HAWERA NEWS.

Taranaki Daily News, 11 November 1924, Page 6

HAWERA NEWS.

GREATER HAWERA SCHEME. THE NOLANTOWN PETITIONS. A COMMISSION APPOINTED. (tFroux Our Own Reporter.) Hawera, Nov. 10. The long negotiations in connection with, the proposed merging of Nolan tow n into the borough of Hawera have at last come to «, head, a commission having been set up to hear evidence for and against the proposal. According to information received by Messrs Spratt and Matthews, solicitors for the original petitioners, the commission will consist of Messrs J. S. Barton, S.M., John Cook (Commissioner of Crown liuida, New Plymouth) , and O. Gardiner (Valuation Department, Wanganui). The date for the sitting of the commission has not yet been announced. A petition and counter-petition have been forwarded to the Department of Internal Affair®, and the more general opinion appears to be that a poll on one basis or another will be ordered by the com-mi-seaon. FIFTY YEARS’ PROGRESS. THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS. To mark the jubilee of the activities of the Presbyterian Church in Hawera, special services are now being conduct* ed. The story of the steady growth of the church, from its modest beginnings hdek in the days when Hawera could scarcely be called even a settlement, to its present influential position, is an absorbing one. Although tue Rev. D. Hogg, then in charge of Wanganui, in 1870 opened a preaching station in a blockhouse at Hawera, which served as the church until 1877, it was not until April 12, 1874, that the first organised work was commenced by the election of a management committee. The first committee consisted of Messrs J. Davidson, W. Douglas, J. Winks, J. Turnbull, H. Adams, J. Black and W. McFarland. For some time great difficulty was experienced in securing a site for a church, but in September, 1875, the site ot the present church and Sunday school was presented free of charge by Mt. Alexander Winks to the management committee. In 1876 the tender of Mr. Burrows for Che erection of the church for £99 15s (labour only) was accepted, and on January 14, 1877, the opening service was conducted by the Rev. J. Treadwell, of Wlanganui. Tbe first permanent pastor was the Rev. James Torry, who was appointed on November 14, 1877. From that time the influence of the church steadily increased, and the need for a larger churcn soon became apparent. In 1903 the management committee faced the problem of providing a building in keeping with the importance of the district, and in that year the present church was built by Messrs Russell and Bignail at a contract price of £1147. The opening services were conducted by the Rev. R. M. Ryburn, then of Wanganui, on March 29. 1903. The expansion of the work amongst the young people soon called for the provision of a larger building for a Sunday school, the old church, which was bring used for this purpose, having become inadequate. In May, 1909, the present commodious building was erected. By 1913 the church had been provided with a splendid pipe organ, and the new manse had been built. To the lot of the Rev. R. E. Evans has fallen the honour of being the pastor while the jubilee celebration- are taking place. The church’s record is a splendid one, and the great interest be'ng taken in the jubilee services demonstrates that the spirit which moved the pioneers to establish the groundwork of the past, still actuates the congregation of 1924. For each service during the past few days the church has been crowded, and very interesting sermons

and reminiscences have been given by preachers from various parts of Taranaki and further afield. Fifty years have wrought a wonderful change in Hawera and its district, and several of those who are attending the jubilee services remember Hawera as a settlement of a few scattered dwellings and the I church as a roughly constructed room in 1 th( old blockhouse. ; MISCELLANEOUS NEWS. ’ The Mayor of Hawera (Mr. L. A. Bone) ’ requests that the usual two minutes’ > silence be observed from 11 a.m. J to-morrow, Tuesday, to mark the com- * memoration of the signing of the Armistice. The factory whistles will he sounded prior to and following the two minutes’ silence.