Town Talk

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 72, Issue 106, 6 May 1929, Page 6

Town Talk

Activities of the Swankerg The Swankcrs’ Club reports that there is a demand for warm winter clothing among the needy. An executive officer stated on Saturday that calls for assistance in this direction were made almost daily.

A Long Parsnip A Wanganui East resident dub a parsnip over twenty inches in length during the week-end. The root was well developed and had not grown to that extent and suffered in quality. It was one of tho best of its kind from a small kitchen garden crop. Fine Week-End

City residents took advantage of the fine weather during the week-end to prepare gardens and lawns for the winter season. There were signs ol activity in every suburb. In one locality, where city workmen had been employed at street levelling opportunity was taken by householders to collect barrowloads of rich soil.

Level Crossings The Wanganui Automobile Association intends to protest against tho practice of regulating the traffic at level crosings by manual signals which show a green flag or light to indicate that the line is open for the train and at the same time that the road is closed to traffic. This, the Association contends, is dangerous to public safety and urges that special signals should be used to show red to the road and green to the line. A remit to this effect has been sent to the North Island Motor Union.

Motorists and Highways Board Motorists’ organisations are still emphatic that they have not sufficient representation on the Main Highways Board and contend that the Government’s recent decision to appoint two Boards, one for each Island does not alter the position so far as they are concerned. This subject wil Ibe discussed again at a meeting of the North Island Motor Union this week, when the Wanganui delegates will support an appeal for increased representation for motorists on both Boards. Power Board Matters

Tilings arc quiet in the WanganuiRangitiKei electric Power Board's district at present, thcr e being a length of three miles only oi new line under construction. With regard to the personnel of the Board itself, the County elections are now awaited. A keen contest is predicted in the Rangitikei area, there being four candidates for three seats. Messrs H. O’Callaghan and G. W. Dalrymple are sitting members and Messrs K. G. Dalziell and P. Munro are newcomers. Mr A G. Simposn who was a member of the Board for the term just passed, is not seeking re-election. County Elections

County elections take place on Wednesday. in the areas adjacent to the city —Wanganui and Waitotara—keen contests are likely to choose the representatives on the Wanganui Harbour Board, the proposed loan for harbour improvement works being a debatable subject. Incidcntly, the policy of the newly elected Harbour Board will largely depend upon country representatives. To choose the personnel of the councils themselves, there will be elections in two ridings of the Wanganui County (Mangawhero and Mangamahu) and in four in Waitotara (Brunswick - Westmere, Waitotara, Mosstown and Tokomaru). A Large Shipment

The Commonwealth and Dominion Lines oversea vessel, Port Napier, which arrived in the Wanganui roadstead on Saturday from Lyttelton for further loading for London via Panama, has a registered gross tonnage of 8400 tons. For this period of the year the Port Napier’ s local l<yading is a large one and consists of 3570 bales of wool, 10,375 carcases of mutton, 1000 quarters of beef, 1000 lambs, 4120 crates of cheese, 4000 boxes oi butter and 50 casks of pelts. Should favourable weather prevail it is anticipated that the vessel will sail for Wellington on Wednesday from where she is scheduled to take her final departure on Thursday.

Making a Story "Authentic” Fishermen, both amateurs and professionals are noted for yarns, some true, but the majority otherwise. Well appreciating the “otherwise,” on e resident of Wanganui, visiting Russell recently and knowing that to come home without having caught at least one make would be hardly creditable, hit on the idea of having his photograph taken beside one of the largest swordfish on exhibition at the Anglers’ Club. "That’ll settle all doubts about what I have to tell,” he reflected, and instructed his photographer to post prints to several of his friends in Wanganui. The idea worked, up to a point, but the letters "eum,” and a portion of a glass case showing just behind the principal figures in the print sort of spoilt things.

The City Beautiful A visitor from abroad, who was recently in Wanganui, commented upon the picturesque surroundings of the city. It was an ideal spot, he thougnt, viewed from the high ground on either sid 0 of the river. He was of opinion, however, that much more could be done by a community effort among amateur gardeners to improve the beauty of the streets. He instanced the many high fences which shut beauty spots away from the public eye. "Even allowing for the fact that people lik e privacy,” he said, “commend iuc to the American idea of having no fences at all, and let neighbour compete with neighbour, and suburb with suburb in making their gardens what they ought to be. If you did that Wanganui would lead the world as the city beautiful.”

Ladies’ and Haircutting A Christchurch visitor to Wanganui told a pressman yesterday that, in the centre where she came from, ladies were not so keen on having their hair cut as in the past. Their attitude was having no small effect on the trade and business in some saloons in Christchurch was slack. Questioned on the subject yesterday a Wanganui hairdresser said that there was no slackening in this city. He was doing as much buisness in the ladies’ saloon as over. He pointe.l out, however, that visitors from abroad had remarked on ladies’ haircutting going out of fashion in the older countries, but his personal opinion was that it would never die out- Those who were letting their locks grow the meantime would have them/ %gain by next summer. '