THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1927. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 5178, 14 September 1927, Page 2

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1927. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The strong south-westerly wind which prevailed locally all day on Monday made conditions very unpleasant. Clouds of dust and dirt were swept into the air, and pedestrians in the streets had an unpleasant time. Towards evening, however, the boisterous wind moderated and a heavy white frost followed. Yesterday the weather showed great improvement. *

• Major A. R. Ryder has been transferred from the reserve of officers and is seconded for duty with the 2nd cadet battalion Hauraki Regiment. Lieutenant R. B. Morton, of the Hauraki Regiment, has been posted to the retired list.

Train alterations in connection with, the Peace Cup football match Thames v. Hamilton, at Hamilton, on Saturday next are advertised in this issue by the Railway Department.

Very slow progress is being made with the additions to the Ngatea. District High School, for -although the contractors commenced work about two months ago they state that the stipulated time does not expire until November 15. The work comprises the erection of a new class-room 20ft by 28%ft and an extension of the cor-, ridor.

Eight residence sites at Karangahake at one time held by various persons have been struck off the register in accordance with the provisions of section 188 (4) of the Mining Act; 1926. Two residence sites at Mackaytown, one at Owharoa, one at Komata, and two at Waitekauri have also been similarly treated.

The sounding of the fire siren at 7.30 a.m. daily has become such an established custom in Cambridge, that a great number of citizens regulate their clocks and their habits thereby. On Saturday morning, however (states the “Independent”), the fireman responsible made a mistake in the hour, and the siren was sounded at 6.30,. an hour earlier than usual. Many local residents thought they must have overslept themselves, while others came to the conclusion that their clocks were slow. Some even went so far as to hurry over their breakfast and start for work before they discovered they were an hour out in their reckoning. The opinion was held by some that the siren had been sounded as a joke, while others suggested it was an attempt to “try out” daylight saving. Several amusing episodes were caused by the fireman’s mistake.

Tennis enthusiasts are reminded that the annual general meeting of the Paeroa Tennis Club is to be held at the Soldiers’ Club to-morrow night.

Woods’ Great Peppermint Cure. First aid for coughs, colds, influenza

The death occurred at Karangahake this morning of Mr Charles- Tierney. The deceased had been ailing for a long time, and hisi death was not unexpected. Deceased came to New Zealand from Western Australia some years ago and worked at mining both at Waihi and Karangahake, later being caretaker at the Crown Mines. He leaves a wife and four daughters.

With the arrival of more seasonable weather enthusiasts of summer games on the Hauraki Plains are looking forward to and making preparations for the opening of the season. So far the Turua Tennis Club has been th® only club to hold its annual meeting, but the meetings: of the Turua Cricket Club and the Ngatea Tennis Club are advertised.

The revenue received by the Thames Hospital Board 'for the month of August totalled £904 2s 9d, made up as follows : Hospital fee-s, £269 9s 3d ; outpatients’ fees, £l3 13s ; donations £2 2s; Government subsidy, £493 3s Id ; district nursing, £2 13s ; National Provident Fund, £49 12s; old-age pensions, £66 15s 2d ; use of ambulance, £3 15s ; sales, £3 0s 3d. The expenditure amounted to £1414 9s sd, which included: Administration, £67 Ils 9d ; hospital expenses, £104’3 7s 3d ; district nursing, £27 9s 3d; district homes, £139 9s 8d; National Provident Fund, £4O l'ss sd; charitable aid, £95 16s Id. The credit at the Bank of New Zealand was shown as £3876 6s 3d. r

An appeal against the valuation of a section of land at Pipiroa was to be heard at a. sitting of the Assessment Court at Thames on Monday last, but as the owner, E. J. E. Scott, did not appear the objection was struck out. Mr W. E. G. Willy was the assessor appointed by the Hauraki Plains County Council.

The Lands Drainage Department’s Bucyrus drag-line dredge which has been improving the Piako River and Puhanga Canal stop-bank from the Kaihere landing to Torehape Road is to be shifted'by pontoon to the right bank of the Piako at the Ngatea bridge. It will work up-stream, improving the stop-bank and rebattering the riverbank. The department’s No. 6 Priestman dredge, which has been working between the Ngatea bridge and the Puhanga canal, has a. little more to do in that area before passing through the Ngate-a bridge to undertake the long-expected stop-bank work down to Horahia Bend.

The scheme of insurance of football players adopted by the Hauraki Plains Rugby Union this season has proved very satisfactory. Aside from the £36 15s contributed by the clubs and the union to establish the fund, the receipts from players at the rate of Is 6d for seniors and Is for juniors for every match in which they desired cover totalled £4's. Claims have been met or are due to be met totalling £66 3s 6d, but this niusit be considered a high amount, as two players received broken legs entitling them to the full amount allowed under the scheme, two players each drew eight weeks’ benefit, and four drew small sums on account of short periods of incapacitation.

With all the dredging that has been done on the Hauraki Plains in the past dozen years, very little of value has been fpund, with the exception of a few Maori curios, which have been brought up at odd times, and which have, in many cases, eventually found their way to the Auckland Museum. However, interest in the dredging work which is to be undertaken shortly near Johnston’s wharf, Ngatea, is likely to be stimulated by reason of the: fact that somewhere thereabouts, in the mud of the river, lies a solid silver coffee service. In the days when - the river was; the only means of transportation two settlers were returning to Ngatea, each with a wedding present for a local couple who were to be married a few days later, and, as a trip to Thames was more or less an event in those days, it so happened that one of the men was not able to walk the plank from the launch to the wharf without falling into, the water- The coffee service went to the bottom. Seeing the wife of his friend approaching, the man on the wharf threw his present into the river to be recovered by the then sobered one and to serve as an excuse to the wife for her husband having been in the water. Search was never made for fear of the wife hearing the facts.

The vagaries of a very small Samoan girl have been causing trouble to householders of late. She is an expert thief, and one of her recent exploits was the climbing of a huge telephone post which was close to an upstairs balcony (says the Samoan Times). , Thus she entered the dwelling rooms and stole a gold watch, which she sold to a possibly unsuspecting Asiatic. Many robberies of lesser degree, have been attributed to the same child.

Many peculiarities of the soil on the Hauraki Plains are such that farming methods: In common use occasion surprise to experienced farmers unfamiliar with local conditions. Many useless methods are advocated and features commended which, while being desirable in other localities, are not applicable on this reclaimed land. Even officials, of the Department of Agriculture have erred by making statements without prior investigation. A typical example can be given in the general supposition and the local effect of the presence of the common earthworm. Hailed as a benefactor in most places,, for by its burrowing the earthworm aerates and irrigates the sub-soil, it is looked upon as a minor evil on the Hauraki Plains on account of the fact that it so pulverises the top layer of soil that the surface is much more liable to b .come slushy than is the case with parts where, there are no worms. On many farms a greater volume of earthworms than soil can be turned up by digging in particular parts, but while this may be due to. abnormal numbers it is more likely on account of the wetness of the sub-soil forcing them to live in the surface layer alone. Certainly they are looked upon more as a curse than a benefit, and many farmers ascribe, the wetness 1 of their land to them. I