Notes and Comments.

Feilding Star, Volume III, Issue 842, 31 March 1909, Page 2

Notes and Comments.

! Thk retirement of ILe President oi I Ihe Munawatu Rugby Union (Mr. A. ; J*. Gibbons), after holding office for ; lour years, is an event deserving of • more than passing notice. When I Mr. Gibbous assumed office, things ! football were in a parlous state in | tho district, and what is more, he knew it. But he put all he knew ! into the work of improving the morale of the game and placing the . finances of the union on a more sound I footing . That he has succeeded ! wonderfully in this no one- acquainted ; with the game will deny, but he has j had to sacrifice an enormous amount ! of time and energy in the cause, and j it is not surprising that ho has Ue- ! cided to take a rest from the onerous ! -duties attaching to the position. As j one speaker said last night, Mr. Gibbons had taken, such a large amount jf work on hk own shoulders, that j it will be very difficult for his sucj K'ssor to maintain the high standard i-rt by his example. The thanks of Hie community are undoubtedly due to the ex-president for the sterling manner in which he carried out his endeavours to raise football in the Manawatu to a creditable position and provide clean sport for the community. At one time it used to be cojisidere'd* part of an educational course to teach "the art of polite letter-writ-ing," and we are reminded of this by the contents of tho letter sent to the Manawatu Rugby Union and read at last night's meeting, by its Pation (Mr. R. S. Abraham). The letter was written iv October last and said: "For some time past 1 have felt dissatisfied with the ability of your committee to manage the affairs of the L'nion in such a manner as not to discredit that body. Mistrusting my own judgment, however, I have waited for some more tangible proof of that incapacity before saying something about it. In the matter of 'Horace Hewitt,' I have got what I looked for. You will now be good enough to accept my resignation as Patron of the Onion. — Yours faithfully. It. 8. Abraham." As no action of the committee of last year, except perhaps the difficulty about the ground for the British match", could be taken exception to by anyone, footballers wonder what their patron was driving at. The New Zealand Times understands tnat instructions have been issued by tne Government for preparation ot a record of able-bodied young men. Tliis will be known as the "nominal defence roll." Its preparation will probably be entrusted in the smaller centres to the police, while volunteers will also probably be asked to assist by suggesting the inclusion of any one eligible. it is freely stated in volunteering circles in Auckland, adds a press wire, that the enrolment of all young men between the ages of 17 and 21 for compulsory training will commence shortly after Easter. It is understood that an announcement will be made by the Prime Minister in his policy speech to be made next week. The Manawatu Rugby Union made a new departure last night when the delegates unanimously elected a Feilding resident (Mr. Fred. Pirani) to the position of President of the Union for the ensuing year. As the President is also chairman of the Management Committee, and has to attend to a good deal of routine work, the arrangement is not the best one possible, but the delegates were willing to put up with the inconvenience, and it rests with time to say whether the new arrangement will work smoathly. At any. rate y it is a compliment to Feilding to have the executive head of the Union elected from its club. It appears that the Levin Chronicle was mistaken in its version of the occurrence at the Levin school when it asserted that the Rev Mr Spencer had delivered a lecture to the children on the devil and 1 all his works. Mr Spencer was not in Levin at the time, and the gentleman who did address the children was the Key. Mr Braddock, Church of England Minister. The statements about the illustration of th« dftvirs methods ai» bI-

leged to be correct, however, and yet parents ponprnlly soptti to have no objection^ to the manner adopteu ol showing them, and welcome further light on the subject of Hades in tho near future. There is no accounting for taste. The election of a member of the House of Commons in place ot the late Mr Arnold Foster has not changed the position of parties. 3ir Hodfes, the successful Opposition candidate, is a tariff reformer, but the majority has been krg&j™*™**!At last general election, Mr ArnoldFoster polled 8211 against 11,518 by his opponent; while at the Croydon election just decided, Mr Hodges had a clear majority of 3062 a significant hint in view of the probable early dissolution of Parliament.