LOCAL AND GENERAL

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 53, Issue 3829, 4 November 1936, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The next sitting of the Magistrate’s Court locally is set down for Thursday oi next week, 12th inst. A reminder is given of the address on “Compensated Prices,” to be given on Friday evening locally by Col. S. J. E. Closey, under the auspices of the Te Awamutu branch of the N.Z. Farmers' Union. An order issued by the Arbitration Court in Wellington on Monday fixes the basic wage rates at £3 16s a week for adult male workers and £1 16s a, week for adult female workers. The order became effective as from November 2nd. Another Te Awamutu district exhibitor at the Waikato A. and P• Show last week was Mr H. N. Dudley, of Mangapiko, who has a nice stud of pedigree Ayrshire cattle. He won a championship with the bull New Arran’s Rainbow, a fine type.of Ayrshire by Woodlands Pathfinder Ison of an imported bull) from Elin Mist. A daughter of Woodlands Pathfinder, in the same ownership, won first prize in the yearling heifer class, and was also coupled with a differently-bred heifer in winning the class for pair of yearling heifers. The monster street procession and gala entertainment at Albert Park tomorrow evening, promoted by the local Fire Brigade in celebration of Guy Fawkes Day, should attract a large crowd. Many novel costumes will be worn in the procession, and there will be a monster bonfire and fireworks display at the Park. The fireworks display is, we understand, to be on a more elaborate scale than ever before, and should prove decid edly entertaining and attractive. A small admission charge is being made at the Park. The candour with which Mr Parry lets it be known that, in spite of “a lot of criticism,” he sees no harm in buying an art union chance and, if he had the right, would run a State lottery to support national health measures, encourages the hope that he will be bold where others have been timid. If the Minister really intends to give Parliament a chance to remodel gaming laws which rest upon no ground that can be called democratic, and will lead Parliament in taking it, he. will deserve the credit to which his words appear to be a claim. —Christchurch Press.

Te Awamutu Motor Cycle Club’s run to Whakatane last, week-end was participated in by about ten members, and the trip proved very enjoyable. The journey was made via Rotorua, where Saturday night was spent interestingly, and next morning, with a squad of members from the Rotorua Club, the journey was continued. From Whakatane a visit was paid to the Ohope Beach, to view the gala races, but no Te Awamutu cyclists competed. The homeward trip was commenced at about 3.30 p.m., and after a visit to the Blue Baths at Rootrua, Te Awamutu was reached late in the evening. While the work of reconstructing the Great South Road between Te Awamutu and Kihikihi was in progress on Monday afternoon, one of the telephone cables was so damaged as to cause interruption of the service. The local Post Office outdoor gang was soon assembled at the spot, and the.y worked right through the night to restore communication. As the night was a very wet one, the men must have had an unenviable task. Yesterday morning the service was in good working order. Keen interest was displayed locally in the radio broadcast description of the race for the Melbourne Cup, run at Flemington yesterday afternoon. Reception was not exactly good, but the description of the running was fairly clear. The New Zealand owned and bred horse Wotan created record time to win sensationally, from Silver Standard and Balkan Prince. Wotan was a good two year old and high hopes of him developing into a topnotcher were dimmed by several defeats as a three year old. This season he was taken to Australia, and did not impress particularly there, so his success yesterday in the “biggest handicap race in the world” was a great surprise. Wotan is by imported Sanfried from the Matian mare Left, who previously had foaled Peter Jackson and Gaine Carrington, two very good gallopers who distinguished themselves in Australia. If we assume that our exports bring in about £53 millions, home production will be about £6B millions and total production £122 millions After paying £lO millions interest on debt abroad we are left with £ll2 millions available for consumption. This is £5 millions less than in 1928-29, and population has increased by 7 per cent, so that the average money will lie about 10 per cent lower than in 1928-29. This figure has an important bearing on the amount of the basic wage. It depends, however, on the prices for our exports being maintained, and with Britain as our only market it is difficult to speak confidently about this. The conclusion appears to be that it would be folly to put the basic wage at too high a point. If it is high the cost of home production will rise and the old disparity between the prices of home produce and exported produce be re-established.— Taranaki Herald.

