Town Talk

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 102, 3 May 1938, Page 6

Town Talk

Motor Drivers' Licences. The Wanganui City Council issued 51 motor drivers’ licences during April, compared with 69 licences duiing the corresponding month of last year. Infectious Disease. Only one case of infectious disease was reported in the Wanganui health district during April, 1938. One case was recorded during the same period of the previous year. ‘ injured Cyclist i The cyclist, Edward Madden, who ! was injured when his machine struck ‘ a motor-car at the foot of St. John’s 1 Hill on Saturday night, underwent an l X-ray examination yesterday at the ' Wanganui Public Hospital. His condii tion is reported to be satisfactory. I Found Dead in Bed An elderly widower, Joseph Silkstone, aged 64, residing at 25 Nelson Street, was found dead in his bed yesterday morning. The room was full of gas, a tap being turned on under a. kettle which was standing on a gas ring. Silkstone was last seen alive or. i Saturday evening. Bible versus Marbles. “And now, my little man, what in there extra special about this particular Sunday of the year?” asked a Gonville Sunday school teacher of a I pupil, after a fairly explicit lecture on the significance of Bible Sunday. "Please sir. it’s smugglers' day,” the boy replied, recollecting that the marble season had come to an end. “The Old Army Games.” “Every known army game was played during the trip over and coming home,” said a Wanganui returned soldier, describing his experiences of the trip to the Anzac Day celebrations in Sydney to the “Chronicle” yesterday. “You could patronise your fancy —two-up, crown and ancliSA’, houseyhousey and all the rest of them.’ Ex-Councillor in the Chair Mr F. J. Hill, an ex-councillor, presided at the Citizens’ League meeting at Keith Street last night. In addition to Mr G. H. Trott, the Mayoral candidate, Crs. Bennett, Halligan and Siddells and Messrs H. West and J. G. Pendreigh also addressed a goon attendance of electors. At the conclusion, the speakers, who were given a good hearing, were accorded a voteof thanks. Harbour Board Finances “I have heard Mr Trott explain the city’s finances so thoroughly and clearly,” said Mr J. Siddells at the Citizens' League meeting at Keith Street, last night, “that he has left nothing for me to say about them, so I shall speak to you.about Harbour Board matters.” The speaker emphasised the necessity for arresting the drift in the expenditure of the Harbour Board. He realised that th? position was difficult, unless the revenue could be increased. Railway Freights “What we desire is a fair and equitable rate based on mileage, tonnage and classification,” said the chairman, Mr D. G. O’Toole, at last night’s meeting of the Wanganui Chamber of Commerce when the question of ranway freights was under consideration. An explanation of the matter was given by Mr D. St. George, district traffic manager of the railways at Wanganui, after a report had been submitted by the railway committee of the chamber. Air Pageant at Hawera. The Wanganui Aero Club's Gipsy Moth and Tiger Moth and Mr J. R. Franklin’s Taylor Cub were present at the air pageant at Hawera on Sat urday to mark the opening of the new Hawera aerodrome. Miss Janu Winstone (Wanganui) won the ladies' landing competition, and Mr J. R. Franklin was second in the senior bombing competition. Thirteen 'planes, including a De Havilland airliner belonging to Union Airways, Ltd., attended the function. Two parachute jumps were made by Mr W. G. Sellars from a Moth ’plane piloted by Mr H. L. Tancred, pilot-instructor at Wanganui.

Port Dunedin Sails. After being delayed by inclement weather, the Port Line motor-ship, Port Dunedin, completed her Wanganui loading in the roadstead yesterday, and sailed for Wellington. The vessel will take further frozen anu general cargo on board at Wellington, including a consignment cf chilled beef from the Imlay freezing works. The Port Dunedin was due to clOar Wellington to-day for English ports, but as she has a fair amount of cargo to load at Wellington her departure will be delayed for several days. The next, vessel to load in the roadstead will be the Federal Company’s steamer Hertford, which is due next week. Wanganui or Whanganui? "We are simply wasting our time discussing whether it should be Wanganui or Whanganui,” declared Mr A S Burgess at last night’s meeting of the executive of the Wanganui Chamber ot Commerce when the question of changing the spelling of the city’s name came forward as the result of a protest from pie Whangarei Chamber regarding the proposed alteration. Mr Burgess added that he could see no useful purpose being served by the addition of the “h.” The Whangarei Chamber points out that considerable delays frequently occurred as a result of the similarity of the two names which would be increase?, if the “h” was added to Wanganui. The chamber decided to take no part in the movement to have the name altered.

New Lighter for Wanganui. The New Zealand Refrigerating Company’s new lighter, Kaiwhaka. left Auckland on Saturday morning for Wanganui, where she is expected to arrive about Thursday. The Kaiwhaka, which is a Diesel-engined vessel of approximately 100 tons, is 98 feet in length and is specially con. structed to withstand heavy seas on the Wanganui River bar. The vessel has a beam of 23 feet and a depth of 1 10 feet and her under-deck capacity with one hold is approximately 150 tons. Constructed by W. G. Lowe and Son, the Kaiwhaka is powered by a 150 horse-power engine, and on the voyage from Auckland has a barge, constructed by the same firm, in tow. The Kaiwhaka, and the new barge, will make a welcome addition to the fleet of lighters and barges which operate between vessels in the Wanjganui roadstead and Castlecliff ana : Imlay.