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Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19315, 4 May 1937, Page 4

Satisfaction witli the low lire loss of Hamilton last year of £350 was expressed at the annual meeting of the Fire Board. Insurances on the buildings where the 54 fires were reported was £51.275.

The Opotiki Queen Carnival that has been in progress during the past, three months was brought to a close on Saturday night, the results being as follows: Country Queen, 7427; Maori Queen. 6041; Town Queen, 5015. The total amount collected by the queen committees, as results of the various functions arranged by these committees, was £231.

A warning to Rugby players was issued last evening through the Poverty Bay Rugby Union by the delegate of the Referees' Association, Mr. N. Tasker, who referred to the condition of diamonds on boots and dangerous ornaments on belts. As a referee on Saturday, he made an inspection of sprigs and prevented two players from taking the field until their footwear had been attended to. The nails in all the diamonds were showing about gin. and would have been extremely dangerous to other players. Rings and buckles on belts were another source of danger and Mr. Tasker said that in future the referees were going to tighten up on the rules.

Keenly interested in the. progress of the Gisborne-Napier line and in public works generally, Mr. E, P. Meachen, M.P. for Wairau, spent part of to-day inspecting railway construction in the neighbourhood of Gisborne in company with Mr. O. G. Thornton, district engineer. Mr. Meachen has a wide experience of State works, and is understood to have been co-opted by the Minister of Public Works, the Hon. R. Semple, for investigations on various jobs which the Minister cannot visit more than once in a long while. As one of the major public works enterprises of the Dominion, the line commands a good deal of attention from the. Government, and visits such as Mr. M'eachen's assist in keeping the Minister and the Cabinet, informed of the progress and general condition of the work.

The Poverty Bay Rugby Union's donation to the King George V memorial fund will be at least. £5 ss, according to the. decision made last evening at the weekly meeting of the management committee. When the matter came up for discussion Mr. G. ■!. Jeune moved that the union should allocate II) per cent of the net "gate" in the representative match Poverty Bay v. Wairoa on June 9, with a minimum of £5 fis, to the fund; that all clubs and sub-unions bo written to asking that they make a donation if possible and that patrons at the match on June 9 be invited to contribute directly to the fund; the total thus obtained to be handed to the fund as the contribution of players and supporters in the district. Mr. N. Tasker seconded the motion. The smallness of the amount was queried when Mr. Jeune was forming the motion, but he said ho hoped that the donation would be much larger than the fixed minimum, The motion was carried unanimously.

A burglary _ was committed at the house of Mr. E- Olsen, Te Karaka, during Saturday last whilst the occupants were away. On his return on Saturday afternoon Mr. Olsen found that; an entrance had been effected through one of the windows and £6 stolen, a £1 note from a tronser pocket and a £5 note from a cupboard, where it had been placed with other money which had not been removed. —Special. A charge of obtaining at Masterton a motor-cycle valued at £IOO by means of a. valueless cheque for £4O was brought against Randall .lames Ferguson, aged 23, before Mr. E. L, Walton, S.M., in the Police Court in Gisborne to-day. The motor-cycle was the property of Collingwood Kemp. On the application of Detective A. G. McWhirter, the accused was remanded for a week, the detective stating that a further charge was to be dealt with here.

Appearing recently in the Whakatane Police Court charged with the theft of £5, the property of Walter Hyland, George Takarua was lined £3 and ordered to make restitution of the £5. Complainant made a mistake in a cheque for £l, which was tendered in payment for an article costing Is 6(1 and returned change amounting to £5 18s 6d instead of 18s 6d. Defendant retained the money and when approached admitted lp's guilt. At court he pleaded guilty. Considerable progress had been made with the, task of demolishing the otd town wharf in the 'l.luranganui Kiver. \Vell over halt' of the timber structure lias been cut up by the Gisborne Harbour Board's works staff and in two or three weeks there should remain only the stumps of the sawn off piles, showing at low tide, to indicated that this waterfront, was once a scene of busy shipping activity. The back sheathing of the old wharf has been left to form a breastwork along the edge of the bank.

With the total of enrolments now exceeding 60, and increasing daily, the success of the Gisborne Returned Soldiers' Association's scheme tor financing hospital treatment for its members is now assured. Yeterans in all parts of the district have realised the great benelits of the scheme, under which they can insure, for a payment of £1 10s annually, against the cost of hospital treatment for themselves, their wives and families. The arrangement, which has been ratified by the Cook Hospital Board and referred to a committee for action, is applicable to financial members of the Returned Soldiers' Association, and to the widows of returned soldiers who arc eligible for associate membership in the organisation. May 1 was the date fixed for the initiation of the plan, and those who have enrolled already and paid their annual membership fee and hospital contribution are protected as from that date. The association is making an effort to secure a minimum enrolment of 100 members to give the scheme a good start, and hopes to have "that number by the end of this week.