ray and Peacocke were elected directors. A SILVER WEDDING.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 2698, 26 October 1889, Page 2

ray and Peacocke were elected directors. A SILVER WEDDING.

On Thursday evening last, the monotony of Mr and Mrs Alexander Nieol's quiet life at Komokorau, was pleasantly disturbed by a large " surprise party " from Ngaruawaliia. And so successful was the expert manceuveiinp , of Mrs T. Patterson, who was generalissimo of the whole expedition, I hat although at 8 o'clock there were no fewer than between forty and fifty people, on horseback, in vehicles, and on foot, waiting in ambuscade in the shadow of the orchard ; the only intimation of their presence the invaded household had, was the first blast of Mr Hutt's cornet leading in "Auld Lang Syne" sung by the invaders, marching up the avenue to the house. To ensure secrecy, a sentry had been kept on the Ngaruawahia road, and another as an ostensible visitor in Mr Nieol's house all day, to caution possible busybodies against tattling, and to the credit of the so called " weaker sex "be it it said, these lady sentinels, though tilled to the verge uf bursting with the importance of their mission, carried out their instructions to the letter. But " the best laid schemes of mice and msn gang aft aglee," and so on tliis occasion things might have been managed better; for due precautions had not been taken to ascertain whether the parties mostly concerned would be at home or not, and to our great dissappointment it turned out that the head of the family—Mr Nicol—was not. Ho was at Huntly and totally unaware ot the proceedings going on at his home, else he would surely have been there. However, Mrs Nicol, assisted by her eldest son and the Misses Nicol, very quickly put everybody at ease. And when the "hurly burly" of unloading the provision carts, and mutual congratulations were over, the large new barn was expeditionsly put in order and illunmiated, and the fun soon became "fast and furious," and Jolly Miller, Tinker's Wedding, and dancing to the blowing of trumpets, rasping of fiddles, and the. " screachan " of bagpipes was continued until two in the morning. During a lull in these proceedings, and immediately after a most sumptuous supper, another surprise was perpetrated by Mrs Paterson's producing a very handsome eight-day clock, which she handed over to Mrs Nico], with the following address :—" Dear Mr and Mrs Nicol,—We, the undersigned, on behalf of your very numerous friends, beg to congratulate you upon the attainment of your eilrer wedding day ; and ask you to accept from us this clock as a very small token ot the esteem in which you are held, not only by the fesv here assembled to-night, but by all who have the felicity of your acquaintance. The intrinsic value of the time-piece is but insignificant compared with what we should like to have had to present you with, had we taken longer to prepare for the auspicious event whidi we have come hero to commemorate. But from our intimate knowledge of you and your family, we can rest assured that you will accept our little memento with an eye more to the spirit of the givers than to the value of the gift. Hoping that this red-letter day, the 17th of October, 18S9, will not only remind you of happy days gone by, but be also the precursor of many more to come. May God bless you and your children and make you truly happy." Mrs Nicol, in very few but felicitously chosen words, thanked her kind friends on behalf of herself and her absent husband for their present; and I may here add that there are not in the two counties a more hospitable, kind-hearted and more highly esteemed couple, and who have more friends, than Mr and Mrs Alexander Nicol, and no one will begrudge them a long and happy life. Casual.