Triplet sons have been born to Mrs Hineawe Gladys Ferris, wife of Mr George Ferris, well-known in Hastings rugby circles. The day after the triplets were born, Mrs Ferris said she felt very well, and added that ‘George was too lost for words’. As a rugby-minded family, they already have plans for their family of eight boys.

‘A seven-a-side Rugby team and one emergency’, said Mrs Ferris.

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A meeting house and cultural centre is to be built on a historic site in Mangere. Before Princess Te Puea Herangi died in 1958, she expressed a wish that a Maori centre should be built at Mangere, and the building will be known as the Te Puea Memorial Hall. The project is expected to cost about £16,500, and all of this amount has now been raised.

A childhood dream came true for Miss Wai Te Purei, of Te Karaka, when she graduated this month as an N.A.C. air hostess.

As N.A.C. does not accept girls under 20 for training as air hostesses, Miss Te Purei joined the Women's Royal New Zealand Naval Service and stayed in the service for five years.

Last October Miss Te Purei applied to N.A.C. for air hostess selection and was overjoyed to be chosen. Four weeks of lectures, followed by three weeks' air training and a three-month probationary course, ended in her graduation recently.

Miss Te Purei is the third Maori air hostess to work with N.A.C.