CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Te Puke Times, Volume II, Issue II, 4 July 1913, Page 2

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

The inaugural meeting ol the local Chamber of Commafce gives pronisa of the existence of a body which should be of great assistance in helping to develop and further the interests of the township and district. It has started with a membership of thirty, and a3 the annual subscription has been fixed at a merely nominal sum, there is every likelihood of this number being materially increased. Its executive officers also have been wisely chosen, bsing men who

command the respect of their fellow townspeople, and who are not likely to let slip any opportunity of fostering projects that may enhance the prosperity of this portion of the Bay of Plenty. There are very few towns in the Dominion which have not their Chambers of Commerce, and they have almost invariably proved valuable adjuncts to the local governing bodies. The latter, of course,, have the administrative powers, but the Chambers find, as a rule, plenty to do outside those matters which come within the scope of Town Boards or Borough Councils, whilst they can also, without assuming the rolejof critic, voice public opinion on municipal affairs. The enthusiasm displayed at the meeting on Tuesday night last was a happy augury for the future existence of a body that should be capable of doing much valuable work, and we trust to see it have the hearty-support of the public as a whole.

The funeral of the late Mr D. J. McEwen will take place on Sunday next, the cortege leaving the homestead at 2 o'clock. The wholesale quotations in Auckland for butter and eggs for the week areßutter, 'factory,Is Id per 11): farmers' butter, 8d per lb; eggs, Js 4d per dozen. A social meeting of the Foresters' Lodge is advertised to take place in McDowell's Hall on Wednesday, July 9, at seven o'clock. Every member is particularly requested to be present', as the district officers /from Auckland will be in attendance. Herbert Henshaw, a passenger from Auckland on the last trip of the steamer Victoria to Sydney, was found dead in his cabin with his throat cut. At the inquest a. verdict of suicide was returned. The evidence showed tha deceased was suffering from the effects of liquor and sea-sickness. A large number of Maoris have been in attendance at the sitting of the Native Land Court during the past few days, the Court having been engaged in the subdivision of the Rangiuru Block of 2000 acres. About 100 owners are interested in the partition. The many friends of Mrs W. McLeod, of Papamoa, will regret to hear of her death, which took place at an early hour on Thursday morning. The deceased lady had been a sufferer for many months from a painful illness, and had borne her sufferings with great fortitude. The interment took place this afternoon, in the Te Puke Cemetery, Mr Angus Climie conducting the funeral service.

At the inquest on the victims of the Ore Ore tragedy, the evidence showed that the Maori girl lived with Graham near Horopito, but he, showing signs of peculiar conduct, she left him and went to relatives at Ore Ore. Graham followed her with a pearifle. On reaching the house where she was staying he took off his boots and slipped in the door of the house where the girl was She, hearing a noise, came into the room where Graham was hiding behind the door. He immediately shot her fatally. Another Maori girl called out to the girl's aunt Puta, who rushed into the house, seized a saw, and attacked Graham, who eventually succumbed. The jury returned a verdict that the girl.Nirite was shot by Graham, the'jury. .being of opinion that he was mentally unsound. The verdict on Graham was that he met his death by a wound inflicted by Puta, but the jury was of opinion that the latter, under the circumstances, was not blamable.

In conversation With a representative of this journal, on Wednesday, Judge Brown, of the Native Land Court, referred incidentally to the lack of facilities for .holding Court sittings in Te Puke. The Judge, as a rule, has a good deal of night work to do, and on two occasions he has had to give up possession of the build-ing-oil Friday night for a choir practice, and on Tuesday night for the meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, whilst Saturday evening had to be occupied in packing up books and papers, so as not to incommode the Church services on Sunday. Referring to the books, etc., Judge Brown pointed out that they had to be located on the floor as there was no accommodation in the shape of shelves or cupboards. In the other centres where he sat, such as Opotiki, Whakatane', Taupo, and other places, there were wellequipped Courthouses,

' A' football match between the, •. Old Buffers and the Rest of the £.= Paengaroa team will take place on Saturday, July 5. i < : i ; Mr W. L. Davidson, who has '. .'•< been > stationed' in , Tauranga for, three years as supervi sing car? . penter to the Public Works De-:, ; /' partment, has been transferred , , - ; ,o this town. ''/ A special sale of 'dairy cattle ,;, , will be held by the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Company theTe Puke yards on Monday, /, ,' July 21st, for which 250 spring- v . ing dairy cows and heifers have . already been entered- 7 :. On account of Mr L, G. Hurse, - - of Papamoa, the ■ New Zealand ' Loan and Mercantile Co. will offer • /. at their fortnightly sale on Tues- - ■■■ day next about 70 acres of tur- i, nips, in one or two lots, Mr Tees, Secretary of the local' & Chamber of Commerce has re- ■ ceived, through Mr 'Macdonald, v M.P., a notification from the Hon - A. L. Herdman,' Minister for'-- ' Justice, to the effect: that the ' question of erecting a Courthouse at Te Puke will receive careful ; consideration. The Government expenditure upon railway and road works in the North and South Islands '' during the year ended March 31; 1913 was: Railway Construction: S nd £412 ' 550 ' South ' Island £273,816 ; total £686,266, ! Roads, etc.. £319,095 and £152, 405; total £471,5000. , It is a very remarkable fact that among the millions of sheep ■ which have been examined at the Christchurch abbatoirs a case of tuberculosis has never been once discovered. ■ The most common v "fc troubles in mutton are hydatids,' grandular affections (and cysts. Lambs are singularly s •" healthy. For the yearto March • r--31 last out of 18,000 odd sheep, - 313 were condemned. •

