LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXII, Issue 4343, 16 November 1921, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A meeting' of delegates is to be held at Morrinsville to-mornßir to discuss arrangements for the proposed Parliamentary delegation’s visit to the Hauraki Plains. A concert in aid of the Hikutaia. Queen has been fixed for Friday, 25th inst., at Hikutaia Hall. Something new, tuneful, and original in music, song, and story as played, sung, and told at Mauriaena homestead is promised. , A preliminary “Look Out I” warning flor- the “Farmers’ Queen Final Flutter” is advertised for Tuesday, November 22. Details will be chuted down on the next rainbow. The rise in the price of tobaccos has made smokers feel what the small boy calls “narked.” An individual who tried to buy a good stocx just before the prices went up was greatly annoyed with a 'local merchaif-. who refused to Het him have more than' a moderate .amount. The total rating value of the Ohinemuri and Thames counties put together does not equal the rating- value of the Plains County, was a fact related by a councillor at\the Hauraki Plains County Council' meeting at Ngatea on Monday. A new departure in business has been adopted by Mr W. M. Sorrensen, who has, in addition to his coachbuilding and smithy work, created a motor car painting department,. for which purpose men who are stated o be among the ablest in the province in their (line Have been engaged. It \s rumoured in tennis circles on the Hauraki Plains that a tournament, Plains v. Paeroa, is to be played at an early date. It is proposed that the Plains team will consist o' one representative from each club, and it should be a formidable combination, as, judging by the play at recent openings, there are some players of no mean order on the Plains.

Hauraki Plains farmers will note with interest that there is to be a reunion of the Farmers’ Union at Ngatea next Saturday night, when addresses will be by Captain Cilbeck, Colonel Allien-, Mr L. H. McAlpine, and others. The advertise-’ ment (see page 3) states .that such questions as a Farmers’ Party, Shinping, Dairy Farmers’ Association, will be discussed. A In the course’ of the N.Z. Emerald’s introduction to a report on the local agricultural , and pbs.toral show at Hamilton there appears this passage :’ “The Hauraki Plains are gradually extending and the swamp receding, and the day is coming when this fertile region will be occupied in much smaller holdings, all of which will have an effect upon Hamilton’ 3 . . ; “in the atmosphere of the town one feels the spirit of enterprise’’ Just so. The passage quoted may be taken as ar. indication that the formation of a “Thames Valley and Hauraki Plains Progressive League,” as advocated by the “Gazette, 1 ” is a very desirable move. If we do not wake up and broaden our outlook, enterprising Hamilton will overshadow the Valley and the Plains in actual fact as much as it is now adroitly and insidiously trying to make the outside world believe it does at present. Combination and co-operation for mutual support is what is needed in the Valley and on the Plains, otherwise Hamilton and Auckland will pick the plums out of thn nie while the local aspirants are tugging foolishly, each in a difi ferent direction, for the -possession of’ I a dish.

A meeting of all the debentureholders in the Netherton Hall is called for Friday night next, at 8 o’clock. Housewives are directed to a new standing advertisement' in this issue, inserted by Mr A, E. Say, butcher, Paeroa. The Piccadilly Tea and Luncheon Rooms, now closed for renovation, will be re-opened on Friday, under the proprietorship of Mr C. A. Brown, who assures the public that good meals will be provided, and home cookery specialised in. The' Paeroa-Plains motor bus service tu Netherton, Kerepeehi, and Ngatea duly started on Monday morning. There wa§ not much traffic the first day, but yesterday’s business was more brisk, full complements of passengers being br,ought in. It may be assumed that the trade will increase as the people become more used to the service., A speaker at a meeting at Turua expressed the opinion that if any town was to have the name '‘Hauraki,” that town should be Turua. The suggestion 'is quite a laudable one, but it has the vital weakness that other centres actually on the Plains might strongly object, even though they may not mind Paeroa aspiring to that title. It is easy to imagine that both Ngatea and Kerepeehi, for instan'ce, would have some caustic comment to make. While the decision of the .Morrinsville Chamber of Commerce t.o hold a conference of local bodies at Morrinsville with regard to a proposed Parliamentary tour of, the Hauraki Plains was being discussed at the meeting of the Hauraki Plains County Council on Monday, a councillor was heard to remark that if the conference was held'in Paeroa it would be more central and all would have co-operated.

Efforts are being made by various centres on .the Hauraki. Plains per medium of the Farmers’ Union branches, to ihstal new business in their respective townships. Ngatea took the initiative by advertising the possibilities of a bakery business. The lead was almost immediately followed by Waitakaruru asking for a bakery, and shipping service with Auckland. Turua ha-s run a good third by urging the installation of a veterinary surgeon, doctor, lawyer, and hairdresser and -tobacconist. Truily these centres wislr tp advance. At the Hauraki Plains County Council .meeting at Ngatea on Monday, the county clerk (Mr B. Walton) announced that the loan proposals, recently .rejected by the ratepayers, would probably be ret-submitted -some time next month. The proposal to raise a loan in a special rating area in the Turua riding for permanent roads construction will be submitted to ratepayers in the proposed area at the same time. A little experience a representative of the “Gazette” had last Monday ou the Hauraki Plains proves once again that “ the best laid plans of mice and men gang oft agley.” It had been arranged that the “Gazette” should .be delivered along the route between the Puke bridge and the Netherton-Tu-rua-Kerepeehi crossroads by motorbus service. In order to let the motorman know where to throw papers off, a red card had been tacked up on each gatepost .where a subscriber was, but as the -school children pulled a number of! the cards down the scheme did not work perfectly. There are only four places between Puke bridge and Netherton-Turua-Kerepeehi crossroads where the “Gazette” is not delivered, and in two of these cases the residents exchange with neighbours for the Auckland Star.

- The lot of the poundkeeper in the ‘Patetonga district is not a happy one., Apparently he is unable to live on term? of amity and brotherly love with owners of cattle that are ad-di'cte-1 to browsing upon the “'long acre?’ , At the monthly meeting of the Hauraki Plains County Council on Monday, at Ngatea, Cr. F. Mayn said the poundkeeper had ‘come to him in great indignation, stating that he was going to ring up the Police. An irate settler' had come to'' his housi*-' dbout some cattle he had impounded and had “torn the shirt .off his back,’’ besides using “langwidgc” ih r the hearing of his wife and children- that was distinctly sulphurous. “A poundkeeper needs a strong sense of humour for his job,” remarked 01 councillor.” “I never knew of a poundkeeper who was considered by the residents of his district a-s being a perfect gentleman,” 'commented another councillor. Asked by a representative of the “Gazette” as to the cause of the loss of eleven of his cattle recently, Mr R. H. Heappey, of. Netherton, stated that it was due to worms in the drinking water. The well was now being treated with pomanganate of potash and agricultural lime. Mr Heappey’s loss is probably equivalent to welj oyer £2OO, as the cows were worth about £2O apiece, were in their third and fourth seasons, and had to be replaced by first-season cows and heifers. The microscope disclose I the presence of the worm cultures in the water. Mr J. Johnson also lost a number from the same cause. The cows die shortly after calving, the presumption being that the worm acts on the system for a long period, undermining the vitality, and that the extra burden due to calving causes collapse of the weakened system.