DISTRICT NEWS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 147, 8 November 1912, Page 2

DISTRICT NEWS.

j WAREA. ', (From Our Own Correspondent.) .' The Egmont County foreman has been ' | engaged during the last week in .plough- j ing out and widening the Main South ' j Road along here. This will prove doubly j 'beneficial, as not only will it be an ad-' ) vantage to have the road widened, hut ', the extra width will save the wear and ' tear of the road, as it will not be necessary for traffic to continually keep in the ! same ruts. ■ I ■ Mr. 11. Corbctt has gone on a holiday j trip to the South Island. 1 This last week the weather has again - taken a change for the worse, as it has been almost continuously wet, and the local rivers have been iii high hood. The picnic which was to have been held on Wednesday in connection with the opening of the Glenferrie Tennir, Club had to he postponed on account of the flood. A special meeting of the local Athletic Club is to be held on Saturday night to fix the date for holding our annual sports. A meeting of the Railway League was to have been held on Saturday last, hut owing to the paucity of the attendance was adjourned until next Saturday. In > the course of a very interesting report Mr. Burgess outlined the steps which were successfully taken to form branches of the League at Warm. Pimgnrehn. Rahotu and Okato. lie then detailed the steps taken to deputationise the Minister in conjunction with the New Plymouth League, stating that owing to the shortness of the notice and the importance of | the matter (the deputation having to go I to Wellington the day after receiving (advice on the subject)'it was found impossible to consult the committees, and J the delegates had to take the responsi- ] bility of deciding to go themselves. A j very representative gathering was got together, the report continued, and about an hour after reaching Wellington they interviewed the Minister. Probably as a compliment to Warea for having been the first to move in the matter, he (Mr. Burgess) was chosen as the first speaker being followed by Messrs. King, Fleming, Gray, J. Brown, G. W. Browne, Morton! Connett and others. At first it was evident that they were looked upon as simply a deputation to he listened to and courteously dismissed, but an the figures were brought out it was evident that Mr. Fraser became interested, and by the J time they had finished there could*be no doubt that they had enlisted his sympathy. In talking to Messrs. Okev, Samuels, and Wilkinson afterwards they were assured that in their opinion the deputation had put their case in such a way that it was bound to have a good effect, and the Minister himself said that if light railways were authorised their's should be one of the first to be built, and he also promised to personally visit the district during the recess. Of course they were told about the scarcity of money and. the number of applications for railways, but the deputation felt convinced that the proposals to guarantee interest had carried great weight, and also that the present Government was quite in sympathy with the idea of allowing private companies to construct lines where the colony was not prepared to undertake them. The people in New Plymouth had taken up the matter most enthusiastically, and it would not do for Warea to go to sleep over the matter if anything of use was to result. The question of calling a meeting of the delegates who have had been appointed by each branch to form a general committee and appoint a chairman and secretary bad (in consequence of the hurried trip to Wellington) not yet been dealt with, but should not be lo'iif sight of. Incidentally he mentioned that the Warea branch had collected but a small amount in subscriptions, and the expenses to Wellington was. a fairly big item besides telegrams and other expenses. As the secretary, Mr. H. Corbett, had left the district for a time it would be as well to appoint another in his place, pro tern, and select a good energetic person to canvass for members.