At the Hamilton ,Court last-'i week a debt case was called, in which a married woman, ex* proprietor of a picture show, was ' called as defendant, the defence^ being lack of means. The Magis- : trate said that in a letter which"' had been handed to him it was explained that the syndicates! jh'/;? ' the picture show, line were .mopping up the smaller concerns,, • which fact was held to account ' for the hardship in this case;- No *.5 further .action-Arcs taken: « Mr P. E/ Helyer, of Nortfc S east .Harbor, Dunedin, is the " ; owner of a. Jersey heifer ; of re-markable|milk-producing powers^>'The heifer, Lady of Collingwdod, v is only two years old, and in the Government semi-official test she - has produced 401.851bs of butterfat in eight months.. Mr Hel- v yer, who is at uresent in Palmer- ' ston, was offered 200 guineas for the heifer during the Winter Show, by a Taranaki dairyman*•' but he refused to sell on any ' ac-' - count, a decision that is under- ; standable in the circumstances. 1

At a meeting of the Papamoa' Progressive Society last / week ;: '* r the following members expressed" I '"' their willingness to undertake an experimental plot with seed s'up. :; ''' plied by the Agricultural Depart- vi ment :-Mr Ferguson, lucerne, "vi one acre, on drained swamp; « Mr Brady, lucerne, one acre on"' dry land ;Mr J. Witherow, lu- ; cerne, one acre on sand hills; and;' ; ; one acre rust resistant oat; !iir ~ : . v Hillier, \ acre silver beet, variety " plot of mangolds, and variety > plot of potatoes'; Mr H. Stewart, '-• variety plot of mangolds ;Mr "' Morton, variety plot of potatoes.; ' On Wednesday night last a happy band of " tin-kettlers" visited the home of Mr and Mrs'. •••'' W. R. Gray, in order to wish... . them future happiness in the -V new sphere of life which they . > have just entered upon. Mr Rutter was appointed chairman to , the gathering, _ and under his : guidance an interesting pro-. gramme was submitted, as every member present was called upon to contribute. During the even- ' ing Mr H. Greentree, in proposing the health of the newly." : wedded couple, dwelt upon the.'., wise step they had taken, and -/,".., hoped it would be an incentive " '' to the bachelors present. Mr : D. W. Selbie in voicing, the sen- ■!. timents of the previous speaker eulogised the many good'qualities of Mr and (Mrs Gray, and-,' after an exhortation in the manner of a modern Demosthenes,. v concluded by hoping that the..., host and hostess would consider..". their presence on such an occas-"

ion as a sign of the popularity in., which they were held by "the boys." Mr Gray briefly responded, stating that he would have been disappointed if " the boys" had failed to honor an old • time custom on this occasion.- , The 'singing of AuldLang Syne* v' and three cheers for Mr and Mri ' Gray, brought the function tQ&- ; Closq,

An 'advertiser has a piano for S9 la : "A public meeting that was to have been held in the Mission Hall on : Saturday evening to discuss various matters affecting the welfare'of the district, has been postponed owing to the death of the late Mr McEwen, Arrangements having been made for the Rev. A. C. Wedderspoon, of Tauranga, to officiate at the funeral of the late Mr D. J. McEwen, on Sunday, Mr' Climie and Mr Wedderspoon have agreed . ■ to exchange pulpits on that day. The latter gentleman will, therefore, preach in the pssion Hall at 11a.m., and in the Upper Hall at 7 p.m. There will be no service atPapamoa. ' Mr R. M. Bradford, Secretary of the Winter Show, to be held f; the 24th inst., will be glad to ceive entries from intending exhibitors as early as possible, as it thereby considerably lightens his duties. It is considered prac- ' tically certain that there will be another', splendid display of poulr try this year, and it is hoped that farmers and others will respond generously to the appeal for entries in the farm crops, produce, vegetable and fruit classes. The Committtee, also, are relying upon the ladies to provide some keen competition in the*indus-. trial and culinary classes, and - feel sure that their confidence will not be misplaced,,