RAILWAY PICNIC.

Taihape Daily Times, 7 January 1919, Page 4

RAILWAY PICNIC.

The second annual picnic of the Taihape railway staff was held last week end after a postponement from the previous week owing to wet weather. Despite the wet weather, the picnic was held, thanks to the generosity of Mr Gordon Forbes, of Taihape, who placed his motor lorry at the disposal of the railwaymen, Mr R. Floyd, who also gave the use of his motor car, and to Mr J. Anderson, Bennett’s siding, on whose property the picnic was held. In addition the committee wish to thank Mr Steve Beban, Mr Faire, and Mr W. J. Jorgensen for services and assistance rendered.

A feature of the gathering was the presence of an excellent orchestra, comprising Messrs G. Ardell (piano), H. Hartley (violin). G. Martin (comet) and A. Porter (trombone), all members of the local railway staff. The music dispensed by the orchestra was greatly enjoyed by all present and was a great factor towards the success of the day.

The principal athletic event of the day was the tug-of-war contest, in which five teams competed. In the first round Returned Soldiers beat the Cleaners, Fitting Staff beat a combined team, and Firemen had a bye. In the second round the Fitters beat The Firemen on the third pull. The final resulted in a good contest between the Returned Soldiers and Fitters, the “Diggers” winning after a hard Tussle in the third pull. The Returned Soldiersf team then pulled a combined team selected from all those present, and the Returned Soldiers again prevailed. Later in day the “Diggers” were again challenged by All Comers, but retained their unbeaten record. The Returned Soldiers’ team comprised Messrs G. Forbes, C. Nicholls, A. Floyd, E. Lenihan, and W. Knaggs. There were 20 entries for the weightputting contest, which resulted in a win for Sergeant C. Nicholls, who beat G. Pilling and G. Forbes by three inches. The 100 yards running race was won by G. Martin, with G. Pilling second. McKenna, who was leading. stumbLd a few yards from the tape, or he would otherwise have won. The high jump was ..well contested, being won by A. Porter rather easilv, with D. McKenna sec'ond. A waltzing competition was won by O. Schaab and C. Bartram, with Terry and Dan second. .An enjoyable dav’s outing was brought to a close with a good motor run into town, the second annual r»icnic being enjoyed as much as last year’s.