LOCAL AND GENERAL

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 56, Issue 4056, 3 June 1938, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

There will be no publication of Te Awamutu Courier on Monday next, which, being the day set down for the official observance of King’s Birthday, is a statutory holiday.

The Prime Minister, tho Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage, stated after a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday that it had been decided to make an aerial survey of the railway route between Taneatua and Opotiki with the idea of having the line completed.

The Hamilton Borough Council has decided to make a donation of £SQ toward the Royal Show, which is to be held in Hamilton in October, and to guarantee the payment of a further £5O in the event of the exhibition showing a loss.

A party of farmers and their wives num'iberinp’ about 300 persons, from Southland will tour the Waikato early next month. The proposed itinerary includes visits to Te Awamutu (where the New Zealand Co-operative Dairy Company’s model pig farm will be in spected) and Arapuni.

There was a record gathering present at the weekly gathering of the Te Awamutu Cribbage Club held in the U.S.A. rooms last evening, when, after a series of interesting games, the winners proved to be Mrs Arthur Wood and Mr Alan Sing. A dainty supper was enjoyed by all present.

At the Waikato Winter Show yesterday, Nita Williams, daughter of Mimid Mrs M. H. Williams, of Pakura Street, gained first place in.the operatic section for children under 12 years of age. Peggy Sager, daughter of Mr and Mrs F. Sager, Te Awamutu, was first in the skipping dance.

A poll of ratepayers is being held in Otorohanga town district to-day on the proposal to borrow £lO,OOO for the purpose of providing sewer connections in the town. Only actual ratepayers whose names appear on ,the roll are eligible to vote. It is felt that the result of the poll is a foregone conclusion, as a sewerage system is imperative.

The appeal of the Te Awamutu horseman, C. G. Goulsbro against the decision of the Wanganui Jockey Club’s judicial committee disqualifying him for six months in connection with his handling of the horse Catalogue at the Wanganui meeting last month was heard by the Wanganui District Committee yesterday, and, after deliberation, dismissed. It is Goulsbro’s intention to take the case to the Racing Conference.

Speaking at a meeting of the Hamilton Master Builders’ Association, Mr D. I. Gate! said that difficulties had been experienced with the adult trainee scheme owing to objections raised by the Carpenters’ Union. However in his opinion, the adult apprenticeship system was a very sound one, provided the applicants were found to be suitable for the trade. The majority of the employers were not prepared to pay inexperienced youths the wages which the Government had specified. Given a chance, many of the young men would prove at least as good as many of the men who were employed as carpenters at present.

Although the Bible is being read in New Zealand public schools more than at any time since 1877, only half the children are being reached (states the annual report of the New Zealand Bible-in-Schools League). A steady increase in the number of pupils being taught during the half-hour period under the Nelson system is noted. Official figures received from the education boards in December, 1937, showed that a total of 91,444 children were having Bible readings. A year ago, it is stated, the number of schools having Bible readings was under 50; to-day the number is well over 350. In over half of these, weekly Bible instruction is also given.

A neat quip mas voiced during a social assembly of members of the Waitomo Licensing Committee when business of the annual meeting had been disposed of on Wednesday. A member, Mr G. A. Empson, called the attention of his fellow members, and asked that all should “ observe absolute silence ” for one minute to mark the demise of the Committee. Members did not realise the point at once, but when they remembered that that day’s meeting, through re-arrange-ment of the electoral boundaries, constituted the last annual function of the Waitomo Licensing Committee as at present constituted, there were many smiles and attention was directed to Mr A. Blackman (Te Kuiti), who will still reside in the Waitomo electorate, and who will therefore be eligible for re-election.

Speaking at Tauranga, the Hon. Peter Fraser (Minister of Education), said that it was claimed by the Government that the credit of the country could be utilised so that in return for honest labour every family in the country would be provided lor. “We do not claim that we are responsible for the high prices in London, any more than we blame the previous Government for the low rates that previously ruled,” Mr Fraser said. The Minister concluded: “With the Government’s social policy, with the wages bill of the Dominion increased by £40,000,000, with the greater income to the farmers through the guaranteed price, and with the increase in pensions. Labour has given a fairer distribution of the wealth that has come into the country. It has percolated into the homes of the people as a whole.”

At the conclusion of the farmers’ meeting yesterday, to form a bobby calf pool, a vote of thanks was accorded to Messrs D. H. Cavers (chairman) and C. J. Flay (secretary) for their splendid work in organising the meeting. The proposer of the motion, realising that all present were not members of the Farmers’ Union branch, of which Messrs Cavers and Flay are respectively president and secretary, called pointed attention to the fact, and added that many farmers had little or no real idea of what the Farmers’ Union did for all farmers. The comment was received with applause, and the vote carried unanimously. Mr Cavers, in replying, said it was very nice to note the spirit of co-operation so apparent at the meeting. He hoped it would continue for there was a real need of practical co-operation, and by active and loyal support of the committee set up that day success would be assured and farmers would soon realise the full benefits of such, co-operation.

Messrs G. Reynolds, of Cambridge Road, A. Wheatley, of .Park Road, and Kirkham Bros., Te Mawhai, were successful exhibitors in the garden and field produce section of the Waikato Winter Show.

Last Tuesday evening the PingPong Club, consisting of members of the Te Awamutu Oddfellows’ Lodge, played a game with members of the Kihikihi Club, when the latter players were successful by 32 games to 12.

All the Rugby players engaged in the seven-a-side tournament at Albert Park should make a point of being ready for play promptly to the scheduled time, for it is essential to keep to the schedule in view of the large number of games to play.

A unanimous decision to protest most strongly against the suggested transfer of supply to any other company was made at a meeting of suppliers to the Morrinsville Co-operative Dairy Co. Ltd., held at Puriri. The meeting, which was well attended, also decided that the suppliers should take all steps to preserve their rights in the matter.

A substantial increase in its butter output has been experienced by the Morrinsville Co-operative Dairy Company, the past season’s figure being 3,882 tons as against 3,432 tons the previous season. The company has had a particularly successful season and the secretary, Mr J. L. Faulkner stated yesterday that a further increase in suppliers and output for the coming season was expected.

A complaint that there was insufficient accommodation at the Rotorua Hospital for tubercular Maori patients was made by Mr J. Banks at a meeting of the Waikato Hospital Board at Hamilton yesterday. Mr Banks said the patients in tne institution, some of whom had the disease in an advanced state, occupied the same wards as other patients. There was no separate ward for them. Others, for whom there was no room in the hospital, went back to the pas and were undoubtedly spreading the infection, he said. The complaint was referred to the Rotorua Hospital committee for an investigation.

Householders and others should note the announcement to-day of the Te Awamutu Power Board, to the effect that a shut down will be necessary on Sunday from 9 a.m. until about 4.30 p.m. This shut, down is necessitated owing to the erection of heavier cables in Alexandra Street to take the increased load. The Board’s secretary-manager, Mr D. McArthur, stated this morning that it was hoped to complete the work on Sunday, but if that is not possible another shut down may be necessary on the following Sunday.

At a meeting of the Waikato Hospital Board yesterday the DirectorGeneral of Health Dr M. H- Watt, wrote recommending that the maximum amount the Board should retain for the treatment of pensioners in the Board’s institutions should be such a sum that would enable a pensioner to receive £1 Is 8d a month. The secretary, Mi- A. C. Burgess, said pensioners were now allowed 10s a month. There were eighty pensioners in the Board’s institutions, and if the -allowance was increased to £1 Is 8d the fees received would drop by £560 per annum. The question was referred to the finance committee.