Page 525 - Reading Mercury

of the old instruments are in a deplorable condition and must be renewed. The band is
now settling down to steady practice under Mr. Coppuck, of Reading.

rd
Sat 23 Feb
FLYING CLUB CONCERT
In aid of the funds of the Wokingham North Road Flying Club, a very successful
concert was given in the British Legion Hall on Monday by the “Koko Knuts and
K[??],” whose services the promoters were fortunate in securing. The programme, an
entirely new one, the fourth introduced by the party, gave great satisfaction, especially
the skit, entitled “House Hunting.”

ILLNESS
There has been a considerable amount of illness in the borough recently, and among
the deaths during the past week were those of Mr. C.T. Swadling, builder, of 24
Howard Road, Mr. Andrew Maclean, of 35, London Road, and Mr. G. Fowler, 35,
The Terrace; the last named was for 25 years caretaker of St. Paul’s Schools,
Wokingham, and was well-known to several generations of teachers and scholars who
will remember him as an old friend, while the organists of St. Paul’s will remember
his long and faithful services as an organ blower.

STATION LIGHTED BY CANDLES
On Friday night last week, on account of the extremely severe weather, the supply
of gas to the Southern Railway Station completely failed. The only readily available
means of illumination was found to be candles, and by this means the booking office,
waiting rooms and signal boxes were enabled to carry on. Trouble with gas and water
pipes has been general and bursts of the latter frequent. At Shute End House, after a
bathroom burst, the running water and spray froze down the outside stack pipe and
produced a remarkable effect.

LECTURE SOCIETY
The Lecture Society were favoured on Wednesday in the Town Hall, with a most
interesting lantern lecture by Judge Alexander, entitled “A Magistrate in the South
Seas.” The lecturer, who is the author of “From the Middle Temple to the South
Seas,” after practising at the English Bar, went out to Fiji to take up the post of Chief
Magistrate. In Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, the New Hebrides and the Solomon Islands, he
gathered much information as to the native life and character, and he has a wide fund
of humorous anecdotes. Subsequently he was appointed Judge of the High Court of
Tanganyika. Colonel Sir Leslie Wilson, G.C.I.E., K.C.M.G., D.S.O., presided and the
lecturer was heartily thanked for his most interesting lecture.

th
Sat 9 March
WOKINGHAM GAS WORKS SALE
£35,000 Offer by Yorktown Company
If the Bill at present before Parliament, to authorise the sale of the Wokingham Gas
Works to the York Town and Blackwater Gas and Electricity Co., can be got through
before the election, the company will probably take over the works in the early
autumn of this year. At present the Bill is before the House of Lords, and has passed
its second reading; it now enters the Committee stage.

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