NEWS OF THE DAY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19979, 3 July 1939, Page 4

NEWS OF THE DAY

Liquor For Natives Stated iby the police to have aided and abetted in the supply of liquor to a Maori in Gisborne on March 25, Rikirangi Te Ota, a Maori, was fined £1 10s, iby Mr. E. L. Walton, S.M., in the Police Court to-day. Slip on Wharerata Hill A slip covered the road on Wharc-i-ata Hill last night, but no great delay was occasioned lo traffic. The Automobile Association’s patrol. Mr. G. Merton, stated that a gang of men commenced work on the slip this morning, and traffic was able to use the road at an early hour. Maori Sculptural group The exhibition sculptor, Mr. W. Tret'hewey, has l started' work on what fie tiopes will be the most notable of the allegorical groups to adorn the exterior of the main buildings. This is the Maori, group, depicting the discovery of New Zealand by Kupe and this companions in adventure, nearly -1000-years .ago, ......... Winter Gardens Palmerston North’s centennial memorial will take the form of a winter garden, which will be installed at the Esplanade. The original idea of the Palmerston North City Council for the centennial memorial was to install an electric fountain in the Square, but because of the opposition of the Returned Soldiers’ Association to the removal to another site of the war memorial the fountain scheme was abandoned. The city council’s plans for a winter garden provide for a group of buildings, estimated to cost £3OOO, inclusive of an allocation .for the purchase of additional plants. Wairoa Mail Service The inauguration of a railcar service on the Napier-Wairoa section of the East Coast railway will give Wairoa a mail service with- the south such as it has never enjoyed before. From to-day it will be possible for letters posted before noon in Wairoa cn week days to be taken to Napier by railcar, put on the evening train for Palmerston North, and 1 then on the night goods train to Wellington, being delivered by the first mail in the morning. Similarly, the mail which closes in Wellington at approximately 5 p.m. and is carried to Napier by the night goods train -may be taken to Wairoa by the morning railcar and sorted into private boxes at about midday.

No Bouquets For Ministers!

The Maori people of the Wairoa district contributed greatly to the interest of Saturday's gathering to celebrate the opening of the railway section. A party in native costume sang several songs, appropriate to the occasion, and also took part in a haka 'with a topical aspect, the actions in which plainly referred to the railway project. Two young Maori girls, beautifully garbed in valuable mats and wearing traditional ornaments of, greenstone, presented bouquets to the wives of the Ministers of Public Works and Railways,* Mesdames R. Semple and D. G. Sullivan. In acknowledging the interest displayed by 'the native people, the Hon. D. G. Sullivan later thanked the Maoris for their participation In the function. He had but one complaint, lie said, and one in which Mr. Semple would, join him. He did not see why Ministers should not be eligible for attentions of the same kind as had been tendered their wives.