Public Ceremonies.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXXII, Issue 96, 20 June 1924, Page 5

Public Ceremonies.

Hon. I. G. Coates’ Visit.

Early History and Modern Advance

Stratford’s New State Buildings.

WHAT WAS DONE

Coates came hack it would be to put another story on the present building. It was pleasant to have a Minister who was getting out of the usual rut; Most Governments only built for the time being, but Mr Coates had showed that he wished to build for the time coming. Stratford was the centre of the finest province in New Zealand. Much of the land was only partially developed, and more of it was not developed at all though it was capable of carrying very close settlement. Everybody hoped that soon a big sum would be placed on the Estimates for the completion of the Stratford-Main Trunk railway. When the lino got through there would be no doubt that the Post Office was not in advance of the needs of the district. There had been a certain amount of criticism of the clock tower, but, again, this was from people from outside the district. He had never heard anybody hi Stratford complain about the tower. He thought they were under a debt lof gratitude to Mr Coates for the I erection of such a hue tower. Mr Coates had not chased the speaker | with the tower, hut when he realised ' that the people of Stratford were j prepared to find money for a clock ihe . recognised that they were worth helping. Congratulations were clue to the builder of the Post Offiej“(Mr Aldorton) for thievery faithful manner in which ho bad carried out his work. The building was a very fine lone, and reflected the gratest credit lon the builder. When citizens saw (the inside of the building they would I recognise how well Mr AldertOn had i done his work. The' sub-contractors | had also carried out then - part faitlij; fully, and much credit was due to Mr jjAlf. Davies, who had acted as" overiseer. He (the speaker) was very I.pleased to have the honor of being the district’s representative at the {time the building was erected. Mr Masters, spoke further regarding the : Public Trust Office, and concluded by thanking the Minister on behalf of his constituents. (Applause.)

The hopes and aspirations of Stratford as a community were fulfilled to-day in regard to three important public functions when the new Post Office, Public Trust building and Victoria Bridge were officially opened by the Hon. J. G. Coates, Minister of Posts and Telegraphs and Public Works. It was the consummation of efforts prompted by the progressive spirit for which the Stratford town and district has rapidly gained a good name. The manner in which the public mustered at the site of the Post Office in Broadway despite the unfavorable state of the weather was sufficient to show the keen interest displayed by b’oth the townspeople and country residents. The town was bright with hunting, lines of streamers across the street at the Bridge, Public Trust and Post Office, combined with the private flags which were flown all over the business section, supplying a gala appearance to the otherwise drab color of the street, and the dull leaden skies overhead. The Stratford Citizens’ Band, under Conductor Kear, played selections, and when the ceremony opened there was a very large gathering of the public, all of whom evinced a keen interest in the proceedings.

Shortly before three o’clock, the 1 Hon. Mr Coates and the Ministerial party, Departmental officials, together with the Member for the dis-' trict (Mr R. Masters) and Mrs Masters, the Mayor (Mr J. W. Me Mil’an) | and‘"Mrs-McMillan, Borough Coun-j cillors and prominent;public men, j were driven 40 th.Q i f Viclb s x»ia I*i Jc'ge. where a number qf'igirlg from the. Stratford'primary!fedlji'ooh 'dncl.-r • Papps, supported; a ; iiiijr; of evergreens stretched I jdfeVolm 1 the road • way. The actual, of open ing the Bridge cehs|stetVof the Minister cutting the libbouf ip the centre of the line, and' after, |the shortest possible inspectiori. |<if. ithe structure the party were amen back to 1 lie Public Trust Office, where the ceremony was again very short. The Minister simply l opened the door of the building as the first official act v and the n the party drove back to the Post Office, where, from a platform erected in front. Mf the building, official speeches relating' to the three functions were delivered.

