EFFECTS OF THE WAR

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 86, Issue 5, 7 January 1942, Page 4

EFFECTS OF THE WAR

PATEA PAPER GOES INTO RECESS MORE THAN SIXTY YEARS OLD. Because of the effects of tho war one of the oldest Taranaki newspapers, the Patea and Waverley Press, went into recess on December 31. Founded in 1876. the Patea Press has. in common with all other provincial papers, experienced many vicissitudes, but had survived and continued to publish long after many of its contemporaries had gone out of business. Now changed circumstances and the impact of the war have claimed another victim. For the past 30 years the Patea and Waverley Press has been the embodiment of the energy and personality of its proprietor. Mr. E. F. Hemingway, whose close personal identity with the interests of Patea and its district has been expressed in the columns of the newspaper he conducted. A newspaper, however big or small, is inevitably an i integral part of the community in which it circulates, and it is fitting that tribute should be paid to Mr. Hemingway for the part he has played in the progress of Patea. Mr. Hemingway was horn of an old Yorkshire family, his father being the I late Captain E. F. Hemingway, of the Imperial Army. Captain Hemingway was a Crimean and Maori War vete-j ran who served under General Cameron and took nart in the historic; march round Mt. Egmont through. Waverley to Sentry Hill. Mr. Hemingway came to New Zealand in 1892. i and after being engaged in farm work he became a teacher under the Taranaki Education Board. From 1902 to 1911 he was town clerk at Stratford., and in 1911 he assumed control of the Patea and Waverley Press, which he has conducted ever since. Evidence of his interest in local affairs is seen in his public career. He has been lay reader for the Anglican Church for over 40 years, chairman of the Patea Domain Board for 14 years, a member of the Wanganui Education Board for 25 years and chairman of the board for nine years, and Mayor of Patea from 1938 to 1941. when he did not seek re-election. His principal sporting interest was in cricket. As Mayor of Patea he was closely identified with the provision of the fine swimming baths and paddling pool at the Patea beach, which constitutes Patea’s centennial memorial. He is also the district coroner. No tribute to Mr. Hemingway would be complete without reference to his wife, whom he married in 1901. She was the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher Dixon. Stratford, and grand-daughter of the late Dr. Low one of the first medical men to practise in New Plymouth. ('hum* of Closing. In an editorial the paper stated, inter alia: “In view of the situation with* regard to newspaper supplies, rendered more acute by the enry of Japan into the war. we have deemed it advisable to go into recess as from the end of the present year, that is from to-day. We have to thank our advertisers and subscribers and our many friends for the support that has been accorded us during the past 31 years, in the course of which we have striven our best to advance the interests of the town. Without egotism we may claim that our efforts have not been in vain, as is evidenced by the present state of the domain, the swimming bath and paddling pool and the improvements that have been effected at the beach, and other matters in which we have had a hand."