NEWS OF THE DAY

Manawatu Times, Volume 66, Issue 110, 10 May 1941, Page 6

NEWS OF THE DAY

Yeung hut Keen. Presenting liis enrolment form to the ITawera Homo Guard secretary, Mr. L. A. Taylor, on AVednesday, a volunteer declared that lie was nearly 16. It was discovered, however, that he was only 144 years old so his offer of service was declined after he had been commended for his spirit and enthusiasm. Holland’s Queen Broadcasts To-morrow. It being a year ago today (May 10) that the Netherlands was invaded, Queen Wilhelmina, according to advice received by tho Netherlands Consulate in Wellington, will speak from Loudon on Radio Oranje. In New Zealand this broadcast will be heard on Sunday between 6.45 and 7 a.m. New Zealand time on wavelengths 49-59, 41-49 and 30-96. Girls as Young Farmers It was mentioned at the annual meeting of the Manawatu district committee of young farmers that, rather than close down, two clubs whose membership had been depleted owing to enlistments in the forces had formed a girls' young farmers' club auxiliary, with officers working in conjunction with the men. Tho women members attend all meetings and lectures on tho same footing as the men. x Young Farmers' Club Membership. According to the latest figures there are now 14S Young Farmers’ Clubs functioning throughout the Dominion with a total membership of approximately 4500. At the beginning of the war there were 207 clubs with approximately 6000 members. Fifteen of these disbanded and 30 have gone into recess for the duration of the war, whiJe six new clubs have been formed. The memberships have been seriously affected by the war and the severity of the petrol restrictions. Pohangina County Election. Because of two nominations having been received for the Umutoi riding of the Pohangina County, an election was to have been held for the seat, but Cr. Jensen explained at the council meeting that lie had allowed himself to be nominated only on condition that no other nominations were received. Through a misunderstanding his nomination paper had gone forward when another was completed, but he intended to withdraw it, so that there would be no election for the riding. Boulders Cut Piles.

Kejiorting to the monthly meeting of the Pohangina County Council, the engineer (Mr. D, Watson) stated that when repairs had been completed at Diggers’ Creek bridge (this having been rendered unsafe in the torrential flood of about a month ago) tho broken ironbark piles were removed. It was found that they had been completely cut through by large boulders carried down the flooded creek. The engineer mentioned, also, that a good deal of work had been done in building stone groynes to protect the approach to the bridge. Groapxng of Planets

No fewer than five of the eight planets of the solar system are at present grouped closely together in the sky, an event which, can only be duplicated at rare intervals. Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus lie at present close together in the constellation of Taurus, but the sun also is in the vicinity with the result tnat the numerous. conjunctions occurring during the next week between the various pianets as they move among each other on various courses cannot be observed in the glare of the twilight. .wi.ore Momseys wanted,

One of the shortages caused by the war affects seriously tne development of new synthetic drugs states 'the American magazine “Rotarian. ” MonKeys are required for testing many types of drugs beiore they can ue safely used on human beings, and tne variety of animal required conies from India. Whipping restrictions have prevented the normal importations to U.W.A. Although one usually associates monkeys with zoos and organ grinders, only about one iu eight goes on exhibit, the rest being used for scientific test purposes. Shortage of Houses ‘ 4 The situation in Hamilton with regard to living quarters has become desperate,” said tfie Mayor, Mr. H. D. Garo, at a meeting of the Hamilton Borough Council. “It is really pitiful to see the condition in which many people are living. Wome of these places are not fit to live in, but they have a roof and that is all we can give them. We are asked to increas© our population, but how are wo to do it? If the Government does not take steps to build houses for families with more than two children, the borough will have to do something about it. The position is ridiculous. ’ ’ Hokowhitu School. A meeting of the Hokowhitu School committee was held on Wednesday, Mr. H. W. Oox presiding. Considerable discussion took place on the effect of the recent flood on the school grounds. The buildings were not damaged. The sewerage system was disorganised and the grounds were covered with silt and water and consequently the secretary (Mr. P. E. Crowther) together with the chairman and headmaster (Mr. J. T. Lineham) communicated with the Wanganui Education Board’s secretary and obtained permission to close tho school for a week. The school will not re-open until May 26, after tho term holidays. It was decided to request the board’s architect to inspect tho grounds as soon as possible. The headmaster reported that the average attendance for the past four weeks had been 185.7 with an average roll of 219.5. For the term, the attendance was 194.4, and the roll 219.5. Twenty-five children were admitted and 28 withdrawn. Mumps had been very prevalont.