The Rifle Club
The persons who mooted the formation of a Rifle Club held a preliminary and private meeting at the Town Hall on the 11th of February, with the Mayor in the chair, when a committee was formed to report on the best plan for the formation of the club. On the following week (Feb 18th) the Rifle Club was formed, and rules adopted, the title to be the Hastings and St. Leonards Rifle Corps. The first quarterly meeting was held at the Town Hall on the 6th of May, the chair being occupied by Dr. Stevenson. The number of members was shewn to be 56. About twenty of those who first signed the declaration, refused, when called on, to pay the required subscription, yet, when all expenses were paid, there was a balance of £6 in hand.
The Athenaeum
At the second quarterly meeting of this new society the report showed that the members had increased from 182 to 207, whilst the balance of cash in hand was £45 10s. The rooms of the Athenaeum were over a draper’s shop, at 49 George street. This property was let for £105 per year, and on the 7th of June, it was sold by auction for £1080. A belief was prevalent that so great a rent would not continue to be realized, and that the sum for which the house was sold was as much as it was worth. At the first annual meeting in November, an encouraging report was read, showing the number of members to be 163, and a favourable balance of cash of nearly £19. The number of books in the Library was a few short of 400, whilst the current literature consisted of four daily papers, seven weekly do., eight monthly magazines and two quarterly.
The Mechanics’Institution
The founding of the Athenaeum militated considerably against the success of the older society, coming as it did between the Mechanics’ Institution on the one side and the Literary Institution on the other, and embracing features which were held to be more popular. Its effects on the Mechanics’ Institution were immediately experienced; so that at its quarterly meeting on the 3rd of November it was shewn that the number of members had fallen to 250, and that the financial liabilities were about £20, with a sum of only £2 13 9d to meet them with.
Early Closing Association
This association held a quarterly meeting in Mr. Banks’s schoolroom, on the 16th of March, with the Rev. W. W. Hume in the chair. The prospects of the movement were regarded as being hopeful. At a later meeting, the efforts of the Association were reported to have been so far successful that many tradesmen had adopted the practice of closing at eight o’clock, instead of nine.
