HUTT VALLEY NEWS

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 230, 24 June 1932, Page 15

HUTT VALLEY NEWS

PETONE’S NEW VICAR Former Rugby Player SOLDIER AND ATHLETE Formerly vicar of Pahiatua, the Rev. G. V. Gerard arrived yesterday to take charge of St. Augustine’s,Parish, Petone. The new vicar has had.wide experience in England and New Zealand; and has been prominently connected with sport. _He is accompanied by his wife and family. Born- in 1898 in Christchurch, Mr. Gerard is the eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. George Gerard, of : “Snowdon,” Canterbury.. He attended the Waihl School. Winchester, and from 1913 to 1916 attended Christ’s College, Christchurch, where he was captain of the rowing IV in 1915 and 1916, and in the same years was in the Ist fifteen; playing in the - collegiate tournaments at Wanganui and Wellington. He was also athletic champion in 1916. , In the Great War Mr. Gerard was a 2nd lieutenant in “The Buffs” East ..Kent Regiment, and in 1918 was awarded the Military Cross; During his war service he played Rugby for the 18th Division team, and was also in .the 18th . Division bar rier team. Attending Braseuusu uuuegc, Mr. Gerard took honours in jurisprudence. He played Rugby in the Brosenose Ist fifteen, the University fifteen, and played in the senior trials in 1920. Ht was’ also picked for the Brasenose rowing eight, but had to give up on account of an injury in a motor accident. In 1921 be graduated 8.A., and in 192t> took his M.A. degree. For theological training he attended College House (Christ's College, Upper Department). He was ordained by Archbishop Julius, of Christchurch, as Deacon, in 1922, and Priest in 1923, when he accepted a curacy at St. Mary’s, Timaru, until 1926. Going to. -England, he was assistant-curate under Cation (now Bishop) E. S. Woods, Parish Church, Croydon; the Rev. C. T. T. Wood, St. Saviour’s Church, Croy- < don ; gnd Archdeacon L. S. Hunter, St. Margaret’s, Barking, London. During his- stay in England he played football for Blaekbeath Football Club in its Ist fifteen.. ■ ~ ' , In November, 1929, Mr. Gerard accepted a call as vicar ,to Pahiatua, where he has since resided. While there he took an active interest in the Pahiatua Athletic Football Club. The Rev 1 . Gerard has always'taken a keen interest in Rugby, and has played in many important matches. In 1922, when a member of the Christchurch Football Club, he played with the Canterbury representatives in a game against Wellington. He Was a member of the Timaru Old Boys Football Club, and was-selected for- the South Canterbury representatives, and for the South Island in 1925. In 1930 he was chosen for Bush representatives, and played a trial match at Palmerston. He also played in the Wairarapa-Bush v. British team match. The Boy Scout movement lias also claimed his attention. He first entered the movement as scoutmaster, Highheld, Timaru, in 1924, and held warrants as scoutmaster in the 9th Barking Troop, Dopdon, and at Pahiatua. He was in ( the Headquarters Training Camp, Gilwell Park, Essex, in 1928, and attended the World Jamboree, Arrow Park, Birkenhead, in 1929.

EASTBOURNE COUNCIL Business at Meeting The Eastbourne Borough Council held its regular meeting last night, the mayor, Mr. S. F. Fisher, presiding. There were present Councillors J. F. Rockstrow, E. N. Battersby, Margaret Magill. A. Varney, W. F. Ildrnig, E. W. Wise, C. A. Rendle, A. Walker. Intimation was received from the Hospital Board that the levy to be paid by the council- was £799/6/7, as against £714 last year. The mayor mentioned that it was the intention to levy the. same rate as last year. Loan Sinking Funds. The Blenheim Borough Council wrote suggesting that the payment of loan sinking, funds be postponed for at least two yjgrs. The proposal would be submitted tp thg Municipal Association for Government sanction; The town ejerk, Mr. C. L. Bishop, said .-that in the case of small local bodies the postponement would in the meantime help.materially. The bigger local bodies seemed to be against it. The council decided to support the letter. Two building permits amounting to £lB2O were issued during May. and the lets collected amounted to £3/10/-, The bus foreman, Mr. W. Green, reported that during the month the buses did 554 trips' to town, including the replacing of boat trips, giving a total mileage of 19,228. The amount of benzine used was 2109 gallons, which gave an average of 9.1 over the whole fleet. The reason for the higher consumption for the month was on account of the large buses being used more. The district engineer of the _ Public Works Department wrote suggesting that providing the Hutt County Council was prepared to meet the cost it might be ad-, visable to install Are hydrants in the 9in, main, allocatihg two to Day’s Bay. one at York Bay, and two at Lowry Bay. The water used in the event of a fire would be assessed and paid for by the county.’ ' , , . It was suggested to the department that the Hutt County Council enter into negotiations with the Eastbourne Borough Council. • Passengers on Ferry. The number of passengers carried by the ferry department duriny May was as follows, the figures for the corresponding. period last year.being given m parentheses:—T,s.s;Muritai. 17,310 (140 a), s.s. Cobar. 5151 (18.998); total for May, 1032, 22,526 (20,403) ; total passengers carried from April 1 to May 31. 46,268 (42 921). During the month 64 round trips were made, the average consumption per trip being .48 tons, 31 tons being burned for the month. The council decided to support the proposal of the Otahuhu Borough .Council that the Unemployment Board pay the wages of incapacitated relief workers instead of local bodies having to insure them against accident as at present, lithe proposal were carried out local bodies would be relieved of the burden of all insurance expept that against death or permanent disablement. MARCH TO HUTT Petone Relief Workers Relief workers from the Koro Koro mid Wainui Hill jobs marched to Lower Hutt on Wednesday ,to interview the social welfare officials concerning the system of issuing rations. Lower Hutt relief workers joined the Petone men at Lower Hutt, and the procession crowded into the Council Chamber, completely filling it. . , i As relief workers rations are not dealt with by them the social welfare officials were unable to help the men at Petone; but the men wished to speak to someone in authority and the officials made an abortive attempt to get in touch with the chairman of the Hospital Board. Mr. I*. Castle. At about 6 o’clock the meeting dispersed without anything definite having been.done. .

