LOCAL AND GENERAL

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 58, Issue 4190, 29 May 1939, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

In the Gazette dated May 25 an area of 174 acres in’the south survey district of the Kawhia County is proclaimed a permanent reserve for scenic purposes.

To-morrow (Tuesday) night the Te Awamutu Drama Club will hold its first reading of the season when A. A. Milne’s play “The Great Broxopp” will be presented. The play is the whimsical story of family ups and downs and should provide members and friends with an interesting and very entertaining evening.

The air mindedness of the people in New Zealand had impressed him very much, said the chief of the air staff, Group Captain H. W. L. Saunders, at the annual meeting in Wellington of the Royal New Zealand Aero Club. That the people were air minded was largely due to the district aero clubs, which were directed by the New Zealand Aero Club.

A reminder is given of the official opening of the new Intermediate School building in Te Awamutu next Wednesday. The local retailers have acceded to a request by the School Committee to close their premises on that day from noon until 2 p.m. to enable their staffs to attend. The opening will be performed by Hon. P. Fraser, Minister of Education.

Twenty men and nine lady players from the Te Kuiti Golf Club visited Te Awamutu over the week-end to play a match with the local club. Full details of the games are not yet available; but the result was an easy victory for Te Awamutu by a margin of fifteen games. Details of scores will be published in Wednesday’s Courier together with the results of Saturday’s club games.

A sneak thief or thieves collected some coin and wearing apparel from one of the dressing sheds at Albert Park on Saturday afternoon while the juvenile owners were engaged in a Rugby football match. On Saturday evening, at a dance in the local Town Hall, one of the dancers had his overcoat purloined, making the second he has lost within twelve months at similar functions in the same hall.

Tlie large and well-finished assembly hall at the new Intermediate High School was “ christened” on Saturday evening by a concert given by the Auckland Male Choir, which had come to Te Awamutu to present the concert as a compliment to Mr John Sanderson, a member for the past twelve years and the contractor for building the new school—the most modern one of its type in the whole of New Zealand.

One of the soloists at the Royal Auckland Male Choir concert in the new Intermediate High School assembly hall last Saturday evening had the unpleasant experience of having to sing against a persistent bubbling noise that became louder as the song proceeded. The trouble was due, it was stated afterwards, to the central heating apparatus for the building not being turned low after the hall had been comfortably warmed.

An unusual inquiry which is said to be without precedent in the history of the New Zealand turf, will be held on Tuesday evening by the Auckland District Committee. It is an alleged an attempt was made by an outside person to bribe a jockey, P. Burgess, to pull Mr A. R. Kay’s Suleiman iii the Waihou Handicap on the first day of the Te Aroha Club’s annual meeting last February. Llangollen, the favourite, had won the.Herries Memorial Cup earlier in the day and Suleiman was made favourite for the Waihou Handicap, six furlongs, the chief open sprint, which formed the second “leg” of a double Suleiman won. The inquiry is being held as the result of a statement to a racing official.

Shortly before 1 p.m. on Saturday a motor collision occurred in Sloane Street, fortunately without serious damage resulting. It appears that Mr D. McArthur was proceeding towards Kihikihi, and when just past the Masonic Hall he slowed down, and a car, occupied by five young men, barged into Mr McArthur’s car from the rear. Two of the young fellows who were sitting in the dicky-seat (it was a coupe car) suffered some scratches on the forehead by contact with the rear window, and all were shaken and bruised. Mr McArthur escaped injury, and his car was not badly damaged, but the coupe had to have the services of mechanics.

The necessity for encouraging footballers to join the Territorial forces was stressed at a meeting of the Waikato Rugby Union in Hamilton last Friday evening by Mr A. E. Gibbons. He said the urgency of the matter was realised by all from the .Prime Minister down. Mr Gibbons was supported by several other members and the following resolution, proposed by Mr Gibbons, was then carried unanimously: “That it be a direction to all subunions in the Waikato to go into ways and means to carry into effect the resolution passed at the annual meeting of the New Zealand Rugby Union to give every encouragement to New Zealand’s defence forces and that subunions advise the Waikato Union, at its next meeting, what steps have been taken.”

“It is a matter for grave concern that many players are being needlessly injured by the neglect of some footballers,” said Mr A. St. C. Belcher. chairman of the Waikato Rugby Union, at the monthly meeting held in Hamilton last Friday evening in referring to the number of players who were being hurt as the result of coming in contact with faulty sprigs and projecting nails on boots. It was only a simple matter to have such defects remedied added Mr Belcher, and the damage they could do was often very serious. The Union passed a resolution that it viewed with concern accidents to players due to faulty sprigs and projecting nails, and desired all sub-unions and referees to make frequent inspections, even weekly if considered necessary, with a view to removing risk of such accidents. It suggested that action be taken by referees and other officials to see that any defective sprigs were attended to immediately, and that players’ boots be re-examined when they returned to the playing ground.

