LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 July 1939, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Insufficient Transport,

Word was received in Masterton this morning that the Hutt Valley indoor basketball teams owing to insufficient railcar transport being available would not visit Masterton tomorrow to meet the local teams. Value of Macrocarpas.

The value of the macrocarpa tree for general utility purposes is stressed by the superintendent of parks and reserves in Napier, Mr C. W. Corner. He would like to see macrocarpas planted on every farm in New Zealand, he said, for no other variety possessed the same durability when subjected to local conditions. Chess Championship.

In a chess match Auckland defeated Wellington by 10£ games to 9J. The Auckland club has accordingly qualified to represent the North Island in the inter island final, which is scheduled to commence on July 22. The South Island fixture (Canterbury Chess Club v Otago Chess Club) is expected to provide an exceptionally close finsh. The result depends on the adjudication of five unfinished games.

Fertiliser Workers’ Strike. A round-table conference in Auckland between representatives of the employers and the employees failed to produce a settlement in the fertiliser workers’ strike. Mr Price, Conciliation Commissioner, who presided, has left the way open for either party to approach him for a further conference. Subsequently, Mr Cuthbert, representing the Auckland Council of the Federation of Labour, said that the next step would be to bring the matter before the federation executive.

Address-in-Reply Debate. Leisurely progress was made again yesterday with the Address-in-Reply debate in the House of Representatives. Speeches were given _by six members, all of whom received extensions of speaking time. The debate has now extended over seven sittings, and of the 34 speeches so far made 23 have been from the Government side of the House, 10 by Opposition members, and one by an Independent. The House adjourned at 10.30 a.m. untii this morning.

Public Bequests. Under the will of the late Matilda Ann Charlotte Bowyer, who died at Belvedere, Carterton, on June 3, the Public Trustee is appointed executor and trustee. The will provides for the following charitable gifts:—(a) A legacy of twenty-five pounds (£25) to the Belvedere Methodist Church, (b) The residue is to be divided equally between the Masterton Methodist Children’s Home and the Foreign Mission Fund of the Methodist Church of New Zealand.

Trust Meeting.

The monthly meeting of the Masterton Trust 'Lands Trust was held last night. There were present Messrs H. P. Hugo (chairman) J. Macfarlane Laing, E. G. Eton, A. Owen Jones, J. H. Handyside, R. Krahagen and R. Page. Apologies for absence were received from Messrs H. H. Daniell and C. E. Grey. The Crippled Children Society, Wairarapa and Ruahine Aero Club, Wairarapa College, Plunket Society and Lansdowne School wrote thanking the Trustees for grants. The treasurer reported a credit balance of £1285. Accounts totalling £95 17s Id were passed. A grant of £25 was made to an applicant to assist him to America to further his studies.Less Talk of Weakness. “Did Joe Louis the other day tell his opponent where he was going to hit him, or how much weight he had behind his fist? No, he kept that up his sleeve,” said Mr Tirikatene (Government, Southern Maori), during the Address-in-Reply debate in the House of Representatives yesterday, when he suggested that less talk of the weakness of New Zealand’s defences might be advisable. New Zealand had the manpower required for defence, he said. The rest was a matter for organisation with the co-operation of all the leaders of the people. “We should make ourselves strong, but keep the fact up our sleeve,” he said.

Old Days on Farm Recalled. “This reminds me of the old days back on the farm,” was the remark jocularly made by a member of the farmers’ deputation which waited on Cabinet Ministers in Parliament Buildings yesterday, when the electric lights failed in the social hall, and torches and candles were introduced during the proceedings. “We can see to talk, anyway,” said the Minister of Education, Mr Fraser, amid laughter. In the semi darkness flickering shadows created amusing silhouettes on the walls, but they passed comparatively unobserved as the deputation proceeded to present its case. The restoration of the electric power was the signal for an outburst of applause, and a sally by Mr Fraser: “I am sure we all appreciate a little more light being thrown on matters.”

Sex Hygiene. A new attitude to sex hygiene has been adopted by the Women’s Division of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union in decisions made at the conference now sitting in Wellington, a motion to rescind resolutions of the previous conference being carried. Yesterday several remits dealing with sex subjects were considered in committee, but voting on them was deferred till one taking the form of a motion that two decisions of the previous conference be rescinded had been considered. The decisions which it was desired to rescind were ones favouring sterilisation in certain cases and the establishment of birth control clinics. A poll was taken on the rescinding motion, and it was announced last night that it had been carried by a distinct majority. The other remits are not now expected to go to the vote. The Dominion executive decided at a meeting during the conference that matters of sex hygiene should in future be open for discussion only, and that no vote should be taken on them.