Stratford News.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 137, 5 December 1911, Page 3

Stratford News.

MAGISTRATE'S COURT. "LET .ME GO THIS TIME." Stratford, Monday. Mr. C. D. Sole, J.P., presided over a sitting of the Magistrate's Court this morning, when, on the information of the police, Charles Muller was charged with being a rogue and a vagabond, and with having been found sleeping in a railway carriage at the Stratford railway station on Saturday night last. Sergeant McXeely conducted the case f.r the police. The accused elected to be dealt with summarily. Sergeant McXeely said that this man evidently thought he could do as he liked, and could disregard the warnings of the police. He was hanging about Stratford, doing no work, and was a nuisance and a menace to the public peace. The accused had been convicted here quite recently, and given a warning. Asked if lie had anything to say, the accused, who had pleaded guilty, told the court that he had been working in the Kaponga district until recently, when he went to New Plymouth and obtained work at the railway goods shed. His friends at Kaponga wrote asking , him to meet them at the Stratford; show, and he came. They met, and each "shouted" until he was drunk and his money had gone. lie had nowhere to sleep, so went into the railway carriage. lie had, however, a job to go to, and would take it up at once if given the chance. He belonged, he said, to a decent family, and still kept his mother and two sisters, although he had been awav from home a very long time. Sergeant McXeely produced the accused's previous record of convictions. The accused made a further appeal for leniency. "I'm never idle," he said. "I'm working all the time. I've got a job to go to, and if you're kind enough to let me go this time I will go straight to it." The pleadings had no effect upon the presiding justice, however, who said shortly: ''How can you expect to get olV —a man wii.li your record? I'll give you a month's hard lab')', in the New Plymouth gaol."

POLITICAL To-night Mr. .T. B. Tline. the.Opposition candidate, will fire his last shot into the Stratford camp. A big gathering in the Town Hall is confidently expected. Whilst Mr. Hine is endeavoring to win more support, alongside Mr. McCluggage's "am fireside," Mr. McCluggage will be holding forth at To.ko, Mr. Mine's home ground. Mr. McCluggage will engage the enemy at short range in the Town Hall on Wednesday night. GENERAL NEWS Sergeant Dunham, one of the territorial staff, and a very popular man locally, had the misfortune on Friday to lose his black curly-coated retriever, j which won at the Wanganui. Egmont. Xew Plymouth and Stratford shows and the Dominion Winter Show at Hawera. The dog was evidently making his way back to the showgrounds on Friday, when lie was run over by a train. Complaints are , made that lightfingered folks were busy .at' the show last week. They were, not professional pickpockets, but just orxpnary folk who could not resist. tl?e temptation to sneak cakes and sweeties from the home industries department. ( The troubles of an association exceptive' are many. Apparently the show .p'eaple will have to take a leaf out of the book of the racing club» who emplqy a racecourse detective. ' r A howler suggests t/>(ii'.? that on election day a matchsbeiplayed on the bowling green between the top and bottom liners, the winners'ito shout. But politics and licensing are"(|Uite out of place on a bowling green, where comradeship is one of the first essentials of enjoyment and succ^ss y^ One could write'a. volume on to-day's weather, but, the'. thought .of it makes i one long to writ"}, something that you wouldn't print. •' Sunskine, then rain, then hail, then dust, Jliep pebbles blowing about. Here the first chapter. Then more pchbles.; more dust, more

liiiil, more rain, liioii 1 sunshine. That's the s ecoiid chapteu. And. so on all day pretty well, with a nasty, cutting mountain gale thrown in.. The second line. o| fat cattle from this district for tlw»f Waitara freezing works went forward f»y road to-day. A comignment went up tyv r.iil last Friday. Mr. 11. flood',-.tlie company's representative here, says the season is very late, and -fat stock not plentiful. Fat lambs are .now- going into the works, lint ilie drafts arc not as large as usual. The remarks in .thjs morning's News concerning the." advisability of making the present municipal available for letting as offices have been well discussed to-day. Tt is surprising £0 find the number of folk who Jiave had the same idea themselves. One man goes further. He would advise the Coutu.il to resume the section at the rear of the municipal block and construct an arcade leading front liroadway to Miranda street, lie points out that the central section of Stratford, from Regan street to Fenlon street, is far too long, and should be intersected l somewhere. Another tradesman. and an ex-councillor, believes that the land at the rear of the municipal buildings, roughly about, an eighth of an acre, should be utilised for the borough offices, thus releasing the present offices and reading-room for letting purposes. Another suggests the removal of

