THE Hauraki Plains Gazette. With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto: Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1929. LOCAL AND GENERAL

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5488, 16 October 1929, Page 2

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette. With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto: Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1929. LOCAL AND GENERAL

■ The earthquake relief fund at the borough office closed last Saturday, and the total amount received, £l5B 6s 9d, has been forwarded to the central fund, at Wellington.

Shipping arrivals at Paeroa last week included Noble’s auxiliary schooner Miro, ladened with gelignite for the various mining companies. Upon completion of discharge here she left for southern ports. An expected arrival next week is the oil vessel Motu, ladened with poles for the Thames Valley Power Board. This vessel has already made several trips with poles for that board.

To-morrow, commencing at two o’clock, there will be a sale at the Parish Hall of St. Paul’s Church of home-made cakes, to which preparatory donations of cakes, etc., will be welcomed. Together with the sale of cakes there will be music and competitions. At 8 o’clock there will be bridge and five hundred.

Concerning the equipment for the Paeroa Hospital, the chairman reported at the Thames Hospital Board meeting on Monday that very few of the firms had given a quotation for all the equipment. He would suggest that the clerk and himself be given power to act in the matter. On the motion of Mr Brenan this was agreed to, with the proviso that, all things being equal, firms doing business in the board’s district be given preference. The secretary was given authority to have the floors stained.

An important sale of furniture will take place to-morrow at the residence of Mrs Raffill, where the whole of the contents of her dwelling will be offered for disposal. In addition to the furniture, the five-roomed residence will also be offered. The sale will commence at 12.30 p.m., and will be conducted by Mr H. Jackson, auctioneer, Te Aroha. Particulars are advertised.

Last week Finlay’s Crossing, Cadman Road, nearly claimed another animal. A cow, one of many which make a practice of browsing alongside the roadway in the vicinity, strayed on to the line, and the oncoming express came nearly to a standstill before the animal deigned to budge.

As a result of the poor prices being obtained for kauri gum, Messrs Whitley and Sons intend to close the Aranga gumfields. Aranga is 22 miles from Dargaville. Twenty-five diggers, some of whom have been on the field since 1919, will be out of employment. Six of them are married. A store on the property is also to be closed. The settlement has been in existence for 50 or 60 years, and gum worth hundreds of thousands of pounds has been won from the field. The diggers recently have been working at a depth of 14ft, but owing to the low prices it is considered more profitable to leave the gum in the ground.

The Lands Drainage Department is now having the Kerepeehi-Kaihere road resurfaced with red metal. Already a great improvement has been effected, the road having been allowed to get into bad order.

Four of the new settlers on the Kerepeehi block have joined forces to instal a water supply. A force pump and piping for the scheme arrived by yesterday’s boat.

The Waikato-Thames Valley Co-op-erative Bobby Calf Co. will receive calves weekly while offering.*

Midway through the meeting of the Thames Hospital Board on Monday, and after the accounts had been passed for payment, the letter-carrier arrived with an account from the Public Works Department amounting to £5733 14s 6d for the building of the Paeroa Hospital. This account will come up for attention at the next meeting.

There will be a bull sale at the Paeroa saleyards to-morrow, commencing at 12 noon. Messrs G. Buchanan, H. J. Harris, W. F. Johnstone, and C. Townshend are offering some outstanding Jersey bulls. One hundred or so beasts of all breeds will be on offer.

The bowling and croquet greens at the Alley Memorial Park, Hikutaia, are in excellent condition. The work of painting the pavilion and top-dress-ing the asphalt tennis courts has been commenced, and should be completed in ample time for the opening ceremony, which will take place about the first week in November. Quite a number of bowling, tennis, and croquet enthusiasts have already commenced play, the park during the week-ends presenting quite an animated appearance.

The Turua Plunket Society has had flags erected to show the progress of the Baby King and Queen Carnival. Yesterday the blue flag (Kopuarahi) was on top, with the southern district’s (red) next, and the white flag (Turua district) at the bottom.

The 39th ' annual report of the Jubilee Institute for the Blind, Auckland, shows subscriptions and donations from Paeroa amounting to £l5 7s.

The advent of “summer-time” last week-end caused little comment on the Hauraki Plains. At the various cheese factories suppliers are gradually catching up the half hour which the clock was advanced, but little advancement has been achieved by the cream cartage contractors serving the Ngatea butter factory, and congestion is being caused by a few contractors arriving at their proper times. Carriers say that their lateness is due more to the enormous increase in the amount of cream in the past few days owing to the beneficial rain than to any laxity on the part of farmers.

Speaking at a meeting to consider publicity matters in Napier, businessmen urged the value of newspaper advertisements (reports the Napier Daily Telegraph). Mr J. Harris said the newspaper advertisements caught the reader in a receptive frame of mind after he had had his tea and finished his day’s work, and were more impressive to readers than poster propaganda. Mr A. Hobson agreed. Newspaper advertising had a psychological effect upon its readers not given by any other form of publicity.

A legal opinion has been received by the Waipa County Council to the effect that while churches, chapels, and Sunday School buildings were exempt from county rates, land owned by Churches but not built upon was not exempt from rates.

A record shipment of 111,000 boxes of butter will be loaded at Auckland for New York, Halifax, and London on October 29. In addition she will take 10,000 boxes of butter for London.

Bees in the Thames Valley and Hauraki Plains are very forward this year and are already storing honey. There is abundant feed for them in most parts. This year should see a very large and good output, one newly formed company alone having upwards of 800 hives.

Work at the Maratoto mine is proceeding apace, and is now reaching an interesting stage. The electricians are working at high tension in an endeavour to complete the work of wiring for the electric motors as soon as possible. The hoppers are being filled with quartz, so that with an ordinary amount of good luck the batteries should be set in motion within a week or two The shares remain quoted at 10s, and it will be interesting to note their position on the market when the result of the crushing becomes known. Perhaps the only regrettable feature in connection with the commencement of work at the mine is the possibility that the children’s swimming pool adjoining the schoolgrounds at Hikutaia will have to be closed, as it is understood that persons suffering from sores or scratches will be liable to cyanide poisoning.

' Cricket has commenced in earnest at the Hikutaia school, but the master does not intend taking part in any competitions until after the Proficiency and Junior National Scholarship examinations.