BUILDING ACTIVITY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18346, 12 March 1923, Page 10

BUILDING ACTIVITY.

EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS.

RECREATION AND SPORTS.

STREET IMPROVEMENTS.

Private enterprise has played a very important part in Morrinsville'a progress. Recognition has been given to tho fact that vacant sections are unprofitable and undesirable in any rising town, and in business and residential quarters vacant lots are being occupied by shops and offices and handsome residences. Among those who have built in the brick area during the last three years are Messrs Humphreys Bros., A. M. Humphreys, C. M. Guminer, A. J. Rivett, Lockio Gannon, H. A. Smith, the Cargill Publishing Company, Thames Valley Electric Power Board, and A. Gifford. For the current financial year building permits representing a total of £28,000 hav© been issued, while for the previous 12 months the value of new buildings was £19,225, or a total for two years of £47,225. Other buildings, including a bank, are likely to be erected in the near future. Stock sales are held in Morrinsville every week. The Morrinsville sale is regarded by dealers as one of the best in the Waikato. The yardings of dairy stock. beef, cattle, sheep, and pigs are always large, and the quality is of the best. Bidding is always keen, and the highest prices are realised. Morrinsville is well-equipped from an educational standpoint. The roll-number at the school is 400. The Education Board recently erected an infants' school of three class rooms in brick in the town. A movement is on foot to establish a high school, the object being to obviate the necessity of many children travelling daily to the Hamilton High School. The project is meeting with satisfactory support, and if an attendance of 25 or 30 is guaranteed, the board has undertaken to establish the school.

Winter and summer sports have many supporters in Morrinsville. Rugby football is played by a large number of young men and school boys, and the' Morrinsville Rugby Union's fifteen and the school fifteen have won enviable reputations at the game. The bowling club has . a fine green and a large membership, while the tennis club has five courts and is well patronised. The ladies' croquet club purchased a green in a central position, and have done excellent work in beautifying that area and adding to the attractions of the Golf links are situated not far from the town boundary. The Morrinsville Agricultural and Pastoral Association has done a great deal to promote the interests of the district, and its annual exhibition of stock is one of the best attractions the Waikato has to offer. The society has made a feature of its horse classes, and as a good deal of breeding is carried on, the hacks and hunters which perform at the show are fit to be shown anywhere in the Dominion.

The importance of Morrinsville as a railway junction has undoubtedly had much to do with the progress of tho town. The railway traffic directs to it the attention of a large body of the travelling publio who might not be reached otherwise. As is usually the case in such conditions, it is felt in certain quarters that the time has come for an expansion of the railway programme, for more up-to-date and commodious facilities, and a good deal of attention has been given to the question of removing the railway station to a site that will give more room for extensions. Many people in Morrinsville oppose the Railway Department's scheme to move the site, but the general manager has stated definitely that in the interests of the travelling public, the station must be removed. In a place with a considerable floating population, the question of accommodation is always an important one, and this phase of activity has in no wise been overlooked so far as Morrinsvillo is concerned. The town is equipped with an excellent hotel and comfortable boarding houses, while its tearooms will compare favourably with those of any town outside the cities.

Pictures are shown in the Empire Theatre, and travelling companies frequently give entertainment* in the town. A new courthouse was recently erected and a much-noeded public facility has thus been provided. The Borough Council has spent a considerable sum of money on street impovements and the thoroughfares of the town are in very good order. A comprehensive metalling scheme has been considered, but it is unlikely that this will be undertaken until''the sewerage scheme is disposed of.