubtedly the leading settlement in Waikato. Here the first clergymen was located, and here the first school was opened, and here also the first public library was established. If the township had letrogidded in any way, if it had fallen behind other places in the match of progress, it was not for the want of energy on the part cf its inhabitants. It arose from causes over which they hrd no control. One of the chief of these was the proximity of the place to the native country, which for all those years had remained sealed up. But now that the native problem was being quickly solved, he believed that by the time the 25fch anniversary came round (and he hoped to be amongst those who would celebiate it) .1 period of real prospeiity would have dawned upon Alexandra. Theie was at the piesent time a wave of depiessiou passing over the whole world, and they could not expect to be exempt. When puces went up the district was bound to impiovo. In beauty of position, in the quality of its boil,' the district of Alexandra was not excel led by any other in the Waikato, and w hen the bioad lands now lying idle and unproductive o\ei the border weie opened up to Kuiopean settlement, the township and district would enter upon a new period of exis tence, a period equal in "go nheadedness" to that which existed in their imaginations when they founded the settlement. (Applause.) Mr W. Higginson, jnnr , said, in reference to a portion of MrTisdall's lemarks, that the last wooden house in Alexandia was built by Mr Finch out ot slabs split by Mr Finch and the speaker. Mr Tisdall explained that he rcfeired to sawn timbei, and one of those piesent said the fust wooden building was a pig stye, a remaik which created no little meiiinicnt; the edilico lefcired to was apparently veil lcmembcred. The Chairman proposed " The mcinoiy of our depaited comiadrs," and m doing so mentioned the names of a few of those who had fallen in battle, including Major Yon Tempsky ami Mr Whitfiold, ot the Foiest Raneois, Capts. Hertford and Blown, Lieutenant Moote and others. The toast was drunk in solemn silence. The toasts of " The Ladies," proposed by Mr E L Hope and responded to by Mi T. G. Sandes ; " The Prcs," proposed by the vice-chaiiman and responded to byMrS. E G. Smith (Waikato Times); and " The Host and Hostess," proposed b)' the vice-chaiunan and respouded to by Mr Finch, concluded the list, and after the recital of a few anecdotes of the eaily days, the majority of those present adjourned to the Public Hall, where the second portion of the celebration took the form ol a ball. A large number of invitations had been issued, and about foity couples were piesent. The music was supplied by the Alexandiaßand. Mr Hallett made a \ery efficient M.C., and the whole of the anangements reflected the utmost credit on the committee. Kefic^hmcnto weie piowded on a libeial scale, and thetateier, Mr Walker, desen es favourable mention tor the quality of tho fare supplied. After spending a most enjoyable evening the company broke up at about 3 o'clock on Saturday morning.