OKAIAWA.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 17 May 1928, Page 3

OKAIAWA.

(.From Our Own Correspondent.) OBITUARY. The news of the death of Mr. W. Williams, senr., was received, with regret by the residents of this district, where the deceased and his famiiy were held in the very highest esteem. The family arrived in Okaiawa in 1910, and a year later suffered their lirst- great loss in the death of their mother. Then one of the sons, Far-rier-Sergeant Frank Williams, gave his life in the Great War. The members of the family now living are Messrs. W. Williams( Okaiawa), Fred. Williams (Wellington), Mrs. E. C. West (Hawera), Mrs. Blackman (Paten), Mrs. J. Barclay (Okaiawa), and Mrs. G. S. Todd (Stratford). The late Mr. Williams followed the strenuous occupation of a blacksmith, from which he retired only about a couple of years ago, and since then has undertaken lighter work. Not until about a week before his death did he give up work altogether, so that, he practically died in harness. The funeral, which took place on Tuesday morning, was largely attended, and there were many beautiful wreaths and floral emblems from friends throughout the district. The burial service, the first part of which was: held in St. Aidan’s Church, was conducted by Rev. C. W. Solomon. The pall-bearers were Messrs. Power, Courtney, Christiansen, McNamara, W. Johnston, junr., and Baker. OUR ROADS. A piece of road which has caused a lot of adverse comment for some considerable time is that portion of the Normanby Road from the township to the top of the Inaha hill. This length of road has been worn out for years, and*has had to be content with a yearly patching. This has only been effective for a short time, and for the greater portion of the year it has been a succession of pot holes. However, those who use this road, and they are many, may take comfort, for f the writer has it on the authority of» the county chairman that the road is to he metalled and tarred in the near future. As the engineer has just been on a tour of inspection, no doubt other portions of the' road l which require attention will he attended to. Another 300 yards of the Inaha Road is at present being metalled, and the writer hopes to live to see the road completed right through, which only means about another 300 or 400 yards. This load is in “no man’s land”—that is, it. is a boundary road under the dual control of the Hawera and VVaimate County Councils. It has been recognised for years that boundary roads are a mistake, yet nothing hats been done to bring about an alteration. A STRANGE FISH. The writer recently visited an old friend at Pihama, on whose property a Maori had. a- few days previously, caught an eel which was certainly not one of the common garden variety. This eel, which tipped the scales at the respectable weight of 181 b. had red eyes and a tail shaped like a. fan.