GENERAL NEWS

Wanganui Chronicle, 31 October 1950, Page 4

GENERAL NEWS

New Oars Arrive. A consignment of 20 racing oars and four sculls from the workshops of the well-known English boat-builder, George Sims, arrived in Wanganui for the Aramoho Boating Club yesterday. Expected to cost about £9 each by the time consignment and other charges are met, the oars will be a valuable addition to the club’s plant.

More Immigrants. Another draft of British immigrants will be assembled in Britain soon ready for their departure to New Zealand. They will sail from Southampton early in December and should arrive in New Zealand early in January. The draft will be carried by the Gov-ernment-chartered Atlantis, and will consist of about 900 persons.

Thanks Expressed Sincere thanks for the assistance of doctors and others in judging and other duties at the St. John Ambulance Brigade cadet and senior competitions held in Wanganui over the week-end has been expressed by the Assistant Commissioner and officers of the district. Held on two days, the various divisions of the competitions involved judging of 11 separate trophies. First Solo Flight. Mr. R. Kitney, a member of the Wanganui squadron of the Air Training Corps, made his first solo flight at the Wanganui Airport on Sunday. He is the second of this year’s cadets undergoing a flying training course to go solo. At present the cub’s instructor (Mr. K. E. Fenwick) is giving a refresher course to two former Royal New Zealand Air Force instructors. They will receive 10 hours’ dual and 10 hours’ solo each and will complete their course this week if the weather is favourable. Rats Cause Problem. The Tokelau Islands, one of the loneliest groups of inhabited islands, has a big rat problem. The annual report of the Island Territories Department says the problem is more economic than medical—none has been found to have carried disease but they did great damage to the coconut palms. An intensive campaign is to be waged against them, probably next year. The Tokelau Islands are off the normal shipping routes but are visited by R.N.Z.A.F. flying-boats which carry urgently required supplies. Synthetics And Wool. “You must ultimately get a mixture of synthetics and wool, but the way the factories are being built, it will be two or three years before synthetics come into use. Even then, only a small percentage will be included in the fabric,” Mr. A. Holroyd, managing director of the Wanganui Woollen Mills, Ltd., told members of the Wanganui Rotary Club yesterday. In the course of a recent business tour of the United Kingdom and the United Kingdom and the United States, he had seen considerable research being undertaken in synthetics, but, as yet, only cheaper cloths contained appeciabl? percentages of them in relation to the wool content.