LOCAL AND GENERAL

Thames Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 18468, 7 December 1917, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

—f — Mr and, Mrs W. T. Smith have received word tihiat th&r son, R. T. Srni&h, has been wounded for the second time. . , Messrs Haig;uie>-Smath amd Co. announce thait they havei established a special sea-vie© depot apt Paieroa, for the canvenienaei of Buiok users, and will in future maintain a slock of spare parts, ityres; lubricants, and general motor accessories. Mr ,T. Kidd igiivels notice that there is impounded in the Ngatea pound one bay gelding with blemish on. off hind fetlock, but no visible* brand. If not; claimed and expenses paid will be sold in Ngatea pound on Saturday at 12 o'clock. At the opeiing of the Turua post office, Mr. Bagnall ebated that the capital value, of land in the Thames County had increased in the past) 12 years from £644,000 to £1,526,----000. This is striking evidence of the great progress the district is making. The Borough foreman, in his report to the Council, drew attention to the large quantity of debris ©till ml the Karaka. Creek, and! also the need for repairs to the concrete bottom. It was decided that council bring the matter under the notice of Mr. Massey when he visits Thames. We havei had! several enquiries concerningl a letter from the Chamber of Commerce to the Harbour Board, bringing under notice the necessity for dredging and other lmproveimeinitis ait Shoi-tiand. It is! dcv eired to know why there was no. reference to iti in our report of procieediiigisi. We can only reply that no letter on the subject was before tha board at its last meeting. At the County Council meeting yesterday, when referring; to Tauranga's deep water wharf, Cr. Adams said „ that if the Thames people would only wake up and get a deep water wharf—and such <* wharf could be got at -Tararu—' there would be no need for the talifc of a Paeroa-Pokeno railway. Cr. McMahon said he endorsed Cr. Adams remarks, and thought that the Thames people had been asleep for a very long time, but he did not think it was too .late even yeV to get a move on. ; We may add 1 there are signs that^. Thames business people are beginning to realise! the necessity for considerably more

activity in this direction. On thei quesittion- o<f # th 6 Kauaerangja quarry being discussed at tibe County Council meeting, Cr. McMahon said the quarry would not ! benefit nas ridSng, and he did not see why his niding; should bet included in tine rate struck over the whole County for it. He said there was in his riding 1 better, or just asi good, metal than could be obtained from tibe K&uareniga quarry, and it could be delivered to any pant of the County aheaper than the Kauaerj. anga. metal. The chairman pointed out that a coanplainit should have been lodged before the poll was taken, but now. that the poll had been oairiried by «t» majority of the County ratepayers the whole County would be raited. ''Here! is a. boy who has SO relatives a,t the war," said" Dr. A. W. Averill, Anglican Bishop of Auckland, when presenting; a prize for good) conduct to Tamaku Tangaora, at St. Stephiem's School for Maori Boys. Tamaku, a sturdy, intelligent youth, is the son of Hape Tangiora, a loyal Maori, who eierved with the British troops against. Te Kooti. Hape himseif was one of a family of nine, while his 'wife also came of a numerous family, and it is from these 1 two families of the Ngataksir hungungu tribe thait Tamiaku's many fighting relatives now at the front liave sprung. The warriors include five of Tamaku'a brothers —one. of whan; has been killed and two wound- ■ ed , an <i the rest comprise unoleis, nephews, couains, and second cousins. Tamaku'a people reside at Te Ualiia, •smith, of Gisborne.

The Buffalo system of school libraries was brought under the notice of the Borough Council last night by a deputation from the Thames branch of the New Zealand Educational Institute. Mr. Newton and Mr. llennick were the principal speakers, and fully explained the system, and asked the council to give practical effect to it. The Mayor, in the course of a sympathetic reply, said he though the matter was more one for the Government, and probably the Minister of Education would give a grant for the purpose. The council would give the question careful consideration. Messrs. N'eiwton and Wernham at an earlier stage had waited upon the County Council upon; the same 'subejct, and received practically the same reply. They stated that the average totall number of pupils attending the schools was 1300, 620 in the Borough, and 680 iro the County. The cost to the County Council would be £45' for the first year and £15 a year after, as the cost of establishing! the library would be £90.