LOCAL AND GENERAL

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 22 September 1926, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

On account of the Operatic Society’s sea-soil, there will .be no meeting of the Hawera Accountant -Students'’ Society to-night, the next address -being set down for this day week. The Anglican Diocesan Synod at Christchurch adopted a resolution that, all members of the church be urged to oppose any proposed legislation which would enlarge the facilities for betting and gambling. The Prime Minister’s stand on the matter of art unions was endorsed by speakers. Visitors were present last night at the opera,'“A Runaway Girl,” from Eltham, New Plymouth, and Palmerston North, and the opinion expressed by several was that the show was excellent. They thoroughly enjoyed the whole performance. A special effort will be made by the -members of the Ha we ra- Tennis- and Croquet- Club on Saturday next, when they will have a day at- -the -shop in Union Street, next-to Bankroll's. They will welcome- donations of cake, flowers, and -produce, which they will have on -sale all day from 9.30 a.m.

The inquest concerning the death of Henry Lucas Hamilton, found dead in the waiting xoom at the Bluff railway station on September 14, was -held yesterday, before Mr G. Cruickshank, S.AE. A verdict was returned that deceased shot himself with a small calibre rifle. Mr H. E. Holland, Leader of the Opposition, delivered an address at Westport last evening before the General Labourers’ Union, dealing mainly with the Workers’ Compensation Act and the Family Allowance Act, which he claimed adopted principles advocated by the Labour Party, but did not go as- far as that party sought in compensation rights. At the conclusion Mr Holland was accorded a very hearty vote of thanks and congratulated on the manner in which -he had led the Opposition. la .the Supreme Court at Auckland, Mr Justice Herdmam granted, 1 am application -for a writ of habeas corpus calling on the gaoler to show cause why he should 1 not release William George Cabenett, who was sentenced by Air F. K. Hunt, S.AI., on September 8 for theft. On that, occasion counsel for the accused asked that security for appeal be fixed!, and Mr Hunt fixed it at £lO 10s, remarking: “There is too much of this appealing.” The case will be ventilated in the Supreme -Court on Tuesdav.—Press Association.

A four-roomed wooden dwelling, occupied by Air J, AI. Alitchell, on the Kiri Road, at Te Iviri, was completely destroyed by fire on Tuesday morning. The outbreak occurred! at. about 10 o’clock, arid 'haul its origin, it is surmised, in a defective chimney. Airs Alitchell and her child were alone ini the house at- tiro time, Mr Mitchell being away at the factory. The house formed portion of the estate- of the late Mr Alfred Slater, administered by the Public Trustee, and wa>s insured for £450 in the State Fire Office. The furniture, tlie whale of which was lost, was insured for £2OO.

The fact that one ship which went away from New Zealand with frozen meat was never heard of again was recalled at- a. social gathering at Islington in honour of Air. James Leslie, for thirty-two years works manager for the New Zealand Refrigerating Company (Lyttelton Times). In tracing the early history of the- industry an Islington, the chairman of the gathering (Mr. Morgan E-vans) said that in the -late eighties the Provision and Produce Company decided to embark in the freezing business, and engaged three ships, the Edwin Fox, which was tlie freezer, and the Alarlbcrough and Opawa, which- were to carry the produce. Killing commenced at Islington at the rate of 300 a day, and nothing but the primest Canterbury was selected. It took nearly six months to fill the boats at Lyttelton. The Opawa eventually arrived in London, but the Marlborough was never -heard of again. Mr. Evans said that evidently the Opawa’.s shipment- turned out. Satisfactorily, for a new company was floated later with the idea, of increasing the capacity of the works.

An incident in the career of Mr J. Grigg, the first owner of the wellknown Longbeach farm, in Canterbury, is related by a writer in' the Dominion. Before going to Longbeach. Mr Grigg had had a: windfall at Auckland; at the time of the Maori War. He had a contract with the Government for the supply of hay for the troops. This contract ' the Government, so Mr Grigg stated, broke, and he felt lie had a grievance. Instead of airing that grievance in letters to the newspapers and a petition to Parlaiment, Mr Grigg preferred more immediate notion. He quietly bought up all the hay there was on the market, and the Government, when it tried to make a deal wherever it saw a haystack, was invariably referred hack to Mr Grigg. Ini the end Mr Grigg was given l a new contract at about double the figure of the original one. on which he would have been quite content to do business. “In 1900 Christchurch was recognised as the leading city in' the Dominion; to-day it is struggling to fill the third position.” This statement, 'according to the Lytta'ton Times, was made .at a meeting of the St. Albans Burgesses’ Association, by Mr W. J. Franklin, who outlined, in an address, what he regarded as the commercial possibilities of bringing Christchurch into direct communicatiorh with the sea. Mi- Franklin advocated Mr Cyrus Williams’s scheme- for constructing a harbour at Heathcote. He stated' that it was possible to reclaim 176 .acres of the mud flat in that vicinity, and to build a harbour there at a cost of £1.900,000. The reports of. engineers who had been approached definitely stated that the construction of a harbour at ’Heathcote offered no engineering difficulties. He drew attention to the fact that most of the world’s greatest harbours were built on estuaries; A harbour at Heathcote meant cheaper transport, and in that lay the chance of Cirristchurch to advance. Port Christchurch would place this citv on an equal footing with Auckland and Wellington by providing the type of transport most suitable to Canterbury.

The following motions were passed yesterday by the Manawatu A. and P. Association’s Committee, following an exhaustive report and discussion on the proposed Agricultural College:—“This association begs to- congratulate the Hon. O. J. Hawken, Minister of Agriculture. and the Government on purchasing the site for the Agricultural College in the North Island in terms of the suggestions and the agreement entered into by Auckland and Victoria University Councils. That this association is of the opinion that in establishing such college the proposals set out in the report of Sir Frank Heath should be strictly, adhered to and carried out in conjunction with Auckland and Victoria University Councils. That as the North Island contains 60. S per cent, of the population of the Dominion, against 39.19 per cent, in the South Island, and the population to the square mile in the North Island is 18.66, against 7.37 in the South Island, it is entitled to the establishment of in the North Island.”

A sensation a,l accident occurred; in Valley road, Mount Eden, Auckland, yesterday, when a heavily-laden motorlorry ''belonging to A. W. Bryant ran backwards on an. incline for about 200 yards before coming; to grief on the footpath. The lorry was travelling at about 30 miles an hour, and was almost at the foot of the hill, near Pentlnnd Avenue, when a wheel, came off. It left the road and 1 crashed on to the footpath, where the axle was buried, two feet in the ground and stopped further progress. The wheel that had come off careered down Pent land Avenue, almost struck two children playing in the road, crashed through the gate of a house, and finished up at the front door, storing in the door and shattering the glass panel. The wheels weigh about Govt.

W. Marshall’s general store and dwelling-house at Uruti, together with their contents and a new motor-ear, were totally destroyed by fire yesterday. A bucket brigade of 20 or 30 was soon gathered, but the absence of an adequate water supply rendered their efforts practically futile. The house, attached to the store, contained tea rooms, and was originally a separate building, but was subsequently joined by the office once used by the Bank of New Zealand and the whole block was swept. The insurances tot*l £3050, including £SOO on the car, but both Mr Marshall and the owner of the building, Mr W. P. McAllum, of New Plymouth, are said to be heavy losers.