The Northern Advocate THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 1910. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Northern Advocate, 18 August 1910, Page 4

The Northern Advocate THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 1910. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Bowling enthusiasts at Dargaville are meeting with considerable success in their efforts to establish a bowling green, about £400 having been guaranteed to date. Several sites are on offer.

Owin , ? to the absence of the Secretary, Mr James Mackie, and to the fact that a number of members are at present in Auckland attendmg the Winter Show, the monthly meeting of the Chamber of Commerce has been -postponed till next Wednesday night.

In the weekly "Advocate" Messrs A. and T. Burt f:re advertising the "Unique" boiler frames, a very handy appliance for the country bouse. The frame may be seen at Mr T. L. Drurnmond's shop, Whangarei. Messrs A. and T. Burt are the contractors for Ihe Borough drainage works, and clients may be sure that the article they are now introducing to the North is not only an improvement on old systems of copper frames, but a big" saving in cost.

The removal oi : trees from Mander's ?ark, now in progress, is not detracting in any way from the "picturesqueness" of the park, and the Borough Council, without spending a farthing, are taking theh* first steps towards making this ground serviceable to the citizens. Authority has only been given, so far, tc take out sufficient trees to suit the Girls' Hockey Club, which will only use the grounds during the winter months, and there is perhaps a little sentiment about the removal of a certain clump of tea-trees so as to enable the Cricket Club to use the grounds. There is nothing very graceful or. beautiful about the trees, and the people of Whangarei would not be likely, seeing that their are thousands of seres of virgin bush witiiin a few minutes walk of the main street, to shed 'my tears if the trees in the park are all chopped into firewood. Probably the Council will see the advisability of doing this, "and will take some further action at the next meeting.

Mr A. E. Harding is having a large wool-shed erected at Maungaru, capable of holding 1200 sheep in eight pens Six power shearing machines are to be installed.

Some time ago the Borough Council authorised the fencing of the approaches to the Swing bridge, but so far nothing has been done, and the approaches to the bridge still remain in a dangerous condition, a continual menace to the .safety of traffic.

Despite the fact that most of the men employed on the Grahamtown wharf have been drafted off to other contracts in the South, Mr Gardiner has made great strides with the wurk and the bracing of the wharf is now almost completed. It is thought that three months more at the outside will finish the whole contract.

The Secretary for the Hospital Board, Mr McK'imon, wishes to acknowledge with thanks, the sum of £2 7s Gd, the proceeds form the football match, All Blacks versus All Whites, played last Saturday. This amount, added to the sum already received from the same source with the subsidies, gives a total of about £12.

The Whangarei High School football team goes down to Auckland to-mor-row to play the annual match against St. John's College. The local team is considered to be quite up to the standard of last year, chiefly owing to the assiduous coaching of Mr Smith, and it is thought by their supporters that they will give a very good account of themselves on Monday afternoon.

A local architect states that builders are now fairly busy, and that the outlook for tha future is ■ decidedly good. Several good building contracts are in view, and though it is possible that many of the sections lately put upon the market have been purchased for ppeculative purposes, and that the same thing will happen with regard to other allotments shortly to be offered the sub-division of land must lead to a fair amount of building in the near future, and consequently briskness in the building trade.

,;, The Perry Moving Picture and Cinephone Company arrived in. Whangarei this morning, and will present a firstclass humorous, artistic, and dramatic entertainment this evening. Several of the films have a good reputation, "Belchazzar's Feast at Babylon" bPing narticularly well spoken of. The "Heroine of Mafeking" rf>r>rpsents a stirring damar 'n South Africa, while another film worthy of note by reason of its artistic merit is entitled "A Trip Through Venice." The company has attached to it a v?ry fine quartette, and the vocal and instrumental items will be sure to please all natrons of this well-known company's entertainment.

A somewhat ambiguous remark was made by a speaker at the meeting in connection with the Laymen's Missionary movement in Invercargill, and it provoked much laughter. The speaker was ,a member of. the Congregational body, and wa« explain ing how well the various churches worked together in Toronto in the interests of the movement. Sometimes a man was required to visit another centre, "and," ;-aid he, "if we don't have a good man to gp we send a Presbyterian!" The ' severe slight thus presumably cast upon the denomination was borne with becoming cheerfulness by the Presbyterians present.

The forming nnd metalling of the roads on the Woodhill estate will be considered by i!)e ratepayers in the locality on the evening of Monday, August 29th, and if the people interested decide tc raise a special loan to do the work, in all probability Mr G. S. Wilson witr have the bush cleared from the lulls overlooking the town and the block cut up into sections and sold. Some time ago a Minister of the Crown offered to provide £2 for every £1 spent by the Borough to acquire a natural park in the hills; but so far the Borough Council has not put any proposal before the ratepayers. Mr Wilson has offered an area of nearly l;>0 acres for about £8 per acre, which, with the Government grant would cost the ratepayers about £2 10s per The land is surely worth £2 10s per acre to the town for a park, and many people are looking for the Council to put some proposal before the Ratepayers to acquires such a beauty spot.

Now that the Grahamtown wharf is Hearing completion, the public are anxious to know how the new wharf will affect shipiroig, and what better facilities will bo afforded for travelling between Whungarei and Auckland. It has been reported that the Northern Company intend to replace the Ngapuhi with the Rarawa, a steamer of 1072 tons, which, if the report is correct, will run ;■ daily trip between Grahamtown and Auckland, leaving the latter place every nigbt at 12 o'clock and arriving at Wlungarei at 6 o'clock in thf. morning. It ■ wo-ilrl thus be possible for anyone leaving Whangarei in the morning to arrive in Auckland at a sufficiently early hour in the afternoon to transact business and visit any place of entertainment in the evening, without any fear of missing the steamer the same night, making the whoir> time of his absence fronr Whangarei less than twentyfour hours. Mr Dalston, the local manager for tho Northern Company, knows nothing of his Company's intentions for the future, and was unable to verify the rumor, which has all the ar/pearance of authenticity. He states that until the Railway Department have fixed their time-table and made known their plans, the Northern Company will leave all arrangements for the future in abeyance.