Local and General

Hawera Star, Volume LIV, 4 March 1935, Page 4

Local and General

Fire threatened, the destruction of the large residence of Mr D. L. A. Ast-bury, Eiltliam Road, Man.gaf.oki, on Saturday evening. A member of the family went to a store room with a lighted candle and some time later smoke was seen issuing from the building. Eventually the fire was located. It then had a' good hold hut by the use of water and the cutting away of portion of the timbers the flames were checked. The damage was comparatively small, being less than £lO. Shortly after 4.30 o’clock yesterday afternoon fire completely destroyed a large two-storeyed house and outbuildings, the property of Mr Henry Woisin, Richmond Road ,Lepperton. Efforts to check the fire were frustrated the only available water being cut off by flames. Few clothes and very little furniture were saved. The buildings were covered by insurance but the furniture was not. The fire had secured a strong hold before the outbreak was detected. Leaving the other members of the household' at afternoon tea Mrs Woisin, sister-in-law of Mr H. Woisin, went upstairs, where she smelt burning material. She opened a bedroom door and huge flames greeted her. The flames had taken complete possession of the upper storey and the family was forced downstairs. Fanned by a keen breeze, the fire swept through the building, with lemarkable rapidity. The house was completely at the mercy of the. flames when the first neighbours arrived to nive assistance. Two tanks of water at the back were early put out of action by the terrific heat as they licked the outbuildings.

Week-end excursion trains to Wanganui for the West Coast surf championships proved most popular. One ran from Wellington on Saturday and Sunday trains ran from New 'Plymouth and Hawera. The New Plymouth train carried 220 passengers leaving New Plymouth, and collected 90 from Inglewood and Waitara, and 70 from stations between Inglewood and Hawera. arriving at Aramoho with 370. The Hawera train reached Wanganui with nearly 400 passengers, more than expected and a heavy load for a one-engined train. A number of the passengers were transferred to the New Plymouth train for the return, and the total on the through service leaving Aramoho was 445, leaving Hawera 390 and Stratford 315.

A visitor to the Rotary Conference in Timaru found himself 10s the poorer on liis first night in town. At a social function held in connection with the conference in the Bay Hall a 10s note w r as found, and the owner was sought. Half a hundred hands went up claiming the note, and one man went so far as to ask, “Is the corner chewed?” As the identity of the rightful owner was not established, the note was impounded in the “sunshine” box. A Blenheim party which was busily swatting the übiquitous white butterfly on a recent Sunday afternoon were puzzled by the sudden disappearance of the whole of the insects, whieh could have been numbered in thousands a few minutes earlier. An hour later a sudden and violent- hailstorm broke over the town, and the incident is taken as evidence that the butterflies have some uncanny prescience in regard to the weather and seek shelter in plenty of time. The judge at the recent Dominion band contest in Timaru, Mr Albert H. Bade, of Sydney, is of the opinion that the standard of band music in New Zealand is high. The playing of the first three bands at the contest, he considers, was as good as anything he has heard. As musical director, he said, he had toured the wmrld twice with the Newcastle Steel Works Band and had had the opportunity of hearing some of the world’s leading bands. What impressed Mr Bade at Timaru was the interest taken by the public in band music, and the -wealth of talent in the younger players. Public taste for band music both in Australia and in New Zealand, he thinks shows signs of a definite revival, and the fact that the Wellington ■ City Council does not subsidise any hand surprises him.

At the Lyttelton Court the other day a woman who had been charged with failing to license her radio set, pleaded by letter that she had eight children, and her husband was in casual employment only. assistant radio inspector remarked that on his rounds in Christchurch he had paid visits to certain houses in which there was practically no furniture not even chairs for the family to sit on —yet the tenants had radio sets in some cases up to £4O in value.

Many years have passed since the main body of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force was in camp at. Awapuni racecourse, and the survivors of the camp have probably forgotten the flag that flew over headquarters. It still exists, although in a somewhat tattered state, and recently has come into the possession of the ellingfon Returned Soldiers’ Association. It was sent to the association by Mrs F. C. Collins, and will be treasured because of its sentimental value.