Te Awamutu and district experienced another fairly severe frost this morning.

Workmen are at present busily engaged renovating the police station residence, in readiness for occupation by Sergeant Clist and his family.

The time for the official opening of the new Intermediate High School on Wednesday of this week is 1 p.m. The Minister of Education, Hon. .P. Fraser, is to perform the ceremony, and an invitation is extended to all interested to attend the function.

Interest in choral singing received a fillip locally last Saturday evening when the Royal Auckland Male Choir presented a very fine concert programme, and the freqeunt and hearty applause that greeted each item was indicative of the universal appreciation.

Quite a number of members of the Royal Auckland Choir, which gave a delightful concert on Saturday night, were here early enough in the afternoon to take part in play at the Victoria Park bowling greens, where they were made very welcome, and all appeared to thoroughly enjoy the play.

The effect of the moon on newly planted seeds was referred to by Mr J. A. McPherson, director of the Christchurch Botanic Gardens, in an address to the Sumner Beautifying Association. “It is not all moonshine to plant seeds according to the phases of the moon,” he said; it appeared that seeds sown just before full moon gave 33 1-3 per cent better strike.

Some surprise was expressed by Rugby patrons at Albert .Park last Saturday that the Stag Competition match was between Rovers and Raglan, and not Rovers v. Hautapu as earlier advertised. The secretary of the Rugby Union explains that the Central Committee has made a new draw for this competition, and he did not know until Friday evening of the change. The new draw will be published in our next issue.

The latest issue of the Gazette contains the official description and illustration of the newly authorised New Zealand Civil Air Ensign. The ensign is of light blue with a broad dark blue cross which has a narrow white border. The upper left hand quarter, like the national ensign, contains the Union Jack, and the lower right hand quarter contains a representation of the Southern Cross. The whole forms a very striking and effective sign, well worthy of the tradition and increasing importance of civil aviation in New Zealand.

“Even the most honest witnesses are likely to make slips in giving evidence which conflicts with statements they have made earlier,” said Mr Justice Smith, addressing a jury in the Supreme Court in Napier. It was generally accepted in the courts, he said, that if a witness told the same story in every detail the same as he told it some weeks previously it had to be considered whether the whole thing had not been memorised and perhaps concocted. There was nothing in minor discrepancies as long as they did not impugn the worth of the evidence given.

The Town Hall was crowded to capacity on Saturday evening when the Waipa Hockey Association held a dance to raise funds to send a representative team away to Nelson to challenge for the Norden Cup. It was expected that the dance would be well supported, and the officials of the association are well satisfied with the social and financial success of the evening. The large number of dancers present thoroughly enjoyed the music of Strange’s Syncopators and an excellent supper. The M.C. for the evening* was Mr J. Sinnott.

Cr J. Sterritt, commenting on proceedings at the Borough Council meeting concerning finance matters and the Estimates, asks us to put on record his comment to Cr C. J. Spiers that it must have been evident to the latter, as a member of the Finance Committee, that there was going to be a deficit for Cr Spiers would recollect that some months earlier he (Cr Sterritt) had said there was not enough money available to warrant purchasing a second-hand truck (at £100) for the turncock; therefore all councillors, and the Finance Committee, especially must have known the need for curtailing every possible expenditure.

Higher values of exports and a definite decrease in imports are shown in the overseas trade returns for last April, issued by the Customs Department. Exports during April were Imports shows a marked improvement. Exports during '’April were valued at £4,933,000, compared with £4,547,000 for the corresponding njonth of last year, an increase of £386,000. They were, however, far below the total of £8,402,000 shown for April, 1937, when high prices were ruling for wool. Imports last month were valued at £3,777,000, as against £4,455,000 for April, 1938, a decrease of £678,000. Last month’s imports were £579,000 below the figure of £4,356,000 shown for March.

Boner cattle from the Waikato districts are sent to Westfield by road because the Railways Department cannot supply sufficient trucks, declared Mr A. Miller, Waikato manager for the firm of W. and R. Fletcher, Ltd., when referring to the subject in Hamilton on Saturday. “The Railway Department,” said Mr Miller, “have been for the last four months hard put to cope with the boner cattle trade, and it has run special week-end and Sunday trains. However, it is quite impossible for them to do more than this because of the shortage of rolling stock, which has been acute for the past ten years. Each succeeding Government has failed to recognise the tremendous growth of the stock trade and very substantial increase in the amount of rolling stock on the railway is needed to cope with the present position.” Mr Miller added that the period during which the large quantities of store cattle and fat cattle were handled for the ordinary markets was nearing its end and that the Railways Department hoped to be able to cope with the boner cattle .trade for the rest of the season. It had to be remembered that had not the meat firms been able to send the cattle by road stagnation in the trade would have resulted and the freezing works would have been forced to close for a certain period.