MILTON

Otago Witness, Issue 2815, 26 February 1908, Page 39

MILTON

Februaiv 24 — An effort - s at present heing irmde to organise a hack race meeting for the Milton district Attempts m this direc "t:on were niade. a year or two bJick, but they came to nought. Whether ihe present will be mere successful remains to be seen. The difficulty of securing a suitable course may prove insurmountab'e although support m other respects is said to be encouraging.

Mission — A highly successful mission has l>3en held in St. XtaTy's Church during the past fortnight The services have been conducted by members of ihe Redemptorist Order, and the interest taken lias been hearty and most eiiccnragmgr The rnanv freinds ot Father O'Neill vill regret to learn that, he has been compel 'cd to take a holiday for health leasons, and is at present n. iiclVcurne.

Ath'etic Society. — The annual meeting -if the Bruce Athletic Society called for !he 14th mst. Lapsed for want of a quorum. Intere-t in professional athletics- would appear to be dead. The fact that the credit balance etards at £4 3s 6d as against £25 2s l!d for the previous yeai will not help to make efforts at resuscitation any the easier. It would, seem as if the athletic proclivities of the community will have to be catered for by the Amateur Athletic C^ub, which is at present ;p a very healthy conditio-n, both fin.'uicially and otberwis*.

Harvesters' Wages. — There has been a little friction la'.ely in this district >ver the rate of harvesting and threshing nage-= Tl'e rate was fixed by «n Arbitration award come years ago at 9Jd per hour and found, cr is and the men find themselves. The aw aid still hods good. The Labourers' Union, however, lately approached the Farmeis' Union and asked for a conference to di=cuss tho question of laismg the wages. The Jatter body declined the request on the ground that it had no power to ask farmers to raise the late in the face ot an existing award. The Labourers' Union then approached the imllowneis and it is stated that icr thresning a rate of lojd per hour and found has been deeded upon For the purpose of helping on tbc cause of the Labourers' Union Hr A H. Barclay. M P., delivered an address in St. George's Hall last Wednesday evening oa ' Country Labour and I 3 Organisation.' The attendance was somewhat poor, but the address was nevertheless interesting, aud should be of considefable service m the cause for which it was given

The Bailwaj Yard — Extensive alterations aTe in progress in the Milton railway yard. The accommodation for shunting loag goods trams "to allow of the passing of tt« cxoi-es.es has for long been found to be insufficient, and the alterations are paTtly for the purpose of remedying this defect When the alterations a:e finished they will also permit of anothei improvement — viz., the starting of the Lawrence tram from a platform of its own. Incidental to the carrying out of these alterations, the station buildings will probably ba shifted and the platform lengtnened In this counecticci it was thought that the present would be a fitting opportunity to press for the erection of a new and up-to-date station, and the Minister in charge wa? approached on the matter His answer was short, decisive, and distinctly unfavourable, and it seems pain that the building which has done duty as a station for so Jong wfl have to continue to do so for some time yet to come.

Lighting the Town. — The Milton Borough Council is at present engaged in its pencdical discussion on the question of the lighting of the town. There are cynics who say that the prsssnt discussion will begin and end as all preced"ng discussions on this topic have done — in ga*. Some years ago the relative merits of coal and vater gas was t'le bone of contention. Tnat difficulty was settled by everyone deciding to stick loyally to his o'd friend kerosene. Kow, the point of battle has shifted owing to acetelyne entering the field as a fresh d'sturber of the psace. Inquiries re the ralue. of the acetelyne for town* lighting purposes arc- being made frorr these municipalities which are using it, and when full * information is to hand we are promi=ed a definite step forward. Those who live will see.

The* Half-holiday —The Borough Council having decided. without consulting the wishes of the business people in tye matter, to alter the weck'y half-holiday f rom Wednesday to Sa■ l urda^ , those whose interests lie m tbe direction of retaining Wednesday are up in arms. A telegram was forwarded to the Minister for Labour asking bun to dslay gazetting Saturday pending receipt of a petition from the tradespeople This the Minister dsclined to do, on the- ground that Saturday having been decided' upon in the manner lequircd by the act that day would have to be gazetted The result of -the innovation :s being looked forward to uith so.ne interest. It will probably be found that the fear 1 * entertained oy those who Aie opposed to the change are but phantoms of the in^agiin<ion, which have mo assistance in actual reality

LAWn Tenni? — The new courts of tne Milton Tennis Club were foriEeliv opened ia c t Wednesday aferneon. Many year? .igo tennis was one of the moU popular of our summer pastimes, but of laic the game has fallen on evil dajs and rhe local club, winch at one time con d boast of players who weie a power to bi reckoned with, went the waj of all flesh A few enthusiasts, it is tiue, continued to play oa the High Schpol courts, but for many years nothing, m the way of an organised club was in ex stence, the difficulty of obtaining suitable courts being the principal drawback Litely an opportunity of acquiring a suitable piece of ground in a. fairly central position presented its«lf, the club was reorganised, guarantors for the puichase money secured, ard the work of having the grotmds levelled and the court a formed immediately put in hand with the, lesult that the club is now iv possession of two fine asphalt ccurts convementlv situated As above stated, the formal opening toak place last Wednesday afternoon. Mr W Moore, president of the club presided, and, in the absence from 1 the Dominion of Mr James Allen, M P., the duty of declaring the ccurts open devohed on Mr A. S Malcolm, MP , who is himself a player of no mean ab.lity The formal part of the proceedings over, refreshments provided by tie ladies were "partaken of. and play was then commenced and continued until viell on in the evening