LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5399, 13 March 1929, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The School Committee, having three days during, the year at its, disposal for holidays, has, following thq usual practice, declared Monday next as a holiday o.wing to the increased traffic due to the races, with the consequent danger th children.

An enjoyable social was held last night at , the Methodist. Centenary Hall. During the course of the evening ,Mr Leslie Dean tvais, presented with a beautiful tea-set on the occasion of his forthcoming marriage to Miss Elma Whitmore.

An agency of the National Bank of New Zealand, Ltd., will be opened at Ngatea on Mondays and Thursdays by an officer of the Paero-a branch, with hours from 11 a.m. to 2.30 p.m., commencing to-morrow.

The traffic of live stock from the Bay of Plenty via Paeroa to Westfield has been very heavy during the past month or two. Thousands of sheep and hundreds of cattle have gone there and to. othejr places. On Saturday no less than 29 truck-loads of cattle passed through Paeroa on their way to Westfield. Considerable damage to two motor vehicles resulted when a Rugby car, owned and driven by Mr W. Elvin, of Turua, collided' with a Ford truck, owned by the Thames Valley Power. Board and driven by Mr W. J. Rogers, of Turua, early on Saturday evening. The mishap occurred near the Orchard East Road corner on the Turua-Neth-erton road', and though no one was injured the damage to both vehicles was very extensive. At the primary school spor.ts at Ngatea on Friday last it was suggested by pine of the representative,? of a, distant school that a function should be held to present the Tnedais won at the sports, and that an M.P., or the chairman cf the Education Board 1 he invited to make the presentations. The matter will be; discussed at a meeting next week, when the representatives of. tjie various schools will meet, to wind up affairs in connect ion with the last sports, and put on record suggestions for the iniprovejment of next year’s gathering.

Two bright red electric lights were installed on the Nga.tea bridge last week to replace the kerosene lanterns previously used to- warn shipping of the presenice of the bridge. The new lights arc placed high on the superstructure and can be seen from a long distance up Orchard East Road. Strangers using this roa.d at night are undoubtedly puzzled.

Attention is directed to an an-

nouncement on page one from Messrs Wright Stephenson a.nd Co., Ltd., New Zealand distributors of gutta perelia tyres.

While unemployment, is rife in the cities, and even in the country towns, and scores of men are looking with tepidation to the approach of. winter, there is no unemployment on the Hauraki Plains, but rather a scarcity of. labour for odd jobs. Farmers, and such local bodies as school committees, which frequently have a few days’ work available, have great, difficulty in getting anyone to do it.

Shipments of onions from Pukekohe to the United States and Canada in small quantities have bejen usual for some years back, but just at present, owing to the shortage of that article in North America the Pukekohe exports to there a'"e df record tonnage.

Whilst the carpenters were pulling down the fittings in a shop at Ng.aruawahia lately occupied by Mr Hennessy, and guttejd in the lato fire there, they discovered’ some hidden treasure. Behind a mirror was a great hoard of halfpennies—hundefds of them. It seems that a former proprietor of the shop never kept any halfpennies that he received, but. tossed them behind’ the mirror. The value of the find nuns into several shillings.

Forming and maintaining an aerodrome is an expensive business, according to some figures the Minister of Defence gave to a deputation of flying enthusiasts from Lowey Hutt who interviewed him with regard to the establishment <. a light aeroplane club in the Hutt Valley. The Minister said that the Government estimate of the cost of running an. aerodrome was £3OOO per annum —£500 for a pilot, £4OO for a ground engineer, ami tlic, cost of maintaining artificers, hangars, store and repair sheds;, and of providing for. possible accidents. General R. You.ng also referred to the; financial difficulties involved in the working of an aero club. For instance, he said, it would cost £3 10s an hour to learn to fly.

No one who has seen theni togethej" in largo numbers could say that New; Zealand has not evolved a type of tall, brcted-shouldered, light-flanked boy, saidi the Hon. H. Atmore in Nepv Plymouth (reports the “News”). Measurements had proved that the New Zealand boy of 15 was the heaviest for his age in the world, but this was not strange, considering the wonderful pioneers from whom had descended.