A BRILLIANT AND SUCCESSFUL FUNCTION.

Waipa Post, Volume XX, Issue 1134, 27 August 1921, Page 5

A BRILLIANT AND SUCCESSFUL FUNCTION.

MBS J. 6. COATES TURNS ON THE LIGHT.

POWER FROM HORA HORA.

NEEDS OF THE COUNTRYSIDE INVESTIGATED. L ‘; 1 f , AUTHORISED LOAN MONEY AVAILABLE. Electric power was made available for general use in Te Awamutu last night. The ceremony of switching on, which was performed by Mrs J. G. Coates, wife of the Minister for Public Works, took place from a platform in front of the Post Office. The weather was favourable, and there was a very large attendance of the public. Though the electricity was available only in the borough last night, the reticulation is practically completed in the Kihikihi and Hairini districts, and several other arterial lines of reticulation are being run out. The power will thus be available over a fairly considerable area within the next few weeks.

The ceremony was a most appropriate one. The illuminations were a special feature, and, in addition to the powerful street lamps which are permanently placed, streamers of coloured lights were suspended, the whole combining in a scene of unusual brilliancy.

Addresses suitable to the occasion were, delivered by several gentlemen who had 'attended to do honour to the occasion.

A special feature of the evening was the announcement made by the chairman of the Te' Awamutu Electric Power Board (Mr J. T. Johnson) that the whole of the authorised loan has been negotiated, and that the money will be available almost immediately. This means that the reticulation throughout the power district may be pushed to completion without further delay.

The Minister, in the course of his remarks, indicated that the Government is proceeding with the supply of additional power units at Hora Hora, and he gave a definite assurance that the standard high-voltage cables are to be run to the main sub-station in Te Awamutu. There is thus the promise of an adequate power supply for all industrial and domestic purposes in this district.

At the close of the ceremony the various public gatherings were an attraction for many. It was, indeed, an appropriate ceremony, and one that will be long remembered.

•A month ago, when it was announced by the Te Awamutu Electric Power Board that electricity would become available in Te Awamutu on 26th August, the Te Awamutu Chamber of Commerce suggested the arrangement of a suitable ceremony to commemorate the switching on of the current.. Subsequently a conference was held amongst the various public bodies interested, and the ceremony which took place last night was. decided upon. The conference elected a committee to conclude all arrangements, and this committee is to be congratulated on the success attending its efforts. !

had ever seen. As the smiles of the children showed that they confessed the accuracy of the compliment, the Minister went on to say that this was Mr Young’s constituency, so he believed it would be expected of him that he should say the same of the children in Mr Hockly’s constituency if he met any. .Cheers were then given, and the party re-entered their motors for the next stage. • Soldiers as Pioneers.

At the Te Awamutu Hotel three soldier farmers from the Pukemapou soldiers’ settlement at Ngahape, ten miles from Te Awamutu, interviewed the Minister, and asked for help for their access road.

The Minister of Public Works and officials of his Department, with the representatives of neighbouring Power Boards and other public bodies, accepted the invitation of the committee to he present. The result was a representative gathering of influential public men. The ceremony was witnessed by over a thousand people. The employees of the Te Awamutu Electric Power Board were particularly prominent in the arrangements. Working early and 'late they made the illuminations a special feature, and, moreover ,they promoted a ball which will for long be remembered as one of the most successful social functions that have ever taken place in this district.

Mr P. F. Hockiy, M.P., introduced the deputation. Mr Collins, who was accompanied by' two other settlers—Messrs Anderson and Thompson—said owing to the lack of metal on six miles of this road it had become impossible to get their materials over the road on which their success this season depended. This applied to house timber, cowsheds, and machinery. There was a quantity of timber, artificial manures, and other things stacked by the roadside where the carters had been unable to get further. One man was milking cows in a tent. The deputation asked for £ISOO to be granted for the purpose of metalling the road. The Minister, after a sympathetic discussion of the matter, promised to do whatever was possible, but advised the men now that the roads were drying to do all the carting possible “ while the going is good,” so that if the financial position prevented him from providing the money before next winter they would have made the best use of their opportunities in the interim.

The arrangements in every department were most thorough, and everything passed off without a hitch. The attendance and the enthusiasm of the people were evidence of the popularity of the systems of reticulation for power and lighting purposes—a fact which had been demonstrated already by this district endorsing the loan authority poll by a unanimous vote.

Mr Hockiy assured the Minister that these settlers were really hardworking fellows who were doing their very best.

Arrival of Minister and Party.

