NEWS OF THE DAY.

Colonist, Volume LII, Issue 12774, 22 April 1910, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

On May 20th, the Dovedale Athletic Club will hold a sports gathering in Messrs Smith Bros, paddock. As will be seen from the advertisement in this issue, a very attractive programme has been drawn up. A concert and and dance will be held in the public hall in the evening. ' ' ■

The annual meeting of the Wakapuaka Farmers' Union will be held tomorrow evening. : • '•-.■■

The profit from tourists is .tha prinr cipal source of the wealth of the Swiss people, which is now estimated at £6 per head for the 3-J- million persons in Switzerland. Travelling; expenses, payments to guides, the trade in souvenirs, etc., -it- is estimated -now yields four million pounds sterling per year. There is money in. attracting tourists to a country.

There are rumours that negotiations are proceeding for the acquisition of the Shaw, Savill. and Albion. Company, Ltd., by the White Star hne, says "Fair Play"' of .March 10th. The £5 ordinary shares of the company havo been rising in value on the Stock Exchange for some time, and have risen from sto 11*. The negotiations have been going on for some time, but. up to the present (says the "Dominion) no advice has boen received in New Zealand about the matter.

Tie .recent outbreak of typhoid among the natives at Jerusalem (Wangaaui district) lias been checked. During the past few weeks two trained nurses have been employed, and Dr Pomaro has on several occasions visited the township. Necessary drainage works and cleaning up operations ha vo also been carried out.

When the Hon. R. McKenzio visited Te Puke, in the Bay of Plenty, last weak, he was accorded a true Native welcome. Some "distance from the road (says a contemporary) his carriage was stopped; the : horses were taken out, ropes were hitched on, and a throng of Maori young bloods, seized the ropes with a will and hauled Mr McKenzie up the hill to the township, headed by the pipers of a tartan clad contingent. At tho.top of the hill the Town Band took up the welcome, and here the haulers rested while, a haka of welcome .was danced in fine stylo by a number of Maori men :Stripped to the waist and attired in mats; ■■-.A large crowd of pakehas and Maoris was looking on and cheering vigorously. "Kdmate, komate," was-. sung vigorously at the end of the haka, and the man 1 drew aside to let the vehicle pass oh to where a number of wahines, tastefully attired, danced a poi dance prettily. Once again -the carriage; went on, until a pause was made for a poi dance by a second bevy of maidens, who were distinguished from the first by hanging red sashes as compared with blue. .Yet a third time, was the poi danced by wahines, all dressed in- white, and as these retired, as if inviting the visitors to enter" the pa, the carriage was rapidly drawn up, a sharp incline .to whore a small stage had been erected and decorated with nikau palms, and where the ordinary formal welcome took place. Visits of Cabinet Ministers to the -sequestered settlement of To Puke are rare.