Rabbit skins 1929. National Library
Meghan Hawkes looks at what was making the news in Waipa in 1929,
A holstein bull
A large Holstein bull caused considerable excitement at Ōhaupō after it escaped from the drover.
It rummaged in the post office gardens, crossed the road and scattered a group of people on the verandah of the Ōhaupō Hotel. The bull then rushed to the back of the hotel and entered the building through an open door before running up a hall and bursting into the sitting room. Ladies in the hotel were startled, and their cries of alarm were heard in the street. The bull was finally driven outside, but not before it had broken a large couch.
A jet of light coming through the floorboards of Te Awamutu’s big twenty-passenger International pleasure bus owned by Advance Cars dismayed the driver, Mr Meredith. He was proceeding to Kihikihi with the empty bus to bring home some dance patrons. He applied the brakes and jumped to the road, and in a flash the vehicle was ablaze. Mr Meredith had no time to reach for the chemical fire extinguisher and could only look on while the large benzine tank located near the engine sprayed fuel over the woodwork and then exploded. Nearby residents were soon on the spot, but nothing could be done and in an hour or so just the skeleton of the bus remained. A couple of days previously the vehicle had been overhauled.
Settlers in the Te Rore district had tried for three years to arrange for a gravitation supply of water for their farms and households by tapping a small stream on the northeastern slopes of Pirongia Mountain. Engineering surveys showed that a very cheap but efficient supply could be secured, the pipeline being led across the Waipā River near the Te Rore traffic bridge. The Waipā County Council gave every assistance but when the project was well advanced more settlers offered to help. As a result, the scheme was enlarged and application made to the Local Bodies Loans Board to raise a loan over a special rating area. The council was confident the loan would be sanctioned by the settlers, who were doing everything possible to have the water supply available by the autumn.
There was an epidemic of surprise parties in Paterangi, and those households who wanted to avoid them were light heartedly warned to take early precautions. A bevy of about 20 jovial young people raided the home of Mr and Mrs Bell in the latest amiable ambush and their visit was a complete surprise to the whole family. However, the first shock over, the group was given a hearty welcome and the visitors very quickly took charge of the situation. Furniture was shifted and dancing indulged in, interspersed with games, instrumental music and singing. The visitors provided a delectable supper, and it was a happy crowd that dispersed about midnight, with an invitation to call again in the near future.
Rabbit skins 1929. National Library
