TE AROHA

Waikato Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2325, 4 June 1887, Page 2

TE AROHA

U'llOJI OUR OWN COKUICSPONDKXT.) Ti3 AllOH A, Friday. It has now been determined that Te Aroha shall not lag behind other towns in the colony in fittingly celebrating the approaching Jubilee. A joint meeting of the town and domain boards was held on Wednesday evening to decide upou what form the rejoicings should take, and if the programme then resolved upon is carried out with tho spirit that seemed to animate the, members of both bodies at the meeting a display will be made befitting the occasion, and creditable to the inhabitants. The proceedings will commence early in the forenoon, when there will be a general muster of young and old at the school grounds, from whence they will inarch in procession, headed by the'local brass band, to some convenient spot—yet to bo selected—where a series of athletic sports and other pastimes will, for a short time, be indulged in. Afterwards the procession will re-form and march to the domain, where the principal event of the day will take place. This will be the planting of nn avenue of fifty trees, to be styled the "Jubilee Avenue." In the planting, it is proposed that all the principal persons connected in any way with the district and all the public bodies will take part either personally or by deputy, and opportunities will be afforded for appropriate speeches by all who are inclined to address the assemblage. Time permitting, there will afterwards be a return to the sports, and in the evening a miscellaneous entertainment will bo held in the Public Hall, finishing up with dancing, in which all who are not previously used-up will have a chance of exhausting their energy. An important feature of the day's doings will be the reciting of a Jubilee ode, and to procure a suitable composition it has been decided to offer a small premium, to be competed for by all who aspire to poetic fame. A committee will select one from the number sent in, all of which will be under a nom-de-pUune. Sub-committees were appointed at the meeting to carry out tho various parts of the programme, and other matters of detail attended to so that everything may be done to make the celebration a success. . :

The hope that Government will acquiesce in the appointment of a medical adviser in connection with the baths has. not yet been abandoned. At the meeting of the Hot Springs Domain Board, held on Monday last, Mr George Wilson gave notice that at next inectiug he would move " that the board communicate with tho Hon. the Minister of Lands, requesting that he will approve of the appointment of a medical man, and authorise the board to devote a portion of their revenue for the purpose of subsidising a doctor." Letters were read from recent prominent visitors from the South, testifying to the great curative properties of the baths. Settlement is progressing throughout the valley. A considerable number of applications'have lately been made for sections of land under the village system in the Waitoa and Te Aroha survey districts, and it is expected that before next spring the population of the two localities will be increased by the addition of some thirty or forty families. The Lynch Family of Bellringers appeared here on two occasions in the early part of the week. On Monday evening they drew a crowded house (notwithstanding their having been preceded by the London Circus on tho Saturday previous), and on Tuesday evening also the hall was well filled. On the merits of the performers, both instrumental and vocal, so much has been written that it would be superfluous to dwell upon them here. It need only be said that they delighted everyone who had the pleasure of listening to them. Turning to a more discordant subject,your correspondent may be permitted to rsfer here to a few inaccuracies which occur in the letter that appeared in the last Tuesday's Waikato Times, signed "One of the Crowd." The writer in his desire to make out a case professes to quote an extract from your correspondent's account of the concert, to the uil'ect that the performance was " superior to anything of the kind that has ever been given here before by amateurs." He further accuses him of "casting a slur upon much of our local talent," and insulting many of our local amateurs, who have always been ready to assist for any deserving object, &c." From alj, which it may be inferred that "One of the Crowd " either had not read the offenj eive notice, or if he had, that he must have done so with a jaundiced eye. If he will kindly take the trouble to read it attentively he will find that the concert is spoken of merely as one of the best of its kind, and further, that in your correspondent's remarks upon the performance there is not a word said that can be regarded as insulting our local talent. In point of fact a leading part in the entertainment was taken by local body amateurs, whose valuable aid received full recognisation. Of the questionable taste displayed by "One of the Crowd " in refusing to the visitors by whom the concert was got up the meed of praise bestowed upon them by your correspondent it is hardly necessary to speak. One would fain believe that ho is not one of the crowd of insulting amateurs, but his letter certainly gives room for the supposition that he is.