LOCAL & GENERAL.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 19 September 1934, Page 4

LOCAL & GENERAL.

Mr L. J. Taylor, a very keen supporter of the High School third grade championship football team, and of sport generally in Masterton, will entertain the team'and other citizens at a dumer at the Empire Hotel on Saturday, 6th October, at 6.30 p.m. Mr R. Bartlett-Wright, physical culture specialist, is now enrolling pupils for classes at his studio, 59 Renall Street, where full particulars in regard to terms, etc., may be obtained. Swedish remedial resistance and calisthenics will be taught. Mr Bartlett-Wright has excellent credentials as a physical instructor. He will be pleased to advise intending pupils on the type of exercise best suited to individual requirements. Cr. Russell drew attention at the Borough Council meeting last night to the necessity of an additional lamp at the bend of'Villa Street near the river Which was a danger. He stated that the council had no better lights at the corners of streets abutting Queen Street than in the days of gas; more brilliant lights were necessary. The engineer stated that he was inquiring about a better type of light. “That’s settled it. Wing damage.” So said Miss Jean Batten to the Director of Air Services, Squadron-Leader T. M. Wilkes, as she watched her famous Moth aeroplane hoisted aboard the Maunganui at Wellington, prior to her departure for Sydney yesterday.. As the crane was swinging the machine over the ship, the northerly breeze caught the light craft and it knocked against the arm of the crane. It touched three times more before it was finally aboard, but none of the impacts were of any great force. Figures given in the annual report of the Transport Department, tabled in the House of Representatives yesterday, show that during the year ended 31st March there was again a decrease in the number of motor fatalities in the Dominion, there having been 125 accidents and 135 deaths, as against 140 accidents and 143 deaths during the previous year. The department considers this particularly gratifying, as it was estimated during last summer that there was more traffic on the roads than during the preceding summer. Cr. Low stated at the Borough Council meeting last night that 60 tons of coal had been lost in transit by the Masterton Borough Council during the past year. As a result of an. arrangement with the Railway Department and the State Coal authorities the coal was weighted at and paid for at Masterton for a period of three months. That period had now nearly expired but they hoped to renew it. In reply.to a councillor, who expressed the opinion that the authorities would not renew the arrangement, the Mayor said that the authorities had agreed to do it for the Dunedin City Council.

A Los Angeles cable states that the film star, Ruth Chatterton, has filed a divorce suit against her husband, George Brent, also a film actor, on the ground of mental cruelty.

The first catch of whitebait of the new season at the Wairarapa Lake was made yesterday. The whitebait are reported to be plentiful and in good condition.

The annual general meeting of the St. Matthew’s Tennis Club will be held in the Choir Vestry, St. Matthew’s Church, at 7.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 26th September.

A Waipukurau telegram states that, further to the burglaries of Monday morning, Roy Baxter Caulton and Francis Ernest Price, labourers, of Wellington, were charged with breaking and entering by night the shop of Yates’ Cash Stores, and stealing tobacco, cigarettes and papers valued at £IOO. They were remanded for a week. Other charges are pending.

The secretary (Mr B. Rickards) of the Masterton Band reported as follows to the Borough Council meeting last month: —Practices were held on the 6th, 9th, 13th, 16th, 20th, 23rd, 27th and 30th August. The band assisted at the Military Ball on the evening of 2nd August. A programme was rendered at the Public Hospital on the afternoon of 19th August. In connection with the Masterton borough loans conversion scheme the Mayor (Mr T. Jordan) stated at last night’s council meeting that approximately one-third of the saving of £1852 in interest as a result of the conversion scheme would go into the gasworks; thus reducing the gasworks interest on loans by about one-third. In the circumstances ratepayers could not look forward to any big reduction in rates. A splendid musical programme has been arranged for the social afternoon which will be held in the Epiphany Hall, Kuripuni, at 3 p.m. to-morrow. Miss Olive N. Fish will give vocal solos, and Miss M. Trafford will contribute elocutionary items, and Misses M. McClymont and M. Mackay will giye pianoforte items. Mrs W. G. Perry will be the accompanist. An address will be given by Mrs Max Cleghorn, M.A. The librarian (Mrs Cohen) reported as follows to the Borough Council meeting last night:—The following are the figures for the library for August: Books issued: Fiction 5565, travel, etc., 77. Books added: Fiction 51, travel, biog., etc., 9; subscribers end of July, 483; new subscribers, 5; subscribers* left during August, 0; total subscribers end of August, 488. Amount spent in books from Ist April to 31st July, 1934: Librarian, £47 13s 7d; committee, £7 13s Bd. Amount spent in books for the month of August, 1934: Librarian, £l6 16s 9d; committee, £2 10s lid.

