Stratford News.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 105, 11 January 1912, Page 3

Stratford News.

HALF-HOLIDAY QUESTION. To the Editor. Sir, —Mr. H. Wilson's letter published in your issue of to-day wrongly blames me personally for the action taken by the Stratford Chamber of Commerce in connection with the half-holiday question. Surely Mr. Wilson should know better. What I have done in the matter has been to carry out the wishes and instructions of my Chamber's executive committee, and my actions as hon. secretary to ' the Chamber are always under their command. In view of the fact that my Chamber has decided to cease its efforts in this connection, a# set i forth in my last published letter,. and that no alteration in the half-holiday will be effected, it is difficult to conjecture what good purpose Mr. Wilsom imagines can be served at this juneture by his letter. I decline to discuss the pros and cons of a Saturday half-holiday, but I venture to state once more that the object my Chamber had in view mi the amicable establishment of a uniform half-holiday throughout Taranaki, aid they would welcome such on any day. Very Teluctantly I am impelled to reply to Mr. Wilson's criticism of my choice of words in my letter. I used the term "universal half-holiday for Tara*aki," and Mr. Wilson says he "supposes Mr. 1 Richards meant provincial half-holiday." Such criticism appears to me to be a weary splitting of a useless 6traw. Hr. Wilson also says, "I can scarcely imagine even the Stratford Chamber of Commerce presuming to dictate to the whole world." Such a statement is scarcely less ridiculous than would be a statement to the effect that he could imagine such a thing.—l am, etc., J. B. RICHARDS, . Hon. Sec. Stratford Chamber of Commerce Stratford, January 10, 1912. } RETAILERS PETITION TO BOROUGH I COUNCIL., } Messrs. It. H. 'Robinson and H. J. Hopkins have .circulated the following petition amongst the- retailers of Stratford during the past , two days, and have obtained the signatures of nearly all the retail traders. The petition will be presented to the Borough Council op Monday night:— " 1 Re Weekly Half-Holiday. • ?y To the Mayor and Councillors of the Borough' of Stratford. Gentlemen,—We, the undersigned bona fide retail storekeepers, of .Stratford heriby urgently, request that, the weekly half-holiday for the present year be again fixed or Thursday as heretofore. We. are unanimously of opinion that to change the day for this purpose from Thursday to any 6ther day in the week, especially Saturday, would prove most, detrimental to the best interests not only of the retailers themselves, but also to the great majority of the settlers of i the district. The farming community,; on whom the town principally depends : for its business, have been so long accustomed to make Saturday their day of coming to town to transact their busi- : ness, and procuring their weekly sup- ; plies, would be great inconvenienced byl : that day being made the weekly halfholiday. We feel so sure that such aj change would most seriously disorganise business, and incommode the hundreds' of settlers roubfl Stratford, that we em-' phatically ' fenter '■ bur united protest j ' against it.'' The business routine of ! tlfe' . town and its holiday diiif- 1 ing the past tyears, have proved veiM satisfactory, J to - all' concerned, and Wei see no reason'why steps should be take by any body to upset existing We therefore,' gentlfemen, request that: your Council- will adhere to the present arrangement/"' : ' 'j ■ RAILWAY ACCIDENT AT TOKO, i AN DERAILED, j An accident occurred on the railway at Toko spmewhere about half-past fivi i o'clock this : 'morning, resulting in ' ! derailment'oF the engine on the Works Department's ballast train. It appears that a horse, or a couple oj horses, had strayed on to the line at thl Toko railway station. When the engine appeared oh the scene the horse madt . off alongside the track, but just as it reached the cattle-stop it leapt into thfe stop, and in'the middle of the line. As there was not room for both th| engine and the horse, the engine promptly left the rails, and buried vits nose in the swamp. The horse was very badly mutilated. Before very long there was a big gang of men at work, and the line I had to be moved over in order to allow

From Our Resident Reporter.

