Railway Social Activities.

Wherever railwaymen gather together there springs up some form of social activity for enlivening the hours away from work; and the success of functions arranged under the auspices of railway organisations is a sure sign not only of the popularity of the staff with the public but of their ability to carry through anything of the kind on the right lines.

An example comes from the new Stratford-Okahukura line where, at Tangarakau (the one-time “Mushroom Town” of the district) a Railway Anniversary Ball was recently staged. From a report kindly supplied by Mr. T. Mallett, the local Inspector of Permanent Way, it appears clear that “Never before in the history of Tangarakau did so large a crowd take the floor for dancing. People who have lived in the place since the railway was being put through, and saw as many as nine or ten hundred living on the Flat, are unanimous that the Railway Anniversary Ball was the most outstanding ever staged. The train from Stratford was crowded out, and people came in from miles around. The hall and supper room were decorated with the Railway colours and early flowers.”

The prizes ran to such things as shaving outfits and “21-piece tea sets”; so the new line, in opening up the virgin country of the back-blocks, is living up to the traditions of the older lines by the cheerful social activities of its railwaymen.