ORPHANS' CLUB

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21195, 19 August 1940, Page 11

ORPHANS' CLUB

SUCCESSFUL SESSIONS NEW ZEALAND NIGHT The 1940 session of the Hamilton ; Orphans’ Club is proving to be one | of the most successful in the club’s I history. The membership is showJ ing a steady increase despite depar- | tures on war service and other causes. S New Zealand night was held on Saturday, when vice - president i Bro. R. R. Paterson, wearing ! a Maori mat and carrying a tai whio, was installed as chairman. | Featured on the programme was a number of Maori items presented i by Messrs. Whatu, Dunn. Tipere and | Newton, whose hakas and Maori folk songs were enthusiastically received, as was Bro. 11. Woods’, of Ngaruawahia, presentation, in full Maori costume, of several Maori folk songs. The chairman took for his subject the manner in which the Maori language was mis-pronounced by most people. Taking the names of various places in the Waikato, he dealt in a most interesting and instructive manner with many places, demonstrating the great beauty of the words if spoken properly, bringing out the music in the correct speaking, contrasting it vividly with the general way in which these words are mistreated. During the evening items were rendered by Bro. V. Wing, P. Herlihy (songs), and Bro. Barnett (saxophone solos), while the club’s orchestra rendered several selections, including the New Zealand anthem, “God Defend New Zealand.” The chairman, at the conclusion, paid a tribute to those who had done so much to make the evening a success, and stated that the next evening would be held on Saturday fortnight, when vice-president Bro W. A. King would preside. It was also reported that on September 14 Savage A. Todd and Colonel A. E. Loach, president and secretary of the New Zealand Kindred Clubs’ Association, would be present. A motion of sympathy with Bro. T. Waite in the loss of his father was passed. Bay of Islands Settlement At the previous session VicePresident Bro. E. V. Riesterer presided over a good attendance of members, and a most enjoyable and happy evening was spent. Mention was made of the loss the club and Orphandom had suffered in the loss of Bro. R. T. Reid, of the Hamilton club, and Professor Maxwell Walker, of the Auckland club, and feeling reference was made to the loss Bro. L. W. Faville had sustained. The chairman in his remarks gave some very interesting facts on the history of New Zealand before 1840, dealing with a number of incidents in the work of early colonisation of the North Island, in the Bay of Islands and Hokianga areas, stressing the work of Tamati Waka Isiene (The Peacemaker), Hone Heke, Colenso (the first printer in New Zealand, who did the printing for Waitangi), James Busby, Captains Hobson and Herd, and Baron de Thierry. An excellent programme was presented, including items by the club’s orchestra under the baton of Bro. W. A. King; songs by Bros. R. Heyworth, K. McLeod, and M. Cronin (Matamata); elocution by Bro. H. Primrose; juggling by Bro. Norman Tate; and an instrumental trio by Messrs. McLachlan (’cello), M. Kelly (violin), and W. Harrison (piano). *