Shannon News THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1925.

Shannon News, 24 December 1925, Page 2

Shannon News THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1925.

The Shannon News wishes its readers and advertisers a Merry Christinas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year. His Worship the Mayor (Mr W. Murdoch) left for New Plymouth yesterday morning, where he will spend the Christmas holidays with his daughter. The many friends of Mr and Mrs Howard Andrew^wi LI be sorry to learn that their youngest gon, Brian, was taken suddenly ill yesterday morning and had to be removed to Palmerston North Hospital, where on arrival he was immediately operated on for acute appendicitis. All will join in wishing the lad a. speedy recovery. On enquiry we learn that his condition was favourable tQ-day. On Saturday the staff of! the Public Works Department and friends in Shannon assembled to bid farewell to Mr A. ,T. Ridler, chief clerk, who has ■been promoted arid transferred to Dunedin. ' The evening was spent in singing, dancing and competitions, while at an interval - Mr Robinson, chief electrical engineer, presented Mr Ridler with a beautiful travelling rug. In doing so he said they were losing a man whoso place would indeed be. hard to fill and on behalf of all he wished him a successful career. Messrs Johnstion (engineer in charge of the works), Blackwood (Power House engineer), M'ctodie and Henry also endorsed Mr RAbinson’s remarks. Mrs Ridler Was presented with .a solid ■bronze jar.

■ The working of the punt over tire Manawatu river at Shannon is again causing much ann yanoe and inconvenience to. travel.erg by cars and other vehicles which have to cross the river. Owing to ti-1 law state of the river, which the diy spell in 'Hawkes Bay is responsible lor, it is now only possible to get acci ss to the punt on the Shannon side at high tide, a large sand drift having come down and lodged on this side of the river. Complaints are frequently made in connection with tlie h Mrs for working the punt and a coi respondent writes asking: “What Lours is the punt working?” He suggests “that a notice should .he erected on each side of the river stating what hours the punt is available, also whet the fees are, if any.” He states that the present arrangement is very unsatisfactory-and often causes a long wait; and in some cases motorists have to pull themselves across. The express from Napier on Tuesday afternoon, whit i was running 20 minutes late, was f.-rther delayed' at Shannon. As the train was approaching the station a ponion of the draw gear between tile -engine and tender

broke, and us the two latter weiji only connected by two links of chain it was deemed unsale for die. engine to .proceed with the train, as tbert was possibility of the engine becoming disconnected from the resl of the train, when travelling on an up grade. Longhorn was quickly communicated with and a relief engine was despatched from there. It arrived in quick time and the express once again got going, being 1 hour and 12 minutes behind schedule time. Tite delay caused considerable anxiety to some of the passengers, two of whom were to join the Tahiti timed to sail for Sydney at 5 p.m., hut fortunately they had their minds put at ease to learn through the Post Office that the boat’s time for sailing had been put off until 8 p.m. Later in the afternoon the engine that had caused the trouble proceeded to Wellington on her own.

Motorists complain that a railway signal at Paraparaumu is almost continuously down and is therefore useless as an indication that a train is approaching. • An interesting relic of Otaki anticjuity has recently come into the poscss.on of Mr. ron Brown, and is now on exhibition in the Kiosk grounds. We refer to the mill stones of the old nidi that used to stand on the banks of the Mangapouri stream. This mill was erected under the policy of Sir Godrg'e Gray in 1851, together with a number of others in the North Island. The object was to encourage the natives in industrial and peaceful pursuits. The stones -each weigh half a ton and are line samples of the old system of pounding flour which was in vogue before the Christian era. It is Mr. BrownV intention to preserve them, among other Otaki relics, for the benefit of posterity. It is from this mill that Mill Hoad obtained its name..—Mail. On Saturday morning a party of two local Messrs AV. H. Harris (Batb fetreet) "and E. Vickers, set forth to‘ climb Mt. Dun das, the outstanding peak in the Tararuas atthe back of Levin. Leaving the intake at 7.30 a.m. the party reached the Mangahao river via the Oil an river and Mangahao range at 2 pan. Afterbeing detained in camp on Sunday by very heavy raid, they set out on Monday morning at 8 a.m. to climb the peak, reaching the top at 11.30 a.m., but to their disappointment found it to be enveloped in clouds, thus making a view of the .surrounding peaks and the Wuirairapa impossible. After spending an hour on the top the party Left for the camp and on Tuesday morning started for Levin. On the way down the Ohau river several herds of deer were encountered. The ypunger member of the party, E. Vickers, is a District High School boy and is to be compliment ed oil successfully reaching the top, he being probably one of the youngest mountaineers who has ever climbed Mt. Dundas from this side. His pack weighed 32 lbs, and the party carried a tent and supplies sufficient for a week, this being necessary in the case of conditions requiring a prolonged halt.