THE MAYOR’S SPEECH.

|Th& f*di-owing” j of railway engine sheens Hvas the first sign of jubilation wh|cji struck upon the ears of the crowd, and immediately an air of interest was evident among them. Just as‘ the official party had taken their seats on the platform the Town Clock rang put, the happy thought of recognisjing the importance of tlu* occasion,tin three chimes, being given effect to by some genial soul. Minister and public alike thoroughly appreciated the feeling so timely expressed, and all joined in the laughter and smiles that ensued.

The Mayor briefly welcomed the Hon. Mr Coates, and expressed on behalf of the residents of Stratford and district their hearty appreciation on his visit to conduct the final act in the three enterprises which all had loked forward to being completed for a long time. They thanked the Minister very much, especially in view of the fact that he had come to Stratford at a good deal of inconvenience to himself. (Applause) 1 i Mr McMillan also welcomed the visitors and heads of Departriients who had made a point of being present.

The Town Clerk (Mr P. Skoglund) read apologies from Mr E. Walter (chairman of the Stratford County Council), Sir Walter (Carncross (Speaker of the Legislative Council) Mr J. R. Corrigan (M.P. for Patea), Mr 0. Hawlceu (M.P. for Egmont), Mr G. W. Taylor (Mayor of Eltham), Mr W. R. Bone (Mayor of Hawera), and Mr J. McKay (one of the contractors for Victoria Bridge). WELCOME BY MU MASTERS, Mr R. Masters, M.P,, extended welcome to Mr Coates, who was Postmaster-General, minister of Railways and Public Works and in charge of sundry other departments. He desired to publicly express thanks to Mr Coates for the sympathetic hearing he had always extended to him as representative of the district in reference f o the fine building before, which they wore standing that day. The building reflected great credit on the Minister, on the Government, on the Department. and on the district itself. He could assure the Monster that the people of the district would look with pride on the buildin,g for many years to come. Some people said the Post Office was in advance of the needs of the district, but those who said so were not resident of the district. He had . not been long in Stratford, but in bus own time be had seen three Post Offices. When making representations to the Minister he had impressed on him that he did not want to see a fourth. In view of the progress going o n in Die district, he felt sure that when Mr

mentary to the Department or the Staff. The staff, of course, could not help the position, and behaved admirably under trying conditions. In the new office, all this will be happily changed, and both staff and public wil be able to transact their business expeditiously and in comfort, and the Department will be for ever blessed. I beg to congratulate the Public Works Department on the excellent manner in which the work has been carried out under the supervision of Mr Davies, whom I know from experience to be most concientious in carrying out the specifications. It is worthy of note that the contract has been completed well under contract time, which is a credit to the Department and to the contractor alike. This is a most unusual thing, especially in a contract of the size, and I venture to say could only be done in a good climate like Stratford. I have now much pleasure in handing the key of the building to Mr Coates, and in doing so I wish to tender, on behalf of the Stratford people, hearty congratulations to Mr Alderton for the handsome job he has exected. It is quite evident that all concernei have taken great pains with their work. Profit has not been considered evidently, and Mr Aldwerton’s aim has been a first-class job, and we are satisfied lie has succeeded. These remarks equally apply to Mr C. Moore, contractor for the Public Trust building, and Messrs Coombridge and McKay, contractors for the Bridge. 1 regret very much that the memorial clock is not installed, but you will have to excuse us because we had no idea the clock would take so long to make. (Applause.)

MR COATES SPEAKS.

The Minister thanked the Mayor and Mr Masters for their kind words of welcome. He said he was only the third string to the bow, the Governor-General and the Premier having been asked to perform the ceremonies, but being unable, owing to prior engagements. It gave him pleasure to come to Mr Masters’ district, not for the purpose of delivering political speeches, but because if the hospitality always extended to him. It was an important day, it was a stepping stone in the district’s history and was a good indication of the district’s prosperity.

THE PUBLIC TRUST.

