WAIKOUAITI.

Otago Witness, Issue 2513, 14 May 1902, Page 31

WAIKOUAITI.

May 12.— The first annual harvest thanki giving services were held in the Presbyterian Church yesterday, when tho lessons to be learned from harvest time were ably set forth by the Rev. Mr Camiey, the ministar. At St. John's Church, at night, the Rey .0. Iraer gave the third of his special addresses, thia one dealing with education. He emphasised the necessity of definite religious instruction being given in the public schools by accredited teachers of the different denominations, aftei the plan adopted in the New South Wale! schools. " Choial Society.— A meeting of members o) the Choral Society was held in the library or Thursday evening, Mr Davis presiding. Th% secretary, Mr Kelly, read the annual report and balance sheet, the latter showing a credit oi £2 Isa 4d. These were adopted, and a heartj vote of thanks accorded to Mr Kerr (conductor), an<! the accompanists, Mesdames Ken and Havper. It was decided to start practices again on Thursday., 22nd inst., in the Public School. Death.— The flae was flying at half-mast on the Borough Council Chambers on Friday last out of respect io Mr A. H. Gill, who died at Palmeroton on that morning. Deceased resided at Waikouaiti for upwards of 30 years, during which thtfe he was for 12 years cleijk to the bench and a. proprietor and editor o£ the local paper. He was town clerk from the time when Hawsbury became a borough, and he also occupied various other positions in thia community until his removal. The funera% which wa-s a private one, took place at S . John's Churchyard here, on Sunday aft> loor, the deceased being laid, to rest in the f&mily k grave. Farmers' Union. — The annual meeting of th« Waikouaiti branch of the Farmers' Union wtui beld m the Borough Council Chambers on Saturday evening, lOtb mst., about 20 members being present. Mr H. Bucklan'l was rr>'elected chairman, Messrs R. A. S. r antrel'i an 4A. S. Olb*U tgeaauure &K-\fleerftta-c«-.*"«*

MrE. i>avis auditor foi the ensuing year. The following were appointed a committee, -with power to add: — Messrs J. Aitcheson, T. Allcock, W. Diack, A. Heckler, P. Heckler, R. Hasan, J. Hallunr, J. Maxwell, W. Martin, J. M'Gill, W. M<Grath, J. Bepdall, and W. Ward. Messrs Buckland and Orb ell were appointed to attend next conference of Otago delegates at meeting, to be held in Dunedin on June 22. The meeting resolved to recommend its members to support any fire insurance company 'that -will reduce- present rates; also, to instruct the 'selling brokers that it is in. the interest of the small farmers that single- bales of equal value be grouped -when offered' for safe so as to avoid " star " lots. Messrs Stronach Bros, and Morris wrote, on behalf of the Stock Brokers' Association, that they could not ace J their way to reduce present rate of commission charged on sales of stock in this district. Many (other matters of interest to farmers were discussed. A vote of thanks to the chairman concluded a very enjoyable meeting. Old Newspaper. — During the past week I iiave- been shown a file of copies of the old Waikouaiti.Herald, commencing No. 1, .Vol. 1, October 23, 1864. The paper was most ably edited by Mr T. ST "Pratt, but after two years >the plant was removed to the West" Cost, the Herald being printed for » few months in Dun;edin, until a mew -plant was bought in 1867. .'The latter was afterwards transferred to Pad- j ■nerston. I quote a little information from the columns of the Herald: — • I 1 Statistics. — In 1864 communication be- \ jtweea Dune&u and Waikouaiti . was j maintained " regularly by . threo . sailing vessels— the ".Hope, Blue Bell, and Midlothian—and tha steamer Geejtong, all of which discharged cargo at the .'Waikouaiti spit, and ajl are advertised in "the Herald; the shipping news, "tf'ith, imports, etc., 'forming: one of the -features'! 'of .the .paper. A summary for Borne was printed "forf the outgoing mail, the firsb o? -which gives' -the then population of West'Hawksbury as 700, and tße value' of pro-, perty and improvements as -worth £80,000. The borough is .now three "times as .large in. area, liaviag since then. Embraced- East" Hawksbury. and Jones's township, -'.yet the total population now is- only 690, and Hie capital value of property £45,530: Beach strtnt is no 1 longerthe centre of the town,- anS many of its buildings have been removed to the ,North road. First Picnic. — On Wednesday, March 1, 1865, the first annual picnic w*a held ?.t .Matanaka, on the tableland in front of Mount Cornish, facing the bay,.by permission of Mr J. R. Jones. It was a <3fe*ughtful spot and the day was fins, so «i) 10 a-.m. a large company wended their -way thither and hold high festival all day, a 'briiliani-ball in one of the Beach street sores •winding up the day's enjoyment. .Indeed ,it ■was tjie usual '-thing then, whenever a cricket, match or other social meeting occurred during the day, to follow it up with a, dance at night. Races.— Sporting men were in evidence in those days, and after many preliminaries a 'jommltteo of management was former, with 3lr Durden as treasurer, and it was decided to ihold a local race meeting, which came off on April 17 and 18, 1865. "Ehe race 3 were held in a paddock lent by Mr^Hepburn, at Pleasant "Valley. Messrs F. D. Rich and E. Devine meted* as judges, Mr F. A. Orbeil starter, and •Mr F. D. Hamilton clerk of the course. There were -four events each day, and a very successful meeting was held. A special feature was the largo attendance of Maoris. Items. — Many interesting items could be culled out M the paper, such as the opening of the new bridge over the Waikouaiti River ; the .visit of Bishop Harper; the rush to the diggings, etc: I 'conclude with a few charges: — Mr Franks," the-school teacher, advertises rate of fees as follows: Reading <mly, 8s .per ouarter; reading, writing, and arithmetic, 12s; ditto, with geoeraphy, history, grammar, etc., 16s. In 1864 ch~ ese sold at Is 6d per lb, bacon is 6d. salt butter 2s, fre3h do. 3s, potatoes 2d, eggs 2s 6d dozen, 41b loaf Is 3d.