CENTRAL TARANAKI NEWS

Taranaki Daily News, 18 November 1930, Page 8

CENTRAL TARANAKI NEWS

Telephone Nos. Stratford Exchange 552 Office 718 Private

(FROM OUR RESIDENT REPORTERS)

Telephone Nos. Stratford Exchange 552 Office . 718 Private

COUNTY CLERK RETIRES

RESIGNATION OF MR. C. PENN.

THIRTY YEARS IN THE POSITION.

After 30 years as clerk and treasurer to the Stratford County Council, Mr. Charles Penn has asked the council to relieve him of the office as he intends to retire.

At. the meeting the chairman (Mr. T. R. Anderson) said he was sure he was voicing the feelings of the whole council when he said the members were sorry they were losing the services of an old and valued servant. During the whole period of his engagement Mr. Penn had not missed a meeting and it was only those intimately acquainted with county work who realised the great increase in the clerical work during the past few years. The council placed on record its appreciation of Mr. Penn’s long and honest service as clerk and treasurer, Mr. Penn, in replying, said he had contemplated retiring for some time hut he would be prepared to remain with the council until his successor had been installed and become conversant with the work. Mr. Penn mentioned the great increase in the work since he had started 30 years ago and thought the time had arrived when he should have a rest. WORK TOR UNEMPLOYED. POSITIONS FOR TWENTY MEN. In a telegram to the Minister of Public Works early last week Mr. W. J. Polson, M.P., urged that the public works on the approved list of the department in North Taranaki be gone on with as soon as possible. Mr. Polson pointed out that a number of men had applied to him as being out of work. As the department was already over supplied with men and the New Plymouth labour office had no vacancies available, it was obvious the matter was serious for a number of families. The Minister replied that he was making inquiries to ascertain whether it was possible, for the department to assist. Next day the Minister informed Mr. Polson that authority had been given to place 20 men in the Stratford district and the, local Public Works Department office the same day received authority to go on with the formation of the Rerekino Road. It is anticipated that this work will be ready in ten days or a fortnight. GENERAL ITEMS. The Stratford borough foreman (Mr. L. B. Davis) was given authority by the council last night to proceed with the .work of improving Pembroke Road between Broadway, and- Cordelia Street and to close that section of the road when necessary. Mr. Davis \ will confer with ■ the county engineer, Mr. J. W. Spence, with a view to having Flint Road east repaired. As Mr. R. W. Tate, S.M., was in Wei- ;

lington yesterday the usual court sitting at Stratford was conducted by justices of the peace, who dealt only with judgments by default. Judgment summonses and defended cases were adjourned. . He had been inspecting the Stratford borough in connection with noxious weeds, reported the inspector to the meeting of the council last night. Sixt/ notices had been issued and most of the farmers had been cutting broom, which Was the first weed to mature. The Government sections in Swansea Road were seriously infested with broom, but the Crown lands ranger had the matter in hand.

Winners of competitions at the Catho.

lie mart on Saturday were Miss Kirkwood (cake), Mrs. Bennett (sucking pig), Mrs. P. McGrath (spring dinner). The Stratford borough inspector was authorised by the council last night to engage three men to assist in the control of traffic on people’s day of the show. The A. and P. Association would be asked to provide a man to prevent the parking of cars in Broadway North and Flint Road west. Arrangements for decorations and lighting for Empife and Dominion Week were left to the Mayor (Mr. P. Thomson) and Mr. R. F. Harkness by the Stratford Borough Council last night. Members of the Stratford Plunket Society will be in attendance on Friday morning and all day Saturday to receive gifts of cakes, sweets, vegetables, produce and old clothes suitable for disposal at the street day on Saturday. The society’s shop will be in the premises lately occupied by the 'Melbourne, Ltd., in Broadway. The Stratford Borough Council decided last night to have the top front of the Municipal Buildings painted. On the assumption that there is nothing like singing to drive away cares and Woes, the Swanee River Minstrels have arranged a community singing night at the Town Hall, Stratford, to-morrow, commencing at 8 p.m. Choruses will be interspersed with solo items by wellknown Stratford artists. A charge of 6d. will be made to defray expenses. The closing date for entries for the Stratford A. and P. Show has been extended to 9 p.m. on Thursday. Entries for the goat race, the high jump and the trotting will be taken at the post.

PERILS IN POLAR REGIONS.

ADVENTURE TALKING FILM.