The Hon. J, G. Coates who was received with applause, in the course of his remarks, said the opening of this new building, planned on modern lines, marks a new stage in the development of the Public Trust Office work in the district. Until the Ist June, 1920, the management of estates under administration by the Public Trustee in this district was carried on from the Hawera Office, but on the date named a branch office was established’ at Stratford, tinder the control of Mr J. C. Robins, as District Manager. Since that date the business lias increased rapidly, and has now assumed substantial proportions. In view of the rapid increase of business,- the sue on which the new building stands was acquired by the Public Trustee at the lieginmng. of last year, at a host of £1,792. The plans for th© new building were prepared by Mr T. H. Bates, and the contract was let to Mr Christopher Moore, the amount of the tender being £9,073. ' The total cost of the site and building is therefore £10,865. which amount Is borne entirely by the Public Trust Office ami is not a charge on the general Government . f nls. The building is constructed of brick, with a flat concrete roof and re-inforced concrete floors, thus being fire-proof throughout. The exterior design is on the lines of th© French renaissance with heavy pilasters. Special attention lias been paid to lighting and ventilation and a’so to the heating of the building in winter. The premises will be heated with hot water, circulating in pipes throughout the building, thus keeping the rooms at an even temperature. For the present, a portion only of the building will be required for the accommodation of the D strict Manager and his staff, leaving a portion available for lettiiiT to tenants. The new building will afford much improved facilities for carrying on the work of the Office and a certain measure of inconvenience which lias been experienced by clients and other persoais doing business with th© Office during the past year or more will he avoided. The new building will provide ample accommodation for the staff and will enable the large and increasing volume of business to be transacted with a minimum of inconvenience to clients.

The Mayor (Mr J. W. McMillan) spoke as follows: —• I have much pleasure, on your behalf, ladies and gentlemen,, in returning thanks to the Hon. Mr J. Q. Coates, the Government, the °. nrd T. Department, and the Public Trust Office, for the handsome ruidmgfi they have erected in Stratford ai d opened to-day. I have also tj f nk the Government for the distance given us in erecting the new Victoria Bridge. They not only gave us a 1 in 4 subsidy, but the Public Works Department did the engineering work and supervision free of cost, which saved us -rporovurau--ly £IOOO. We are pleased that all concerned have evinced faith in Stratford’s future, and I am quite sure that it is not ’misplaced. The Public Trust building came to us as a very pleasant surprise, and th-; architect (Mr Bates) is to be complimented on tire striking -ud handsome design. It will he a fine advertisement fob the Office, and at the same time will be a profitable in•vestment. The Post Office we la-.ve been waiting patiently—or perhaps I should say, impatiently - for years and years. Long before the War broke out, Stratford asked for a new Post Office, and at last when Mr J. B. Bine was reorienting us in Parliament a sum was placed on the Estimates for it. ..Hiring the War we naturally dropped '.he matter, but on 16th December, 1918, it was again taken up by a dilution ■of the Borough Council, 'vU>er since when Ministers of the Grown and Departmental officers have been deputationised till personally I was i heartily sick of it. That is one thing that is distasteful in public life, and is full of disappointments. At last we struck a Minister who realised that something had to be done, and he did it, and I am veiy please that be is with us to-day. One thing which I think caused delay was the selection of a suitable site, and I remember that Mr H. A. Huggins, of the Post anil Telegraph Department, was sent along to investigate. He did not say whether he found one or not, but the night after he left we had a very successful fire, and I wired Mr Huggins next morning that I though a site was found, and he came back and inspected it and the new Post Office is on it to-day. I trust the people concerned did not suffer any loss through the fire; in fact, I hope it was a profitable fire for them. The Hon. Mr Coatee and his departmental officers are to be congratulated on looking ahead and providing accommodation which should suffice for many years to come. In late years the delay m being served at the counter has been most exasperating, one man Raving to attend to the despatch of telegrams, deal out stamps, receive and deliver parcels, attend to telephone (Connections, and goodness knows what else. It has been quite a common thing to be one o I twenty or thirty people waiting to 1 be served, and the remarks one overheard were not comp i

