LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 22 July 1924, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Plans for the new Hawera Hospital are being prepared as' expeditiously as possible, and should be ready in about six weeks’ time. The Minister's approval will then he obtained, and it is expected that the Board, will be in a position to call for tenders about October.

During the month of June the following stock was slaughtered at the borough abattoir: Two bullocks, 141 cows, 32 heifers, 397 sheep, 71 lambs, 20 calves, and 114 pigs. Two cows, one heifer, two sheep and two pigswere condemned. Fees and rents totalled £123 las Bd, being £ll 9s more than in June, 1923. “That the conveyance of children to school is a success has not yet been satisfactorily established,” said Mir White at yesterday’s meeting of the Education Board. The chairman agreed with this, and said there were no figures yet on which a conclusion could be based. The Hawera Scottish Society will give a conceit at the Auroa Hall tomorrow evening, when the programme will consist of songs, recitations, and Highland dancing. Proceeds will be in aid of the hall improvement fund, and it is hoped that there will be a large attendance. A 'member o£ the Hawera Hospital Board yesterday drew attention ‘to remarks made by a few ratepayers who considered that assistance should not be extended to an old gentleman who is an inmate of the Old Men’s Home, and who was stated by the ratepayers in question to be worth about £2OOO. The chairman said' that the rumour was incorrect, but in any case the old man was paying his wav week by week in cash. The matron of the Hawera Hospital wishes to thank the following for donations : Scottish Society, Presbyterian Busy Bees, Gentlemen’s Club, Returned Soldiers’ Association, Tawhiti bachelors’ ball. Tawhiti Hall, per Mirs Grant, Mesdames Petty and W. Robertson, Misses Newell and Lysaght and Messrs Meredith, Rye, Colclough and Hill.

Mr. H. T. Button, late caretaker pf the Otago Acclimatisation Society’s hatcheries at Clinton, has been appointed caretaker of the Hawera Acclimatisation Society’s hatcheries and took up his new duties yesterday. Mr. A. Kean, whose place Mr. Button has taken, leaves for New Plymouth. While' not advocating the appointment of women to positions of head teachers in the case of the larger schools, one senior inspector stated at the meeting of the Education Board yesterday that in some cases women were well suited to such appointments in smaller schools, and it was a question for the Board to decide whether women should not be invited to apply for head teacherships of grade 3 schools. If they decided to confine the applications to males some well qualified lady teachers may be cut out. Guilty of nearly every crime in the borough inspector’s calendar, a small hoy had a most unhappy experience in Devon Street, New Plymouth, the other day, when the inspector impounded a home-made vehicle in which he coasted gaily down the hill from Liardet Street among the busy traffic of the noon hour. An even more unhappy experience, however, would have resulted if the boy’s parents had had to mourn his loss, instead of the boy having to mourn the loss of the butterbox on wheels. The inspector did not decide immediately what steps should follow the impounding, but he drew the attention of a Taranaki Herald reporter to the grave danger caused by children coasting down the busy streets in carts such as the one in question. The offender in question did not even keep to the'left-hand side of Hie street, but ran down the hill amongst the oncoming traffic just after 12 o'clock. If it comes to charges, he was on the wrong side of the road, had no number on his vehicle nor any brake, and certainly no driver’s license. It is not fair to the drivers of ordinary vehicles that they should have imposed on them the responsibility of dodging such as this.

Some anxiety was felt in town yesterday morning over the non-arrival home of Messrs. W. G. Walkley and T. McKenzie, who had gone out to Meremere over the week-end on a pig shooting expedition. The heavy fall of snow out in the Meremere country algo' assisted in making the position look more serious, but fortunately all fears were dispelled when the missing pair arrived in Hawera. during the afternoon. It appears that the delay was caused through attention which it was neces-sarv to give to a dog which wais injured by a pig. The dog, which was young in and experience, got too close to a “Captain Cooker,” who, with a turn of his head, was able to inflict a nasty “rip” in the unfortunate animal’s throat. The wound was so bad that the animal had to be carried four miles into camp, and this and other attention which it was necessary to give, caused the delay.

Departmental correspondence to the Education Board often deals with past history, which is quoted or not according to whether it is for or against the department. Decently the board made an application for a hot water service at the Bell Block residence, and the departmental reply set out the terms on which assistance would be given, but pointed out that a previous application had been made for a new residence at Bell Block, and the department would only assist with the hot water service in the old residence on condition that the application for a new building was withdrawn. It was; stated by the secretary that the department had not replied to the first aoplioation, and it was decided to ■place Bell Block first on the list for new residences. A great attraction at Jtiverlea tomorrow (Wednesday) evening will be the grand ball arranged for the sports fund. Every detail is being carefully attended to by the. committee, and floor and music will be of the best and ensure enjoyment to all who attend. A dance is to be held at the Biverlea. Hail to-morrow evening in aid of the sports candidate for the Kaponga. Catholic Queen Carnival. The committee has made complete arrangement. 1 ; and a good floor, excellent music, and a tasty supper should attract a large attendance.

The Education Board decided yesterday to send a letter of congratulation to Robert Simmons, who had attended the Pukeho school without any break for five years.

A bee expert estimates that honey bees, in order to produce lib of honey, must take the nectar from »more than 62,000 clover blossoms, and that to accomplish this some 2,759,000 visits to the blossoms by the bees are necessary. The Tawhiti School will be visited on Thursday, probably early in the afternoon, by Mr Moore, architect to the Education Beard; and Mg A. Lees (chairman) to discuss with representatives cf the committee certain improvements towards which the Board has been asked to grant some assistance.