STRATFORD NEWS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 304, 16 May 1913, Page 3

STRATFORD NEWS.

PROM OUR RESIDENT REPORTED

STRATFORD OPERATIC SOCIETY

The annual meeting of the Stratford Operatic Society was held in the Mu- ' nieipal Chambers on Wednesday evening, Captain Lampen presided over a fair at- j tendance of members. ! THE AXXUAL REPORT, j The committee's annual report con-' gratulated the Society on the excellent i results of the year's working. The hal-1 ance-sheet showed a surplus of assets , over liabilities of £O4, far in excess of i anticipations. The Society had given in J all four performances: First. -'Trial b\ ' Jury,"-in aid of the Stratford School prize fund, and "H.M.S. Pinafore," two nights at Stratford and one night at Hawera, for the Society's own working fund. The public gave very generous support,. and the. Society might safely rely on the continuance of such support while the standard of efficiency already shown was maintained. Reviewing the balance-sheet receipts, it would be seen that the amount received in donations was £2 12s Od, which practically reserved to the active members the full credit of the satisfactory position shown.. The Society commenced the coming year with a membership of sixty,'and members were to be congratulated on the loyal manner in which they had upheld the decisions of the committee. It was hoped and expected that the same loyalty would be showirto the new committee for the ensuing year. The re- ', port referred to the loss, through de-- ( ■parture from the district, of the services jof "several'prominent-members, namely, Miss; Black, Mr. E. W. Lewis, Mr. and ; Mrß.. Bond, and Miss Hooker, while a {few; others- had found that private affairs iprecluded their continuing as members. \. 'The Society was indeed fortunate in), possessing such capable members as Miss } '. Morison, pianiste; Mr. T. G. Grubb, con-1 ductor; and Captain Lampen, stage manager, to whom a large share of praise was due. The report concluded with ' thanks to those ladies and gentlemen '. who so generously came forward with 1 assistance in the orchestra, and to the , i press for the material assistance ren- ! dered during the year. j The annual subscription remains as !, I heretofore: Gentlemen ss, ladies 2s 6d. ; The balance-sheet showed total receipts I , \ £l9B 8s Gd, and expenditure of £l6O j ( j 8s 4d in properties, Baltics, hire, printing, and sundry expenses. There was |: now £3B 2s to the Society's credit in ', the bank. Assets were valued at £7-1 , 13s 2d, and liabilities £lO lis. The resolution adopting the report and balance-sheet added congratulations to the committee on the result of then* ', efforts. , Twenty-four new members were , elected. Officers were elected as follows: - Patron, Mr. J. B. Hine, M.P.; president ' r Dr. A. Dillon Carbery; vice-presidents * Messrs. W. P. Kirk wood, J. Masters, Jos c McCluggage, W. (.!. Malone. 11. Spenco t T. C. Fookes. H. E. Abraham, and N j J. King, Rev. Father Maples, Rev. Fathe'' t Tracey and Rev. Butler; lion, secretary, i Mr. F. H. Wilkie; treasurer, Mr. 1: t Skoglund; committee, Messrs. Stanley G. Liddington, Dunlop, S. Cato, Robinsoit, ;, Lampen, Templer, Vauglmn and the con- J t ductor, secretary, treasurer and officers i ], ex-officio; ladies'- committee, Mesdames ,j, Hogg and Riera, Misses King, Cameron p and Segill; selection committee, the con- & ductor, Captain Lampen and Dr. Car- a bery; conductor. Mr. T. 0. Grubb; stage „ manager, Captain Lampen; assistant i, stage manager, Dr. Carbery; pianiste, a Miss E. Ross Morison; assistant pianiste, <| Miss Middleton; prompter, Mr. C. H t Potts. I Members voiced their keen apprecia- c tion of the invaluable services rendered g to the Society by the secretary, Mr. c Wilkie, and he was voted an honorarium t of two guineas. ], Mr. Dunlop eulogised the enthusiasm, energy and taet shown by the conductor, c "the man who bossed the show," saying e that he had never missed a practice or a a rehearsal. The remarks were greetd s with applause, and Mr. Grubb was e pressed to accept a donation of a couple t of guineas. ' s a RIFLE SHOOTING « 1 STRATFORD RIFLE CLUB. a The Stratford Rifle Club yesterday 5 completed the shooting for the McAi- < lister trophy. The conditions were bad, 1 the light being changeable and the wind ' coming from right, left and rear. Those '• competitors who shot last week at 300 ' yards were given the option of using c either score, and this gave the trophy 1 to Rifleman Mitchell. Those scores < marked with an asterisk (*) are last « week's. Details:— In 300 300 600 I-Tp. Tl < J. Mitchell 29* 27 29 7 !)2 | 1 C. Speck 32* 31 29 F- Arden ]f, ofl 29 20 89 < N. Thorpe 33* 25 31 H. Ferguson 31* 27 24 7 89 ' E.B 29 31 2o 3 88 1 11 STRAY PARAGRAPHS 11 Stratford emptied itself liberally into ] Hawera for the races. The train travellers were greatly in excess of last year's, and the motor-cars were responsible foi a huge exit of sports from here. A tremendous drop in the temperature has brought about a big advance in the demand for warm wear for men. "The Kash" just now presents a new shipment of warm woollen shirts, besides which they have a great range of overcoats. Messrs. Mullen and Marshall, the proprietors, are both well acquainted with the men's wear trade. |

