WANAANUI CALEDONIAN SOCIETY.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XLIII, Issue 15000, 1 June 1899, Page 2

WANAANUI CALEDONIAN SOCIETY.

—■' ♦ ■ ANNUAL MEETING. J The tnir.il mei'mg-<.f lbs Wanganui CV.«!..ni.ui Society vas held at Fostor'« Hotel last evening, Mr. J. B. Murray, the President, presiding o**er a large and enthusiastic gathering of members. Minutes.— The minutes of the Inst annual meeting were read and confirmed. Annual Report.— 'lhe annual report, as printed in circular form, was taken as read •aid in formally moving its adoption the President expressed the opinion that it revealed a very satisfactory year's work There was, it was true, a slight falling off in the receipts, owing to the fact that, through the creation of the Cook's Gardens sports ground, there had been no revenue received for the hire of the Society's ground. A new departure during the year was the Society's ball, which was held in the Drill Hall, and which, although not n financial success, was a brilliant function. There was a great crowd present, and ull enjoyed themselves. There was no doubt that it did n great deal to increaso the enthusiasm amongst the Caledonians and others in the district to such a pitch as had riot been reached lor many years. With rcgavd to the sports themselves,. he regretId. that, from a Caledonian point of view, there was a falling off. The meeting was gitting more generally, a racing and cycling gathering. There were, he believed, plenty of these kind of sports in Wanganui, and unless the Society offered something special and endeavour to provide more .if the tossing of the caber, throwing the hammer, wrestling, etc., in order to make their sports of a unique character, they would not continue to get the large gatherings. Tt was a pity that they could not get better entries for the Caledonian events. He was not, of course, including in his remarks the dancing and piping, for, as they knew, they had at their list meeting more dancer* and pipers than they had ever had in Waii^acui before. 7ndeed Messrs. A. McHaidie and R. Smith, who were here -ss. judges, had expressed the opinion that the Wanganui gathering was rocond .to none in the colony. He (Mr. Murray) believed that it would be veil to make their ether Caledonian evtrits mow prominent.— Mr. Bitchie secondtd-the motion, ahd in doing so endorsed what the President hai said To an extent, he believed the falling off in the Caledonian' events was due to the fact that they had greatly reduced the prize money. However, lie was afraid that to-day fhe man who could ride a bike was better than thti man who could fight with .a broadsword.— Mr. J. L. Stuart expressed the opinion; that if they gave'adequate, prizes for tossing the caber, throwing, the hammer,, and putting the stone, they would, get better competition. They could not expect -good men to come here from a distance fop £1 prizes. — Mr. Remington pointed out' that in years past they hud given £3 prizes, then £2, and more latterly £I,' and tley had always got exactly the same number of entries, three or four for each event.— Mr. W. P. Stuart thought these things would probably be remedied if Mr. R, /(Kiltre) Smith's proposal to arrange for rotary dates for tha meetings of the different societies in the colony were given effect to, so that compe litors might be able to go from meeting to meeting.— After ajittle further discussion, the motion was put and carried" unanimously. Officers.— The election of officers resulted •.:s follows:— President, Mr. J. B. Murray (re-elected) ; Vice-Presidents, Messrs. W. Ritchie and D. Ross (re-elected)'; Secretary Mr. W. R. Remington (re-elected) ; Treasurer, Mr. T. D.TCummins (re-elected); Committee. Msssrs. Copeland, Cunhigliam, Purnell, McNaught, McNiven, Dempsey, Foster, McFarlane, W. P. Stuart, and ,T. Watt ; Finance Committee, Messrs. W. H. G. Foster and; T. D. Cummins (re-elected); Auditors, Messrs. W. Rodwell and B. Hibbard. Secretary's Honorarium.— lt was resolved ] that- the Secretary's, honcrarinm be 20 gum-; eas, the same as last year. Haridicapper's Honorarium.— lt was resolved that the Ha'ndicapper's honorarium be six guineas'. Mr. E. Smith's Proposal.— The President brought up the subject of Mr. Smith's proposal " Air. Murray explained that the proposal, was lo the effect that steps should be taken to provide for a uniformity of rules for all the societies in the colony, and also to arrange for the meetings being hell in rotation. A meeting was to be held a>Wellington on the 21st June, and Mr. Smith hoped that delegates from all parts of- the .colony would be present.— After v brief discussion, it was resolved that Mr Jas. Watt be the Wanganui Society's delegate, the delegate to confer with the Secretary and Mr. W. P. Stuart before leaving for Wellington. Ball and Concert.— Mr. Cuningham proposed that the Society hold a ball and concert this year, the ball to be held in July, and the concert about the time of the Wanganui -A. and P Show.— Mr. Copeland seconded the motion, which was put and car- i „cd. Committee.— A proposal to enlarge the Committee from 10 to 13, made by Mr. P. Thomson, was discussed, but was not carried owing to less than' two-thirds of the number present not voting on the question. Thc-Ground.— Mr. W. P. Stuart, iv view of the fact that the Society had derived no revenue from their ground during the past year, asked whether it would not be advisable for the Society to hold their sports in the Cook's Gardens grcund. — A considerable discussion ensued, the consensus of opinion being that there was no necessity ! for a change. The site of their own ground was considered the superior of the two, and it was pointed out that if they came down to the town ground they woul 1 loose the n. venue derived from the 'booth. The proceedings termiur.ted with the usual vote of thanks to the chair. As Mr Pirani anticipated, the libellous article published in the Dannevirke Press was taken from Mr J. T. M. Hornsby's paper, tjie Cai'l£rtoii Leader. Who Mr Hornsby was prompted by is easy to guess. In reference to this mutter the Press iii- J serts the following withdrawal:— "We havo received a communication from Mr F. Pirani, M.H.R., proprietor of the Manawatu Standard, taking exception to the remarks in our Notes and Comments columns, extracted from the Wairarapa Leafier, anent certain relations' between' that gentleman and 'the Auditor-Genral. | Mr Pirani says that there is not a tittle of ■ truth in the statement, and that he is in ' no way concerned with Mr Warburtnn. I Such being the case, we withdraw the imputation, as" on his showing it has no found- j ation in fact." Mr Pirani ls now taking I steps to bring Mr Hornsby to book. — Stan- 1 >dard. !