DISTRICT NEWS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4619, 31 October 1923, Page 2

DISTRICT NEWS.

NGATEA. > t TELEGRAPH FACILITIES. A morse telegraph set was installed in the post and telegraph office on - Saturday last to cope with the increasing amount of telegraph business. The line is connected with . Turua, Paeroa, and Thames, and in ' future all telegrams for those places will be transmitted by morse. This will reduce the acute congestion on the ti;unk wires, and the benefit will be felt by all telephone users on the { Plains. Owing to the extreme smaMness of the office structural alterations had to be made to make room for the morse operator’s chair. The steadily increasing volume of business transacted has long outgrown the office, and it is imperative that enlargements should be made immediately. No new subscribers can be connected to the telephone exchange until a_ new switchboard is .installed, and thisM cannot be done without enlarging the office. CONCERT. The Ngatea Library Committee ganised a concert and dance, which was to be held on Wednesday of last week, but owing to the inclement weather the function was postponed. till last evening, when, a very, big . crowd assembled at the Ngatea Hall and thoroughly appreciated a varied entertainment of songs, musical • items, and dances. When the programme was completed an auction sale of produce and other gifts was held with very satisfactory financial results. Supper was .then provided and the floor cleared for dancing. Among the musical items most appreciated were songs by Mrs McKerchar, Mrs Wheeler, Miss E. McDuff . and Mr C. Kennedy, Mr J. Banks, and Messrs Schultz, Blacklaws, Crabbe, g and Tarver. Step-dances were contributed by the Misses Costello and Miss Wedderall, and were deservedly encored. A feature of the entertainment was the choruses rendered by<the children of the Ngatea school. As a result of the evening .the library fund will benefit tp the extent of. about £26. KEREPEEHI. A NEW DREDGE. The erection of the machinery on the big pontoon that was launched recently at Kerepeehi has been proceeding steadily for some time. When completed the dredge, which is of the American dipper type, ■ and steam driven, will be the first of its kind in New Zealand, and apiong the biggest. The pontoon is 80ft by 20ft, while the jib, which will be a massive structure weighing seven tons, will project forward 50ft. The bucket will be of one and a half yards capacity, and, being placed at the end of a boom, will work on the principle of a long--handled shovel, enabling a canal 40ft, wide and 14ft deep to be con-)s stiucted. The dredge will have two geared steam engines with cylinders of seven and five inches, respectively, and will be operated by five men. A pontoon for a sister dredge is now being built at Kerepeehi, and may be ready for launching at the end of November.

RAWE RAWE. . FIRE. A fire occurred under r peculiar circumstances at Rawe Raw“e on Sunday morning, when a Lands Department pontoon, used to carry a worker’fe dwelling, was burnt to the water’s edge. The four men who usually occupy the hut had gone away for the week-end. The cause of the fire is a mystery. PIPIBOA HALL SOCIETY. The Hall Society .met on Friday evening, when several improvements to the hall were suggested, but owing to the loss on the year’s working these had to be deferred. It was decided to raise money by holding a dance in about a month.