General News

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 87, Issue 21, 27 January 1943, Page 4

General News

Flowering Gums. Very bright splashes of colour are being made by flowering gum trees in various parts of the city. Those in the vicinity of Sedgebrook, with their brilliant red and deep pink blooms, make a particularly bright sight. Turakina’s First Postmaster. Sixty-seven years have elapsed since a post office was opened in Turakina. Mr. W. N. Smith, a former member of the Wanganui Post Office staff, who died recently, was Turakina’s first postmaster.

Lost Ration Cards. Special ration cards issued for children between 5 and 16 years of age will not be replaced if. they are lost. The special cards were first issued with the last distribution of ration books in October ,to give an extra 26 clothing coupons for growing children. A Real “Boneshaker.”

At least one cyclist in Wanganui has solved the tyre problem. Taking the good wheels off his bicycle he substituted a pair of old ones, minus tyres, and can be seen and heard any day of the week clattering down Victoria Avenue on this modern “boneshaker.” Bowling at New Plymouth. At the Taranaki Bowling Centre’s 38th. annual tournament, which opened on Monday with 68 teams competing, three Wanganui Centre teams came through the first day’s play with two wins. The teams were skipped by J. Kirkwood (St. John’s), J. Steel (Wanganui) and S. Marr (Marton). Woodwork Models.

Samples of work done in the woodwork rooms of schools in the Wanganui Education Board district were on exhibition at the monthly meeting yesterday, when members expressed appreciation of what was being accomplished. The supervisor, Mr. E. H. Lange, was thanked for his report, which gave an outline of the progress made since the scheme started. Protest Made.

A protest from the school committee of the Ohakune District High School against the attendance of two pupils aged 13 and 14 respectively at a refresher course in the Danne■virke Home Guard Training Camp was received at the monthly meeting of the Wanganui Education Board yesterday. The matter was left in the hands of Mr. W. P. Meads (Raetihi) and the secretary to deal with. Exhibition of Art.

Keen interest is being taken in the annual exhibition of the Wanganui Arts and Crafts Society, at present being held in the Sarjeant Gallery. Many people have visited the display recently, including members of the Armed Forces and personnel of the United States Navy. A recent painting to be sold is an exhibit by Mr. T. L. Sperring, entitled “The Plane Tree.”

Maori Scholars. Advice of the award of three scholarships to Maori pupils in the Wanganui Education Board district was received at the Wanganui Education Board meeting yesterday. The names of the winners are Rex Manihera (Kakatahi School); Hana Searancke (Tokorangi School); and Jeannie Rewhiti (Whenuakura School). The boy will attend Te Aute College, Hawke’s Bay, and the girls the Turakina College, Marton.

Taihape Savings. Taihape has joined the leading offices in the Wanganui postal district which have obtained their weekly National Savings quotas for a year or more, but was unlucky last week. With 53 weeks to its credit Taihape fell short of its quota by £7O the amount required being £196. During the Christmas period, when quotas were credited to offices, Taihape was successful in reaching its objective in actual cash receipts for three weeks in succession.

An Old Folk Song. The secret correspondent in the Netherlands of The Times, London, tells how the organist of a small village near Eindhoven—the city where the Phillips factories were recently bombed by the R.A.F.—frequently manages to play the British National Anthem on his carillon. The Germans, naturally, are extremely annoyed, but as he contends that he is playing the old Netherlands folk song, “Oh Dearest Place on •» , .rth,” which is set to the same tune, there is little the Germans can do about it. V.C. Winner.

Members of the Wanganui Education Board were yesterday shown by Mrs. P. H. Ward, the Victoria Cross won by her son, Sergeant-Pilot J. A. Ward. Before going overseas Sergeant Ward was a member of the board’s teaching staff. Mrs. Ward was thanked for attending the meeting, and it was decided to nave placed in the board’s room a photograph ot Sergeant Ward with a copy ot the citation of the deed which won him the coveted honour. It was also decided to record the winning of the V.C. in the minutes.

Many People Travel Passenger traffic on the railways is being maintained at a high level and because of heavy advance bookings an extra express is leaving Wellington for Auckland daily this week. On Monday the express from Wellington to New Plymouth was an exceptionally heavy train. It consisted of 15 cars and two vans on arrival at Aramoho and was hauled by two locomotives, with a pusher engine at the rear. Two cars and a van were detached from the train at Aramoho, but because of the abnormal load the pusher engine assisted the express up the Westmere “bank.” Peace and After.

“The problems which confront the world if the Four Freedoms mentioned in the Atlantic Charter are to become realities will be many and complex,” said Mr. SLuart Morris, headmaster of the Waverley High School, interviewed by the “Chronicle.” It was with a view to studying these problems, coming to an informed opinion on them, and so being able to make a contribution to their solution that the Peace and After League had been organised, he added. The first meeting of the league, the constitution of which is purely tentative in nature, will be held in Waverley this evening. Mr. Hugh C. Jenkins, of Wanganui, will be the speaker.

Sale of Used Tyres. The view that the motor trade could sell, under permit, stocks of used tyres which had been declared in accordance with the Tyre Control Regulations, was expressed by * Mr. J. B. Lymburn, National Controller of Salvage, when addressing the Oamaru Committee for the Reclamation of Waste Materials. The Controller of Salvage was emphasising the need for the greatest possible conservation of rubber when Mr. L. B. Denbenham, repesenting the Oamaru Motor Trades’ Association, asked whether the stocks of used tyres, “frozen” under the control of regulations, could be released for sale under permit. ‘Some of these tyes might have 5000 or 6000 miles of use in them, whereas at present they are just taking up storage space in the garages,” he said. “If these used tyres have been declared they can be sold under permit,” replied Mr. Lymburn. “That is the logical view. If this procedure should need any special regulation, which I doubt, I will certainly make the necessary recommendations on my return to Wellington.”