ROUND THE TOWN

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19865, 13 June 1927, Page 6

ROUND THE TOWN

A large cargo of spiral pipes wafi loaded at Wanganui on Saturday by the steamer Gale. The port of discharge for the consignment i* T —“elton. The Central Fire Brigade answererd a call at 6.7 p.m. on Saturday to Durie Hill, where a haystack was on fire. Owing to lack of water supply, it was destroyed. Heavy rains during the week-end proved too much for the carrying capacity of several drains in the city, with the result that street corners in several instances were slightly flooded. During the recent rains, rubble an'd clay were dislodged from the Durie Hill steps in quantities and the lower flights are thick with mud, making their negotiation a matter of considerable risk after dark. On a charge of false pretences at Waverley, Hector Vernon Penwarden, who is awaiting sentence on other charges, was before the Wanganui Magistrate’s Court on Saturday, and was sentenced to three months imprisonment with hard labour. The discharge of her cargo of Texas sulphur was completed by the steamer Persian Prince on Saturday, and the vessel left for Westport to bunker prior to proceeding to Nauru Island. A cargo of phosphates will be loaded there for Auckland and Wanganui. Palmerston North is en fete with coloured lights and bunting to welcome visitors to the show, and it has been suggested that the people of Wanganui co-operate with the Winter Show organisation to make a similar display in the city for the Wanganui Winter Show. Instruction of young boys in the appreciation of home life is one of the branches' of activity of the Wanganui Y.M.C.A.., and an annual function—the Mother and Son Banquet —is held to further the work’. This year’s gathering was held on .Saturday evening and proved to be successful from every point of view, there being an attendance of over 200. Among seafaring men who visit this coast the atmosphere off the Wanganui River has a reputation for coldness. An old “salt” who chatted to a “Chronicle” man yesterday mentioned that on occasions when visibility was so bad that landmarks could not be distinguished, those on board could tell when they were off the river mouth by the pronounced drop in the temperature of the air. In connection with the recent visit here of Mr F. AV. Furkert, Under-Sec-retary and Engineer-in-Chicf of the Public Works Department, and also in view of the urgency of the river bank protection work at Taylorville, the Mayor has wired to Mr Furkert asking him to forward to the City Council his report on the suitability of the stone proposed to be utilised at as early a date as posible, in order that the work may proceed without delay. At Feilding, Mr W. A. Veitch, M.P.j of Wanganui, Leader of the Liberal Party, had a good meeting on Friday night, despite bad weather. He advocated the establishment of an agricultural bank, criticising the Government for its capital expenditure and not objecting to the increase in the bank overdraft rate. He said he was against the compulsory provisions of the Dairy Control Act, but supported the New Zealand contribution to the Singapore base. It was near the end of the chief game on Spriggens Park on Saturday, and the rapidly falling dusk, assisted by smoke from a nearby chimney stack, made visibility very bad. As a scrum was formed on the line during a critical stage of the match, the spectators craned forward tensely to note the next move. The mass of players heaved and the serum broke up, when, from the midst of the ensuing scramble a peevish voice raised itself. “Where’s the ball?” it questioned. An insect pest which, it has been declared, will make itself all too obvious in New Zealand in the future, is the Australian horn-tailed fly. Publicity concerning the ravages of the insect has been given recently in southern papers, and it is reported that the fly is fairly numerous in the Wanganui district. One settler has stated that the insect was known in the district 20 years ago, but if this is so, it has not multiplied freely. The horn-tailed fly’s ravages are confined to wood-boring, and, should the menace spread, it will constitute a serious problem.