THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 1928. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5248, 7 March 1928, Page 2

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 1928. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Judgment for plaintiff by default was given by Mr F. W. Platts, S.M., at the Paeroa sitting of the Magistrate’s Court on Monday last: Le Manquais., Lamb and Co., Ltd., y. Crickett Bros., £3l, costs £4 Ils 6d ; G> W. Brown v. L. Sounders, £6 7s 6d, costs £2 2s 6d ; W. Fleming and Son, Ltd., v. W- G. Gregory, £6 Ils 3d, costs 10s 6d;. qanie v. D. Moore, £1 19s 6d, costs 8s ; same v. J. Kotara, £7 12s, costs £1 17s 6d ; W. M. .Sorensen v. Riki Rakana, £5 12s .9d, costs £1 18s 6d.

Spontaneous combustion caused the destruction of a 15-ton stack of hay on the farm of Mr T. A. McClean, of Ngatea, yesterday. The hay was stacked before Christmas and the stack roofed with iron.

At the quarterly meeting of the Ohinemuri Licensing Committee held at the Paeroa Courthouse on Monday a transfer of the license for the Criterion Hotel, Paeroa:, from Mr Et L. Haines to'" Mr L. E. C'assrels was granted.

It was suggested by Mr J. B. Thomas at yesterday’s meeting of the Thames Valley Electric Power Board that some system should be instituted so that when a stoppage of power occurred farmers in the area should be advised promptly as to the probable duration of the stoppage. Farmers with large herds of cows did not mind delaying milking for half an Hour, provided a reasonable assurance could be given that the current would be available within a certain time,. It was pointed out by the chairman that when a stoppage occurred some people were • unreasonable. The best plan, and one that he always adopted, was to start straight aWay and milk by hand. It was explained by,the engineer that a troubleman oouild not always tell in a few minutes what had caused H'he stoppage, and neither was it always possible to repair a fault within a specified time. There were many factors to be taken into consideration.

The total number of consumers connected to the Thames Valley Electric Power Board’s mains on February 29, 1928, was 5046. In these figures the Thames and Te Aroha boroughs are not included, the consumers in Thames Borough being 1056 and in Te Aroha Borough 625. During last month 10 lighting and' heating consumers, six water-heaters, tw'o electric ranges, together with 13 ■motors on farm of which 4 were 2 h.p. milking motors, were also connected. There arc now connected 1324 water-heaters and 232 electric ranges, and the total number of motors connected and running on farms is 2289, of which 1765 are 2 ■h.p. milking motors. Inf addition, 36 consumers had lighting and heating additions made during the month, together with one 100 'h.p. motor on •meter.

During tihe height of the gale yesterday all. the stormwater drains in the borough were taxed to their utmost to cope with the downpour. A wonderful improvement was noticeable in the upper Normanby Road area, where the new drain near the transformer functioned splendidly and proved adequate to deal with the volume of water. At the end of the bridge on the Te Aroha side of the river the new open drain carried the water, while the new borough drain on the Old Te Aroha road was subjected to a severe test, but proved equal to the occasion. In this area stormwater formerly used to lie about for days after heavy rain, but with the provision of the drain the locality was quite dry this morning.

The electric light failed for a brief period on Monday, and again last night. On making inquiries at the local office of the Thames Valley Electric Power Board this morning it was learned that it had been necessary to isolate a section of the highvoltage line so that seme repair work could be done. The interruptions were caused by switching out at the transformer near the Criterion traffic bridge. So far as the board’s lines in this district arc concerned there was no trouble experienced as the result of the easterly gale.

On Saturday morning a team representing the local volunteer fire brigade and comprising deputy-Superin-tendent E. Moore, Foreman H. Wilton, and Firmen H- Moore, E. Martin, and C. W. Malcolm journeyed to Te Aroha, where they took part in the Htowden and Hill-Maloney Shield competitions at the Herries Memorial. Park. While the local team failed to win the trophies it did very well in several of the competitions, but was handicapped by lack of water practice. Both shields were won by a Te Awamutu team, Cambridge being runnersup. The judges were Messrs H. Boyce (Cambridge), P. Pilkington (T'e Arolia), and W. J. Moore (Paeroa). It is considered that the experience gained by the local, team was valuable, and next year it hopes to be well on the winning list.