WAITARA.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 143673, 18 December 1911, Page 7

WAITARA.

(Erom On r 0w n Correspondent.) Dec. 16.—The result ot iho hccond haiku did not arouse nearly as much interest here as Uic local election, auU comparatively lew temdems bothered to turn out to .scan tin- wnvo. Ihe general opinion locally is tiiai another gMc.-mi election woulu mu In- at all Mirpn.suij.,. However, time wdl cell: tor ixuilue is .such an intricate game lhai one cannot tell what may happen. There were nut a lew amusing sit nations created in Waitara on lie- day ui the general eductions, lor which the motor-car was primarily res],. u>Hne. cue lady voter being so exciieu In •m* prosjK*et oi her lum ink- that she .eit tho proverbial small boy behind. During mother's absence the small iry mentioned went out prospecting "on i.n own.” and was difcoreive] eventually' asleep on some "slack” at a coal emporium. ; Noticed your rclereiue to Beir/.on, the Jubilee plunger *, death in Thursoar’s j Herald. The writer remember* .'-. mng j him in Melbourne several d.-cadc.. ago. He was then barman in a certain pun, ; in that city. The house did a big j casual trade with the cuiious portion ; oi the public, who liked to enjoy the sensation of having their drinks .‘served by "a .swell who bad gone under.” Bcnzou visited New Zealand about twenty yours ago, and was a wellknown figure for some time in Dunedin, where ho [nil up at tin* Grand Hole!. His prodigality was ama/.ing. (hie of his lads wa,> that In- never demeaned himscll by carrying anything but gold coin, and never uxik change Iroin tlm barmaid when paying for a "shout..” His progress through the Dominion was almost a royal one. for. needless to slate, there was no deartn ol to.-.dm-, ami hangers-on who helped him to play “ducks and drakes” with hi.s neiu.s. While in Timaru an incident happened which serves to show that in that sub-stantially-built town there lived at that time a citizen who would have pul old Shylock to shame. Denison had run out of lunds temporarily, and this citizen was approached with the object of a small advance of £100(1. Having made inquiries, the money-lending one ad;vcl the sum to IJenzon, who noi very long afterwards paid the .-uni of £3OO for the obligcmeru. A.s a financial transaction. J think this was hard to boat. Poor ihmzon! Hi.s case was indeed an exemplification of the saying that “a fool and hi.s money are soon parted.” He was a good-hearted fool, though, and many who did well out of him were the first to “turn him down” when the erash came. The Mokau River, ns a scenic draw, promises to rival tho hotter-known Wanganui River at no very distant dale. A houseboat for tourist traffic Ls now being built at Wanganui to the order of a Mokau syndicate. Tho vessel will be 40ft. ’long, with a 7ft. beam, and will draw not. more than Din. of water with a three-ton cargo. It is expected that the houseboat will In' l delivered in time for the coming holiday season. A garden party was hold on Thursday afternoon In the grounds of iho Misses Joll, "Riverclale.” Waitara East, iu aid of the funds of tho Methodk-t Church. The ladies of the congregation provided a bounteous tea. and various games caused the time to pass vmy pleasantly. In the evening an openair concert was given, songs being rendered by Airs. W. H. Noswortliy and Mr. A. V. Stamp, and a piano solo by Miss Thomas. Just prior to the licensing poll the largest output of mail matter in the history of Waitara was put through tho local post office. This consisted of the personal appeal made to every resilient in the electorate by the Taumanmui Licensed Victuallers’ League. Over 9UOO letters wore dispatched by tho league’s organiser, and they profess themselves a.s being quite satisfied with tho results of their labours. Apropos of the liquor question, it is interesting to note that so lar as nolicense is concerned the position throughout the Dominion is absolutely unchanged. Not a single new district lias carried no-license, and. on the other hand, in tho nine electorates in which no-lieense already obtained the effort to bring about restoration of licenses has been unsuccessful. In three of these—Ashburton, Ohinemuri, and Masterton—there was a majority in favour of restoration, but the voles fell short of the required throe-fifths. Taking the Dominion as a whole, the feature of the local option poll has been the marked increase of the vote in favour of continuance. Although there was a strong majority for national prohibition, it was a majority, nevertheless, that fell substantially short of the required three-filths. There is a fairly strong feeling amongst a large section of electors that a third alternative, that of State control, should ho submitted to the country. If this, issue was carried in an electorate, the existing licensees would he bought out at a valuation. and then bo installed ns managers at a salary from the State. I think that a political party which had courage enough to make, suc.n a proposal one of the planks in its platform would receive a very considerable measure of support.