UNEMPLOYED TOTALS Position in the Hutt Unemployed-,registrations in both Lower Hutt and Petone show a substantial decrease, but when the single men who have gone to camp are taken into account there is a slight increase.. At Petone there are a total of 609 registrations. This number is iliade up of OS single meh, 216 married men with no children, 174 married men with one child, 113 married men with two children, and 108 married men • with three or more children. A decrease of 10 * V taking into consideration the 22 single men who went to camp there is an mC 1 Registrations at Lower Hutt total 823, which is composed of 74 single men, --4 married men with no children, 216 mat ried men with one child, 134 married men with two children, and 17a married men with three or more children. On account of single men going to camps there is a decrease of 43. A total of 72 men are woXg for the Public Works Department, and the remainder are with the Lower Hutt Borough C 0 ”” 0 . 11 ’ Yi-i exception of'ft few who ftre working the Taita Cemetery. There are 291 registered unemployed nt Upper Hutt. This is made up of 214 married men and 77 single men, there bein n an increase of a.

STREET LIGHTING Present System Remains EASTBOURNE’S STAND Suggestions for economy in street lighting by reducing the number of lamps or candlepower were received from the tone Borough Council at the meeting of the Eastbourne Borough Council last night. „ , The Lower Hutt and Petone Borough Councils were ‘co-operating in an endeavour to obtain a reduction in the cost, said the mayor, Mr. S. F. Fisher, but he did not see that Eastbourne could do much in support of the proposals. It was no use for local bodies to ask for a reduction, because it could not be done. To cut out the amount of lights in the three summer months as suggested would be cutting out the lights at the time they were most required, when Eastbourne was full of visitors. If it was as stated by the chairman of the Hutt Valley Electric Power Board, they were getting power at cost price. Councillor A. Walker, who is _ also a member of the Power Board, said that not only was the power being supplied at a very low cost, but it was considerably less than in any other’place in New Zealand. If the board had known what was coming five years ago, the lines would never .have been run without some strict agreement. The mayor did not think the borough was too well lit at present. Rather than cut out any lights the borough could do with more.

The letter was, received, and no action taken.

NO RATE INCREASE Eastbournes’ Decision REDUCTION IMPOSSIBLE “The council is this year in total striking the same rates as last year,” said the Mayor of Eastbourne,,Mr. S. F. Fisher, at the meeting of the Eastbourne Borough Council last night. “Although in the past a rate has been struck to paj’ off a special overdraft account, it will not be necessary to strike this rate this year, as the special overdraft has now been paid off,” said the mayor. . “However, in place of this rate for special overdraft we are this year facqd with the necessity of collecting a rate for the purpose of paying interest on the account expended during this financial year on water and drainage works. For this purpose it is proposed to strike a rate of 11-16 d in the pound on unimproved- value of the borough. While we would have liked to have seen a reduction in rates, with the installation of water and sewerage a reduction is not possible. “Other than geperal and sanitation, all the rates are struck for the purpose of meeting interest and sipking fund charges. It is not possible to make any reduction in respect to these. “As far as the general rate is concerned it is not possible to make any reduction in ; the rate, as the general account debit balance of over £lOOO wtis brought about last year by expenditure on unemployment relief works, together with the fact that a greater amount is outstanding by way of uncollected rates.”