DISTRICT NEWS

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXVI, Issue 3395, 19 July 1932, Page 3

DISTRICT NEWS

WAITANGURU

(Own Correspondent.) Our local “bridge” and dance was held on Thursday evening last. There was a good attendance and it was a fine night. The prize-winners at bridge were Mrs. Bilton Ist, and Mrs. Murray consolation prize for ladies, and Mr. M. Andresen Ist, and Mr. P. Donnelly consolation prize for the gentlemen. Mr. E. Whitten was musician for the dance, and Mr. Alex. Peterson played the extras. It was an ideal night for dancing—the temperature away down in the forties and frost everywhere. The music was lively and the floor good, and dancers all in a good mood. Mr. Frederickson as M.C. kept things lively with Mr. Ed. Buckley’s assistance till the early hours of the morning. Our local football teams, both juniors and third grades, are en : '-”- ing themselves in general, some of them a bit the worse for a few bruises. The girls’ basketball teams are having a flutter and hope to get in good shape to compete with interdistrict opponents. The ways and means of transit seem to be the problem at present. The sport keeps one lit and full of promise and overcomes are more fortunate. We have had our share of moist weather of late and tracks and roads look unusually stirred up, partly due to carting out lime from the crusher which has not yet finished cuttingout yet. Farmers will be appreciatin'- the spell of fine weather to get on with the belated top-dresing, and feed is getting short. Stock owners wiuth crops of turnips and ensilage arem oref ortunaet. Our rainfall for the month of June was 17.07. The Winter Show in Te Kuiti held the interest of many, and we are pleased to see a few prizes gained by cooking enthusiasts and root growers in our block. We hope to steer close on the tracks of the winners next year for the District Court. Not half the stuff was entered that should have been in regard to garden produce and other local industries. Wake up, ladies, with the uses that wool can be put to for next year’s Winter Show. You have plenty of the finest texture wool seen in many a day’s travel in your own locality. W.D.F.U. In the interests of the above organisation it would be only doing them justice to relate what is being done regarding “home craft” or “handcraft,” perhaps reverting back to the old days when a person made the best use of local commodities and made up something out of very little. At the Hawera Winter Show a room was set out to show the work of these clever fingers. It was an eye-opener, and one can hardly conceive the extent of expansion in the line of using up wool. One lady from Hawke’s Bay was showingsome beautiful mattresses, both light and healthful, beautifully soft, yet firm and sweet. She also said it was a sure cure for rheumatism; also quilts that would put an eider down to shame, made with wool and worked in satins, really inexpensive and only weighing a matter of ounces; also a “blanket” made in flannelette lined with a thin layer of wool and stitched in blanket stitch, only one needed on a bed, these being light and warm. The work of different districts were showing- an enormous variety of wool work done by their women and girls, some of the most beautiful garments and . shawls being spun and cleverly worked up by very elderly ladies. Another thing was the uses of the flour bag' in its different characteristics and dyed in all shades the fancy dictates. Sugar sacks were in evidence, made into most useful cushions, with lovely wool decorations and house aprons made fit for the most fastidious of persons. Hand beaten brass work was a treat to see and the finished articles most varied and beautiful. The minds of these ladies must have been very busy indeed, and no stone was left unturned to cope with the economic question and unemployment, and waste is nil.

Coming in contact with several branches and their workings one could not help seeing- the human touch they display in times of stress and many lame dogs helped over stiles, given a meal and some encouragement when the sense of disappointment is rife with the youth of the country and the future in the lap of the gods. These boys are tramping the roads, shoes rather the worse for wear, and little or nothing to keep body and soul together. These mothers can realise how disastrous this is for the rising generation and utter helplessness and despair arising from the bad times New Zealand is passing through. One only hopes that every person with a spare corner in their homes will take at least one of these youths and let him show what he can and will do if given a chance. Every pair of human hands are needed and should be used to advantage both to the land-ownei; and the man himself to bring back their manhood and sense of responsibility which is on the wane, if the “human touch” is missing.