LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 22 September 1925, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

it is reported that the Stratford Borough Council has decided to abandon the proposed public inquiry into the conduct of a recent ball held at Stratford*.

The totalisator figures for the Otaki race meeting totalled £"36,893 10s, as against £34,942 for last September, and £33,543 in September of 1923, says a Press Association message.

A; young man named E. Burke was arrested in Hawera, last night by Constable Mullan for the alleged theft of an overcoat from lvakaramea on September 11. Tbe charge will be preferred against him in the Pa tea court at a later date.

“What impressed .me most of all,’’ said Dr. W. P. Gordon, on his return front abroad, “was the way in which the British war cemeteries are kept.”

The French and German cemeteries could not compare with them. They looked like gardens, and are kept in perfect order, the work being done by the, British Government,. —Post.

The solo competitions amongst members of the Hawera Municipal Band for medals donated by Mr. H. A. Brunette will be held in the Wesley Hall to-morrow (Wednesday) evening, at 7.45 o’clock. The public are cordially invited to be present. A firstclass adjudicator, well known in musical circles throughout- New Zealand, has been engaged.

A. desbruotive fire in Circular Quay destroyed the Flood Company stores, containing a large quantity of wool, hides and tallow, says a Sydney message. It is estimated the damage is £BO,OOO. The firemen" made a great fight and saved the Burns, Philip (stores adjoining, ibnt they suffered slight damage. There were 15,000 bales of wool valued at £55,000, a»s well as band iron, tallow and other materials. Wool presses valued at- £600!) were also destroyed. The Stratford Eire Brigade were roused out early on Sunday morning, and wei-e quickly on the scene of a fire in the Broadway Buildings, Ltd. The fir© had a good hold, and the- brigade had some difficulty in getting the fire under control, being handicapped by dense volumes of smoke, but it did its work well and effected a good save of the front portioijf; of the- shops. Three shops were involved in the fire, and were occupied by Broadway TeaRooms, Miss Mems (“Elise,” milliner), and Mr Brocklebank (fruiterer). The building was insured for £7OO in the Eagle, Star and British Dominion offices, and the contents were all insured by the occupiers. Drs. W. P. and Doris Gordon, on their return to Stratford from their trip abroad, said that they had been impressed- greatly while on the Continent by the'fact- that the people, even the children, did not seem to know how to- play (says the Post). With the exception of tennis in France, they had heard nothing of sport on t-hei Continent-. Children a-mu.sed themselves by picking wild flowers, -and sometimes they would throw a ball about, but there -seemed to be no idea of team or co-operative work. “In fact, it seemed to us,” .said Dr. Doris, “that the spirit prevailing in Europe was all work and no play.” Writing to a friend on the Star staff, Mr A. Kean, late of the Hawera Fish Hatcheries and now of Wairoa, H. 8., encloses a photograph of the moa skeleton which he was fortunate enough to find at Waikare-moana- a couple of months ago. Mr Hamilton, of the Dominion. Museum, went up to assist in the recovery of the bones, and the skeleton was completed with the exception of part of the skull. The work of getting the smaller bones out was performed under difficulties. The cave was filled with large boulders which could not be shifted except with explosives, the use of which would have spoiled the specimen. Some of the bones had fallen, behind a huge stone, and to secure these the naturalists worked in a very cramped position, using a bricklayer’s trowel and a stick. Mr Hamilton identified the remains as those of Diornis Ingens, the second largest of the moa family. As a rule, when one skeleton is found the remains of others are near ; but in this case the bones were all of the same bird.