IN THE NEWS

Te Ao Hou, April 1955, Page 13

IN THE NEWS Keith Davis, All Black and Auckland rugby halfback, was the outstanding Maori rugby player in New Zealand again last season and won the Tom French Cup for the third year in succession. During the season Davis captained the New Zealand Maori team which toured Fiji and played a number of matches in the North Island. * * * Captain of the Auckland team which took part in the 1954 women's indoor basketball championships at Wellington was a Maori woman, Mrs May Smith, who besides being a star basketball player is also a grandmother. Mrs Smith has represented Auckland at the national championships since 1949, and her club, Akarana, has missed winning the Auckland provincial title only once in recent years. Her daughter, Violet Watling, was a prominent member of the Auckland B team at the championships. * * * A Maori rugby league forward, J. Yates, of Auckland, was a member of the New Zealand team which took part in a world series of matches in France in November. He is a son of the 1922 New Zealand rugby league representative, Moses Yates. * * * At the 1954 skiing championships at Mount Ruapehu a national women's skiing title, for the giant slalom event, was won by Miss Dora Davies, a young Maori woman. Miss Davies has been head waitress at the Chateau Tongariro for the past five years, and she has been a keen skier for most of this time. * * * A leading Latin-American dance demonstrator in Britain is a Maori. Mr John Delroy, who is reputed to be the best demonstrator of the paso doble in the country. * * * A new Maori school was opened recently at Pukemoremore. It is mainly attended by children of the settlers of Pukemoremore Maori Land Development Scheme. Its roll is expected to be 80.