LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 28 June 1926, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

On Saturday afternoon the Minister of Education (tlie Hon. It. A. Wright) performed' the official ceremony in connection with .the opening - of the Hutt Valley High, School at Lower Hutt. Speaking at Matapu on Friday ol the enterprise of some of the British produce firms, Mr. H. Willis said that in his opinion the British seed merchants were the finest in the world. Two motor cars came into collision in Kakaia. township on Saturday, one being overturned and, one of the occupants, the Rev. Mr. Tinsley, of Ashburton, being cut about the face and head. The others escaped uninjured. For the convenience of mothers with children, the W.N.R. rest- room will be open daily during Show Week from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. A capable woman will be in charge.

Badly knocked about by a bull in the hold of the steamer Gale last Wednesday, Joaquin Lancaster, aged 52, died at the Wanganui Hospital early on Saturday morning. Lancaster, a seaman on the Gale, was helping to pen bullocks, shipped at the cattle wharf, when one of the animals broke loose and charged. He tried to aid his two companions, and was hurled into the next pen by the savage beast. The. change in the night of the Hawera Municipal Band weekly dance to Friday appears to have been appreciated, and there was a goodly assembly of dancers in the Savoy Rooms last week. The M.C'.’s were Messrs Hawkins and Smith, and they gave every attention to their guests. Excellent music was supplied by the De Luxe orchestra of six instruments, and the evening was in every way a great success.

Remarking on the quality of the work done by the boys and girls of the schools of South Taranaki in the rootgrowing competitions, Mr. J. W. Deem, at Matapu on Friday, said it was ‘‘up to” parents to help the youngsters by giving them good facilities for growing the roots. He noticed on several of the charts a. remark about animals into the plots, and in three cases a drawing of ‘‘the cow that ate my mangolds,” or the pig, or the horse. This was very disheartening to the children. Judgment for the defendant was given orally by the Chief Justice (Hon. 0. P. Skerrett) in the Supreme Court at Wellington on Saturday, in the civil action brought by John James Stuart, a ship’s cook, for the recovery of. a total of £667 from William Thomas Young, union secretary, and the' Wellington Seamen’s Union, plaintiff alleging that as the result of a conspiracy of .defendants with the crew of the Tees lie had lost his employment.

A memorial from over 100 townspeople asking that the magnificent redwood tree growing in the main street of Te Awamutu be not cut down has been received by the Awamutu Borough Council, reports the New Zealand Herald. The memorial pointed out that the tree was probably planted Jjy the pioneer missionary, the Rev. Mr. Morgan, nearly a century ago, at the same time that he caused te be planted the seeds of many fruit and ornamental trees throughout the Waipa Valley. The council lias decided; to seek Jhe opinion of the State Forestry Department to see if some method of preventing damage, to property in the immediate vicinity could be evolved. Two young natives, who were more or less under the influence of liquor at Rahotu on Thursday l last, found some amusement in rolling a barrel of stout down the road! from near the hotel and later taking it home in a motor-car. They were soon discovered, however, with the result that on Saturday morning, in New Plymouth, they were called upon to answer before Mr. R. W. Tate, S.M., a charge of stealing 56 gallons of stout, valued at £B, from Daniel , Quiekenden, licensee of the O'kato Hotel. The defendants were Harry Epae and Ropa Dix. They elected to be dealt with summarily and pleaded guilty, blaming their state of intoxication at the time for the lapse into which they had fallen. Each was fined £2 and prohibited from obtaining liquor. Mr. AT. A. Veitcli, M.P., has been in communication with the Minister of Agriculture about the ravages ol wild pigs in the backblocks of Wanganui district, says the Wanganui Chronicle. For some time Is a head was paid to settlers for killing wild pigs. This was having a good effect in reducing the numbers, hut the payment was suddenly stopped, with the result that the nuisance soon became as bad as ever. Mr. Veitcli has now receive a letter from the Minister of Agriculture promising to ill ace a sum on the estimates to continue the payment of Is per snout. David Mill, a young man of 26, suffered fearful mutilation of the left hand, when he was, caught in the moving cogs of a concrete mixer on Saturday (says the Wanganui Chronicle). Mill was in charge of a mixer at the big fertiliser works job at Aramoho, and was cleaning up the machine, in readiness for knocking off at mid-day, when his hand slipped in between the iron teeth. He was at once' taken to the hospital, find later in the day several lingers p’ore amputated. The hand I Was badly knocked about, but the victim’s condition is now satisfactory.

About 1.5 iJ.TU. yesterday, for the first time in nine months, the clanging of the Hawera fire bell alarmed the town, and a large number of sightseers followed in the walcc of the brigade to the residence of Mr S. Fryer at the corner of Collins and Erin Streets, where a detached tool and coalshed was on fire. Thanks to the brigade’s speedy response, the outbreak was checked in an early stage and damage to the extent of approximately only £3 was sustained. No explanation can be given as to the origin of the outbreak, as the shed did not contain a fireplace nor, so far as is known, any inflamable material which would be likely to cause lire. Since September !), the brigade has turned out to a number of small fires, but yesterday was the first time since that date that the alarm has been sounded.

At a meeting of the Okaiawa School Committee on Friday evening, the chairman (Mr. A., Lees) reported that a handsome donation of a framed enlargement of last -year’s champion fotoball team had been received from Mrs. B. C. Bennett, of Hawera. It will be remembered that last year’s football team put up a splendid record in _ the competition for the McLeod Shield, Eight matches were played, and all were won, the total points scored by the team being 251, while only 16 points were scored against it. The photograph has the names of all the players inscribed underneath, the inscribing having been most artistically done by Mr. 8.. L. Ferguson, of Messrs Bennett and Sutton’s staff. The photograph was very favourably commented on by members of the committee, and it was decided to write and thank Mrs. Benentt for her donation, and to inform her that the photograph would be hung jn one of the rooms of the school.