Town Talk

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 144, 19 June 1936, Page 6

Town Talk

Tramway Repairs. City Council workmen are at present engaged m earning out repairs to the W anganui East tram line at the intersection of Jones and Moana Streets. A length of line from the intersection toward Duncan Street has been dug up and the rails around the bend have ocvii replaced and levelled Rotary Club Attendances. The attendances at the May luncheons of the Wanganui and Invercargill Rotary Clubs was 83.14 per cent , this being* the second occasion on which the clubs have tied. These two clubs were headed by the Whangand Rotary Club with an attendance of 87.82 per cent. The annual meeting and dinner of the Wanganui Club is to be held at the Rutland Hotel al 7 pin. on Saturday, June 27. Festoon Lights. A commencement was made by employees of the Wanganui Rangitikei Electric-power Board yesterday, in erecting strings of coloured festoon lights in Victoria Avenue to give a carnival appearance to the city during the King's Birthday week-end. Ihe lights will be in service to-morrow oight, and will be used each night until the holiday period is concluded, thirty strings are being erected. Wanganui Celebration Week. Under the direction of the Publicity Committee of the Wanganui Tourist, and Development League, a comprehensive leaflet has been issued setting forth the various attractions to be promoted in Wanganui during tne King’s Birthday celebration period. This contains a timetable with regard to the various events, and already several thousands have been issued in the Manawatu, Main Trunk, and Taranaki districts, and arrangements for local distribution have been put in hand. Anniversaries. Yesterday was the 121st. anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. The batt.e resulted in tiie d-efeat of Napoleon who was banished to St. Helena, where he died of cancer of the stomach on May 5, 1821. Sunday will be the 99th. anniversary oi the accession of Queen Victoria to the throne of England. She ascended the throne on June 20, .1837, on the death of her uncle, William IV, and reigned until her demise on January 22, 1901. The jubilee of her accession was celebrated in 1887 , and her diamond jubilee in 1897. A Dry Season. This year has been one of distinct contrasts from a weather point of view —a wet summer and autumn, and a dry winter. Abnormal damage done to roads caused by the rains of February 1 presented local bodies with a gloomy outlook for the winter, but the recent)] dry weather, said to be the driest on < record for this time of. the year, has enabled much of the winter preparation < work to be made effective. Jf the | weather had not improved, considerably i more inconvenience would have result- 1 ed so far as back-ccuntry settlers are < concerned. t Badminton Rivalry. 'lhe long established rivalry between , Wanganui and Taranaki on the Rugby ( held is being extended into, oilier branches of sport. There is already keen interest taken every year in the interprovincial soccer contests between these two areas. Badminton is t-lie latest form of sport to offer inducement to competition, and a special contest between Taranaki and Wanganui has been arranged for tire King’s Birthday. It will ue played in toe Drill Hull. Wanganui planned a match at Hawera last year, and won. The pending contest is in the nature of a xeturii visit, and there are bright prospects of the competition continuing over a long period of years. Early Days of Mangamahu. j Blockage of the Wangaenu Valley i Road, which resulted in an inspection ] being made above Mt. View (Station j yesterday by members of the Wanganui | County Council, recalls the early days i of the Mangamahu settlement, when j the pioneers, content to travel a rough t bush track, carried civilisation steadily t inland towards the centre of the island, j Mr. and Mrs. J. McDonald were the first settlers in the Mangamahu, ar- r riving to- take up land there away i back in 1874. In those days the pack ( horse and bullock-dray provided means c of transport. To-day the county and highway officials are grappling with the 1 problem of maintaining a first-class 1 highway suitable for man’s most-used i nreans of locomotion —the motor-car. 1 Good sheep country presents itself to t the traveller along the valley—good < pastures where once there was virgin bush. I 1 Gathering of Maoris. [■ •Several hundred Maoris from the ( Wanganui district will be vitising the i Waitara district next week lor the cele- t brations in connection with the open- i ing of the new meeting-house, and the < memorial to the late Sir Maui I’omare < by the Governor-General, Viscount Galway. The Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. 1 M. J. Savage, will also be present. * The Manukorihi Pa is one of the oldest 1 in Taranaki and though not greatly J involved in the wars of last century it ■ has a fighting history that dates Jong before that, if it could speak it could tell many a wonderful tale of strife and tribal warfare long before the ar- 1 rival of the pakeha in New Zealand. ’ Evidence of the deep entrenchments ‘ and the lines of embankments where the different branches of the tribes . were stationed still remains, but as the ‘ years have gone the marks of ancient . days more and more have disappeared.

Coastal Cargoes. Three coastal vessels discharged cargo- at the Town Wharf yesterday and the waterfront was busy throughout the day. On Wednesday evening the collier Titoki (625 tons; arrived from Westport witn over 300 tong of coal, and about 80 tons of cement, loaded at Tarakohe during a previous trip. The motor-ship Gale (600 tons), from Dunedin and way ports, arrived in time for a seven o'clock start yesterday morning, and-in addition to discharging a large quantity of general merchandise, loaded cargo for Wellington. Practically all day the Imlay lighter, Morning Light, lay alongside the Gale and m the afternoon a consignment of wool was transhipped from the smaller vessel to the Gale. The motor-ship Kapiti (249 tons) arrived in the morning also, and brought general cargo from Lyttelton and Wellington. Owing to boisterous weather delaying vessels at olhe* ports, the waterfront will be practically deserted today. The only ship remaining in port last night was the Kapiti, which will shift down to the heads this morniug to load product fc-r Wellington.