THE Hauraki Plains Gazette. With which is Incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto Public Service. MONDAY. WEDNESDAY. & FRIDAY. FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 1927. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 5081, 28 January 1927, Page 2

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette. With which is Incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto Public Service. MONDAY. WEDNESDAY. & FRIDAY. FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 1927. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Mr P. Murtagh, on the new theatre, building, Paeroa, had a narrow escape from a serious accident yesterday. While working on. the roof of the auditorium Mr Murtagh missed his footing and fell. Fortunately he landed on his feet on -some scaffolding only Bft below, anth sustained nothing worse than a lac erated left wrist. The distance fror i where he was working to the. gror.tnd was approximately 35ft. ;

At the Paeroa Magistrate’s Court yesterday W. L. Buch? nan, PaW.oa, applied for' and was gr-anted, a winemaker's license to mai lufacture wine hot exceeding 5-00' gall.ons.

Mr W. Price, of Wamiganui, who acts as starter to several country racing clubs in the Auckland province and other clubs in th® mt h, has been appointed to act in tfna t capacity for the Ohinemuri Jockey Club.

Tuesday last was tU e Patronal Festival of St. Paul’s Ch< irch, but owing to the parish, being ; still without a vicar the festival corah .I not be kept on that day but will be Observed on Sunday nF,xt the Sunday within the Octa’ /e . The. Rev. Noel Robertshawe, vic' dr of St. George’s Church, Thames, ill celebrate the Blessed Sacrament at 11 o’clock, and preach the sermon. There will also be Testal Evensong at 7 p.m.

The Te Aroha Newß says : Mr F. Firkin, junr., has been appointed grand district presidents of the Druids Lodge. Mr Firkin, who is the youngest man in New ZUfilanff to hold this office, had to submit to a. .severe test, in which he had to compete with older and more, experienced men at Waihi, Thames, Paeroa, Waikino, and Te Aroha. That he -hould have gained such an important office in t.he lodge while so young speaks well tar his ability.

A story which will doubtless £ome to the ears of the police is told of depredations by sneak- thieves at the bathing shed at picnic point, Rotorua. A number of bathers were in the, water when five meir came up. A by stander asked them i'f they were going in to bathe, and they' said they had no costumes. When the bathing partjy were in. the water one < °f (ivt> men took up a position o'f vantage and it is assumed that the others effectively “barbered” the, clothes in the shed. A visitor from- Adelaide, who had taken the precaution to hidq bis watch and a roll of notes, lost money in silve.r, and others are said to have lost sums o'f money. The detection of this class of theft is very difficult, and unless the police, are notified immediately, measures are impracticable. It is well for bathers to take warning by this incident and leave cas-h and valuables at home when going swimming in the lake.—Rotorua Chronicle.

In dealing with a case at New Plymouth yesterday in which Percy Butler was charged with the thcift of a te.nni.s racquet valued at £4 15s, Mr It. W. Tate, S.M., said : “I 1 want, to make it clear th,at people who llml things and do not) take steps; to cover the owner take enormous risks of being convicted of theft, because (If the ease they build up against' themselves.” He could not, however, in this instance, regard the matter with the same serlousnessi as he w<’ul<l had there! been evidence of the 'racquet being taken directly frvm the shop. Defendant would be fined £< and ordered to pay 22s

George Wilkinson, labour®!; Paeroa, was charged at the Magistrate’s Court yesterday, before Mr F. W. Platts-, S. M., with failing to provide 3OS a week for his wife and child, as required under a maintenance order made at Paeroa on October 4 last. Mr R. S. Carden appeared 'for the complainant, and on his application an adjournment was granted until February .15.

Mr H. A. Mills, df Paeroa, has received word that his son Arthur, o'f the New Plymouth High School, has been successful in passing the matriculation, solicitors’ general knowledge, and medical preliminary examinations.

A Wanganui auctioneer for some days past has had the distinction o'f driving a motor-car which is probably unique, since it has no accelerator pedal. The means of eliminating this pedal is a secret belonging to two Wanganui citizens, who have made arrangements} for the protection of thejr invention throughout the world. Its general adoption -would mean that motorists would have only two pedals ins.tead of three to look after, and the result probably would be a great reduction in the number of accidents.

The Bishop of Southwell (Sir Edward Hoskyns), speaking recently at Masfield on “The. Modern Girl,” declared his readiness to . defend her. “Although she did prefer short hair and take less material for a dress than formerly,” he said, “the modern girl had at stopped fainting. In fact, she was more inclined to make her parents faint. The modern girl was all right when one knew her.”

After a lengthy spell of dry weather a change .was experienced locally this morning, when light rain fell. The barometer, however, is fairly steady, From a farming and gardening point of view a good downpour of rain would be welcome, but in view of the close holiday to-morrow there are many people who desire; a fine weekend.

Atfter an arduous descent of the 700 ft high hill, on the summit df which are located the Kaiwhiki quarries, the members of the Wanganui Harbour Board party who inspected the lofty excavations on Wednesday were perspiring freely. The day was scorching hot, and th® precipitous descent had not added to their comfort. The obvious thing on reaching their launch was to have a dip in the river. One of the first to strip off and dive, into the cooling water was Wanganui’s Mayor, Mr Hope Gibbons-. For all his 70 years, Mr Gibbons took to the water with grace, and swam with swift, vigorous strokes, holding his own with the younger members of the party.

In regard to the unemployment that is rife in Dunedin at the present time an instance is quoted by a cor-

respondent of a carrying firm which required the services o.f thirteen men lor a day’s work in shifting timber. An advertisement was inserted in a newspaper, and it met with a. big response, nearly 200 nie.n putting in an appearance n quest of a job. A wellknown union secretary who was in touch with the unemployment question throughout the trying time, that was experienced year expresses the opinion that Dunedin is in for a trying time during the coming winter, so far as unemployment is concerned.

“It is quite’ a relief to a New Zealand newspaper again,” remarked Mr John Stewart, M.A-, in the course of a chat with a. Blenheim reporter the other morning, ‘for I became tired of the, newspapers in America. Apparently there were only four subjects to attract their attention during the months I was there —first, football; second, Charlie Chaplin’s divorce ; and then the Aimee McPherson case; and later, the Mrs Mills murder case. For six weeks I saw not a single reference to the, English coal strike, and I got more European and world news out of the copies of the Marlborough Express sent to me from home than from all the papers published in the States which I visited.”