LOCAL AND GENERAL

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4815, 26 July 1939, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

"It speaks volumes for the esprit de corps of the Band when it is remembered that 42 parades were held last year, and that the average attendance has been 23 out of a total playing strength of 28," stated a speaker at the .annual meeting of the Te Kuiti Municipal Band last evening.

The accounts of Newton King Ltd., merchants and stock agents, • New Plymouth and Hamilton, for the year ended April 30, 1939, show a profit of £20,206, against £25,584 in the previous year and £26,281 in 1936-37. The directors do not recommend the payment of a dividend on preference shares for the year just ended because in their opinion, the uncertain outlook in the immediate future makes it necessary to conserve and husband the company's funds.

New Zealand motorists were among the worst in the world, declared Mr. W. H. Luscombe in giving impressions of a recent trip abroad to the New Plymouth Rotary Club. He added that New Zealand drivers acted as though they owned all the road in front and they did not know or care what was behind them. As the result of the driving he saw in the various countries he visited he thought the New Zealand road rules could be improved greatly.

The Housing Construction Department overseer from Hamilton, Mr. W. Edkins, was in Taumarunui last week, when he made an inspection of the fencing, and toolsheds being erected for three State houses at Rangiora by Mr. S. Jarvis, contractor, of Te Kuiti. Foundations of five toolsheds have been completed and Mr. Edkins expressed satisfaction with the work. It is hoped that the sheds will be ready for use within a few weeks.

The possibility of land aeroplanes being used for the Taxman air service three or four years after its starting, and Mil-son areodrome, Palmerston North, becoming the terminal, was mentioned by-the chairman of the Wellington Harbour Board, Mr. M. A. Elliott, in an address to the Palmerston North Rotary Club. When in Australia recently, Mr. Elliott said, he had talked about the service with an official of Imperial Airways, who was of opinion land machines would ultimately be used. He is of the opinion the Milson aerodrome will be used for the terminal when this happens and not anywhere else' in New Zealand, said Mr. Elliott. "He knows the situation in New Zealand, and is*of the opinion that the New Plymouth airport is too risky because Mt. Egmont in heavy weather would be a potential source of danger. In clear weather it would be a landmark, and he contended that in that case it would be just as easy to come on to Palmerston North.