LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 3, 15 October 1940, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Both the Kia Ora and! Technical junior cricket teams have been withdrawn from the Ashburton County Cricket Association's competitions. The reasons given are shortage of players and lack of finance. There are new four senior and four junior teams in the competitions.

Suffering burns from hot liquid, Russell Grice, aged two' years, infant son of Mr J. E. Grice, 12 Hugh Street, Ashburton, was admitted to the Ashburton Public Hospital a few days ago. The hospital authorities reported this morning that the patient was comfortable and improving.

Although a few fairly good catches have been reported in the Ashburton and Rangitata Rivers, nothing particularlv interesting seems to have happened in the present fishing season. ;Somo of the most prominent lecal anglers have' not yet .bee it out. A party visited Lake. Heron during the weekend and are stated to have had very little luck, catching scarcely any fish.

The twenty-eighth Synod of the Diocese of Christchurch opened yesterday afternoon in the Provincial Council Chamber, and will continue daily during this week. His Grace the Archbishop of New Zealand presided and gave the first part of the Synodical address; at the Synod service held in the Cathedral last night he gave the second part of the address. The lessons were read by the Rev. A. C. K. Harper and the Rev. C. L. Mountfort.

Efficiency examinations for five memzbers of local departments of the Public Service, commenced in the Ashburton Courthouse to-day and it is expected that they will he continued for three days. The tests are being carried out under the supervision- of this Ashburton Courthouse and Public T.rust officials. Public servants do not necessarily have to sit these tests, it is stated, but- if they desire promotion it is essential that they should do so.

A Thames member of the Second Echelon, Corporal L. P. Hays, with the aid of a comrade, captured a German pilot who had baled out, according to a letter received from him by relatives in Thames. Corporal Hays and a friend were on leave in a small town when a raid warning sounded'. Two hours later another raid occurred .and when they emerged from their shelter they saw a German aeroplane dm fire and the pilot coming to earth by parachute. They rushed to where he landed, secured his revolver, and made him captive.

“Accidents are not caused by elderly drivers, but- by reckless young people and intoxicated drivers,” said a woman member amid laughter at the annual meeting of the Automobile Association (Auckland). She protested against the new regulation making it encumbent on motorists 70- years of. age and over to obtain a. medical certificate or undergo another driving test each year on making application for renewal of their licences. The president (Mr F. G. Farrell) said strong protests were made, but they were unheeded, and it would be difficult now t-o have the position altered.

It was stated at a meeting of the Whangarei sub-provincial executive of the Farmers’ Union that men were leaving non-essential jobs and trying to secure work on farms with the idea of obtaining exemption from military service. - One speaker said hse knew of cases where men had left towns for the first time to take up farm work. The executive was discussing the position of farm labour called up for service with the Territorials after so many farmers and farm employees had already left- for overseas. It was considered that calling up mem during the summer months would create further difficulties in securing farm labour.

New Zealand soldiers in Egypt are being caused considerable, annoyance by flies, according to a letter received in Christchurch from Sergeant T. O. J. Reese, son of Mr T. W. Reese, the, well-known cricket authority. “The flies are terrible,” Sergeant" Reese writes. “They come at onie by the score and it is nothing to. find a dozen in a howl of water within half an hour. And they bite too. Mesh net over the orderly room door gives relief during the day, but they drive us mad at meal times when we are sitting in the open. However, we’ll get used to them.” Sergeant Reese was a member of the staff of the “Ashburton Guardian” from 1928 to 1931.

A resident for more than 40 years in the Pahiatua district, Mr Henry Holmes Miller, of Ngaturi, has received word by cablegram from England that he has succeeded to a baronetcy through the death of a cousin who held the title. Sir Henry, who. was born in 1866, has been engaged in farming, and is a highly respected pettier. He is a son of Sir Henry Miller, a former Speaker of the New Zealand Legislative Council, who died in Oamaru in 1913. Ho is married, and has two sons and three daughters. Sir Charles John Hubert Miller, whom Sir Henry succeeds, was the eighth baronet, haying succeeded l his father in 1868 at the age of 10. He was a captain in the Coldstream Guards, and retired in 1892. The baronetcy originated in 1705, when it was conferred on Sir Thomas Milter, who was M.P. for Chichester in 1688 and 1600 and who was several times Mayor of Chichester.

“Art os we know it. is inclined to be too arty, its treasures are too deeply confined to the art galleries and art schools, and for education in art the public is too much at the mercy of those who select what they consider is best for us to see,” said Mr A, B, Thompson, lecturer in education at Auckland University College, in an address at an Auckland Society of Arts luncheon. Mr Thompson advocated stripping art of some of its aloofness, and finding some iww method of bringing art into closer relation to everyday life. Merely talking about art, lie said, was not enough, nor was if sufficient to regard art in life or in education as something which merely meant making the right kind of appreciative noises when confronted with what one was told to be the right kind of art. “There is a lot of hypocrisy in that respect.” Mr Thompson continued. “The art appreciation of some people is no better than the literary knowledge of those who cull it from reviews. One difficulty is that art is kept too far out of life, and there is no .attempt to* avoid the unsatisfied craving people have for artistic appreciation. There is a place for art in our eft’azy present-day world.”

Mr D. Kenny, of Burnetts Motors, received a heavy blow in the face yesterday when the rim came off a tyre lie was fixing to a. lorry. His injuries, however, are reported to lie slight, and he was able to' go home.

The Ashburton and Old Boys Cricket Clubs have amalgamated and are to be known as the Ashburton-Old Boys Club. -For the time being the officers of the two clubs will stand. A meeting to clear the position is to be called shortly.

Outwardly unconscious of the attention they were drawing to themselves a couple walked down East Street today, carrying a large clothes .basket. It was unusual enough to see two people so engaged, but for those who were near enough to peep inside the basket there was another surprise, for nestling down in the clothes was a baby. /

Since a. paragraph appeared in the “(Guardian” last week drawing attention to the poor response to the appeal for waste non-ferrous metals, the collection bin. outside business premises in East Street has been used to a far greater extent. To-day it was half full of old aluminium saucepans, teapots, and' other discarded! pieces of metal which will go to assisting the general war effort. There is, however, a. need for more receptacles in various parts of the town.

At a meeting of the Ashburton, Allcnton and Hampstead sub-centres of the. Red Cross Society yesterday afternoon it was decided to apply to the. Borough Council for use of the motor camping grounds in the ©Omani for Saturday, November 2, when stalls and competitions will be conducted for the benefit of patriotic funds. It was agreed! to ask Mrs A. T. Smith with helpers to organise a procession of children on bicycles from East Street to the Domain early in the afternoon. Mrs F. Curtis presided.