Notes and Comments.

Feilding Star, Volume XIII, Issue 3146, 20 January 1917, Page 2

Notes and Comments.

The Otira Tunnel

The Hon. A. Myers, speaking in his capacity as Minister of Public Works, said the other day that so much money had been spent on the Otira tunnel that it was wise policy to complete the work. Naturally, tho Auckland papers saw the opening for a tilt at the South Island on railway matters generally, and laid the editorial "fingers on those parts of the railway returns which showed that the North was making the profits and the South the losses. Southern papers have not been dumb under the jibe. The Christchurch Press says Aucklanders always feel strongly concerning most things outside their own province. To justify the completion of the tunnel, tli© Press points out that it will open up to full economic use the Westland province. When this happens, says the Press in so many words, tho Aucklanders will havo to stand from under.

The Passing of Mr Walter Bailey

The passing of an old and prosperous resident of the district like Mr W. A. L. Bailey helps to remind us of the early days of the settlement of this district and of its steadily-growing prosperity. Mi* Bailey, together with his brothers, literally cleared the land for settlement; for, with the old sawmilling firm of Bartholomew Bros., they milled the dense forest which covered most of the site of Feilding and its surrounding areas. Like other men who settled here in the early days, some of whom are, "happily, still with us. Mr Bailey was a good business man; not only in his own private concerns, but in public affairs, too. He was a member of that group of gentlemen who had such a large share in conducting the Athletic Club in its long and outstanding career of prosperity. He was one of 'the founders of the Feilding Jockey Club, and to him and to the other gentlemen who have guarded the interests of that club through the years is wholly due the strong and popular position which it holds to-day. He was also one of the mainstays of the Bowling Club. The same remark applies to the Feilding Building Society. .Now Mr Bailey has crossed to the Great Beyond. Some of the strong men with whom he worked are still with us, and we hope they will be spared for many years to come to carry on the various public institutions with which their names are so honourably connected.