The peril of explorers such as Byrd and his party in the South Polar regions is strikingly illustrated in “The Lost Zeppelin,” Cinema Art Films’ great all-talking special, filled with thrills and adventure and romance, which is coming to the King’s Theatre commencing to-day. Conway Tearle, Virginia Valli and Ricardo Cortez are featured. “The Lost Zeppelin” deals with a huge dirigible which is wrecked in a blizzard in the Antarctic. All of those in the parly but two perish. Through the amazing adventures runs a powerful love story in which the wife of the Zeppelin commander figures. She believes she is in love with her husband’s aide on the exploration trip. The husband learns of this and, when an aeroplane comes to the rescue, but is able to carry away only one passenger, he insists that his aide make the trip back to civilisation. The ending of the story is a decided »>u-nrise.

THE STRATFORD BOROUGH

COUNCIL’S MONTHLY MEETING. REPORTS OF THE OFFICERS. The’ Stratford Borough Council met last night, there being present the Mayor (Mr. P. Thomson) and Messrs. R. F; Harkness, C. Moore, A. Nelson, C. H. Speck, R. R. Tyrer, A. H. Trotter, T. J. Malone and S. A. Ward. During October the staff had been employed on footpath improvements and other maintenance work of a general nature, reported the foreman (Mr. L. B. Davis). Practically all the metalled roads had been patched. Culverts had been cleaned. Repairs had been effected to the tarred roads. Four private crossings had been put jin. A start had been made on the formation work in- Portia Street. About 520 cubic yards of pit gravel | had been carted out and put on the | footpaths, as follows: Brecon Road, where the work had been completed from Regan Street to the last house; Regan Street, from Hamlet Street to Brecon Road; Pembroke Road, from Brecon Road to Broadway, one side completed; Portia Street, from Seyton Street to Pembroke Road, one side only;. Seyton Street, from Hamlet Street to Portia Street, one side; Hamlet Street, from Seyton Street to Pembroke Road, one side; Miranda Street South, from Page Street to Opunake Road, one side; Juliet Street, from Regan Street to Pembroke Road, one side only. Little more footpath work could be done for a few months as the season for street improvements had arrived. There was a good deal to be done on the highways and the staff had commenced work on them. Progress on the new drainage work had been somewhat slow owing to deep trenches and an excess of soakage water. Since his last report the mains had been laid in Portia Street- south from the Opunake Road to Page Street, and three chains in Hamlet Street south where it had had to be abandoned owing to excess water. The mains had been laid in Olivia Street and part of Seyton Street across Broadway. Under the relief works all the formation work had been completed and ' the meh had been dismissed. When the , work was

started there had been 15 men in the gang and when the job was finished there had been eight. The cost of work was about £25 above the estimate but

was accounted for by the bad weather. The bulk supply had been steady and no interruption had occurred, reported the electrical engineer (Mr. A. E. Moss). On the low tension side on the southern sub-station there had been one interruption of 20 minutes through a low tension fuse failing under overload. The remaining sub-station had had an uninterrupted service. Units purchased for the month had been 179,100 as compared with 146,000 for October, 1929. The peak of 424 registered in September had not been reached again. The additions to connected load for the month had been two new residences with electric range and hot water supply, two residences with lighting and heating points, one three-horse-power motor and four additional heating points. The librarian ' (Mr. A? S. Martin) reported that 2260 books had been issued during the month and 2297 had been returned. Thirty-three new books had been added. The number of subscribers was 235.

fl he foreman will submit an estimate of the cost of arranging for two living rooms at the rear of the fire station as it is proposed that a custodian should be at the station all night instead of from 11 p.m. onwards as at present. The fire brigade’s request that the bylaw regarding rubbish fires be strictly enforced was granted. A deputation from the Hospital Board waited on the council to make a request for a legal title or a security tenure of the ground in Portia Street now enclosed, thus enabling the 'board to erect buildings. The council appointed Mr. J. B. Richards to value the land, and after he has reported to the council a price will be submitted to the board. RECEIPTS FROM GRANDSTAND. STRATFORD DOMAIN BOARD. The town clerk, Mr. P. Skoglund, reported to the monthly meeting of the Stratford Domain Board last night that the takings from the grandstand for the year had amounted to £35 Is 3d, while the interest on the outlay and the sinking fund had totalled £7O. It had to be remembered, said the Mayor, that the past season had not been a good one as far as football receipts were concerned, as the public interest in the tour of the British team had affected adversely the attendance at local matches. Steps will be taken to improve the northern entrance to King Edward Park from Brecon Road. Mr. R. F. Harkness stated that in wet weather water lay at the gateway. The number of ducks on the lake in Victoria Park will be reduced by half, and the number so obtained will be donated to the hospital.

