THE Hauraki Plains Gazette. With which is Incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 1928. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5227, 16 January 1928, Page 2

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette. With which is Incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 1928. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

To-day is the seventh day since Lieutenant A. R; Moncrieff and Captain G. Hood set out from Sydney on an attempt to fly the Tasman Sea to New Zealand in the Ryan monoplane Ao-teja-roa. Several rumours were in circulation locally during the weekend, but no definite information had been received up to the time of going to press of the fate of the missing aviators.

According to the 1928 issue of tlie New -Zealand Official Year-book the, population of the Ohinemuri and Hauraki Plains counties has inerejased, while that of the Borough of Paeroa has increased by 117 persons. Following are tlie geographical, fig-' tires for 1928, with those for 1927 shown in parentheses: Ohinemuri, 8540 (8024) ; Hauraki Plains, 4230 (3817).; Borough of Paeroa, 1850 (1733). The increase in numbers, can b© largely, accounted for by the fact that the 1928 figures include the Maqi-i population. The population movement in New Zealand is that of unbroken growth, and on April. 1, 1927, the population! of the Dominion, exclusive of Maoris, was 1,373,746. Including Maoris and the mandated territory of Samoa the figures are 1,495,129.

TJlg latest issue of the N.Z. Gazette pubjisheis the following resolution, Which was carried at an extraordinary general 'meeting of shareholders of the Majestic Gold Mining Company, Ltd., held at Auckland, on, December 21, 1927 : “That it is proved to the company’s satisfacipn that the company cannot, by reason of its liabilities, continue its business, and .that it ’s advisable, to wind up the same.”

An important point was raised by Cr. Chapman at Thursday’s meeting of the Morrinsvill.e Boj-ough Council when .he inquired what would be the position of the council in the event of an accident being caused through collision with, or.-the, explosion of, a petrel bowser. He pointed out that in a recent case at Masterton the Local Bodies Associat’on solicitor held that the licensing authority was liable. The matter was referred to the iinance committee for consideration.

The Oliinemuri River Ts particularly shallow at the present time), and can be crossed by a pedestrian dry-footed almost anywhere betweem Paeroa and Waihi. From Turua to. the Puke wharf several sandbanks have appeared, but the Paeroa -Auckland steamer Taniwha is running to time table, despite the difficulty of nbvigatidn. Considerable difficulty, however, is being experienced in maintaining the service from the Puke to Te Arolia. The Waih’ou Rivcji” is exceptionally low, and it is only with difficulty and extreme care that the, steamers can negotiate some of the, bends, in the river.

The Rev. Father Taylor left Paeroa this morning for the purpose of, attending the annual retreat for the clergy at the Sacred Heart College, Auckland. He will return to Paeroa on Saturday.

The - ' new motor-cycle registration plates 'have arrived at the local post office in readiness for disposal to motor-cyclists on due, date. The plates are numbered from 4557 to 4610 inclusive, and have .white figures on a chocolate-maraon coloured plate. The car registration plates, which are; of similar colour, have not yet been received by the postmaster.

Fine weather prevailed locally over the week-end,, particularly on Saturday, when the afternooii was very sultry. Yesterday a stiff easterly wind prevailed until well into the night, and this had the effect of. cooling the air Somewhat, while this morning dawned with a cloudy sky and conditions weire much cooler. The barometer is steady at 29.9 degrees.

A young married man, who: de&cr.feed himself as the head of a department of an important institution in the town, told the Hamilton Court last Friday that he was earning £5 10s a week, while a statement which he submitted showed that his weekly expenses were £6. He, was summoned for fall’ng in arrears flor the maintenance of his sister in a mental hospital. He had previously offered to pay 5s a week, but had, he said, been unable to keep up the payments, and he now offered 2s 6s a week off the arrears. The Magistrate- asked him hdw .he, was going to pay his halfcrowni if his weekly expenses, were already 10's a week more than his earnings. Defendant admitted that he had purchased a £250 piano, on which a £lO deposit was paid. There was no.w only £5O owing on it. His wife had paid the, instalments put of her earnings as a music teacher, but she had been ill for some time, anld it was- the expenses contingent on this that had caused him to fall ip. arrears. An order for the payment of 2s 6d per week was made. •

. After persistent representations,, extending over years, the efforts of th Mayor of Waihi (Mr W. M. Wallnutt), the Borough. Council, and the District Schools Committee, backed up by Mr A. M. Samuel, M.P. for Ohinemuri, to have a permanent school building, capable off meeting the growing demands for accommodation, erected at the Waihi Beach reserve, are at last about to be rewarded,' a grant having been approved off for tlie erection of a. permanent school building.