THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto: Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1926. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4940, 17 February 1926, Page 2

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto: Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1926. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The notice pf motion to be moved by Mr E. W. Porritt to consider the advisability of avoiding the cost of an election, of the licensing committee by getting .a,ll parties to agree to a committee being appointed by the Governor-General w ( as mot proceeded with at last night’s meeting of the Chamber of Commerce. It was, agreed that in view of the Large .number of prospective candidates, and the, early closing date for nominations, there was insufficient time to move in tne matter.

An employee on the new post office building met with an accident yesterday afternoon which, fortunately, was not of a serious nature. It appears that he w'as carrying a small container of a tar mixture up- a. twenty-foot ladder, and when near the ,top some of the tar on the. sole of his boot caused him to miss, his footing on the ladder, with the result that he fell to the ground, sustaining nothing more serious than a bruising.

The district roll in connection with the election of a licensing committee, closed on Monday evening. There are 64 additional names for the supplementary roll, but as, against that number there are 50 names to be removed from the main roll of November last.

During December 705 men were employed on construction work on the Waihi-Tauranga section of the East Coa.st Main Trunk railway line. Of these 145 were artisans and '560 labourers, the majority being in the employ of the Armstrong-Whitworth Co., contractors for the ejection of line from two miles- on the Waihi aide of Katikati eastward to within a few ■miles of Tauranga.

The Ngatea Public Hall has had a narrow escape from burning. On Sunday morning , when the building was, opened for church the electric urn was found to be red hot and the box on which it wa.s standing considerably burned. The solder had been melted from around the tap, handles, and heating point. Apparently the switch had been turned on and the plug connected by some unauthorised person.

In the course of a sly-grog case recently brought before Mr J. H. Salmon, S. M., at' Waihi, Mr W. M. Jackson, solicitor for the accused, in pleading for leniency said: “It is to be hoped and expected, now that licenses were to be restored to the district, that the thing (home brewing) will be wiped out. Restoration will probably be a bigger factor in doing this than any punishment inflicted by the Court.”

Preparations for the annual sports meeting which is to be held at Kerepeehi on Easter Monday is well in hand and the. Hauraki Plains A. and P. Association is endeavouring to make the outing more attractive than usual by adding a variety of new events to the programme previously followed. Included in the additional events will be maiden and champion hunter classes, flag races for horsemen, and several fancy races. There will be a baby show, and a dance in the evening.

“The revival 1 of mining at Karangahake will do. more towards adding to the prosperity of Paeroa than all your bloomin’ hotels.” “Hear, bear,” from one member. —Chamber of Commerce meeting last night.

Early yesterday morning a heavy pa,ll of fog and smoke enveloped the town. This condition prevailed until after nine o’clock, when the sun broke through and a typical summer & day resulted.

His Majesty the King has approved of the Hauraki Regiment being allied with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.

Replying to a member at tjie Chamber of Commerce meeting last night Mr E. W. Porritt said he understood that the cost of holding the election for a licensing committee was, about £450. Mr Marshall remarked that that sum worked out at about one shilling a head of the electors in the Qhinemuri electorate. A member thereupon suggested “a bob in to defray the cost.”

On Saturday afternoon a working bee of the ladies of the local Methodist Church did good work at their church corner. The whole area was tidied up, the beds weeded, and the paths, cleared of the heavy growth of weeds. The work done has added materially to the appearance of that area.

Discussing the removal of the band rotunda from its present site in the main street to a more suitable location, at last night’s Chamber of Commerce meeting a member facetiously remarked th it, in his opinion, it would be advisable to leave i,t where it was, as it Would m.ake an ideal playground for the postmaster's children. '

As a result of an informal, dipeus,sipn by members of the Hauraki Plains County Council ojn Monday it was agreed that a suitable pontoon for use as a ferry at Pipfroa might be secured by advertising. This course will be followed.

In moving that a certain resolution should be forwarded to the Government department concerned, at last night’s meeting of the Chamber ’of Commerce a member sajd, "I|t won’t have very much weight, but still, we can give it a go.” When the laughter .that greeted his rem ar q had subsided the member hastened to explain that he was, not referring to the intelligence of .the members present, but. that it was mei-ely a matter of principle.

“China To-day.” Public address by Miss Frances Ogilvie, 8.A., in the Presbyterian Church, Paeroa, Thursjday night at 7.45. Collection tor. Missions. An able lecture by one who lives there. Ladies’ meeting, Thursday afternoon. 2.30 sharp.*

One of the delegates at the Chamber of Commerce meeting last night, when discussing mining operations, said that the way the Government used the diamond drill for prospecting purposes wap a shocking waste of money. He contended that gold would rarely be found by boring straight down into, the earth, as. the Government did with the drill. It was necessary to bore horizontally to get the best results.

The London Manager of the New Zealand Co-operative Dairy Company under date of the 13inst., reports as follows : Anchor butter 1765, unsalted 1785., Kangaroo 1665, Argentine 156 s to 160 s, Danish 187 s, f.o.b. Mai\ ket dead quiet but firm. Buyers still holding off. White cheese 995, coloured 102sl Market very quiet, but position unchanged. Retail unchanged.

Patetonga is, certainly moving in the direction of getting metalled roads. There were over .twenty motorcars belonging to settlers parked outside the picture hall on Saturday night. In a few months’ time the clay roads will become well nigh impasisa.ble for motors, and then the agitation for improved roads will break out again with renewed vigour.

In pointing‘out the difficulties, the miners had to contend with in order to get a fair return for their labours a delegate at last night’s Chamber! of Commerce meeting said it was, quite wrong to think that a miner “slept on night shift, did as little ,as. possible on the day shift, and drank all! his, money.”

In the early part of the week Mr L. Steel, of Wajkino, had the misfortune to lose a horse. The animal was being led behind a vehicle when a •motor-car, which was travelling at a high speed, struck it o lithe bind quarters-, one of its legs being completely severed at the fetlock, while the other leg was. broken. The beast had to be destroyed immediately. The driver of the car, a.fter straightening his, mudguard, continued his journey without speaking to t|he driver of the other vehicle, a .lad of 15 years of age. The identity of the car is unknown .to .the boy, but we understand (says the Waihi Telegraph) that the police are on the track of the owner.

A move has been launched, in Kaihere to raise funds for .the improvement of the public hall. It is intended to erect a stage sixteen feet wide, two dressing rooms, and extend the supper room. The present two dressing rooms are within; the building, and it is intended to remove them so that the floor space will be increased. A ba.zaar will be held on Friday next to funds for the purpose, and there will be a ball in the evening.

At the last November accountancy examinations conducted by the I4ew Zealand University 163 students passed the fins't section book-keeping, 53 passed the book-keeping final, and 53 were successful with the auditing. Of the total number of passes registered nearly ha,lf were secured by students of Hemingway’s Correspondence Schools. The a.ctual number of passes obtained by students, of this well-known school is as follows: Book-keeping, first sta,ge, 68 or 41.7 per cent. ; book-keeping, final, 24 or 4*5.3 per cent.; auditing, 23 or 43.4 per cent.*