Trurt Office buriness, the Minister went on to say, is the investment of its surplus funds. At the present time sums totalling £457,694 are advanced to borrowers in the Stratford District. £223,832 to farmers and other private borrowers, and £233,862 to Local Bodies for works of public utility. It will be seen from these impressive figures that the Public Trustee is substantially assist, ing the progress of the district by the generous finance which has been proyided. During the past few years the financial stringency has made it difficult on many occasions for mortgagors to meet their interest payments promptly. l u common with other lending institutions the Office has experienced difficulty in collecting some of the interest payable under its mortgages, while at the same time it has been necessary, to maintain the regularity of payments of income to clients whoso money is invested in the Common Fund of the Office. The policy of the Office in these oases has been to deal with all mortgagors as leniently as possible, consistently with the safety of the moneys invested. Fall individual case is treated on its merits, and everything is done to meet the mortgagors as far as possible. The expansion of the business in the Stratford District typical ©f the large increase which has taken place throughout the Domiiroa in the work of the Public Trust Office. Hie Office has now been in existence for more than 50 years, and during that period its progress has been most marked, as the following figures will indicate:— Number of Value of Year Estates. Estates. 1889 1678 1.240,098 1892 1912 1,284.775 1897 2334 1,898,163 1902 3040 2,467,614 1907 4276 4,969,100 1912 6694 9,493,959 1917 13632 ' 15,06-5,583 1922 9538 25,497,798 1924 10537 32,404,724 There are now more than 100 Branches and Agencies of the Offices throughout the Dominion, so that wherever an estate is situated there is a representative of ,the Public Trust Office in reasonable proximity to its affairs. It is the constant aim of the Office to pass on to its beneficiaries and clients any concessions which are warranted by its financial position. In 1921 th© rate of interest on amounts held on behalf of estates was raised and the methods under which the interest was computed were made more favourable to clients. The value of the concessions then given to estates and beneficiaries was estimated at £57,500. Sine© then further concessions have been made particularly by the reduction of charges for administration of estates and the abolition of many classes of fees for the performance of special services. The commission charges' have been very substantially reduced, and in addition the following duties which are usually charged for by trustees, ar© performed by the Public Trustee free of all expense. The . obtaining of Grants of Administration; the preparation and filing of Stain.]) Accounts; the supervision of repairs to properties; the settlement of mortgages; the registering of the Public Trustee’s title to properties; and the preparation of Conditions of Sale. Th© whole Department is organised on modern business lines, and all necessary safeguards to ensure the prompt and efficient conduct of business are in operation. Th© accounting system is very complete, and provides for th© proper recording of all entries' connected with estates, as well as the prompt rendering of accounts to the persons interested on due dates. The conduct of the administration of estates is strictly supervised by Inspectors, who are directly responsible to the Public Trustee. This supervision ensures what is practically a continuous audit of the administration of each estate whilst it is under the control of the Public Trustee. The Office possesses a fully qualified staff of Barristers, SoliAors. Accountants, and business experts, and in order to ensure that specialised advice shall be available when necessary, the Office retains the services of a financial expert, who advises on all financial transactions connected with, estates. In view of the large and increasing number of farm properties which are coming under administration by th© Public Trustee, the Office has attached to its staff expert officers who aie fully acquainted with farming conditions, and are able to give most helpful advice in the administration of such estates. The services of these experts, 'are placed at the disposal of estates without charge whatsoever, except in a few special instances. It is in keeping with the general business policy of the Office that arrangements have been made for the appointment of District Public Trustees at the more important centres throughout the Dominion to enable the admisistration work to be performed locally in close touch with the properties wiiich are under administration and the i beneficiaries who are interested m them. The opinion long prevailed 1 that the Public Trust Office was founded particularly for the adminisi tration of small estates, but this im- ■ press ion is rapidly disappearing, and in recent years the Public Trustee : has administered some of th© largest estates in *fbo Dominion with com--1 plete satisfaction to the persons iu- ; terested. By a wise provision of the ► legislation governing the ''Publics 1 Trust Office, ~a testator may appoint s a business or farming associate, kins- ■ man. Solicitor, or other nersoiis ac--1 quainted with the details of bis es--1 tate to co-operate with the Public > Trustee in the administration. This 1 plan of consultation and co-operation l has worked most smoothly and effi- ■ ciently in many large estates. A ‘ gratifying feature in the operations i of the Office is the steady increase ■ in the number of Wills deposited by . liviiijr testators for custody bv the i Public Trustee. The total number of - such Wills held o n behalf of testators i throughout the Dominion is now in • excess of 40,000. This is regarded as , evidence of widespread miblio corffi- - dence in the Public Trust Office.

