THE ALMOND TUMBLER. 89 



century wide, with unalloyed pleasure to those 

 fortnightly meetings held through the winter 

 months. Enlivened with the light-hearted jest 

 and the merry laughter, the good-humoured 

 discussion on the current doings of the Fancy, 

 and a hearty welcome to ' Fanciers all ' — joyous 

 times, the record of which are cut deep into the 

 tablets of my memory — very pleasant to look 

 back upon, and to be thankful that such times 

 were. The Feather Club eventually merged into 

 the Gity Columbarium Society, which is a strong 

 society at the present date. 



" About twenty years ago my stud was en- 

 riched by the addition of several of my dear old 

 friend Chapman's birds. Mr. Chapman had for 

 many years been President of the Feather Club. 

 After having discharged the duties of the office 

 for eighteen years, he resigned through ill-health. 

 To show our respect the chair was vacant the 

 ensuing season, at the close of which I had the 

 honour of being elected to succeed him, and was 

 re-elected eight consecutive years. About this 

 time a few of the new members became clamor- 

 ous for competitive shows, which, with my pre- 

 decessor, I always opposed, as being detrimental 

 to the peace and harmony of the Society. I 

 declined to be again nominated to the chair; 