The ministerial party, including Mrs Coates, reached Te Awamutu by the . express from Wellington at 11 a.m. yesterday, and motored to the little green plot opposite the public school, There the school children, who were drawn up in half-moon formation, gave three ringing cheers for the distinguished visitors, and little Pauline Pauli, aged four years, the youngest child at the school, stepped daintily forward and presented Mrs Coates with a delightful bouquet of violets tied with silken gold-coloured ribbon. The Mayor and Mayoress (Mr and Mrs L. G. Armstrong) and Miss McCarroli, a personal friend of Mr and Mrs Coates, were in the party, beside members of the Borough' Council, who, *with the school staff, were severally Ipitroduced. The children looked very 'spruce in their school clothes, the neat dress which the girls of this school uniformly wear creating a pleasing effect. After the preliminaries the Minister made a happy speech, in which he thanked the children for their kind reception, and thanked Pauline for the very beautiful violets, saying that he and Mrs Coates would remember this visit for a very long time. It was apparent that this was a red-letter day for Te Awamutu, and he hoped the children would make good use of the holiday which the headmaster had given them. The Minister added, with amusement, that he believed it would be quite proper for him to say these were the best boys and girls they

Inspection of Pnahne Soldiers’ Settlement.

The party grew to several car-loads for a visit to the Puahue soldiers’ settlement. This settlement was taken up in January, 1920, by 23 soldiers. Its total area is 3300 acres, and though some of it was fit chiefly for stockraising, most of it cut into good dairy farms, on which the young, soldierfarmers are now well established with between 400 and 500 cows. The settlement does not yet possess a dairy factory, the cream being carted to Te Awamutu by a contractor. The road for several miles into the settlement has, like many others of Waikato’s backblocks roads, been in a very bad condition in winter time, but has lately dried, ’leaving only the deep holes for the motor wheels to jolt into occasionally. Arrangements have been made by the Parawera Road Board to metal this part of the road this spring.

The party drew up at the residence of Mr W. G. Park, whose constant help arid advice to the young settlers has won for him the title of “ father of the settlement.” Here the settlers were gathered to meet their fellow campaigner (Mr Coates), and Mr Park as host provided lunch for between 30 and 40 guests. The nine-mile run to Puahue afforded the party an excellent view of the country traversed, including the proposed railway route to Putaruru,

with Kihikihi and other settlements in the distance. And a typical incident was the spectacle of the Hairini Rabbit Board’s rabbiter with a spade and pack of' 14 dogs at work. His method of rabbit-destroying is said to be to asphyxiate them in their burrows, into which the dogs hunt them. Rabbit destruction was clearly seen to be one of the live industries of the district. After motoring through the settlement, with its smart cottages and neat, well-grassed paddocks, Mr Coates planted a young rimu tree in a corner of Mr Park’s stockyard as a memento of the present visit, Mr Park expressing to the Minister a hope that the tree “ would be a credit to him.” Mr Park’s, fine draught stallion. Fabrikoff also came under admiring criticism.

At a parting function Mr Coates invited the party to drink Mr Park’s health “ even in his own liquor.” Today it was a pleasure to come "among returned soldiers who seemed quite satisfied. This was not 'the case everywhere. In one case soldiers had taken up virgin land which would some day give a good return, but yet

at the present stage looked a little hopeless. They were inclined to feel discouraged. The farmers as a whole were facing the ■ conditions like true sportsmen. The sheepmen’s outlook was not good just now, but . just as they faced a serious situation, to-day so they would come through. Though the financial burden seemed to some very heavy, yet that was the experience of many farmers in the early days. This country was in need of stickers, and the Government would stand by men of that stamp—men who had the determination to carry on. So far as it was possible for a Government to do so they need have no fear that the right thing would be done. As to the rent, which some of the soldiers were unable to pay, they must capitalise it. No man to-day could say exactly what was the , price of land, but when the ,real value was stable they would find the Govern- j ment prepared to do the fair thing. Therefore he would say to them, “ If you have the heart to carry on, then give it a go.” Of very great value to the new settlers were the help and encouragement of older settlers round them. (Hear, hear.) It gave them that spirit which the soldiers called morale, and that was the most important thing of all. With the assistance of these old settlers the Government believed the soldiers would come through all right. Such a man was their host, Mr Park, whose health he asked them now to drink. (Applause.)

The toast was received with musical honours.

Mr Park, in a brief, modest reply, thanked Mr Coates for his kind remarks, and especially for the wise advice he had given to “these boys.” He continued by asking the company to drink the health of Mr Coates, and expressed a hope that he would long occupy the ministerial seat he now held. •

The health was drunk with musical honours and cheers.

Mr Coates, acknowledging the cordial reception, said he had on the car journey been continually reminded by their member (Mr. Hockly)—aided by the occasional bumps—of the bad state of their road. This had all been noted by Mr Furkert for future attention, and also their telephone requirements. Last year and the year before the Department made two new records in telephone construction—namely, 8000 in 1919-20 and over 8000 in 1920-21. The previous best record was 6000. Faster work was not possible unless somebody could bring them the necessary money to do it with. He was pleased to see the progress the soldiers were making there. Their cottages were quite properly small: they were not justified in erecting palatial residences, but only in starting small like all farmers; but the time would come, especially if they were \ married —(applause)— when the better things would follow.