DISTRICT NEWS,

Office and Job Printing Works: Next N.Z. Loan & Mercantile Agency Co., Broadway. Telephone No. 113.

; AWAKIXO-MOKAU. • (From Our Own Correspondents). . I Another nutter which ratepayers must t keep constantly in view when "considering -the question of merging, is the bridge i j across the Mokau River. .Should those i j portions of the Awakino county lying 11 east of the Whare Orino Range and in i the south-west of the county, think it I advisable, to become part of the Wai- { tonio county, the matter of bridging this magnificent waterway will be shelved indefinitely. Can anyone imagine the rate- : payers of Te Kuiti and surrounding district making a vital question of the bridging of the Mokau River? These people have no, or but few, interests in Taranaki. I think the local ferryman could enumerate upon his lingers the number of Waitomo ratepayers who have during the course of the year risked the perils, dangers and inconveniences of crossing into Taranaki per medium of the present: ferry. Having, <no interests, one cannot conceive of their makhig a wholehearted effort to complete or have com-' pleted the one remaining link between Auckland and Taranaki, i.e., the Mokau bridge. There are also some ratepayers who avor the absorption of part of the Awa- ; kino county by the Clifton county. Now Clifton is no better off financially than \ ftiitomo; still, at the head of the affairs has been a more conservative Council, and one less extravagant with the Council's funds than Waitomo. It will hardly be likely that Clifton would give matters pertaining to this district the consideration they warrant. The roads in jthe Clifton county will of necessity be ;metalled from Waitara north, therefore we in this district would have to wait I until the head of the metal reached here. At the present rate of progress the words of a certain Irish melody echo through my mind; the waiting '•may be for years," etc. Now across the Mokau River lies the , famous Mokau-Molukatino block, the roading of which, according to the agree- | ment entered into by the owners, ought ;to be roaded by the owners. Now these j owners have placed upon the market some thousands of acres of land to which j it is impossible to take stock by way of terra firm a. They got their solicitors to work and they found a legal road. A finer road for purposes which it will undoubtedly serve cannot be found in any county; so good is it that stock may not trespass upon it. This road is the I Mokau River. Now the Clifton county ! will eventually have to make a road down the bank of the Mokau, and I do I not doubt that they will have to make many miles of roads in other parts of the block,' for the gentlemen who acquired the block did not do so with the intention of spending money upon it. Roading is expensive, so the'owners will endeavor to evade the roading problem by passing it by some means on to Clifton. To sum up the whole question, which is one of £.s.d., I do not think that the ratepayers can possibly do better than let the Awakino county live and flourish, for flourish and prosper it will if petty grievances and local feeling be put aside and one and, all the ratepayers strive to do their utmost for the county as a whole instead of each one being ambitious of having all the advantages which a Council can give brought to and laid down at his front gate. In local affairs there is too much of this species of fauna, i.e., that beast which with one eye i cannot see any farther than his own grassy patch and which when the time comes for-improvements wants all tjie top-dressing on his particular part of the'' long acre. In these notes I have had cause to mention the Mokau bridge. Locally there exists a belief that the Governments, past and present, have done their utmost to shirk the responsibility and cost <of erecting this structure. * First, we are told that funds will not or cannot be spared; then we heard that fresh plans ' are being drawn up; and, lastly, the district informed that the Mokau river has not a solid bed upon which to erect a bridge until a depth of eighty feet of sand and shingle has been penetrated. The erosion that has gone on in the bed of this river must have been of a gigantic nature. Flanking either side of the river and standing upon the anticipated approaches to the proposed bridge are derricks which support the overhead cable for the ferry. Now these derricks, which rest on the solid rock, are practically'in the river; in fact, at high tide one of them is in the water. It would appear that from the borings made that the rock shelves out sufficiently and eonI veniently from the river bank's to allow jof the erection of these derricks and then drops abruptly down eighty feet, j There are residents who would like to be present when the next boring takes place, so that they could independently j measure the lengths of the rods used in the process of boring.