LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Putaruru Press, Volume II, Issue 17, 7 February 1924, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Pending the permanent appoint nient of a headmaster for the Putaruru school, Mi*. McCambridge is acting in the position.

A native lad, Henry Meroti, about 14 years of age, met with a nasty accident at the Oraka pa, Putaruru, last Saturday evening*. He was riding a horse when the animal slipped, throwing the lad violently. His head was severely injured and he was rendered unconscious. Dr. East's service were requisitioned and on his orders the lad was sent to the Vv aikato hospital.

An outcome of the request made by. Ci*. E. -J. Darby, Putaruru riding, to the Minister for Railways for an overhead bridge for pedestrian traffic to the Putaruru station on the occasion of the Minister’s visit last December strict instructions have been issued to the stationmaster and his staff to forbid the public the use of any route of access to the station platform in future other than ’ the footway from the Princes street gate opposite Mr. Ray Brown’s store, this being the entrance specially provided for t.lie purpose by the department. The instructions specify that warning should be given to members of the public using any other route during the first fortnight, and after that names of offenders should bo reported with a view to prosecution.

A meeting* of the management committee of the Putaruru Rugby Union was convened for Wednesday evening of last week, but lapsed for want of a quorum, only the chairman, the secretary and one club delegate being present. The secretary stated that he had received a letter dated December 18 from the Waikato Rugby Union to the effect that the Waikato Union had reconsidered the To Whetu protest .as the result of it being* referred back from the New Zealand Union but saw no reason to alter its previous decision, namely, that the protest could not be accepted and therefore must bo dismissed. The next meeting of the local union will probably be the annual general meeting*, which, according* to the rules, must be held not later than the second week in March.

A sitting o.l* the Putaruru Police Court was held on Saturday morning to deal with two men arrested the previous day by Constable Murphy. The first, was a person who was charged with being found drunk on the railway platform at Putaruru the previous afternoon. He did not appear to answer the charge until some half-hour after the sitting of the court, but meanwhile tlie amount of his boil £l. had been estisted by order of the presiding* justices, Messrs. R. Alcorn ami J. Barr Brown. It was stated that as far as was known he was a first offender. The second accused was Charles Edward Bolton, aged 34 years, who pleaded guilty to a charge of being* an idle and disorderly person, with no visible means of support. Constable Murphy explained that accused had been “ cadging at Waotu and had constituted himself a nuisance. He was sentenced to 14 days’ imprisonment at Rotorua.

The Mangaiti deviation, on the Taupo road, is to be opened for traffic r.ext week. Speaking on the matter last Tuesday Mr. Goodyear, public works road overseer at Rotorua, stated that lie expected this work to be finished in about nine days’ time from then, say next Thursday or Friday. A considerable number of the workplan would be paid off on Saturday. The job had been a much bigger one than had at first been anticipated owing to the unexpected springs and rock work that had been encountered. In the case of the springs provision had been made for draining* the water away and soft portions of the roadway had been metalled. There was an adequate supply of metal there for metalling the whole roadway if neces-

sary. The permanent gang would be ti ansferred from the Mangaiti deviation to the job of completing the new road from Atiamuri to Mokai. Later it might return to widen the road beyond the deviation to the full width of 18ft.