5 
comes to Montreal, the R.A. officers on this station will very likely induce the 
organization to play in Halifax.” 
New Year’s Day at Halifax this year was kept in the usual way. It was a 
general holiday for the troops in garrison. At 1 p.m. the Lieut.-Governor of Nova 
Scotia (Mr. Daly) held a levee , which was attended by all the military officers, in 
uniform ; after that, those who felt inclined, attended the levees, held about the 
same time, by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Halifax, the Church of England 
Bishop of Nova Scotia (represented this year by the Dean), and the American 
Consul. The officers of the R.A. and R.E. were “ at home ” in their Mess, from 
1 p.m. to 7 p.m., and relays were told off to receive and entertain the incessant 
stream of callers, who numbered between 50 and 100. A table was spread in the 
ante-room, on which divers drinks, cigars, sandwiches, etc. were to be found, and 
on another table the Mess plate and some model guns were displayed. In private 
houses the old Erench-Canadian custom of New Year calling was carried out. 
The ladies remain at home (in local parlance “ sit up ”), while the gentlemen go 
round and call upon them. The gentlemen vie with each other as to the number 
of calls they pay in the day, 40 being considered a “ record,” while the ladies 
have a good deal of feeling about the number of visits they receive, these being 
carefully counted and recorded for comparison with their neighbour’s score. It 
is said that a call paid on New Year’s Day, in any town where this system 
prevails, is equal to half-a-dozen calls made at other times of the year. 
This winter, up to date, has been the mildest experienced for many years. 
There has been no snow and, consequently, no sleighing nor tobogganning. People 
who have taken season tickets for the Skating Rink are regretting the step. The 
Curling Club is bankrupt, and its rink is in the hands of the sheriff’s officers. 
This catastrophe, however, is due to want of funds, and not want of ice ; neverthe¬ 
less it is much regretted by those who prefer the “ roaring game ” to skating. 
There has been a little out-of-door skating, and on 2 nd January the officers of 
the R.A. and R.E. took advantage of a cold “snap” to be “at home ” on 
Williams’ Lake, in the afternoon. The Mess establishment was sent out, and 
provided hot mulled claret, tea, and everything else considered necessary at an out¬ 
door winter party, while the R.A. “ Musical Society” discoursed dance music, to 
which valses and lancers were danced on skates. And here one word about this 
“ Society ;” it is not orchestral nor a band, but merely some men with brass, reed, 
and other instruments, including a drum ; in fact, to quote from an official letter 
on the subject, it is a “ combination of musicians, playing together for their own 
amusement.” To return to the skating party, which would have been a complete 
success but for an accident which befell Major McDonnell. For purposes only 
known to himself he seems to have left the cove where the party was being held 
and where the ice was perfectly safe, and skated along the edge of the lake where 
it was doubtful. All of a sudden he went through the ice and was plunged up 
to his neck in the water ; his feet rested on the bottom, presumably on a large 
stone, for when he tried to reach the shore, which was only a few yards away, he 
found himself out of his depth. After floundering about for two or three 
minutes he was rescued by some hockey players, who formed a living chain, 
lying flat on the ice and holding on to each others heels; the leading file thrust 
out his hockey stick for the immersed officer to catch hold of, which he did, and 
by their combined strength was pulled out. He then made the best of his way 
home in his wet clothes, which was no joke, as it was a distance of three miles, 
including quarter-of-an-hour in a ferry boat. It is not supposed that Major 
McDonnell was in any actual danger of his life, nevertheless he was in a very 
unpleasant, not to say perilous, position. Those who know him best will not be 
surprised to hear that he never lost his equanimity during this untoward 
incident, and that the pipe, which he was smoking when the ice gave way, 
remained in his mouth all the time ! 
