One of many pleasing aspects associated with Thursday night's graduation ceremony for nurses was the presence of Matron May Bailey, there to present certificates to and to pledge four new nursing sisters.

Matron Bailey has been back on duty at the hospital since the beginning of the month, after a break necessitated by a motor accident.

She referred to the sisters as "four good, girls" who had given splendid service to the hospital. We are all very proud of them; they are a credit to the hospital to themselves, and to their patients.

What with romances and one thing and another - two of them are married you will notice, said the matron - we didn't think, at times, that we would get them through, but we have managed, that happily and successfully.

Matron Bailey was referring to Sisters Chapman, Brown, Murray and McQuaid, who had trained at the Hastings District Hospital and were present at the graduation ceremony in the Church of England hall on Thursday night to receive their certificates.

Matron Bailey paid tribute to the medical officers for their interest in the welfare of the trainees, and added that the board of directors of the hospital had always been co-operative in every way, providing all the training equipment required.

Special acknowledgement was reserved for the tutor sister Sister Quinn, for her thorough preparation, an extensive curriculum, and her ever helpful manner.

The pleasant function opened with singing by the girls' Primary School choir, conducted by Mrs. Pattie Johnson, and closed with supper served by the C. of E. Auxiliary. Board member, Mr. David Finlay did the introducing and Chairman W. R, Kennewell was pleased to be associated with another page in the history of the hospital.

He paid tribute to the standards attained by the nurses in their training at the hospital, quite on a par, he said, with standards in metropolitan hospitals. The Nurse's Registration Board, he said, was quite proud of and pleased with results attained at the Hastings District Hospital.

Presentation of a $25 cheque to each Sister was made by Dr. V.Hegarty, on behalf of the medical board. He congratulated the girls on what they had given to their profession and the success achieved.

Ten nursing aids won certificates for completing their first year.

Grant for Horton St. Service Lane

The Municipal Council has received a special Local Government Assistance Grant of $4,900 to acquire a property in Hay Street as the first stage of an imaginative plan to provide Horton Street with a service lane.

The property they are acquiring is directly behind Starr's shop and will be used as an off-street parking area for twenty cars and give access from Hay Street to the middle of Horton Street.

Eventually council plans to have a service lane running from this property to emerge in Clarence Street, thus eliminating much of the parking problem in Horton Street caused by trucks loading and unloading.

The cost of the Hay Street property is about $16,000 and council hopes to sell the house at present there to recoup the cost of sealing the property.