the municipal ofiiees tn Juliet street, as was proposed by mv friend in tliis morning's issue, but lie fines further and thinks that in stich a ease a sub-way should be eonstrueted from l'roadway. opposite the County Moti!. to Juliet street. The rainfall for sunny Stratford during November was (l.!) 4 inches, This includes the hail and sleet, 1 -uppose, but there is no record of the amount of eold gales meted out to a long-sud'eiing people. Our friends in Inglewuod have beaten us hollow, their recorder announcing that the moisture from the skies totalled no less than 10.2!) inches. For the sake of the reputations of the two towns for cliamte. 1 think the recording apparatus should be attended to. The annual meeting of the Swimming | Club, which was to have been held this week, will take place on Tuesday next. The weather isn't a bit suggestive of swimming. Chatting to a farmer to-day, my attention was drawn to the fact that on the People's Day. of the show the north

From Our Resident Reporter,

train left somewhere about live o'clock, which meant that tho people who came by train had to get clear of the ground by about .4.30 p.in. The most spectacular events were just coming on at that time, and visitors were of opinion that these might easily be got off earlier in tin! afternoon. To <lo this, two judging rings would have to be made, but it certainly looks well worth while.

THE LADIES' LETTER (By "Eileen.) The final evening in connection with Ilia Bridge Club was held in the Medina Tea Rooms on Friday evening last. A good number were present, and an enjoyable evening was spent. On Saturday afternoon there was a frond attendance at the croquet lawns. The day was perfect, and a real good time was spent. A dainty afternoon tea was provided by Mrs. and Miss Dingle, and Mrs. Osmond, assisted by other membevs of the club, which was much appreciated. Mrs. I' 1 , Mullen, sen., of Sydney, has been on a visit to her son, Mr. F. Mullen, of this town. Mrs. M. Hodgins, accompanied by her daughter. Mrs. J. Lyons, returns to Palmerston by the mail train on Thursday' next. Mrs. W. H. Young, Brecon road, is on a visit to Wanganui. Preparation for the Anglican bazaar to he held on the 12th inst. in the Parish Hall are well in hand. All sorts of articles suitable for Christmas gifts, us well as useful garments for man, woman and child, are to be sold, and mothers will do well to pay a visit to the plain sewing stall. The. proceeds of the bazaar are to be devoted to clearing the debt on the Parish Hall. Mrs. Frank Mullen, jun., is away on a holiday to Wellington. Mr. and Mrs. J. Boon intend leaving for a holiday trip to Sydney at the end of the present month. There is a rumor abroad that the Clirl Peace Scouts have disbanded. Such is not the case. There has been no weekly meeting, owing to the absence of Mrs. P. Mackay, who has now returned, 'and a'meeting will be arranged shortly, and preparations will be set on foot to arrange for the reception of the Eltham G.P.S., under the control of Miss E. Murray. ' "

I visitors From new Plymouth Stratford, Last Night.-To-day I. noticed several of your civic dignitaries un Stratford. They were the Mayor (Mr. G. \V. .Browne), the chairman of the Reserves Committee (Councillor Buttimore), the. town clerk -and the bqrough. engineer. ' Whilst unable to, get a.word with them, I got a whisper from a littli, bird that they were setting in motion a ball which may pro ; vide sorae go'od "copy" later on. The Council is owner of some hundreds of acres of land between here and Toko, and this is lpased to farmers. From what .I .can gather one'of the lessees'; made arrangements whereby the Public Works and Railway Departments opened gravel pits on the property, and these are now known as "Skinner Road ballast pits," from wjhich all gravel used in making and maintaining the railway lines to meet th'e Main Trunk line, and for the raihvay yards and concrete work on the liiWs, has been taken. The Railway Department, I am told, desired to extend, the .operations over a larger area, but the present occupier objected, and appealed to the Council. Then and only then the Council found that, the gravel pits existed on their property, and they had drawn no reventie from. them. Hence the visit to Skinner Road to-day, The sequel will no doufct he forthcoming from the Works Committee meeting at New Plymouth to-night (Monday). . . Before Mr. Kenrick,, S.M., to-morrow (Tuesday) a petition will "be Juard concerning the election of a member of the Strathmore riding of the, \S[hangamomona County Council. , .