UNUSUAL TALKIE AT ELTHAM.

CARIBBEAN SEA SCENES.

“Hell Harbour,” one of the first alltalking productions to be filmed entirely out-of-doors, is to be shown at the Eltham theatre to-night. The story unfolds the romance of a tempestuous lass who falls in love with the man she has plotted to ruin. Set in the colourful atmosphere of a Caribbean coast town over-run by greedy pearl traders, soldiers of fortune, fugitives and ne’er-do-wells, the picture is full of unusual life and incidents. Around this theme are developed a richness, local colour, and tense drama. There are the thrilling fight in the honky-tonk between Morgan and Wade, the death battle between Morgan and Horngold, and the strange life that is to be found under the Caribbean moon. Filmed amid natural tropical settings, “'Hell Harbour” is said to have one of the most beautiful backgrounds used for a picture. There is not a studio “shot” in the picture. It is an interesting and entertaining picture founded on historical facts with all the freshness of the great out-doors.

REMOVAL OF STOCK YARD MINISTER REJECTS SCHEME. BOROUGH COUNCIL DISCUSSION t “With reference to your represene tations regarding the question of re- >. moving the stock yards at the Stiati, ford station to a site north of Warwick •. Road I desire to inform you that this matter has been made the subject of r a special" investigation,” stated the Mins ister of Railways, the Hon. W. A. - Veitch, in a letter to the Mayor, Mr. P. Thomson. The letter was read ait - the Borough Council meeting last night. By reason of the expense involved I and certain other conditions, the Min- • ister continued, the matter could not k be dealt with apart from the general i rearrangement scheme at Stratford. An analysis of the traffic to and from Tara- [ i naki indicated that the existing facili- > I ties would by no means be overtaxed when the Stratford-Main Trunk line was completed. To move the stock yard only as suggested would, apart from the i . considerable expenditure the re-arrange-ment would entail, involve very serious , 1 difficulties from an operating viewpoint, and after viewing the whole qts.es- . tion the Minister felt he could not be : justified in authorising the carrying out of the work at the present juncture. The Mayor moved that the letter e tabled in the meantime. He had received it only on Saturday last and suggested that discussion of it might be deferred so that councillors could give it full consideration. Mr. D. J. Malone objected to the Mayor’s suggestion and said a protest should be made immediately instead of deferring the matter for a month. The Mayor explained that the council through the medium of a sub-com-mittee was acting in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce in the matter and he had intended to refer the letter to the chamber before asking the council to take action. “But the attitude of the council must be defined,” said Mr. R. F. Harkness. “If the council is not going to discuss the letter it should not have been read. We are not necessarily going to follow the Chamber of Commerce and we should not take this lying down.” The Mayor; I am not in the habit of taking things lying down. There will be a combined meeting of the two bodies to arrive at a definite line of action. “If that is the case I am agreeable to let the matter stand over in t. J meantime,” said Mr. Malone. Copies of the letter will be eent to the Chamber of Commerce, the County Council and the A. and P. Association. The Mayor will arrange a meeting of the four bodies. JUDGMENTS BY DEFAULT. CIVIL CASES AT STRATFORD. Judgment was entered by default in the following undefended civil cases heard at the Stratford Court yesterday by • Messrs. A. E. Moss and W. McInnes, justices of the peace: Ames-, bury’s, Ltd. v. T. Goodwin, £3 9s lOd (costs £1 9s 6d); R. Hannah and Co., Ltd. y. E. J. Scott, £7 15s lOd (£1 . 12s 6d); Egmont Collieries v. E. H. Cole, £lO 17s (id J£2 17s); Taranaki Trade Association, Ltd. v. H. H. Marchant, £4 13s 5d (£1 3s 6d); Taranaki Coal Mining Co., Ltd. v. H. J. Sommers, £9 18s (£1 13s 6d). PERSONAL ITEMS. Mr. C. Grubb, teller in the Stratford branch of the National Bank, has received notice of transfer to the Wellington branch and expects to leave within a week. Mr. W. Ritchie, chief clerk in the National Bank : at Stratford, has also received notice of transfer to Wellington. He will leave this week.