December 1908

A horse belonging to Mr T Wells took fright and ran away from near Mr R Carr's residence to King Street, where it was bought to a standstill due to the cart overturning.
Miss Ella Skeet received a good appointment as governess in a well-to-do Australian family - with prospects of a trip to England.
During October the total of births in the principal centres of the Dominion amounted to 673 compared to 599 for September.
The Department of Agriculture was thanked by the Borough Council when they sent a number of steel grey ladybirds for the Domain.
The Borough council decided to pay the South Hautapu Drainage Board £25 per year for permission to run the water from the Grey and Clare streets swamp into their drain.
John Arnold's butchery premises on the triangle corner were condemned by Inspector Bennett. The building, occupied by Brockelsby Bros was among the oldest in the town.
The Auckland A&P Show had a very spirited competition for the best gentleman rider and Mr H Crowther of Cambridge came first and Mr C Crowther of Cambridge came second. Miss Ethel Abbott was adjudged the best bareback rider and tied for champion lady rider.

An enquiry into assessing the proportion the new Leamington Town Board and the Pukekura Road Board should pay of the £3000 loan for the Victoria Bridge, was held in the Courthouse. Mr R Fisher, chairman of the Pukekura Road Board, said he thought that the erection of the bridge had increased the value of the Leamington township by 100%. Mr William White, chairman of the Leamington Town Board felt the value of his land had risen about £10 an acre. James Keeley felt the farming land had risen about £5 to £7 an acre. Charles Jarrett pointed out that horses could take double the load of what they could take over the old bridge and up the hill. Cartage was reduced 1 shilling a ton.
The chimes were stopped on the new clock in the Post Office from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. 'They greatly disturbed the slumber of those living in the Post Office premises and threatened to unnerve them.'
Ernest Jeans of Taotaoroa met with an accident while driving a wagon loaded with wool bales. The horses shied and ran into the bank and Jeans was thrown out. He suffered concussion and was attended by Dr Roberts.

Those interested in the Young Men's Christian Association met on 11 December with Ven. Archdeacon Willis presiding. The Y.M.C.A stood for a full-round symetrical development of a young man's life and a group was started in Cambridge .
At a special meeting of the Borough Council it was decided to strike a special rate of 7 pence in the £ as security for the £5,000 Town Hall loan.
The £1,100 tender of Fred Potts was accepted for the erection of the new brick Court House.
The newly appointed South Hautapu Drainage Board of Miss M E Ewen, Messrs C Roberts, R Morse, John Arnold and John McCallion sat for the first time.
Misses Tring and Blackmore, proprietors of 'Salthurst' private boarding house opened the Victoria Tea Rooms in Victoria Street . There were dining rooms on two floors comfortably accommodating a large number of people at one sitting. The spacious windows were well stocked with all sorts of tempting delicacies, on which there was sure to be a big run during the festive season.
A united Sunday School service was held at St Andrews church with Anglican, Presbyterian and Methodist children attending.

The lads from Cambridge High School met the lads from Maungatautari on Victoria Square for a two innings match of cricket. As a result of some swift and destructive bowling from both sides, the score was 50 to 35 in favour of High School.
The local schools were having their breakup prize givings and picnics.
A gold medal was awarded to Master J Hally as dux of the District High School. Special prizes were given to Raymond Butler and Nevin Bell for composition; and Ida Carr and Norman Goodwin won the writing prizes. The special prize for drawing went to Dorothy Dray.
The Pukerimu School held their picnic at Mr John Fisher's paddock. The Catholic School spent an ideal summer's day at Mrs Gleeson's 'Poplars' at Pukeroro.
Borough Council was having problems with the school children digging holes in Wilson Street to get earth for their school gardens.
The Cambridge Dairy Co-operative paid out £4,522 to its 130 shareholders, the highest being £135. Over the last week the Company produced 16 tons of butter.
A social was held in the Presbyterian Victoria Hall to celebrate the opening of the new Sunday School class rooms.

Trade in Cambridge was slow leading up to Christmas but the rush on Christmas Eve made up a record month with people struggling to get into the fancy goods shops.
The Town Band played to residents on both sides of the river on Christmas Eve and were most hospitably treated. They collected a record amount for their funds - £27 4s 0d.
Both St Andrew's Anglican and St Paul 's Methodists had special musical services on Christmas night. Boxing Day saw the traditional picnics where the Anglicans went to 'Clements Park' on Hamilton Road and the Presbyterians went to Mr McGechie's bush at Goodwood. The Pukekura Seventh Day Adventists school drove out to a quiet and restful spot on Mr Death's estate at HoraHora.
Christmas Eve at Te Waikato Sanatorium had a large decorated Xmas tree with parcels for everyone. Early on Christmas morning there was carol singing. The crocquet lawns were well used, dinner and speeches at lunch, then a concert and hymns in the evening.
Mr H Pike sustained a couple of broken ribs, concussion of the spine and badly hurt his shoulder when he fell off a 12 foot hay stack.
In Sicily there was a reported earthquake in Messina where two thirds of the town was destroyed and thousands of people killed.

 

Back

 

Site Feedback
We value your feedback. If you have any suggestions on how this site can be improved, or if you have any technical issues with this site, please let us know.

Disclaimer:
While all due care has been taken to verify information contained on this site, the Cambridge Museum accepts no responsibility for any errors, omissions or misrepresentation.

Copyright © 2003 - Cambridge Museum - All Rights Reserved.