LOCAL & GENERAL

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume VLI, Issue 3420, 16 December 1935, Page 4

LOCAL & GENERAL

Mr A. H. M. Farrell, who has been appointed as district land valuer at Whangarei, will finish work at Paeroa on Christmas Eve, and after a holiday will leave Paeroa on January 9.

The report from the Talisman Dubbo gold mine states that 65 tons of ore were treated at the Golden Dawn battery for an approximate realisation of £513.

The staff of the Paeroa office of the Defence Department returned yesterday from a fortnight in camp at Narrow Neck at the annual permanent staff refresher course. Annual leave will commence at the end of this week.

The Minister of Defence notifies in last week’s issue of the N.Z. Gazette that Lieut. C. Shuttleworth, N.Z. Staff Corps, was appointed Area Officer, Area 2a, Paeroa, in place of Captain V. J. Innes. An area officer has charge of school cadets.

The dredging of the berthage at the Thames wharf by a Public Works Department suction dredge at a cost of £lO a day was authorised at last Thursday’s meeting of the Harbour Board. The Department requires a payment of £2OO in advance. Work will commence early in the new year.

By Christmas time it will be possible to reach Mercury Bay through Waihi. The Whangamata-Hikuai section of the road, which became blocked by slips and washouts in the period when it was not maintained, has been repaired by the Public Works Department and by Christmas should be in fair order.

At last week’s monthly meeting of the Thames Harbour Board, Mr H. H. Hicks, of Turua, drew attention to the condition of Turua wharf, the underdecking of which, he said, was so rotten that difficulty was experienced in keeping the top boards down. It was decided that an inspection be made and a report tabled at the next meeting.

The question of planting Spartini Townsendii (rice) grass on the endowment land at Kopuarahi foreshore, between the Waihou and Piako rivers, was mentioned by Mr Hicks at this month’s meeting of the Thames Harbour Board. The chairman said that a large tract of land could be reclaimed on this foreshore. It was decided to investigate the possibilities of planting.

Maurice Duggan, the 13-year-old son of Mr and Mrs R. H. Duggan, of Normanby Road, Paeroa, who disappeared from his home on Saturday evening, with his bicycle, and who was enquired for by radio yesterday morning, has been found. Last evening word was received from relatives in Auckland that he had arrived there.

Perhaps when the new Prime Minister says his prayers he will include among his petitions the request made by King Solomon at the beginning of his reign: “ Grant they servant a thoughtful mind for governing Thy people, that I may distinguish right and wrong. For who can bear the weight of this government?” (“Nemo” in the Wellington “Post.”)

An incorrect suggestion has been made that the twopenny health stamp can be used as a receipt stamp, but the legal position, according to official information received by Mr J. Y. Cameron, Postmaster at Thames, is that, under the Finance Act, 1929, it is specifically stated that this stamp may only be used for payment of postage, says the Star. For this purpose it is available for transmission of correspondence addressed to any part of the world.

The retail prices index (base, 192630 equals 1000) for all groups of foodstuffs in New Zealand during October registers an increase of 14 points (from 839 to 853), or 1.67 per cent, as compared with September. This upward trend has now continued with only one break since September, 1934, and with but few interruptions since March, 1933. With regard to the individual groups, that for groceries shows an increase of 65 points, due mainly to higher prices for potatoes and onions, while a further increase in the price of butter has been responsible for raising the index for the dairy produce group by 30 points.

To-day is the 95th anniversary of the foundation of the province of Canterbury. Owing its origin to the work in England of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who aimed to found a complete Church of England colony in New Zealand, the Canterbury Association, as it was called, purchased land from the New Zealand Company at Port Cooper, and on December 16, 1850, the pioneer settlers arrived and settled on the fertile plains beyond Lyttelton. The little settlement grew apace and soon became the most wealthy and advanced centre in the Dominion. Three years after its foundation it possessed a population of 500 persons, produced wool to the value of £40,000 annually, and had reached a position of such importance that it had attracted 70 ships to call regularly at its port.