the up train from Te Wera to pass. This work was completed well on time. Mr. J. E. Armstrong, the district traffic manager, was in Stratford, and went down to the scene of the accident during the morning. PUBLIC LIBRARY. At the last meeting of the Borough Ceuncil a resolution was carried, on the motion of Dr. Paget, that the library committee be recommended to extend the circulating library by taking in portion of the present reading-room, and to appoint a permanent librarian. The ' Library Committee has met, and has approved the scheme. A report to "this effect will be eubmitted to the .Council on Monday evening. The proposal, if carried out—and there is every probability that it will 'be—will give us a magazine room, and will mean that; there will be regular supervision of the reading-room, which is very, very necessary. Whilst the alterations are in progress, the committee should take into consideration the improvement of tka newspaper desks in the reading-room. BOWLING. , .A, match will be played at the local bowling green on Thursday afternoon between Eltham and Stratford. The Eltham Club is sending either three or four rinks. Our green is playing very well at present. Rjnks will be picked from the following:—J. Jackson, Morison, Wake, Penn, Munro, G. Ourtiß, Ctirrie, Black, Porritt, Newton, Sole, Fookes, Masters, Ward, Brake, Rogers, Healy, Sanderson, Rhodes, Edgecombe, and Webb. j • ' " GENERAL NEWS. ' ' The Stratford Racing Club's committee meets to-morrow night. Mr. B. Hine, M.P., has donated two] guineas to the funds of the Stratford Defence Rifle Club. j ! Mt. E. .. Jackson, secretary of the" A. and P. Association, returns this' week, from a*'holiday spent in the north. Mrs. 1 . Jackson remains fot a few weeks withY friends in the Waikato district. . j Mr. and 'MrS'. Aiken and Miss Aiken,] wtfo htive been' staying with Mr. N. Fulton, left for home this morning. _The Egmont Club is shifting house to-i day. The official opening of the new club-;, house is fixed for Thursday, -February Bth. Advi.ce has been received of the? arrival of the billiard tables in Welling-, ton, but, owing to the remarkable; steamer service between Wellington, and New Plymouth, it \ will be a week or two, before they can be (expected to arrive here, ' * The, Stratford Cricket <Club has a byej td-morrow. It's about/ a month sincej the|jr were, engaged in a club match,; One seldom. sees .a man with a bat, which leads to the suggestion that not much practice is going on," " , : tennis enthusiasts are revelling in the) prfesent spell of fine weather. The wet weeks, 'whilst makin'g play impossible, hate bS£n good for the lawnk, which are very often nearly .bare of grabs by this tiriwfin ordinary seasons. ' { .The „Te Wera, trains are 'regularly bringing in large Shipments of wool from"; . ."o.iit ( «ist." The of it cin t<s ' for, export. ' • . ' " . | Tjj-/liy I saw Alan Maxwell, who W ,beeri,'." l in(Lulgi i ng in ,th*e "relt curfe" ''is Totco of late. He' is not rguite to, health. jef- Alan l\as c£oss£d the ling l between, apateur and professional ''sport? ancj in Tfiis neit, bout' wiH as a| professional. ' fefforts being mqjle .tc{ : arrange a meeting with f Tim t {j,| 1 Wfanjjamii. tf, to s£a'n<|j ! us and get; his head inched,,he s'eepii sooS to tjre of having", it' punched |or v ,tW hoijorrand glory 9?%® thipg; prbl The Bwimming>' .Wths "• have.' beei emptied and o«jt, the leak in the .concrete" lpis, stopped. They will, be ogened again, oft r r ?*• \ J i, '.•The funeral of ,thp ( .4ate Mr. y H, Hy'ggetfc.took place this affjeraoons an| was, attended tjy ; aji Jarae J number roj friend?. The had })eeH;a j ber- of Court Waireka n A.O;F., at New Plymouth, for nearly forty, yesys, &nfi the j local Forester*' lpdge:;pr(jvided'' 'tlhe bearers. The funeral sertice-i'was coifr ducted by the Rev. 18. Metson, ,and thp Foresters' burial rites, ibyi Bret H.d&vejf, P.D.CjR. The hymn "Roiok of Ages?' wais sung at the graveside. . ' 1 '. .. .J During the last few- days ti tyrge niinjber of metal trucks, or' hoppers, • ha!s 1 gone forward to the Waipuku railway station, presumably for use' on the'railway from Waipuku to'the Mt: Egmont quarries. I have not heard" Anything, however, with regard to ihe > intentions of the Government in this matter. •' ( There was a peculia'r.accidfent in" Feriton street this morning and : ah§ that must' have been ludicjroite ,V the few spectators. Mr. Golds worthy, a ' wil known member of Mr., Nftwtqn Kingfs staff, was driving along the street in a when the axle l * snapped In ! {wo places, and the 'body 'of t?ie : vehicle settled.'down on the road with 1 a ,whe!el on either side. Luckily, th'c horse was hj, well-behaved animal, • and; he ' merefoawaited development. / " » We had a visit to-,day 'from.' some 6f the Railway Department Magnates. TliJv were: Mr. J. <E. Armstrong, District Traffic Manager; Mr. Jones,, thief engineer; and Mr., Bathgate, foreman of works. Mr. Armstrong', stayed here on Tuesday night, and was' at hand yesterday morning when tjie railway accident was reported from .and he went down during the .morning ,on his motor-jigger. Messrs. Jonos and ■ Bathgate followed the 3.15 train ■ northwards this afternoon, probably to inspect tlie work of strengthening the railway bridge over the Kahouri stream near the muniwpal abattoirs. Steel girders are to be placed in position, similar , to those recently used in strengthening the "bridge over the Patea river in Stratford. A meeting of the Stratford Racing Club's committee, is to be held to-morrow (Thursday) evening, when ■ the actingsecretary, Mr. G. D. Hunter, will present an interim statement of the result of the New Year meeting. On the local racecourse 011 the first day of the races a man was telling the story of a friend of his who collected some £3O or £4O in. totalisator dividends nearly six months after the date I of the meeting at which his investments/ were made. The tickets had been left and for the time being lost in the pockets of an old overcoat. A similar, instance has occurred in connection with, the Stratford meeting. A resident of Opunake has written to the secretary of . the racing club, enclosing two tickets on Muleteer in the. Midhirst Hack Handicap.

