LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19772, 21 February 1927, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

A Blenheim message states that Frederick William Bismack, a labourer aged about 60, died suddenly on Saturday whilst harvesting. Ho is believed to belong to the Feilding district.

The Mayor, Mr. Hope Gibbons, has received a telegram from the Undersecretary of Internal Affairs stating that the Duke of York approves of the arrangements for his visit to Wanganui on March 3.

The condition of T. Bound, who was admitted to the Wanganui Hospital suffering from shock after his fall with Blue Peter in the first race on Saturday, is reported to be satisfactory and the rider should be fully recovered from the effects of his accident within a few days.

Aramoho Park presented an Animated appearance on Saturday on the occasion of the Gonville Methodist Sunday School picnic. About 120 children, parents and friends spent an enjoyable day in the open, and much interest was displayed in a varied sports programme. Car thieves are again active in Wanganui. During the week-end a touring car was stolen in the .city by a party, supposedly to consist of youths and girls, and n<* trace of it has been found up to last evening. Apparently the lesson of recent Court cases has not become well enough impressed upon the minds of some people.

The annual picnic of the Rangath.ua school children was held at Castlecliff beach on Saturday. A party of 400 children reached Wanganui in the morning by special train and returned to their homes in the evening. Weather conditions during the day were fairly equable and an enjoyable time was spent by the picnickers.

The Queen Alexandra Band yesterday left for Wellington, where they will attend the Dominion Band Contest. They travelled by a special excursion train. The band is in fine form and has hopes of gaining some of the prizes. Captain G. Buckley is particularly pleased with the playing of tho band. A large crowd gathered at the Wanganui station yesterday to see them off.

About six o’clock on Saturday evening a small car coming down St. John’s Hill was run into by a heavy car climbing the hill behind a string of race cars. The lighter vehicle suffered through the collision. A rear wheel was broken and the driver was thrown out and shaken. The front axle of the heavy car was strained in the collision, which occurred at Polson Street.

A large number of American tourists from the steamer Franconia, which is on a world tour, will arrive in Wanganui by special river boat to-day. The visitors will stay here the night, and go on to-morrow, when another equally large party, also from the Franconia, will follow them. Numbering over 200 in all, the tourists will be distributed between the Rutland and Foster’s Hotels.

The Avenue was a busy street on Saturday morning, when the usual shopping crowds were swelled by racegoers. Parking problems were evident, as both sides of the Avenue were lined with cars, and in side streets, such as Maria Place, few vacancies for the casual motorist to pull into occurred. At the street intersections police constables on point duty handled the traffic well, and greatly assisted motorists.

New Zealand has a reputation as a great sporting country, but according to tho wireless broadcasters from Sydney and Melbourne the Dominion knows very little of the real thrills of sport. On Saturday evening a “Chronicle” man was listening-in successively to Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide and there were motor sports, and trotting races at night. The announcers were experts in their work and listeners-in had little difficulty in imaginging they were actually at the sport concerned. Especially thrilling were the descriptions of motor racing, one speeding car overturning at a corner.

Wanganui fire-fighters had a busy two hours yesterday afternoon attending to a fire in the lupins at Gonville between Puriri Street and Rimu Street. The call was received about 3.30 p.m. and two engines went out from the city station and one from Gonville. A strong wind made the firemen’s work harder, and an additional handicap was the fact that there was no main in Rimu Street. In consequence, some 1300 feet of hose had to be run out from Puriri Street. No damage was done to property, but some six acres of land was covered by the fire, which might have caused considerable loss had it spread to the nearby plantation.

There are thrills aplenty for patrons of the motor cyclo races at the Royal speedway at the Sydney Show Grounds. A graphic description of a race was heard by wireless on Saturday night, in which competitors developed speeds of over 90 miles an hour. In ono race a motor cyclist came off his machine travelling at 80 miles an hour. He bounced along the track like an india-rubber ball and returned to his machine somewhat groggy in order to pull it out of the track of oncoming machines. Colour was lent to the description by the sound of the starter’s gun, the zip and roar of machines parsing the broadcasting microphone, and the playing of a military band between events.

Speaking to a “Chronicle” man on the state of the Wanganui tramway finances, a local resident recently returned from a tour of the South Island said he was sure the deficit could be eliminated, in a great part at any rate, if the one-man system were put into operation. Invercargill, where the problems confronting the tramway authorities were very similar to those obtaining in Wanganui, had, he said, obtained six one-man safety cars from America as an experiment, and their operation had proved so successful that the stock of two-man cars was now being converted one by one, to the new system. He said that once people become accustomed to the pay-as-you-enter system the cars could be operated just as quickly as those at present in use in Wanganui, and was sure that they would be a success in this city, effecting a big annual saving in wages.