THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY, MONDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1926. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 5038, 11 October 1926, Page 2

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY, MONDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1926. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The delay in the approving of the plans for the Hauraki Plains West water supply scheme was mentioned to the Minister of Publiic Works by Cr. C. Parfitt at Thames oh Wednesday las,t ; . The matter has been held up for an abnormal time, and as it was necessary to indent materials from England it was desirable to proceed immediately, so that the service would be in operation by the summer after next. The Minister promised to look into the subject and do all he could to hurry it along.

It is reported that the Rising Sun battery at Owharoa is again to be closed down, in which case several miners and Other workers, mainly residents of Waihi, will be rendered Me. The pews lacks official confirmation, but there is reason to believe that it is not without foundation, and those who claim to' be acquainted with the intention of the management state that the decision is due to the fact that the reefs in the mine have latterly “pinched,” and for the time being at least cannot be profitably worked.

An improved tone in the stock market was apparent at the Turua stock sale on Friday last, and good prices were realised for the quality of the cattle yarded. Springing Jersey heifers close to profit brought from £8 to £ll 10s, backward heifers, from £5 to £7 10s ; 3-year-old Shorthorn heifers close to profit £9 to £ll 15s, backward £6 to £8 10s. Only a few springing cows were yarded, and these were only of medium quality. The best cows close to profit realised from £7 10s to £ll, and others. from £'s upward. In the. beef market fat cows brought from £7 •to £8 ss, lighter prime cows from £5 10s to £7, and stores and boners from £2 10te upwardThere was a fair yarding of bulls, grade Jerseys bringing from £7 7s to £lO 10s and Shorthorns from £6 6s to £9 9s.

A start will probably be made shortly with the metalling of that portion of the Puhanga canal .road from the present end of the metal to the bridge leading to the island block. The work will be done by the Lands Department for the County Council.

An amusing story is. told of an accident which occurred in Wellington. At a party in a. house adjoining th®, railway liine the decorations included a bright red lamp in the supper room. While the party was. at its height the merry-makers were surprised by a railwayman, who asked that the, red light should be removed. It appeared that three or four trains from the sbuth had refused to pass the light, for it seemed to be in the middle of the line, as the house was situated at a bend. In consequence the whole of the traffic from that direction was disorganised until the “danger” signal was removed.

Steadily, but very slowly, farmers on the Hauraki Plains are realising the wisdom of installing small flaps on the outlets to their farm drajins. During the last week-end many farmers placed blockages in their drains to dam out foreign water, and on Tuesday twd farmers were noticed installing< small flood-gates. One wai, hanging a flap on a culvert and th® other was, fitting a small box with fla'p attached.

Cases of typhoid and pnenumonia among the Maoris of Kerepeehi have been reported.

Many farmers on the Hauraki Plains have endeavoured to establish stands of lucerne, but there have been many failures, on account of variations in the depth of the water. That the soil of the district is. very suitable, and that a splendid growth can. lie obtained when conditions are right is amply demonstrated on a farm near the Kopuarahi shell-bank.

An amusing incident occurred in the Magistrate’s Court, Te Aroha, on Wednesday last, during the hearing of a judgment summons case. Counsel was examining a witn'ess, a rather corpulent Maori, regarding his ability to work. “Why,” said counsel, “a man as fat as you ought to be able to work all day and never feel it.” The Maori was not to be beaten, however, and quickly retorted: "That to trouble, sir ; too fat to work I”

Miss Avis Alberta Field, in charge of the public school at Upper Takaka, in the Nelson district, was found dead on Friday, hanging from a .tree. Deceased, who was 24 years of age, was looked upon as a teacher with special qualifications. Her parents reside at Collingwood... Deceased went through the Training College at Wellington four years ago. During the past week she was off duty for a day or two owing to ill-health.

At the beginning of the present dairying season it was thought by some suppliers to the Huirau Road factory that there would not be sufficient supply to enable the factory to be run economically. However, records are now being estabished, and the plant is almost at its full capacity. The grading so far this- season has been very satisfactory, as all the cheese has been classed ‘‘finest.”

