HICKS BAY WHARF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18994, 16 April 1925, Page 8

HICKS BAY WHARF.

THE OPENING CEREMONY. A PICTURESQUE SCENE. [liY TELEGRAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT. ] GIS BORNE. Wednesday. There was a picturesque scene at the ceremony of the opening of the new wharf at Hicks Bay. The weather was line and a huge crowd assembled. The, work undertaken has been financed by a loan of £30,000 raised by the Hicks Bay Harbour Board. Of this sum over £4OOO was absorbed J by preliminary expenses, nearly £7OO-0 to reimburse the cost of tnc road to the wharf, and £2050 for a tram line and plant. The proceedings were opened bv Maori warriors in mats, who performed a spirited haka. Dr. Wi Repa read an address on behalf of the local tribe in which the natives formally handed over to the Harbour Board the ancestral waters of Wharekahika. Mr. Metcalfe, chairman of the board, said that owing to the establishment of freezing works it was incumbent on the board to provido shipping facilities at Hicks Bay. ft. was the only large harbour betwoen Wellington and Auckland and would serve a largo tract of country. The success of tho harbour depended on the success of tho freezing works. He appealed to all settlers to support the works. Dairying would soon start in the Waiapn. The Ctisborne Sheepfarmers' Company had courageously launched out on a great venture in the establishment of fine works and deserved all encouragement. A number of other speeches were made.