Town Talk

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 243, 14 October 1939, Page 6

Town Talk

Rotary Club Speaker. I The speaker at Monday’s luncheon of the Wanganui/ Rotary Club will be Mr. G. F. Saunders, of the teaching staff of the Wanganui Technical CoiI lege. Mr. Saunders will speak on “Racial Background.” The Port Bowen. Although stores and a large quantity of gear are being brought ashore it 13 not known yet whether the stranded Port Line steamer Port Bowen is to be abandoned. The company’s Nev.Zealand representatives are still awaiting advice from the head office in England. Schoolboy Stewards Secondary schoolboys will again be enlisted by the Wanganui Agricultural and Pastoral Association this year to act as assistant' stewards at the spring show. At yesterday’s meeti ing it was decided to obtain the ser- ; vices of 15 boys from the Technical College and 15 from the Collegiate , School. Labour Day Attractions. : It is expected that the races at __ Waverley on Monday week will attract a record attendance. Our readers are recommended to peruse an advertisement in this issue wherein the Railways Department announces _ special arrangements for the Labour Day holiday. The provision of cheap excursion fares with fast trains to and from Waverley Racecourse should. prove attractive to all racing enthusisasts. Wanganui Show. The secretary of the Wanganui A. and P. Association, Mr. A. R. Donaldson, stated last night that one Max well farmer had forwarded 22 entries for the Southdown classes at the annual show next month, the entry fees totalling £5. Enquiries regarding th** home industries section had been received from all parts of New Zealand he said, and the indications were that the entries would be a record. School Section at Show Record entries, numbering nearly 800, have been received by the Wanganui Agricultural and Pastoral Association for the school section of the annual show next month. The large increase will necessitate the section being extended another 20 feet. The excellent response of the country schools in particular was commented upon at yesterday’s meeting of the association. Special Force X acaucies. The various units of the first echelon o£ the Special Military Force are up to full strength with the exception of Divisional Signals, which still has vacancies for skilled men. An official statement issued by Army Headquarters states that wireless operators, telegraphists, drivers, dispatch riders, and communication equipment technicians are wanted. Any men with experience gained in the radio trade, the Post and Telegraph Department, or elsewhere may apply. Decrease in Rates. That the capital value of the counlv rating area would be reduced about £50,000 as the result of decisions of the Assessment Court and would result m a decrease of about £5OO in the amount of rates collected, was reported to yesterday’s meeting of the Wanganu County Council by the chairman, Mi A. H. Collins. The rates levied by the council for the current financial year are 1 l-8d in the £L general /ate, 8-254 for hospital purposes and a similar amount for the Wanganui Harbour Board. Eclipse Not X'isible. Wanganui people who rose from their beds early yesterday morning to see the partial eclipse of the sun were disappointed as the sky was heavily clouded over during the time the phenomenon took place. The eclipse was scheduled to start at 6.54 a.m. and to reach its maximum shadow on the j face of the sun at 7.51 a.m., when two-' thirds of the sun’s surface would have I been shaded. The phenomenon was L-1 have concluded at 8.54 a.m. The lasi ! eclipse visible in New Zealand was on [ November 14, 1936. Taylor Cub Sold. The Wanganui Aero Club's Tax lor Cub light caoin aircraft has oeen sold . t ■ a member of the New Plymouth Aero Club. The plane, which formerly belonged to Mr. J. R. Franklin, who sold it to (he Wanganui Club, is powered by a 40 horse-power fourcylinder opposed engine and is .t highvirig monoplane. The New r;y>rmvth Aero Club's Roarwin plane has not been taken over by the Go’■ rnm> nl and the club intends to carry on o.' -ng instruction. Children’s Health Camp. Forty-eight children from the di.-, tricts of the Wanganui and Taranaki Education Boards will leave to-mor-row and on Monday for their homes after a six weeks’ term in the chitdren’s health camp at Gonville. On Wednesday they will be replaced by another batch of 48 children. This lot of children will remain in camp lor | four weeks and the final batch wifi have four and a-half weeks’ residence in the camp. During the summer school vacation the camp will be overhauled and spring cleaned and members of the staff will take their annual holidays. Shortage of Eat Stock. An acute shortage of fat stock has been experienced in Wanganui of late and supplies are still barely sufficient to meet the requirements of city butchers, and values are still high. However, with the imrpovement in the weather conditions and the good growth in the pasture's, supplies are expected to increase and quality to improve from now onwards. The butchers in the city certainly hope this will be so, for they have been forced to carry the burden of high prices themselves, as a rise in rctal rates is not permitted under the Government restriction of prices. District -anib Competition ce In a published report of conditions [f_ applying to the Wanganui district or lamb competition being promoted by an the New Zealand Meat Producers’ te Board at the Wanganui Show in No!SS vember, it was stated that the indied vidual weight of each lamb shall not exceed 301bs. Mr. E. Hansen, Meat at Board representative in Wanganui, 11- states that the weight was wrong, of The correct weight is 361b5., he states. ?1- Condition five of the competition ed reads: “The individual weight of each 11, lamb shall not exceed 361bs. frozen rs [weight, and all lambs must be docked.”