THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto: Public Service. MONDAY. WEDNESDAY. & FRIDAY. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1925. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVI, Issue 4814, 23 February 1925, Page 2

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto: Public Service. MONDAY. WEDNESDAY. & FRIDAY. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1925. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Thames-Auckland express was an extra long train on leaving Paeroa on Saturday morning.- Comprising eleven carriages, two vans, and it mail van, it extended from a point r » few yards south of the station buildings to beyond the William Street crossing. Two double carriages formed part of the train fbr the conveyance of bandsmen to take part in the band contest at Auckland.

The equipment and installation work on the new electric dredge at th-? Puke is proceeding steadily, and with the addition of several extra men it is expected to have the machine in commission about the. middle of next month. When the dredge is completed it is the intention of the Public Works Department to use it on the lower reaches of the Waihoii River, from the Ngahlna wharf down.

As notified in our advertlNlng columns a lecture on “Swine Husbandry’’ will be given in the Ngatea Public Hall to-morrow (Tuesday) evening by Mr Gorringe, of the Live Steck Division of the Department of Agriculture. The Ngatea branch of the Farmers’ Union extends an invite tion to all interested to be present. The lecture is timed to commence at 7.30 o’clock.

A lady journeying by train from Palmenston North to Paraparaumu had a curious experience recently (relates the “Man.awatu Standard”). She was alone in a first-class compartment and had placed her stick ami umbrella behind her. Several times she felt rustless, and thought how very warm the day was. Once she felt a hot , breath on her cheek, Jiut attributed it to the humidity. Then, because she saw smoke curling up in the carriage, she went to the next compartment and sair she thought her carriage was on fire. But, hastily returning for an unguarded punse, she was astonished io find her Very cherished umbrella burning merrily, her bag just getting scorched, and also her stick. And even her clothes seemed to be taking on a burnt smell. The lady considers herself very lucky that she, too, was not burnt. She attributes the accident to some burning flax, which the train passed on its way, and which in some manner or other got into the carriage ami set fire to part of the seat,

Included in the cases of infantile paralysis notified in the Auckland “S*ar” on Saturday, which issue reached Paeroa this morning, is one reported as having been notified from Paeroa As the result of careful inquiries from the local doctors and municipal authorities to-day we are plcasi d to report that they know of no ease of paralysis within this borough.

The Mayor of Waihi frequently receives letters from Mi)s J. C. Higgins, formerly of Waikino and now of Viking, Canada. Mrs Higgins and her eldest son are both working on a farm, and the letters indicate that they are prospering. Reference is frequently made in the correspondence to the Waihi and Waikino friends who so generously assisted the family to return to Canada after their terrible trouble in"connection with the Waikino school tragedy.

A school teachers’ refresher course commenced at the Paeroa District High School this morning, and teachers from the Thames, Waihi, Te Aroha, and local district high schools are attending, as well as teachens from the intermediate schools. Messrs G. H. Plummer and J. W. Hardy, inspectors under the Auckland Education Board, are supervising the classes. The course will continue until Saturday next.

A proposal. has been made by the directors of the Rising Sun Gold Mining Co., Ltd., to form a new company to take over the liabilities of the present company. The proposed capita 1 . issue is £18,750 in 75,000 shares of 5s each 50,000 to be issued and 25,000’ to be held in reserve. In issuing the proposal the directors say that the mine hais never looked better, and the new reef No. 3, now being driven on, gives promise of rich returns, but further work cannot be done until more money is provided to further develop the known gold-bearing reefs in order to ensure a constant supply of highgrade orc for the mill and for paying off existing liabilities.

“It may be interestign to know that officially all clergymen are honorary inspectors in the matter of cruelty to children and animals,” said the Rev. J. M. Stewart at a recent meeting of the Council of Christian Congregations. “Another job,” was the doleful observation of the Rev. G. W. Dent, raising a general laugh.—“ Manawatu Times.”

“There is always trouble over accounts that run on for years, and the* people who let them run on are just as much to blame as the tradesmen who allow them to,” stated a Magistrate in the Eketahuna S.M. Court.

The Auckland Education Board has authorised the following appointments : Assistant mistress, Kerepeehi, Miss M. M. Fox; sole teacher, Mangatarata, Miss N. I. Mountain ; infant mistress, Turua, Miss C. King; Hikutaia,' Miss Low ; probationary assistant. Paeroa, Mr C. W. Malcolm ; assistant. Paeroa District High School, Mis?.; J. R. Buchanan.

A five-year-old child from Kerepeehi was admitted to the Thames Hospital yesterday believed to be suffering with infantile paralysis. It has not been possible to obtain confirmation of the diagnosis up to the time of going to press.

Eighteen, .members of the Waihi Band, under Bandmaster F. Russell, passed through Paeroa on Saturday morning en route to Auckland to take part in the Band Contest,

The Waihi Telegraph states: “Acting on behalf of the public, and more particularly parents of children of school sge, the Mayor (Mr W. M. Wallnutt) telegraphed to the DirectorGeneral of Health protesting against the holding of a. teachers’ refresher course at Paeroa. His Worship pointed out that some forty Waihi teachers would be expected to attend the course, and as Waihi was free from infantile paralysis it.was undesirable that these teachers should go to Paeroa and then a few days later mix with the school children of Waihi.” Paeroa is not such a dreadful place as His Worship the Mayor of Waihi would like the Director-General of Health to believe. So far it has been tree of any notifiable diseases, and the teachers need not be at all .alarmed at coming into the central township of the district.

I have seen the lakes of Italy, the mountains of Switzerland, the fjords of Norway, the Trossachs of Scotland, but nowhere is there such a variety of scenery as New Zealand possesses.” This (says the Wanganui “Herald”) wais the opinion of Mrs Norris, of Pasedena one of the American party of tourists, who visited Wanganui. “Egmont is a replica of Fupiyaina, the famous sacred mountain of Japan ” said Mrs Norris. “It has. the same beautiful symetrical cone, and the same glorious white mantle of snow. We have wonderful eaves in Kentucky,” added Mrs Norris, “but th' 1 glow-worm cave at Waitomo its unique. It was a weird feeling when we were ferried in the dark with myriad points of light overhead; something suggestive of Charon’s voyages across the Styx.” .

“It is a most peculiar thing,” said a well-known Hawke’s Bay landowner to a “Napier Daily Telegraph” reporter, “that any bird or animal imported into New Zealand becomes a downright pest and appears to breed at a mqst alarming rate. Take, for instance,” he went on, “ ’possums, stoats, and weasels. These are becoming most numerous, and as far as the two latter are concerned they represent a menace to native bird life. Then, too, are the blackbirds, starlings and thrushes. The birds are increasing prodigiously, and are eating up the feed of native birds, which are on the decrease, while the imported birds are to be seen everywhere. The stoats and weasels have practically cleaned out the New Zealand ground birds, such as kiwis and wood hens, although I believe the former bird, which is a very sagacious one. has evolved means of evading the destroyer and is becoming more numerous.”