Our Stratford Page

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 201, 4 May 1912, Page 3

Our Stratford Page

j A SERIOUS OFFENCE SCHOOLBOY TAMPERING WITH TRAIN BRAKES. One of the boys who daily travels to and from the Stratford School has been tampering with the brakes on the trains, and was caught the other day. He removed the key whilst sitting on the carriage platform, thus disconnecting the near part of the train from the engine as far as the brake control was concerned. Drivers who are in the habit of using Westinghouse brakes can judge to a nicety the distance required in which to pull up their train. The Westinghouse has been installed so that' trains may be pulled up almost immecli- ' ately, thereby sometimes avoiding collision and preventing loss of human life. But if, without the knowledge of the ] driver, the brakes are interfered with, and a portion of the train released from their operation, he is at a loss. Such interference might cause a railway collision, with heavy loss of life, for the train would thunder on and fail to respond to the application of the West- I inghouse. All this was strongly pointed I out to the boy yesterday afternoon by Mr. W. G. K. Kenrick S.M., in the juvenile court, and he requested the boy to tell his schoolmates what a serious mat-' ter it was. In view of the boy's age, only thirteen years, the Magistrate was content with severely admonishing him, warning him not to interfere again with things that did not concern him, and no conviction was entered up. j

CHILDREN AT PLAY. A delightful little concert was given in the Parish Hall on Thursday evening by the children of Holy Trinity Church, who had been most capably trained by some of the lady teachers. At play, they were really working, for on the success of their efforts depended the extent of the Sunday School prizes for the year, i If there are to be many such concerts, 1 the Social Committee have met to get busy in the matter of providing more | seating. This is a matter that some of j the young folks of the congregation have in hand, and for v/hich they have organised a series of socials, to commence next Tuesday evening, and to which socials the congregation has been > invited. But to return to the concert, j Master Hudson opene'd the first and second parts with violin solos. Then came j "Love at Home," a song and action i chorus by the children, introducing semi- j tableaux effects. A duet by the little Misses Hazel and Winnie Wolfe showed them to have pure soprano and contralto voices, ami the item was good. "Oh, boys, carry me along," was the title of the next item, by Miss Gladys Black and Master J. Partridge, the song and dance giving the first of the "nigger" items. Miss Liddington recited "Old I Scissors," humorously. About a dozen ! little girls sang a lullaby to their dollies J —a very pretty number. Then six, little tots gave us "Good night, number one," candlesticks and "nighties," adding to the charm. A march song by the children followed, then the second violin solo, and then came a gem, Miss Gladys Black being the central figure in a prettily staged "Mushroom" song and chorus, the central figure being a frog reposing "under a mushroom tall." The fairies were immenselr popular, and the gipsy j song by the 1 oys and girls round the i campfire was A'ell given. The Rev. W. A. Butler contributed a humorous reading, and then ihe girls gave their song and cakewalk in splendid time and tune. The concert was so successful that its repetition was requested, and the children will appear again on Thursday night. BERNARD'S PICTURES. The change of programme on Thursday night included some excellent films, the ■ most attractive number no doubt being Shakespeare's historical drama. "Macbeth." Although it would be absolutely impossible to put this drama on the screen in its entirety, unless a whole evening (or perhaps two) were devoted to it, yet the artists engaged to produce a summarised version gave a faithful representation of the principal events in this great play. The large number of performers, including horsemen, all dressed in the style of the period, each one performing his or her allotted task with a due regard to effect, was a further testimony to the enormous strides kine- ) matography has made. The Indian drama, "Love of Summer Morn," gave a, touching episode in the lives of a young American military officer and an Indian girl, while the drama, "Poet and I the People," during which the marriage

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takes the place of the hangman's knot, ■was loudly applauded by the audience. There was something highly sensational in the comics also, especially in "Calino takes Boarders" and "Moritz Shoots Big Game," in both of which wild animals play a prominent and ludicrous part. The programme will be repeated for the last time to-morrow (Saturday), and those who have not seen it should not miss this opportunity. Another grand change, with some specially selected dramas, will be submitted on Monday. GENERAL NEWS. | The chairman of the Stratford Hosi pital Board has appointed, Tuesday, May 7, at 2 p.m.. as the time, and the Borough Council Chamber as the place, for the meeting of local bodies to elect one delegate to represent the district at the 1 I conference on the Local Government Bill I at Wellington on May 21. ■ Mr. J. D. Wilson, of Pahiatua, is visiting .Stratford. In cross-examination in a judgment summons case yesterday morning a man I , stated that his meat and groceries cost , him about £ 170 a year. "The children must be fed," he said. "They ought to be well fed for that money, too." i The only civil business in the S.M. Court this morning was the judgment summons case, John Leydon y. E. Hill, j in which the debtor was ordered to pay £4 Is forthwith, in default two- weeks in gaol, the warrant being suspended till May 25. The Normanby Town Board has invited the Stratford Borough Council to i be represented at the unveiling of the 'cairn in the Waihi Military Cemetery and the monument in Victoria Park, Nor-! manby, erected to commemorate the soldiers who fell in the Maori wars in that locality. The ceremony will take place on Wednesday, May 29. at 2 p.m. Miss Nielson having declined to take up the position of teacher in the secondary department of the Stratford District High School, the position has now been offered to Miss Tooman, of the Paeroai High School. The borough inspector caught a man driving in the borough streets without lights recently, and, yesterday he was fined 5s and 7s costs. 1 TJie local members of the North Taranaki Hunt Club are keenly appreciative of the sporting instincts which brought so many of the northern members to - take part in the inaugural meet in this district. Much of the enthusiasm and success locally has been engineered by Messrs. E. Jackson and A. Davey. The' latter is now acting as local secretary; > and fills the bill admirably. Many of those who went to Ngaere out of curi- j osity are infected with the hunting | craze now, and the local membership promises -well. j At the Salisbury Road School las i, ■' night there was a large gathering in re- j spouse to the invitation of the ladies') leap year ball committee. Misses Good- ] win and Jones were M.C.'s, and performed the duties as to the manner { bora. Mr. Richardson supplied the music, and Misses Auld, Mischewski, | Goodwin and Anderson played for extras. A capital supper was provided. It was about 2.30 a.m. before the last dance ended. Ernest Robinson, charged with furious driving, who had signed a statement to j the local police that he would plead j guilty, put them in a hole this morning when he decided to plead not guilty, urg-1 ing as a defence that his horse had bolt- j ed and was beyond control. When the position was pointed out to him he assumed a nonchalant air, and said he supposed he could plead guilty if the Court wished him to, but the Magistrate said that he could not accept the plea in the circumstances, and the case was adjourned for a week. The police will now have to call witnesses to prove the case. These would have been in at: tendance this morning had the change of front been anticipated. In the S.M. Court yesterday a first offending drunk was fined 5s and costs. A judgment debtor pleaded this morning that he would be able to pay a debt if he were given six months, to which the Magistrate replied, with a smile, that possible the creditor would like him to "get six months' time." The Denbigh Road card team beat Stratford at crihbage on Thursday evening, by 36 to 30.