(The tickets had slipped into the lining of a pocket, and found only after several days had passed. The tickets will be forwarded to Messrs. Neylon and Spriggins, who worked the totalisator at the meeting', and the lucky Wcker will receive his money in due course. MESSRS. MOREY & SON.

DRAPERY ESTABLISHMENT AT I STRATFORD, Messrs. Moray and Son will open a branch business at Stratford on Saturday next. The firm Has secured a lease of premises situate on the east side of Broadway. Originally it comprised two shops. The partition has now been removed, however, and the building transformed into one splendid shop with two large plate-glass windows. Pour up-to-date counters have been installed, and all the fittings have been feed up by the firm itself. The shop is beautifully lighted with skylights and electric light all through. The; Bhowrom is a spacious one, and is well appointed in every respect. The whole of the floor has been covered with nice inlaid linoleum. The premises are practically new, they are bright and clean, and will compare very favorably with any store of similar size in the Dominion. During the past fortnight Messrs. Morey and Son have put in a specially selected stock of general drapery, including all their well known brands of sheeting, calicoes, damasks, towels, quilts, etc. The dress department is replete with the best and newest to be obtained, and the showroom is I quite a feature. The ladies' underwear, skirts, blouses, etc., should cause quite a etir among the ladies of Stratford. Messrs. Morey and Son have been fortunate »in securing the services of Miss McKeon, who is so well known throughout the district, to take charge of this i branch of the business, and with the stock at her disposal will doubtless command a big share of the Stratford trade, t The main shop: is under the charge of Mr. Kerby, who has had experience in the larger centres as well as I in New Plymouth and Stratford, and thoroughly understands the wants of the public. lie shop is one of the most attractive in the town, and the lettering [ on the top and front verandah is remarkI ably attractive, and one can see at a glance that it is "Morey's. Drapery Store." Mr. Morey informs us that the firm intends to do strictly a cash busi- ! ness, which no doubt will be appreciated I by all. There will be no books kept;) and it will be useless for anyone to ask£ for credit—all wiJjLbe refused. The repu- / tation the firm has in New Plymouth forsupplying first-class drapery at a minimum price should stand them in good stead at Stratford, where buyers can do their shopping at the branch and see practically the New Plymouth stock represented there.' Having th'fi btdk stock in New Plymouth, the Stratford stock ■ will be kept right up to date at all time?. Morey and Son are to be heartily cengratulated on their enterprise, and no doubt ere long they will be more than satisfied with the results of their venture. As stated above, the opening day is oh Saturday next, January 13.