LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4951, 15 March 1926, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Included in the visitors, who attended the Ohinemuri jockey Club’s meetingon Saturday were Messrs A. M. Samuel, M.P., G. W. Baildon, Mayor of Auckland, G. W. Vercoe, president Hamilton Racing Club, R. L. Somers, president Te A'roha Raping Club, and A, J. Farquahar, secretary Avondale Racing Club.

For the convenience of race patrons the special trains were stopped at the. olid station site on Saturday morning. This facility did not apply to any of the trains on the outivard journey in the evening, and a number of people who assembled on .the old siite would have been left behind had the officials in charge of the train not pulled up on reaching the old station.

The Public Works Department’s steam suction dredge is now pumping sand from the river near the Netherton ferry tsite.Tor usie on the roads in the locality. A big deposit) of sand for the same purpose has been dumped near the old factoiy.

Attention is drawn .to the. Railway Department’s advertisement appearing in this issue concerning holiday excursion tickets and. special trains in connection with the Ngaruawahia Regatta on MSl'ch 16.

Despite the large crowds that Hi rouged the streets of Paeroa on Saturday morning, and' the heavy vehicular traffic, no serious accident lias been reported.

Tlie acceptances for the second day of the Ohinemuri Jockey Club’s meeting on Wednesday disclose that 88 horses have been paid up for. This number is an increase df 9 on the figures for the corresfponding day iuffi year. The principal event, the Paeroa Handicap, of 400 sovs., dis.ta.nce one mile, has attracted 13 horses. Fol the St. Patrick’s Handicap, of 300 sovs., six furlongs, 14 horses have been paid up for. The handicappei, Mr W. P. Russell, has' the winners well concealed, and, given a fine day, turf patrons should be treated ,to a very interesting racing period..

A welcome* shower of rain was recorded at Paeroa on Friday night, and although it did much towards laying •the dust for the next day’s heavy .traffic, there was insufficient rain to benefit the pastures to any grea,t extent. Fine weather prevailed ’ over .the week-end, and this morning the barometer was still fairly high.

For a vehicle to go into .a roadside drain on the Haurajii Plains is such a common occurrence that it is seldom mentioned in the newspapers. However, such an accident, happened at Ngatea on Friday evening, and it is worth recording. After having .attended the pictures a maji and his Wife walked to the s|aleyards, where their horse and gig had been left. As tjie man was getting into, the vehicle the horse started off,-and before the reins could be gathered up it crossed the road and capsized the vehicle and itself into the drain. While the gig was going over the man picked up his wife and jumped clear, neither being injured. The. horse was on its, back and the gig upside down in the drain for several hours before they cbuld be extricated.

Ideal weather prevailed on Saturday for the first day’s jubilee meeting of the Ohinemuri Jockey Club at Paeroa. The principal event of the, day, the Ohinemuri Cup, of 70'0 sovs., including a gold jubilee cup valued at £lOO, and run over a distance of one and a-quarter miles, was won in good style by Mr 'H. Friedlander’s Absurd— Lady D. ma,re Charlady, with Mr .J. Fraser Smith’s Muscari second. The winner was, heartily'applauded on returning ,to the birdcage. The second horse returned his investors oyer a score. A total of £34,832 10s was put through the totalisator, as against £36,018 for the corresponding day last year, a decrease of £llB5 10s. The concluding -.day of the meeting isi to take place on Wednesday.

The official count of votesi polled in connection with th,e recent election of a licensing committee for Ohinemuri is to .take place at the Courthouse, Paeroa, before Justices, commencing at 2 p.m. to-morrow.

The special race .trains from 1 Auckland and the Waikato to Paeroa were well patronised on Saturday morning. Unfortunately- the Auckland special was nearly twelve minutes la,te in reaching Paeroa. As a consequence a number of turf patrons misled' the tote in the first race. A special endeavour is to be made to run .this train strictly to time on Wednesday morning.

A special train left. Hastings) last Monday for Wellington with 10,750’ cases of apples) for export to England, and 4500 cases were, dispatched by ordinary train on 'Wednesday. Later in the week about 10,000 cases were forwarded, making a total shipment to forwarded.

The recently painted palings on the grandstand side of the birdcage at the racecourse caused majiy wrathful remarks from turf patrons on Saturday. The paint, which had been applied by a. layman, lay in lumps in some parts, and'was wet. As a. resjult a number of people will have good cause to remember the first day of the Jubilee meeting. Although a small board bearing .the inscription ’“Wet Paint” was displayed, this -was hidden from view by the crowd that assembled. It is. reasonable to - expect that painting, on such a prominent part of the course as the birdcage, could have been done in sufficient time to permit d? it thoroughly drying before the meeting.

Soccer , football matches will be played at Kerepeehi in the first round of .the competition as follows : April 17, v. Waihou; May 1, v. Waihi; May 22, v. Thames. The Kerepeehi team will travel to Wa.ihou 1 . on April 24, to Waihi on May 8, and to Thames on May 15.

At the. Thames Hospital Board meeting on Friday Mr.C. W. Kennedy said'he had been informed that the water at the' hospital was very unpalatable. Mr G. Death said he knew of an instance where a friend had brought water from Paeroa; for a patient in the institution. It was decided to ask the. medical superintendent to investigate the matter and bring down ,a report.

Fashions in tobacco-pipes change as well as fashions in o.tjher things. The Meerschaum formerly held pride of place with’smokers, but has practically disappeared, at any rate in New Zealand, since the war. Clays have gone out, too, to a large extent, and calabashes are seldom seen now. The briar 'is still with us, but genuine French briar is iscarce a,nd rather expensive. There are plenty of cheap substitutes, though. But the pipe is comparatively unimportant—the baccy’s the 'thing I Apropos of that, have you sampled our N.Z.-grown tobaccos ? They have their points. Unlike most of the imported brands, they are comparatively free of nicotine, and may be smoked with impunity. Also, they are all to.asted. Hence their fine flavour and aroma. The most popular are Riverhead Gold, mild ; Navy Cut (Bulldog), medium ; and Cut Plug No. 10 (Bullshead), full. The N.Z. tobacco industry already finds employment for many, is proving of great importance to agriculturists (the average, yield of a tobacco crop is worth £5O, or more), and richly meri’ts the encouragement it receives.*