I feel certain that the opening of the building will lead to a. still further increase in the business and that the confidence cf the Public Trustee in erecting such a handsome and commodious structure will he fully justified. The number of estates under administration b v th e Public Trustee in the Stratford District when the Branch was established in 1920 was 3-1. the total value being £33,900. By the 31st March last, the number had increased to 117, and the total value to £215.825. During the year ended 3st March, 1924. no less than 66 estates of a total value of £117,873 were entrusted to the Office for administration. The Public Trustee is named as Executor in the Wills of 374 living testators in the Stratford District, these Wills being held by the Public Trustee in safe custody. Of these, more than 100 were received during the year ended 31st March last. Many more Wills naming the Public Trustee as Executor are doubtless held by Solicitors.- Banks, and other institutions. The volume of business carried on at the Jucal office may he t;> some extent gauged by the cash transactions recorded during the past four years. These were as follows:—Receipts, Number 2204, Value £159.664; Payments, Number 2498, Value £132.613. An important feature of the Public

THE POST OFFICE.

In the course of bis remarks the I Minister referred to tlie fact that a Post Office was rpenod at Stratford c i the lrt August, IB7S. Tl-© postmaster was Mr G. N. Curtis. His successors and th© dates of their appointraents have beep as follows; —. Mr J. McLaren 1-1-80, Mr T. W. F. Marsden 1-7-80, Mr T. N. Grange 10- Mr W. H. Barrow 9-4-84, Mr R. V. Id ml 5-2-85, Mr W. A. Brown 25-3-86, Mr W. H. Peat 8-9-86, My I. Bragg 17-5-88, Mr I. Paris 20-4-89 Mr H. D-inioll 8-4-91, Mr T. W. Rapley 1-9-93, Mr J. J. Pickett 1-4-01, Mr C. E. Nicholas 25-1-09, Mr S. G. Stanton 27-2-11, Mr W T. Coad 1-4-19, Mr G. R. Cooper 11- Mr G. W. Woods 3-11-20, Mr C. K. Holt 1-12-21, Mr R. Peebles 8-3-24 (present postmaster). In addition to the Postmaster, the staff now consists of a supervisor, ten clerks and telegraphists, a supervisor of the telephone exchange, three exchange attendants, two exchange clerks, one exchange e’erk and messenger, two p'stmeu, one messenger, on chaffeur, and four message-hoys. Mr Pickett subsequently became Chief Postmaster Timaru, and Mr Goad Mr Cooper ami Mr Holt are now Chief Postmasters, Hamilton, Invercargill and Oamam, respectively. Mr Woods, I am s rry to say, died some time ago. A to’egraph office was opened in 1879. A moneyorder office ami a savings-bank branch were opened in 1882. A postman’s deliverv was established in 1896. A telephone exchange was opened on the 18th Oct br, 1899. with 35 subscribers., The hours of attendance wore from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. There ar© now about 420 subscribers ; and the exchange is open continuously. A telephone bureau was opened in 1899. The northern half of the borough of Stratford and. the country lying to the north and west, Originally known as the “Wai-pllkn-Patea Block,’’ was purchased from the Maoris in 1873. the natives reserving for themselves ah wit 400 , acres to the east of Mountain Road and along the north bank of the Patea River. The. .survey of the Mhiipuku-Patoa Biooljj.k'as r-arrie I out by the late Mr Wilson C. Hursthquse and hy Mr' T.; jv. Skinner, as- ; sistecl ;by . Maoris), The rld Whakaialiuijaiiga forest path, or highway, usedf'jhy _tUe Map Vis,, Traversed approximately what* ;is: ilpw the eastern houndaiv of the j ’ bortc'gh. Within hbui)dary of the borough;’ anotherd pltbiVay, also of an-;rte«t-aorisin, branched off from the , .track, re-joining it ’.lat'JKiirda; near , Lepperton. after passing throiigirthe bush two miles .to .the west of the railway and through what is new Ingle road. This tr°ck was known first to tlm Taranaki riojieers a s “Nairn’s Track,” after Mr'Charles Nairn, who, with a party of natives, re-op me I it as a stock track in 1842; hut, due to the •scarcity of food along'its course and to’fffie difficulties* and delays involved |in|l the crosi r g of the many. creeks i|ind rivers, it jkqon ' again fed into ' (li.s"sdj It is.pjO’ ever, better k'own Gn the history jf Taranaki Province as “The Genotql’s Track,’’ a name ,fvbif‘)i'>’aro'-e out ‘of . the exploit of •Mwmrt'GencVal ;u - Sir r , Tr>ror Chute, .Officer j Comma,lifting the Military Forc.fis during tlio Maori "War of 1860-69, in marching ou Mataitawa over the track in liis operations against the re-e’s. The ircilert is said s be the only occurrence connected with the Maori War that happened near Stratford. An indication of the difficult nature of the fbat was given in tlio Major-General’s report 1 1 His Excellency the Governor (Sir George Grey). It stated, inter alia:— “I moved early on the 17th January with a force of 396. entering th s forest from the clearing of Ketcninrai. For a short distance our advance was unchecked as wo wee traversing a good dray road leading to a village and cultiva- , tions. These were destroyed, and a few rebels were seen retreating from the whares. From that point our progress was slow and laborious in the extreme, and the difficulties which we had to contend ivith will be better understood by your Excellency avlich I inform yor that to accomplish a. distance cf about fifty-four miles. th e force Aras eight flays actually on the move and never less tha n *tc„ hours m any one day. | thus found that I had been quite misinformed as to the length and nature of the tiaok, which had even been represented to mo as practicable for pack horses, except at one or two places Avlioi'o sl'glit improvement AA’ould be required. So far from this being the case, there Avere no less than tAventy-ono rivers and ninety gullies, the precipitous banks of many of which presented formidable obstructions t 0 our advance, and required great labour to make them passable; and exceot for about two miles after entorimr the forest, working parties in advance AA'oro constantly employed in cutting down trees, sappVjacks. etc. to admit of the p-ssag e of the park animals. In additi n to these obstructions, the weather, which had been fine for the first three days, changed to continuous rain, which increased oiir difficulties ig crossing the gullies, and necessitated tlio construction cf cordnray roads over swamps, which might otheravisc have been practicable.” Supplies ran short; and f-r tw 0 days before the arrival of the force at Matmtawa on the 25th Jamnry, horscflosh was issued as a ration. It is ' stated that the intention was for Ho Ma,,oi-General’ s force to m ite with iuo companies of the Taranaki Bushrangers at the cicssing of the Patea River, roughly along the eastern boundary of the Stratford Borough, but that, owing to tbe tw o fmws following different routes. a ”d to Lonfusion caused by the native guides, tbe projected meeting did not transpire.

In 1577, fo’lowing a decision by the I aranakj Provincial Ghvernineut to establish a. town whore tlie mountain road crossed the Patea River, steps Fere taken to prepare the site.

