PROVINCIAL NEWS.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 October 1916, Page 3

PROVINCIAL NEWS.

(By our Travelling Reporter). Recently at Hawera I noticed a guard busily engaged in porter's work. Evidently the Railway Department are feeling the shortage of labor. There are a'bout 30 men engaged on the Te Roti-Opunakc branch line. The work is being hampered through hi.'k of steel and ironwork. With mutters working smoothly the rails would probably be all laid down within live years. With the war going strong there is no stating when the work will be completed, pleted. At Hawera recently I bumped into an old ex-resident of that town in the person of ~Vlr. W. Cowper. ''Billy" is now on the land outside Auckland, which obviously agrees with him. lie was agreeably surprised at the steady progress made by Hawera of late years. Our southern town has certainly made wonderful progress, and is now apparently as up-to-date as any inland town. There are many readers of the News in the Eltbani district who will learn with regret that Cecil A. Dull has paid the supreme penalty in France. "Cis." was farming for many years in the Mangamingi Valley, and was, a very popular young man. In connection witlj his death it is interesting to recall that he was once officially pronounced ''dead" whilst in camp at Wellington. His widowed mother was notified, but instead of finding a corpse she found her son alive. It appears that Dull' and another young man were under treatment for dental work, and the stranger failed to rally. Both men being unknown to the' operators, a mistake was made in names, and Mrs. Dull' was notified of the "demise'' of her son. Unfortunately there appears little likelihood of a mistake being made in Saturday's heavy list.