LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 2, Issue 145, 14 November 1913, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The shooting season of the Pukek'.'he Gun Club is drawing to a close. On Saturday afternoon it is proposed to have a photograph taken of club members, and particularly of those shooinls who defended the Curtis and Harvey Cup. Tbii picture should prove an j lterestirp; memento.

"Look at the cockies!" said a women. "Look at 'tin, They come down hero to right our men and they ha* to git the police to protect them." A little later a crowd of perhaps seven thousand people gathered in Customs street. A cracker went off. This was the signal for a drivirg movement by the police. I hen the '•specials" wheeled across the street. "Look out!'' shouted someone, '"the r.H;ies :irn cominV It was worth ;'. trip to Auckland to tec thai brave crowd scatter!

Notwithstanding the strike disorganisation of th2 town and surrounding district at the present time, the nett profit of St. James' Presbyterian sale of work was £37 12s. In addition to this the Ladies Guild holds £25 worth cf saleable stock, A cumber of district farmars who are dcirg strike duty in Auckland returned to their honns on Wednesday for a day's holiday. It was a well-;arned respite. Th y returned to thy city next mDrni'g. The shiftirg of the Pukekohe railway station Las shortened the di:tauce between Pukekohe and Buckland, but it hes n)t lessened the railway fares between the?e place?. The secretary of the Pukekohe Chamber of Ccmmerco. lias unavalliogly written tj the district engineer asking for the exact distance between the staliors. Thi3 week another lett r has b:cn dispatched again asking for the information. Talking about strikes and the I down-trodd n "worke;s." Most of the KarangahaKu shoutists who I visited Pukekohe on Tuesday were | miners "cut of work." They were on strikr, but tad been throvn | cut because cf the shortage of coal i necessi'ating a shutting down. InciI dentally it was to he noted that most ! of the men had beautiful guns, some jof thtm being worth over £3O I apiece. Th2 exploited classes! You I lucky workers! A final reminder is given of the j Rama Rama flower show to-morrow. Unfortunately, it is the opvning ! clay of the bowling season in Pukekohe, so that some enthusiasts who had planned a visit to Rama Rama will not be able to get over—at any rate until late in the evenirg. But notwithstanding tha circumstances of the strike and opposing engagements the Rama Rama show will be a success, and every lover of (lowers who can go, shoulJ go. Pigeon shooting i 3 a i expensive pastim?. On Tuesday last the writer had a look over the gui.a employed at th2 local thootirg match. There were abait 24 cf them. Probably fourteen of tha weapons were worth £3O each, and tha other ten would cost not less than £lO apiece, a total value of £52. When it is said that the Pukekohe District Gun Club has handled over £2OO this ceaton in cash it will be further understood I that the pursuit of the "days" i costs money.

fhis your the members of the Pukckohe Bowling Club expect to have an unprecedentedly good season, the green being in better condition than ever before. The official opening takea place tomorrow and a large number of visiting: players are expect-d. The Croquet Club klso open their gicsn co that a bi<? gathering is assured. With the Bowling Club entertaining, and the croquet ladies as hostesses, visitors and members of the two clubs are certain to have an enjoyable time if the weather be at all fine.

Messrs Coady and Calder, of the I Lyceum Picture Company, hava ! taken over control of the Premier I Hall, Pukekoh?. Mr John Coady, |of the firm, is at present in town ': busily engaged installing an up-to-I date high power electric plant, and j the public may look forward to | having a picture show equal to these given in the city theatres. Mr Coady is at present unable to definitely announce the date of the cpening performance, hut expects to be ready in about a week's time j and will inform the public through j these columns. Watch for the | opening ancourcament?. At the last nreting of the Frauk- ! lin County Council Cr Lyons said he j was not altogether satisfied with the I flooring and joists that were being I in the new county building. j There was no fault of the contractor; the Council had specified o.b. timber. But ho thought totara I should be used. Cr Campbsll conI demned the policy of using such material and advocated heart of rimu ior some other sound timber. The i matter was referred to a committee i with power to act and subsequently a better quality of timber was substitutsd. Councillors agresd that the I best would be the cheapest. In the Auckland Court the other day a coloured man named Archie William Taylor, aged 24, was charged with a succession of thefts. Besides several criurs in Auckland it wa3 alleged that Taylor spent some days In Mercer. It was said that a Maori living in a five-roomed j house near that town locked up his i dwelling on October 20th. prior to j going into isolation during the ! smallpox scare. Five days later he I revisited his house, and found that it j had been broken into during his j absence. Jewellery, Bundry articles, j and money, to the total value of £46 i 7s 6d, were missing, and the house ! showed every sign of having been j ransacked. A whare belonging to i another isolated Maori was abo i broken into, and about £2 worth of I go-ds stolen. In close proximity to I this whare was found a receipt book, ! and it was alleged that this was I identical with the one used by the ; accused when he obtained the £1 I deposit from a tuircires&er in Auck- [ land. The accused, whov'eaded not guilty and reserved his defence, was committed to the Supreme j Court for trial.

' If you say "scab" in Auckland just now it's eudclen death or the j poiice cells. And a less offence than mentioning that offensive word brings speedy retribution. A story is told cl how a well-known Buckland man, advancsd in years, upheld his end of the etick. This is how a local story-teller relates it "Be gad, ye should have been there. I'm tellin' ye it was fun. Somebody in the crowd jist sa : d 'boo!' 'Boo, is't,' raid the eld man, 'here's for ye.' " Then the narrator goes on: "Ye shud've seen the sparks flyin* from the grey pony's heels. The paths were gmcoth as glasF. Be pad, but that pony got round! (and the sparks were Hying out of the old man's eyes, too.) Straight at tha boc-er he sailed—at a gallop. And see him run—run, and did ye ever see a sick rabbit chase! by a dog? The striker dattzd in and out, and old after him. Then the rabbit darted into Wingatt's. In goes the 'special,' helther-skelter. Tha ladies screamed; the assistants jumped over the counters out of the way. But got his quarry be th 9 scruff of the neck and brought him out to the street. 'He didn't c'o nothing,' sez a voman who flung her arms round ths rabbit's neck; 'he's me 'ushand.' 'Go,' scz old —, flingin" 'he rabbit away. 'Go, a;id don't let U3 nee yer dirty face in this crowd agen.' "

Frank Perkins & Co. have just opened up a nii'fl assortment of the famous

Dreadnought Boots and SW<. liiopcc- j tion invited.*