LOCAL AND GENERAL

Te Puke Times, 14 June 1921, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The New Zealand Bacon, Company will receive pig 3 at Te Puke and Paengaroa on Monday, June 27th.

Two tenders were received by the Town Board for the erection of an office, viz., J. G. Saunders, £587 ; Beazley and Treweek, £592. The former tender was accepted. It is understood that an old map named Gerald Griffin, who died suddenly in the police cells at Otaki, was a resident of Taihape, reported to be worth between £30.00U and 40,000. Mr Lees, President of the Whakatane Chamber of Commerce, has been appointed to rep* resent that body at the conference to be held in Te Puke on Thursday next re the proposed railway connection between Rotorua and Tauranga via Pongakawa. Advice was received by the Tauranga County Council last week that the Public Works Department had authorised the expenditure of the free grant for the Paengaroa-Rotorua road. This amounts to £883155, and will be spent between the Paengaroa town-ehip and the county boundary at Waiwhakaretu. A change of advertisement appears in this issue for that wellknown firm, the E. and F. Piano Agency, Ltd., Auckland (S. Coldicutt, manager), it will be noted that MrCharlesworth, tuner, will visit Te Puke shortly, and those desirous of having their pianos attended to by a competent man should leave their orders at the Times Office. -

Says the Opotiki Herald: One of Briartown’s medical men was recently credited with having stated that “Whakatane might some day be a naval station.” He writes to contradict this, and states that his object in doing so is “to give our neighbours rib further cause for ridicule at the megalomania of Briartown.” It is refreshing to note that Briartown possesses at least one resident who can wear a decent-sized hat without unduly compressing his cranium. According to the Timaru Herald Canterbury has 500,000 fewer sheep than the province ran 25 years ago. It grows 33 per cent, less wheat than in,.1900. For at least 20 years there has been no increase in cultivation. Compared with Otago it has lost ground with cattle? yet it is mote easily worked than any other province, and has larger areas of flat country and of free soil. The Hon. G. J. Coates, speaking in the Wairarapa last week, said he was not at all satisfied with the standard of work done by some local bodies with loan money. Settlers raised loans for long periods, and it was spent in such a manner -he specially instanced road work—that within ten vears or so there was nothing left of it. while the settlers had to continue paving off the loan for the remainder of the period. A splendid lot of wallpapers has just been opened up by Mr I. F. S' cm i erg at his shop in the Alliance Buildings, and should be inspected by a|l who contemplate building or renovating their homes. The papers, which include many of exquisite design and colouring, are part of a direct shipment of goods from Canada, the consignme.it being probably the largest that has ever reached Te Puke. Mr Stenberg will be very pleased to Bhow his sample books to all interested, and they m certainly worth inspection.

The County engineer (Mr Page) reported at the last meeting of the Council that the Kaituna bridge was in need of repairs, the cost of which he estimated at £3OO. The money for repairs { could not be taken out of the bridge fund. —Cr Griffin said the J bridge was shaky and should be repaired. The only place to get the money was from the general fund. There Was very little chance of a grant.—Cr. Grant raised the question of the responsibility of the Te Puke Town Board with regard to the bridge. was decided to discuss the matter at the special meeting to be held on June 20th. ' At a meeting of the Whakatane j Chamber of Commerce last week Mr H. J. Gill, referring to the ! proposed cut in the Mount-Matata railway service, said it should be vigorously opposed. Five years ! ago, before the extension to 1 Matata, the revenue of the rail- - wav was £IOOO per month. There - had been a change for the worse » in railway matters on the East , Coast, and he was convinced that unless a vigorous agitation was • kept up the railways in the Bay > would not be pushed ahead. • A petition signed by Mr O. • Johansen and eleven other rate y pay ers of Te Tumu and surround - t ing districts was presented to . the County Council at vi ta las t l meeting, requesting the Council to apply to the Minister of Puplic e Works at the forthcoming session 3 to have the sum of £4OO put on the 1 estimates for the acquiring and a constructing of a short length of 3 road to give direct access from t the Rangiuru railway station to the Te Tumu block of swamp land, thus doing away with the present long and circuitous route of getting from the railway to the aforesaid-block. -It was decided to deal with the question at the special meeting to be held on June 20. -/