The native reserve was transferred further to the east; and after the boundaries of the proposed township had been roughly . marked out by Mr W. H. Skinner in June of the same year, contract; wo e let fer the felling of tlio bush on tho northern half of tho site. The following simmer, whe n tho felled timber had been burnt, Mr E. S. Brooks. Government Surveyor, commenced the survey of the cleared portion. After considerab’e debate, the place had been named “Stiatford’’ by the Provincial Council after Sbakespenr’s birthplace, Stratford-on-Avon. The street-names Avhich Avere the names of leading characters in . his works Avere recommended to and approved of hy the Council.

The first person to establish himself in Stratford Avas an excellent type of pioneer, Mr Charles Stewart Curtis, of the firm of Curtis Brothers. Mr Curtis, jn 1877, pitched a tent on Mountain Boat! Avhere it now joins thr Pembroke Road. Hi rgjng irt-t He sloping hank of a c”e n k, he established r n oven for baking bread, and close at band erected a store made of canvas stretched on a frame of rough saplings cut from the nearby hush. He built also a, “gallows” for suspending meat. Mr Curtis’s store served the surveyors, bushmen. etc., until his firm removed to its sections in Broadway, purchased at the first sale of town lands. > The first recorded sale of town land Avas mad© on th© 31st August, 1877, when only a few lets were so'd. In January, 1879, however, a large number of sections Avere disposed of at a more successful, sale. In June, 1877, a start was made by the late Messrs W. Bundle and W. Shaw on the erection of the first bridge to span tho Patea River. It was built oh the same site a§ the present ferroconcrete structure on Broadway, and was a substantial wooden bridge, the timber f r which Avrs hand-sawn on tlio spat. The bridge was opened for traffic ea ly in 1878, prior to which time tho usual pine log had acted as the surveyors’ and bushmen’s means of crossing the river. Early in 1889, raihvav communication avas established with Ncav Plymouth, and in 1885 with Wellington, In the year that it was established, the Stratford post ■office Avas served by liv'd from New Plymouth only once-weeklv, </n Tuesday evenings. At tho beginning of the following ■ year (18791. mads were being r ceivcd gt Straff id from Ngav Plymouth thritfe-weekly. By January, 1880. this frequency had been creased t 0 daily; and during the ensuing tAvelvc months it was further increased, to, twicc-dailv. Stratford now receives mails by r ihvav travelling post office fr m New Plymouth three times dai’y; from Wanganui three times daily; a ;d from Wellington tAvice dad ’. As far as can be ascertained from the records if the Dep'rtme'it the Post Offiro Avas c mlacted at the Raihvay Station by officers of the 9a il way Department ah nit 1880 until 1893, Avhcn the Post Office and Railway .accommodation were made separate at the Railway Station, and ihe Pest Office Avas p'acod under the control of a permanent officer of the Post and Telegraph Department. In 1895, twentynine years ago, the Post Office building wliich has been in use np to the present Avas erected.. In 1912, the ncccs ity for additional aocommoda-

'■ ''n in tli e building came under notice, and in the Estimates for 191311 tlie sun of £350 was voted for additions and alterations. In 19 1 4, it was decided tin t any additions to the- building would be only a teuirporary expe-'ie t, t’’e accommodation being by that time altogether inadequate for the business and that it would be more economical in the e"d to erect a icw building. In 1011-10, the sum of £IOOO on account '"■as voted for a new bui’ding; and subsequently this w'S increased to £4OOO. Idle work was he'd over for the war penod, because during that time the Government building programme was practically suspended owing to tlie abnormal conditions. After tlie war was ended, consideration was given to the question rf erecting a new building. The site of the existing building being too small, a new site was secured. In due course it was decided to invite tenders for the work.

The Mayor handed the Minister a key with which he opened the building, Avhich was then throAvn open for public inspection, as also was the Public Trust Office.

Cheers for the Minister and speakers, clock chimes, and the singing of “God Save the King,” terminated the proceedings.