STRATFORD.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 February 1916, Page 3

STRATFORD.

SCHOOL CONCERT. Stratford, Saturday The annual school concert of "the Stratford school took place in l:ir- Town Hall last evening. The concert had to be postponed from December, but this did not detract from the excellence of the entertainment. The hall was ocwied from floor to ceiling, and evcrvbodv went home pleased with Die fact that it was the best school concsrt ever held in Stratford.

The first part of the programme was taken up by the school ::U-ddren. and the manner in which they went through their performances showed the painstaking methods the teachers Had adopted with them. In the second half Mr. Fred Foley occupied the stage, and :n : seemed to have the audience spellbound. His ventriloquism delighted the small fry especially, and his sleight-of-hand was equally bewildering, even to the eider portion of those present. The School Committee should have a sutetauvial balance to their credit.

GENERAL. The meeting of the general committee of the A. and P. Association, to consider the advisability of holding the gymkhana on Easter Monday (the profits to be devoted to the patriotic funds), lapsed for want of a quorum, only five members attending.

Mr. G. T. James, postmaster at Papakura, and formerly a well-known officer in the local office, is on a holiday visit to Stratford.

A good joke is going the rounds about the recent patriotic stock sale here. A horse, saddle and bridle were put up for sale, and no bid was forthcoming; but just as the auctioneer was passing the lot in a buyer called out 3s, and the animal was promptly "knocked down." When the purchaser went to get his bargain the auctioneer's assistant informed him that he could not take the halter that the animal was tied up with. Then the buyer gravely informed him that the halter was what he had. bought, the horse, saddle, and bridle being simply a side line.

The garden fete in connection with the Ladies' Croquet and Park Tennis Club, to be held on the club's courts on Thursday afternoon and evening, is going to be a great success. One enthusiast lias already disposed of 300 tickets, and seeing that the whole of the proceeds are to be devoted to the relief of the gallant Serbians, there should lie a further incentive to help the fete along. Dr. Bowie, who was formerly in the Public Works Department, Stratford, but went Home and passed his medical degrees and has been practising in Manly (New South Wales), paid a visit to Stratford last evening. The 12.50 train from Xew Plymouth was over an hour late arriving at Stratford this afternoon. The engine broke down at Midhirst. and a relief one had to be sent on from Stratford.