Town Talk

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 76, Issue 178, 31 July 1933, Page 6

Town Talk

Assessment Court Sitting. The Assessment Court is to sit, this morning in the Wanganui City C< uncil Chambers. Several objections to city valuations will be heard. Whistle from France. In the Police and Press match on Saturday the rcferi-e, Mr. C. G. Porter, of Wellington, used a whistle that was presented to him by the French Rugby Union when the All Blacks played teams in France in .1925. Grass Fire. Grass iirc.s are unusual during the winter months, but yesterday shortly > after noon the Wanganui Fire Brigade was summoned to a blaz? in Ashton Terrace, Cast Ipc] iff. The grass lire was extinguished without any dr mage , being done. Nightwatchman Engaged. It is reported that as a result of a number of cases of theft at Aramoho recently, th e business people have engaged a nightwatchman and will sunscribe towards his salary. Last week 15 gallons of benzine were stolen from a bowser and £5 worth of tobacco were stolon from a store. Injured Motor-cyclist. H. T. T. Gunn, who was injured as a result of being thrown from his motor-cycle on the Main Road close to the Patea golf links last Thursday night, was still unconscious late last night. His condition has remained unchanged from Ihe time he was admitted to the Pa tea Hospital on Thursday Winter Rowing. Despite the fact that it is the close season for rowing, oarsmen are usually to be seen on the Wanganui River during the week-ends. Yesterday morning was bright and sunny, and many craft were on the water at intervals. It will not be long now before annual meetings will be taking plaec. In preparation for the new season it is understood that one of the local clubs intends painting its boathouse. Distribution of Relief. Consequent upon the announcement in the ‘‘Chronicle” on Saturday morning that the system of the distribution of relief in Wanganui was to be altered, a large number of relief workers congregated outside the Labour Bureau before Saturday mid-day. When approached and questioned with regard to the change, Mr. E AV. F. Gohns, certifying officer, said' that the Advisory Committee would not be sitting that morning but that the relief would be distributed by district committees, which would give consideration to cases of sickness. Wanganui Orphanage. An attendance of approximately 50 subscribers and friends of the Wanganui Orphanage was presided over by Mr. AV. J. Treadwell at the annual meeting on Saturday afternoon. The annual report and balance-sheet were read and adopted. The balance-sheet, showed a deficit of £6l 19s 6d. Mesdames Taylor, Collier and Hair were reelected to three of the four vacancies on the committee, and Miss Dexter was elected to that caused through the death of her mother. vYfter the formal business the Orphanage children, under Miss Warnock, gave, a very pleasing programme of songs. The elder girls served afternoon tea. Loss of Tahiti Recalled. The cargo steamer Fife, which is due at Wanganui to-dy from Galveston (Texas), via Auckland, Lyttelton, and Dunedin, was formerly of the NorI wegian steamer Penybryn, which went to the rescue of the Union Company’s passenger liner Tahiti when that vessel was foundering in the Pacific in August, 1930. The Penybryn was in the vicinity of Rarotonga when the distress signals were sent out from the Tahiti. The Penybryn has since, been sold, and is now owned by Messrs. B. J. Sutherland and Co., Ltd., Newcastle-on-Tyne. It is very unusual for a British shipowner to buy a foreign vessel. As a general rule British ships are sold to foreigners. This is the first voyage of the ship Io Now Zealand as the Fife. Soft Spot for Wanganui. Mr. Cliff Porter, the AU Black captain of 1924 and 1930, who was referee in the Police and Press match on Saturday, and who took a hand in the play himself towards the close of the game, has a soft spot in his heart for Wanganui. It was to this town that he first made a trip away from home with a Rugby team. He was included in the Wellington College first fifteen, which played in the inter-collego Rugby tournament in Wanganui in 1915. “We all thought wo were Christ-mat then,” Cliff remarked on Saturday, when his memory was cast back to those days. Ho played as a five-eighth. It will be remembered that in that year, and during the period of the college matches, a battalion of Lord Liverpool’s Own Rifle Brigade, then in training for the front, were encamped on I’utiki rifle range for musketry. There were so many Wellington lads among them that orders were issued that they were not to barrack at the college matches. Recalling Old Days. Among those who attended the Rugby match on Saturday between the Police and Press was Mr. J. Hunter, the great live-eighth of the 1905 All Blacks. After the game was over he and Mr. Cliff Porter, who acted as referee, had an interesting talk about the matches of long ago. Listeners were entertained with reminiscences of two great players, and the thought was engendered that a very inter sting story could be told it sportsme • of the calibre of these two could be got together to recount the, old days. An attempt was made to collect as many 1905 Ail Blacks as possible in Wan ganui on the day of the Police and Press match, and if sufficient number could be got together to hold a reunion. The nature of the times, however, ami the difficulty about getting leave, prevented a. gathering of this sort. I'he secretary- received letters from Messrs. W. J. Wallace, J. Corbett and F. Glasgow, all regretting that they could not attend. Mr. Glasgow also saw Messrs. F. W. Roberts and Ale Donald, of Wellington, who also ex pressed regret at inability to get away. Though there, arc difficulties about it, surely, some day before it . 100 late, the boys of 1905 will be got togethoi just once.