An achievement requiring a considerable amount of nerve and skill was accomplished by Mr Ray. Rees when he found it necessary to drive his motor lorry, backwards for a distance of 22 miles in carrying out a contract to deliver two girders- from Raurimu statioln to the site of the new bridge which is to cross the Tuapakurua stream on the Waimarino-Retaruke road. The most convenient method of transporting the girders, each of which is 40ft long and 1% tons in weight, was to pivot the ends on to two lorries, backed jvithin approximately 30ft of each other. In this manner the whole distance, which included the descent of the Kaitieke Hill, was successfully negotiated in 5% hours. The driver had a stiff neck at the end of the; journey. The leading lorry was driven by Mr Eric Smith.

A sum of £lOO has been lodged at the Supreme Court offices at Christchuruch in connection with an application for an injunction to restrain the New Brighton Borough Council from proceeding with the erection of a new bridge over the River Avon at Seaview R<?ad. The injunction is sought on the grounds that .the proposed level of the bridge will restrict development by preventing pleasure boats and other craft from passing underneath.

Several poultry-keepers In one part of Levin have been disappointed at the very poor results obtained from their incubators (says an exchange). In one case where it was expected that 400 chicks would hatch out only 183 pipp®d. In another case the normal hatch should have been 1000, but only 440 were accounted for. The partial failure of the process is attributed by the poultry-keepers,, to the ■fact that blasting operations were in progress in the neighbourhood, and the concussion at a critical period i* the “hatch” was responsible for the pobr results obtained.

In the Magistrate’s Court at Te Aroha, before Mr J. W. Poynton, S.M., Mrs G. Smith claimed to recover from Patrick Hogan £l6o' damages for the death of one cow, valued, at £2O, and for depreciation in the value of a further 19 cows, which had been agisted on defendant’s property from June 21 to August 3. The Magistrate held that in respect of one cow plaintiff could not succeed, and that in regard to the depreciation in the value Cif the 19 cows plaintiff was entitled to nominal damages only. Judgment was given for £lO and costs.

A start will soon be made with the addition of two dressing-robms to the Ngatea Public Hall. The cubicles at present being used as dressing-rooms, will be removed to increase the floor space in tne main building and a leanto about 30ft by 14ft will be erected near the north west corner of the building.

Jessie, a sedate-looking Jersey co'w, went for her first jaunt in a motorcar the other day (says the Christchurch Sun). A reporter, who was enjoying the blaze of gplden gorse at Hornby frdm his bicycle, almost collapsed as he saw the car approaching. Jessie wafel standing in the back of the car a,s quietly as though s,he were in her bail in the cowshed. From •under the hood she cast wondering eyes on th® countryside as the car sped along the road. In sheer amazement the cyclist raised his hat. Jessie evidently took it as, .a compliment, and shook her head round the back of the ear as it disappeared in a swirl of dust. It was not part of a circus. A farmer had discovered a speedy method of taking part of his herd home.

The efficiency of electrically driven centrifugal pumps to assist gravity drainage was demonstrated on the Hauraki Plains during the deluge of last week-end. The Puhanga island block was kept freq of water, defeipite the abnormal rain and the lack of tidal action in the river. The pump installed near the Ngatea bridge was out of action during the critical period, and as a result the stormwater from the higher land west of the Kerepeehi-Kopuarahi road overflowed on to several farms, inundating a large area. The land on the other side of the road, which takes little water from higher country, w.as also flooded (Ai account of the insufficiency of outlets, for an abnormal rainfall. The pump was got going on Monday, but, probably bn account of being driven at a slower speed, it did not discharge anything like the quantity of water lifted by the similar plant on the Puhanga island. The drain was also not working well owing to the growth of watercress and other weeds, but nevertheless a marked difference in the amount of surface water on the lands on each side of the road is apparent. |