LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 31 July 1939, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Frosts in Masterton.

A frost of 3.2 degrees was registered in Masterton yesterday morning and 9.8 degrees this morning.

Accident on Rimutakas.

While stationary on the Rimutaka Hill yesterday morning, a car owned by a Carterton resident, received damage to an axle and a wheel when another car crashed into it. The damaged car was unable to proceed under its own power and had to be towed to a garage. Central School Dance.

The Central School Assembly Hall was again well filled on Saturday night when the fortnightly old-time dance was held under the auspices of the Parents' Association. Music was supplied by Barnes's Rhythm Boys, extras being played by Mr Coddington and Mr Blake. The Monte Carlo was won by Mi- Dixon and Mrs Nicol. Mr W. R. Nicol ably controlled the dance as M.C. The next of these popular series of dances will be held on August 12. Half-million Miles by Car.

In slightly more than two years since he joined the service of the State, Mr F. R. Picot, Director of Internal Marketing, has travelled over 500,000 miles by motor car to almost every part of the Dominion .quite apart from numerous trips by train and aeroplane. He said that nowadays it was necessary for many departmental heads to travel a great deal, to keep in close touch with developments in different parts of the country. Teachers from Honolulu.

The possibilities of exchanging school teachers between Hawaii and New Zealand is the subject of letters from Honolulu education authorities to the Minister of Education, the Hon. P. Fraser, which will be delivered by Mr A. R. Blank, headmaster of the Fendalton School, Christchurch, who returned from a health trip to Hawaii the other day. Mr Blank said that he had discussed such exchanges while in Hawaii, and those to whom he had spoken were very keen about the idea. As a result the letters had been written.

Oratory Contest. The Victoria University College Debating Society’s Plunket Medal contest, held in the concert chamber of the Wellington Town Hall, on Saturday night, was won by Mr B. M. O'Connor, who took as his subject the Irish statesman, Eamon de Valera. Mi’ R. L. Meek (Jiddu Krishnamurti) was second, and Mr E. K. Braybrooke (the Earl of Strafford), and Mr A. L. McCulloch (Edmund Burke) were bracketed in third position. The judges were Mr W. E. Barnard, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr W. E. Leicester, and Miss Irene Wilson.

Gifts for China.

An indication of the interest in China and sympathy for her is the almost overwhelming response to the appeal of the missions committee of the Presbyterian Church for gifts suitable for refugees in the Canton district and for use in a mission hospital. The goods are to be sent uricler the care of returning missionaries early next month, and voluntary workers were busy packing some 20 large cases with the materials that have been received. The Union Steam Ship Company is generously co-operating in the effort by conveying the cases free to Sydney.

A Busy Aerodrome. Already the busiest aerodrome in New Zealand, and said to rank fifth in the British Empire, Rongotai is expected to cope with more than 30,000 air travellers this year. Commercial air lines using the aerodrome are planning additional services to cope with the extra volume of traffic expected to follow the opening of the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition in November. Last year a record number of passengers—27,ooo—passed through Rongotai, and during the Christmas and New Year holiday period the aerodrome was busier than ever before in its history. Indicating that Rongotai is growing rapidly in importance, the figures for last Easter showed a further substantial rise in the number of passengers. Conduct at “Hard Up” Ball.

The following resolution has been passed by the executive of the Auckland Diocesan Churchmen’s Association: —“That this executive of the Auckland Diocesan Churchmen’s Association views with alarm the evidence offered for the disgraceful conduct which took place in the Town Hall on the occasion of the 'hard up’ ball recently held to augment the funds ol' the centennial committee, and requests the city council immediately to take steps to ensure that a repetition of such behaviour shall be impossible. The executive is of the opinion that it will be impossible for the Church to associate itself with the forthcoming’ centennial celebrations if such brawls are to bo permitted in the city’s civic centre.” Introduction of Beavers.

A suggestion that the introduction of beavers to New Zealand rivers would be of assistance in the conservation of fish and game does not find favour with Mr E. F. Stead, of Christchurch, who is an authority on the Dominion's wild life. Arguments in favour of the beaver as a desirable immigrant were advanced by Mr E. J. Schofield in a recent address to the Auckland Acclimatisation Society on American and Canadian acclimatisation work. Mr Stead said he could not conceive that beavers would be of any value to fishing in Now Zealand. They certainly could not live in 90 per cent of the fishing streams in the South Island. There wore rivers in the North Island, however, near Raetihi and Ohakune, for example, whore they might do well. Beautiful Countries. That Australia and New Zealand were beautiful countries, and their people most likeable, were opinions expressed by Miss Faith Baldwin, the American novelist, who was a through passenger by the Mariposa, which arrived at Auckland from Sydney the other day. Miss Baldwin toured in New Zealand before leaving for Australia, where she travelled about 4000 miles. “I think young countries like America, Now Zealand and Australia have much in common,” said Miss Baldwin. ‘They are close to the pioneer stage, and many of their peoples came from the same homes. Of course, we have more mixed blood in America, and that is reflected in the many kinds of variations in the people. It has produced people with great vitality, and the literature of America is lively from the cosmopolitan point of view.”

“There is a good deal to be said for eliminating the middleman," says a writer. It’s certainly one way of making both ends meet.