DISTRICT NEWS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 360, 11 April 1910, Page 3

DISTRICT NEWS

MAKETAWA

ii-'ruLu Our Own Correspondent.)

Tin 1 picnic and s-jiorta organised by the suppliers to tile Maketawa Dairy Factory. and which took place on Thursday last in Mr. li. Marshall's paddock, was a great success in every way. Before the time tixed for starting (11 a.m.) and up to 1 p.m., the road was lined witli conveyances of every description loaned with the families and friends of the farmers in the district all bent on enjoying themselves, and that they did enjoy themselves will, I feel sure, not he gai" Ideal weather, an ideal ground, and an energetic working committee are factors that tend to a successful issue and the crowd of old and young, to the number, I should say, of somewhere about 300, showed in every possible way their appreciation of the efforts that had been put forth. Games of all kinds were indulged in during the afternoon. lollie scrambles and fruit for the young ones and in a large marquee that had been erected on the ground a strong ladies' committee, consisting of Mesdames Thomas, Brown and Corner, and the Misses Stevens, Burgess, Mantey, Corney and Johnston were kept busy dispensing a choice- assortment of eatables at two long tables, which were constantly filled during the afternoon. The Durham and Norfolk schools were given a houiday, and the races, etc., for the small fry of both sexes were well patronised by those of both roads,so much so that if any day will be well remembered by the youngsters it is bound to be Maketawa picnic day. The performances of some of the children in their events were very creditable, and I cannot help saying that a great many of them will in the near future be heard of as tip-top athletes. It certainly is a pity, that those who have lately raised the cry of child slavery on the farm were not present so as to have seen tor themselves what tin' dairy farmers' "nip pers" could do in the matter of outside sports. To =eo boys and girls from nine years up "legging it out" in their different events, the evident determination to win, and the good spirit shown when a loser, is, to my mind one of the best trainings the young can get, and the more encouragement they get from the elders to persevere the better. Some of the races for the older ones caused great excitement, particularly the sprint betwen Mr. T. L. Wheeler and M. M. Jones and two others, the former, a veteran of 60, heading the second man (53) by a couple of feet. A pillow-fight between the iyoungsters caused much amusement, and a "go" on the bar by the older ones would have. T feel sure, been much appreciated, but evidently they were "not having any." Another item that was well worth watching and which also caused tremendous excitement was the tug-of-war between a team arranged from members of the A.M.P. by Mr. Forbes (the Society's representative) and a team of "The World." It was a splendid struggle, the latter in the end securing the prize (presented by Mr. Forbes). The sack race and a run for 50yds backward also provided amusement for the onlookers. The suppliers' handicap of three events was finally won by F. Dombroski, after a real ding-don? go with W. Wheeler, second. The entries in every one of the events necessitated the running of heats and the judges (Messrs Brown, Marshall and Stevens) had their hands full, more particularly in the children's events, but in no ease did the slightest hitch occur, the decisions given satisfying all. Putting-the-shot brought 14 entries and was won by Curtis, with •31ft llin. The hop-step-and-jump of 12 entries fell to Jas. Paterson, who skipped over 39ft 6in. A guessing' competition as to the number of se6ds in a ''pumpkin drew a large entry and was I «won by Miss Grant, whose hazard was just two short of the actual number of seeds. Other guesses ranged from 150 to 700. A special race for ladies for a prize presented by Mrs. T. Wheeler was won by Miss L. Wheeler, while Mrs. A. Goble captured the married ladies' race, with Mrs. Dombroski seeond, and Mrs. Thomas third. The married men's race resulted: Barlow 1, Thomas 2, J. Dombroski 3. Ben Dombroski won the halfmile, with Hall second, and the 100 yds (open) went to McDonald, with Parley second. Thread-the-needle race (a smiler) was won bv F. Brown. The committee, consisting of Messrs Thomas, ,T. Brown, Goble, Grant, W. Burgess, Stevens, Johnston. W. Brown, Taylor and Barclay, /kept things on the move, and it was remarked by visitors that in that respect, other like gatherings elsewhere would do well to take a leaf out of the book. Mr. iGrant made a most efficient, starter and

as for the secretary (Mr. E. Taylor) well, they had the right man in the j-ight place. I understand that an effort h* to be made to make the affair an annual one, and T might say that a rerr large number exprewod the hope that it weuld be so.