The Te Awamutu Drama Club concluded what has proved a very successful and interesting session by presenting J. B. Priestley’s comedy, “The Roundabout,” at the Parish Hall on Tuesday evening. It was a playreading, but those taking part had prepared carefully beforehand, and there were sections of the bright dialogue that needed little reading, foe the words had been memorised. The action of the play took place in the lounge drawing-room, of Lord Kettlewell’s country house one day, and the three acts dealt severally with morning, afternoon and evening. The principal parts were those of Lord Kettlewell (Mr F. W. Bevin) and his daughter Pamela (Miss Lorna Potts), a young lady with decided Socialistic tendencies —a fact that was by no means pleasing to her parents. Hen association with “Comrades” and others with a leaning towards Socialistic Communism led to some heated and clever dialogue, and all the- parts were well sustained. Others in the reading were: —Churton Saunders, MrW, Foggin; Lady Kettlewell, Miss Tipler; Comrade Staggles, Mr V. A. de Cock; Parsons, Mr Eric Bent; Alec Grenside, Mr J. Bevin; Farrington Gurney, Mr A. Sutherland; Lady Knightsbridge, Mrs H. A. Swarbrick; Hilda Lancieourt, Miss B. Potts; and Alice, Mrs Eric Storey.

The reconstruction works along the Great South Road south of Kihikihi are still being greatly hampered by the very wet weather conditions that have prevailed during the past week or so. Work on the grandstand building at Albert Park is progressing satisfactorily, and the contractors. Messrs C. B. Crotty and Co., hope to have the building ready for use about the middle of next month. Thu main feature of the vital statistics for October in Te Awamutu is the increase in the '.number of births. The number of births registered here last month was 19 compared with 8 for the same month last year. Deaths totalled 5 and marriages ,3 against 3 and one respectively for the col-responding month last year. When it became known on Monday evening that Mr “Jack” Lovelock, the world-renowned New Zealand athlete, had that afternoon paid, a visit, to the Waikeria Borstal Institution, one interested man expressed some surprise. His natural question: “What lias lie gone there for?” brought the neat reply: “Oh, the beads have asked him to try and run down Hansen, the escapee!” It has been suggested that some form of public recognition of the successes of the Te Awamutu Municipal Band at the recent Aukland provincial contest at Whangarei should be arranged. Chatting last evening with his Worship the Mayor, we were informed that he favours a social function being held one evening next week, when the shields and other trophies won at Whangarei could be publicly presented to the Band. On Sunday next, Bth inst, the Te Awamutu Municipal Band of 35 players, under the conductorship of Mr R. H. Close, will visit Te Kuiti, and, weather permitting, will play on the Domain at 2 p.m. In the evening- a grand concert will be held in the Empress Theatre, starting at 8.15 p.m. This band has just won the Auckland Provincial Championship Shield, and is giving its services free to raise funds for- the Te Kuiti Band Uniform Fund. Inquiry at Waikeria this morning brings the information that there is still no trace of the man, Charles Arthur Hansen, who escaped from custody at tha Waikeria Borstal Institution on Sunday afternoon. Several clues have been traced, and the search has been continued over an extended area, but Hansen seems to have completely disappeared. Hansen was serving a sentence of two years for breaking and entering, and he made his escape on April 13th only to Ibe recaptured at Arapuni four days later. During his escapade he stole some "roods from Pukeatua. and his term of detention was extended for six months as a result. This time he is setting the authorities a harder task to recapture him.

Stating that decent, well-behaved citizens had no desire to be treated as children of the early Victorian period, the mayor of Rotorua, Mr T. Jackson, described as irritating and Gilbertion a great deal of the licensing laws and restriction existing in New Zealand to-day. Mr Jackson was speaking at the annual reunion dinner of the Rotorua branch of the Returned Soldiers’ Association, and commenting upon the fact’that a permit in connection with the dinner had been reduced by an hour, compelling those in charge to terminate the function at 10 p.m. He said that many of the licensing regulations in force today had been introduced as war-time measures and never removed. It was particularly irritating that to-day they should be applied to men who had fought for freedom during the war years.