MANAWATU NOTES

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 205, 25 May 1921, Page 9

MANAWATU NOTES

From Our Special Correspondent. Palmerston North, May 24. At a meeting of the Palmerston North Chamber of Commerce, the question of the installation of the new automatic telephone in the borough was brought up. Fears had been expressed that the innovation might not prove a success, and a subcommittee was appointed to make ,inquiries. The committee yesterday reported that from the inquiries it had made it was satisfied that the system which was being installed in Palmerston North was quite up-to-date. This was backed up by the receipt of over seventy letters from users of the installation at Hamilton, each one of whom was loud in praise of the new system. In reply to questions it was (ascertained that the Department was being held up by want of appliances, and no definite date could be fixed as to when the new system would be in operation. At a meeting of the Palmerston North High School Board last night, the rector reported that for the term ended May 4 the nominal roll of pupils was 242, with an average attendance of 232. The director of the Technical School reported that during the past month there had been an addition of 29 paying students and five free-placo students to the school, which brought the roll up tn 605 as against 526 for the previous year. At a special meeting of the Mnnawatu Rugby Union last evening, a motion was brought forward to deprive military defaulters of their rights to play in Rugby matches, and after a rather keen discussion it was carried, as was also the following motion: —"That any club wilfully playing n military defaulter in its teams be suspended, and that it forfeit the match in which the offender participates."

A special meeting of members of the Fire Board and Fire Brigade was held Inst evening to bid farewell to DeputySuperintendent C. S. Rush, who was a member of the brigade for 27 years. Mr. J. A. Nash; chairman of the Fire Board, presided, and presented Mr. Rush with n framed photograph of the brigade and a well-filled 'wallet. He was also presented with a. gold bar, the insignia of twenty-five years of service. During the evening the chairman took occasion to review the history of the brigade, which had emerged from the voluntary system in 1908, when it came under, the control of the Fire Board. Since then the expense to the borough had been much heavier, but the citizens had never demurred at this, because they were satisfied that they were getting greater efficiency. When the site for the present station was decided upon he had strongly objected to it, as he considered it quite unsuitable, and it now proved much too small for the growing requirements of the brigade. Thus thev would have tn go further nfield in order to get a property sufficiently large for a central station, which had become an absolute necessity.