Fire spirals through town

Taumarunui, December 15: The fire which broke out at Raurimu yesterday between 3 and 4 o'clock completely gutted the business portion of the township, 11 premises being destroyed.

The fire commenced in the upstairs part of the Spiral Hotel, and the flames spread with lightning rapidity. On each side of the hotel 100 workers formed a bucket brigade, under the direction of Mr Hudson and Gaoler Glynn.

The fire worked to the post office, where valiant effort arrested its progress, otherwise the whole of the main street would have been gutted. The Waikune prisoners removed goods from Hudson’s and Merriken’s stores to the public hall. Tremendous heat made the work difficult, and lack of water also impeded the workers. The flames and sparks burnt goods in the railway station yard two chains away. The fire lasted about three hours, when its progress was stopped by the saving of the post office. The homeless residents were accommodated in a garage and in the police cells for the night.

The continual application of water to the post office arrested the fire and saved the remainder of the block. The township presented a desolate scene to-day, only a drapery store and a butchery being left standing. It is a severe setback to the stepping-off place of the tourist traffic to the National Park and the Retaruke Valley, and to the Wanganui River.

Lost in translation

A blow to our self-esteem as New Zealanders comes from the United States. An attorney and counsellor at law, Broadway, New York, is making an effort to bring to the attention of the entire world the celebration of the 117th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth on February 12. He writes offering to mail to the Otago Daily Times for publication an address on Lincoln that will arrive not later than February 1 "so that you will have an opportunity to translate it into your own language." This is a trifle puzzling. Some good Americans evidently know a great deal more about Abraham Lincoln than about New Zealand.

Bush walk handy to city

Don strong boots and a waterproof, take the Rattray Street cable car to the terminus in Kaikorai Valley, and walk up to Fraser's Bush. This beautiful little gully is a Government reserve, and the bush on one side of the road and the babbling brook on the other extend for a mile or more up towards Brockville. Here birds abound, ferns hag from the cliffs, and delightful picnic spots can be found. This trip costs 6 pence and will well repay anyone who can spare an hour or two to visit it.

Nothing but the truth

"I am looking for a job with higher wages," said a witness in a maintenance case at the City Police Court yesterday. "We are all doing that," replied Senior-sergeant Quartermain.

King’s English, innit

To secure the correct use of the vocal organs, purity of speech, clear articulation and purity of vowel sounds is the object of a special report on speech training now being issued by the Education Department. In many infant departments this is already done, but in few schools is the work continued beyond the preparatory course. The report emphasises the desirability of giving further attention to speech training in the middle and higher division of the school and proceeds to put out a syllahus of work for the guidance of teachers.

The Minister, Sir James Parr, gives the report his benediction, expresssing the hope that the result will be "the purity of our glorious English tongue in the mouths of our young people". 

— ODT, 16.12.1925 (Compiled by Peter Dowden)