Town Talk

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 109, 11 May 1931, Page 6

Town Talk

By-law lor Cyclists. Bicycle owners who have nut yet ii had their r?ar mudguards painted e< white are reminded that the by-law re- e quiring this is now in force and that city inspectors will bo taking action at an early date to remind cyclists of a their obligations. Visiting the Warship tl Visitors and sightseers in plenty were r shown over the H.M.S. Veronica yes terday afternoon between the hours of 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. They ■were all in- \ terested in the ship on account of its 11 recent work at Napier. One of the L crew was in Japan at the time of the Jl great earthquake there, and it was a 8< strange coincidence that he should be 11 present on the Veronica when the Napier disaster occurred. ], English Ruics 1 The laws of the Rugby game as ob served by the English Union arc being very rigidly adhered to in WanganiA One way in which the change has tif J* fected. matters is in regard to the in- • terval. Referees have instructions that there is to be a five-minute spel] and ( no more. Any team coining on .ate after the interval, is the oppOsiHoi j piotests, will be subject to forfeit aiy r win the play might give them. 5 Aero Club Activities ■* Members of the Wanganui Aero Club journeyed to Haw era on Saturday to j have a “day out’’ at the Hawera f , ’drome. Several Auckland machines £ were expected to be present for the oc- j casion. Flying-ofHecr Keith is due back | in Wanganui this week and will continue his course of instruction to sexoral pupils. It is uderstoo 1 that two 1 Wanganui syndicates have completed 1 financial arrangements to purchase 1 ’planes. Veronica Men as Guests. 1 Officers and men of H.M.S. Veronica J were the guests of the Wanganui Gar- < rison Band at the concert in the Ma- t jostie Theatre last night. They were 1 welcomed by the president of the i band, Mr D. McFarlane, who referred in high terms of praise to the Veronica’s splendid work in the recent disas- 1 ter. The Officers of the Veronica are J to be the guests of the Girl Guides to-night at a cabarer at the Elrick 5 tearooms and at bridge at the Lady Jellicoe Club. Half Holiday Fell Though the poll taken to decide the ’ half holiday foi Wanganui resulted in accisive victor for Saturday ami a goodly measure of support for Thursc'aj it must not be ovjdocked that other days in tl-e week appeared suitable to some people. In the count made on the night of the poll Monday was revealed as having 11 supporters.

'Tuesday 5, Wednesday 25, and Friday 16. Apparently there are 1.1 people in Wanganui who know how black Monday really can be. Late Naval Ratings. After the departure of the warship Diomede from Wellington for Auck- ' land last Monday afternoon it wasdis- s covered that four of the ratings had 1 been left behind, and it was necessary f for the ship to return to pick them up. J The cruiser left after tie customary f leave-takings between the sailors and t their shore friends at 4.20 p.m., and ' in a little over an hour she was back in the harbour. The men who had miss- J ed rhe boat were rowed out from the t Clyde Quay Wharf, and in a short < time the interrupted trip was resumed. < c No Interference. i A woman holding a voting paper and a man in close conversation with her c attracted the notice of a policeman on s duty at a polling booth in Auckland ; during Wednesday’s municipal elections. The man seemed to be giving the a woman some advice. Stepping briskly | forward, the policeman taped the man j on the shoulder. “What are you doing?’’ asked the policeman. “Du you x uot know you are not supposed to tell f anyone for whom they should vote?” y The policeman apologised when he was ( informed that he was addressing the t returning officer, who was merely in- { structing the woman in the procedure to be followed in marking the ballot paper. Man Driven “Birds” “All the birds of the air are a sigh- < ing and a sobbing.” This line of the - old song appears to be very true about Wanganui at present if the opinion of . one of the keenest sportsman can be accepted. He declares that, aeroplanes J have played havoc with game m, the ’ coastal regions, especially ducks. Roaring engines have had an unnerving effect and the ducks have forsaken • their usual haunts on open lakes in ■ this locality and have gone back to the quieter regions inland. “’That is theory in one way,” this man stated. “Yet, in another it is not. I watched mv rooster the last, time a ’plane crossed my back yard. He gave the on-guard signal with an eye cocked to the sky just as realistically as if ’plane was a hawk of deadly peril. County Finances At the meeting of the Wanganui County Council on Friday, the staff was congratulated on bringing the past year’s finances through in a very satisfactory state. A statement submitted by the clerk (Mr G. Darbyshire) showed that in every riding savings had been effected and the finances wore improved by comparison with the respective positions at the end of the Y e ai previous. The chairman (Councillor D. Mackintosh), said that the engineer in tended to have his estimates before the next meeting and, ns was only natural, ratepavers would be looking for a reduction in rates. He thought that the engineer should be instructed to csti mate for essential work only and keep the rates down to the very lowest. Ihe council gave instructions? accordingly. A Majority of Two When the Wanganui Mayoral election was declared after the preliminary count on Wednesday night Mr N. (4. Armstrong had a lead of two votes. It was discovered at an outlying booth a few minutes afterwards that several voting papers had been placed in the wrong boxes by the voters. This accounted for the majority creeping up to thirty. The closeness of the voting caused Mr G. Murch, the Town Clerk, to recall a tie which occurred in a con test between the late Mr Ha trick anti the late Mr J. Stevenson. That issue

was decided on thb spin of a coin, tossed by the then Town Clerk.’ Mr Purnell. Mr Stevenson won. The Act lays down that in the event of a tie the Returning Officer has a casting vote, which, if he so desires, he may cast according to his own wishes. It is an unwritten la”., however, that the good old British way of tossing the r eoin should be the means of applying the great power that single vottf commands.