LOCAL AND GENERAL

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume XVII, Issue 5610, 6 May 1919, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

To-day is the anniversary of the accession of King George to the throne. His Majesty ascended the throne in 1910. The flag is flying at the Post Office in honour of the occasion.

The Loyal Waihi Lodge invites its members to meet at the residence of the late brother Edward May, Albert (Street, to-morrow afternoon at 1 45 for the purpose of attending the funeral.

A cable has been received by Mrs Morpeth intimating that her two sons. Lieutenant Gerald (Tad) Morpeth and Sergeant Sloan Morpeth, are leaving. England on the Blh inst by the Princessen for New Zealand. Lieutenant Morpeth left with the main body at the outset of the war.

A visit to Richardson’s West End Store, paid by a representative of this paper, shows it to be well stocked with all kinds of foodstuffs and produce, also with fruit m season. West End and other customers may rely on being served at main street prices, accompanied by prompt delivery of orders. A notice in lonncction with Richardson’s West End Sto-e appears elsewhere.

It is reported by an exchange that (he owner of a large area of land near Tmhape intends to subdivide 16,000 acres and place eight returned soldiers on 2000 acres each, and will hand over the areas fully stocked.

Our Waikino correspondent writes: —! On Sunday last the Rev. Mr Connolly conducted the last ot his Waikino services. His departure will be deeply felt and regretted in the district. The Anglican parishoners in Waikino presented him after the service with a small cheque as a token of their esteem and appreciation of the good work he has done ameng.-t them. The presentation was made by Mr Sutton. Mr Connolly responded in a few well-chosen words.

A local tonsorial artist came in for a little adverse criticism at last night’s meeting of the Repatriation Hoard, It appears that the gentleman in question assumed the role of godfather to returned soldiers, and freely dealt out the advice that the local commi'tee had money to ladle out merely for the asking. His fallacy occasioned considerable disappointment to many men, and a friend on the board undertook to restrain the strategy of the erring “ general.”

An interesting wvlding took place at Mr K. Whitehead’s residence, Beach Road, Thames, on Wednesday last, when Mr J. Mulliner and Miss A. R. McLeay were united in bonds of matrimony, the Rev, J. Milne preforming the ceremony. Miss McLeay, a niece of the brido, was bridesmaid, and Mr Leslie Corbett, a nephew of the bride, best man. The bride was given away by her brother, Mr E. McLeay, ot Waihi. At the wedding breakfast several toasts were exchanged The newly married couple left by the afternoon train for a short honeymoon.

As is well known, the Government has not allowed local bodies to go on the marked for loans during the war period. Now that the war is over this prohibition is being relaxed, and in last week’s Gazette are two lists of local bodies which are being permitted to raise loans. Among the local bodies in this part ot New Zealand are the following : Johnsonville Town Board, £10,000; Manawatu County Council, £1000; Eketahuna County Council, £4O; Lower Hutt Borough Council, £350. The biggest item iu the list, is that of the Southern Hospital Board, £50,000.

The troops aboard the Raranga went into a remarkably fine camp at Newport News,*Amerioa, en route to New Zealand, and were given “ the freedom of the city ” by the inhabitants, who treated them royally. The New Zealand boys travelled fat and wide on the trains at reduced fares, and the theatres were thrown open to them free of charge. While at that port the troops bought a piano for use on the voyage, at a cost of £7O. It was subsequently raffled among them at one shilling a ticket. The winner has found out that it will cost him £l2 duty to land it.

A notice of importance to returned soldiers’ dependents appear in our advertising columns. The Waihi Repatriation Committee will be in attendance at the Borough Council Chambers every Monday evening at 8 o'clock for the purpose of hearing any application from soldiers or their dependants, and the secretary will be at the office from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on the same evenings for the purpose of receiving applications to be dealt with by the committee. A perusal jf the notice will make it clear to readers that no repatriation business can be attended to during Borough Council office hours, and soldiers are requested to assist in this matter by making their applications on Monday evenings only.

A curious domestic complication was related to a Post reporter by a Southern member of Parliament. A married man with a wife and one child enlisted and went to the front, leaving his wife an allotment. Their relations bad not been very friendly, and after the man had gone the wife contracted a liaison with another man, and a child was born. Later, during the influenza epidemic, the father of the second child died, and she applied for relief from the local committee, which refused the application, contending that her husband ought to provide her with support. Just as affairs had reached this stage the sol-dier-husband cabled that he had cut off his wife's allotment, on the ground that she was dead, and the woman was therefore left without any means of subsistence. Further inquiries showed that the man had married another woman in Sngland, in the alleged belief that his wife hed died. The present position is that the New Zealand wife and family are being provided for, and the soldierhusband is, if possible, to be charged with bigamy.

Some of the sporting members of the community who" started off with gun and dog on the eve of the opening of the game season had some good shooting, rather belter than was their experience last year. Messrs if. Bell and party spent a couple of days on Matakana Island. They confined themselves chiefly to the lagoons, where grey duck were found to be fairly plentiful. Of those birds, including a few pukeko, they secured about twenty brace, One lagoon, over which they shot, teemed with eels, and their voraciousness was shown t om the tact that a wounded duck was seized by an &?l, andj in spite of its struggles, partially dfawn under the surface, There was some little delay in effecting its rescue, and when recovered Jiy the party its head, nock and a portion of the breast were missing, the parts hiving been torn away, Another local sportsman, Mr Weeks, returned lust night from the Turua and iHikutaia districts with nine brace of pheasants, all of which were young and in good condition. The bag was the result of a single gun.

The Patriotic Committee met last evening in the Borough Council Chambers i.ml dealt with a number'of applications lor assistance. Some pressing cases were d alt with on the spot, while others were referred to Aucklaud for favourable consideration. The question of whether every returned man should receive as a matter of right the sum of $5 was very ciirefqlly considered, and thp feeling was expressed by those present that if the Auckland committee would sanction the gift it should bo made. It was pointed out that uu'ess such bonus was given many men who returned fit would not participate in the patriotic funds. It was also pointed out that if every spldier returning to sew received it would make such serious inroads upon the accumulated fund that th<*re might not be sufficient left tu do full justice to those who returned incapacitated or were maimed for life, and it was conceded that the first claim upon the funds rightly came from this class. Tho mailer was left to be further reviewed when the icply was received from Auckland.