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Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 110, 10 April 1937, Page 8

For school children whose parents cannot pay the necessary fees, the Minister of Education (Hon. P. Fraser) has approved the extension of the term of free places, according to advice received by the Auckland Education Board.

A recommendation that the Government should inaugurate and recruit a National Domestic Service Corps of young women willing to enter domestic service is made in the report of a special committee set up by the Government to inquire into social problems in New Zealand.

A stretch of eight miles of the main highway between Taupo and AVairakoi is being reformed and widened to do away with difficult grades and sharp bends, including the dangerous curve above the Huka Falls. At this point a deviation is being constructed 20ft above the old road, which, it is suggested, may still be used as a parking area for motorists who wish to view the river scenery.

A disinclination to comment on the regulations gazetted on Thursday night for the marketing of butter for consumption in the Wellington district was shown by the representatives of a number of Wellington wholesale butter distributors, who were approached for their opinions on the scheme. The managers of two concerns went as far as to say, however, that prima facie the Government’s plans should prove sound if they did no more than obviate price-cutting in the trade, which would probably be one result.

Though there were nearly 1000 cars on the Awapuni course, yesterday, for the first day of the Manawatu Pacing Club’s meeting, the parking arrangements were handled in an admirable manner and, at the conclusion of the day’s racing, not the slightest hitch occurred in getting the steadily moving stream of traffic under way. Drivers obeyed instructions, on the whole, implicitly and most of them showed remarkable courtesy. Four lines of cars merged into two at' the gates with little delay, one stream of traffic proceeding via Maxwell’s Lino along Foxton Line to the city, and the other via College Street. The efficiency with which the traffic was controlled under the joint supervision of the police. Highways Board officers, and City Council inspectors drew much commendation from motorists.

! The first of the kind in New Zealand, a Diesel-engined ferry boat is to be built at Auckland shortly. No advice has yet been received of ; the whereabouts of Miss Lucy Hark- , ness, aged 18, who has been missing I from her home in Palmerston North | since April 3. J Two brothers met in Wanganui on Wednesday for the first time in 34 I years. They were Mr E. E. Locke, a locomotive engineer of Wagga. New i South Wales, and Mr It. J. Locke, of j London Street, Wanganui. Mr E. F. j Locke is on a holiday visit to New i Zealand.

The final span of the Mohaka viaduct was completed just before Easter and there remain only decking and the laying of the rails to complete before it will be possible to run a train from Napier to Wairoa. The work at present is being held up owing to the difficulty of securing certain materials.

The suggestion that all the provinces in New Zealand should agree to recognise the same day as an Anniversary Day was made by an assessor at a Conciliation Council sitting in Wellington. He pointed out that different provincial anniversary holidays often led to confusion in business, and claimed, further, that industry could not stand the encroachments which holidays were making on it. Motorists on the Sanson-Himatangi road have been asked to make a detour off the main road involving an extra distance of about two miles and, although prominent notices have been posted warning the public, several have gone through the recently tarred portion. Not only do motorists endanger their cars with the still .wet tar, but the damage caused has forced the contractors to do half a mile less ot road yesterday than they had anticipated. “Vandalism born of ignorance” is how Mr T. E. Donne, of London, formerly Trade Commissioner attached to the High Commissioner’s office, describes the unfettered destruction of the chamois in the Southern Alps. Mr Donne was head of the Tourist Department when these animals were originally imported from Austria. They were a gift of goodwill from the late Emperor Franz Josef of Austria, following the visit of an Austrian warship to these waters.

With summer condition prevailing for the first day of the Manawatu Pacing Club’s autumn meeting yesterday, the Awapuni racecourse looked a picture of beauty. Particularly noticeable were the graceful camias and the bright flower beds, visitors passing the most laudatory comment concerning their appearance. The grassy swards were in jierfect order, and stretching away in an expanse ol green, provided an admirable background. The work of the responsible ofiieials was highly commended. The Dominion Observatory has received advice from Melbourne ol the discovery of a new comet. It was first noticed on April 6, and as it is at present ol the tenth magnitude, it is visible only through a telescope. Whether it will become brighter and visible to the naked eye remains to be seen, its position is given as right ascension, lblir. ldjinin., and declination 20deg. 27inin. south. This would place the comet near the planet Mars, which is well above the horizon at f) p.m. in the south-south-eastern sky. The comet appears to be moving in an eastward direction.

Only brief comment was made at the monthly meeting of the Horowheliua County Council, yesterday, when the council received a request from the Fox to n Chamber of Commerce to be represented at a meeting to consider representations for a railway to be built between Levin and Greatford, via Foxton. The chairman (Cr G. A. Monk) moved that Cr D. Iv. Guy attend, and Cr Guy remarked: “But 1 am against it!” The chairman said lie did not want to express any opinion. Cr A. J. Gimblett pointed out that Cr Guy might be called upon to express the opinion of the council on a vote, and the chairman remarked: “He will know how to do that.” Alertness of mind and smart horsemanship were demonstrated at the Awapuni racecourse yesterday in quick action on the part of the clerk ol tile course (Mr J. J. Waller) who is a well-known huntsman and show ring rider, when the East Coast gelding Gasman bolted a mile in his preliminary before being secured. Galloping up the straight to meet the oncoming horse, Mr Waller, when within a furlong ol it. turned his dappled grey mount to sprint ahead and, when Gasman was approaching, he signalled the jockey to work in close. Gasman ranged up alongside of Mr Waller’s mount and the clerk of the course smartly seized the reins and brought him to a stop. His smart work drew a round ot applause.