The custodian of the Mawlcy Park camping ground (Mr T. Bullock) reported as follows to the Borough Council meeting last night:—l have to report for August as follows: —The window at western end of front has been accidentally broken. The safety guards on all lights have been supplied. Five bulbs have been removed from camp house since the opening last season. The number of campers brought forward was 514; from 31/7/34 to 31/8/34, 7; total, 521. Permits issued, 179; for August, 5; total, 184. Fees paid to Town Clerk to 31/7/34, £3l 6s; fees paid to Town Clerk for August, 15s; total, £32 Is. Cr. White stated at the Borough Council meeting last night that in his small way as a coal merchant he lost about 50 tons of coal each year in transit on the railway between the mines and Masterton. He had lost as much as 24 cwt. in a twelve-ton truck of coal. The position was a serious one for those engaged in the coal business. The railway authorities had stated that the loss had nothing to do with them but was the business of the mines; the latter said that it was not their business but that of the railways. “So there you are are! ” The position needed thoroughly overhauling and a more equitable system brought into operation. The executive committee of the

Christchurch Free Ambulance Associa-

tion last night confirmed a previous resolution to wind up the association’s affairs. A meeting of creditors of the association will be held on 26th September, when a decision on the appointment of a liquidator will be made. The Christchurch -Free Ambulance started operations in 1931. Once it had four vehicles on the road, but for a year has been operating only one. Soon after the establishment of this association, the St. John Ambulance Association, which had previously charged for services to patients able to pay, made the ambulances free, suffering a considerable loss of revenue. At the meeting of the Masterton Borough Council last night, the Mayor (Mr T. Jordan) stated that the committee appointed had experienced considerable difficulty in obtaining a suitable man to fill the vacancy on the Council caused by the death of the late Mr 11. J. 0 ’Leary. They had approached several residents whom they considered suitable to fill the vacancy, but without success. That day, however, they had interviewed a local resident who would probably accept the position if his employer, who was absent from Masterton at the present time, offered no objection. It was decided by the Council to leave the matter over till the

next meeting of the Council. A Press message from Christchurch states that the conditions under which the New Zealand team for the Empire Games was selected and sent to London were vigorously condemned during a discussion at the annual meeting of the Canterbury Amateur Athletic Club. The action of the authorities in Wellington in allowing the team only three weeks in London before the Games, and in refusing T. G. Broadway permission to go earlier at his own expense, was described as “stark and sheer lunacy,” and “a scandalous shame.” The club instructed its delegates to bring a protest before the Canterbury Amateur Athletic Centre, to be carried to headquarters in Wellington. Broadway is a member of the Canterbury Amateur Athletic Club. Hurled from a pram which fell in front of an advancing train at Penrose railway station yesterday, a nine-months-old baby had a miraculous escape from death. After the train had been stopped, the child was found lying between the platform and the near side railway line. It was unscathed, and since the accident it had shown no symptoms of injury or after-effects. The pram had been left on the platform by the mother of the child. It is thought that the vibration of the train and the wind combined to set the pram in motion. - As it fell it was struck by the front of the engine. Yet, as stated, the child was found lying beside the line, apparently unharmed. The strap by which the baby had been fastened to the pram was still round its body.

In the semi-finals of the inter-club table tennis championships for Central Wairarapa, played at Te Ore Ore last night, Te Ore Ore proved the victors by a narrow margin after a series of keenly contested games..

Presbyterian Church services will be held on Sunday, 23rd September, at Mauriceville at 11 a.m., at Rangitumau at 2.30 p.m. The Rangitumau Sunday School will open at 2 p.m. and Opaki at 3.45 p.m.

A Stratford telegram states that the Stratford Hospital Board has decided to appoint a full time Medical Superintendent, without the right of private practice. The position first is being offered to Dr. Steven, who now holds the position on a part-time basis, and failing his acceptance it will be advertised.

The death occurred yesterday, in tragic circumstances, of Clarence Farnsworth Stratford, aged 33, a teacher at the Kowliai Intermediate School, and a prominent swimming administrator, reports an Auckland Press Association telegram. His body was found under a tree with a rifle alongside it. He had been in ill-health since a recent severe operation.

Improvements and additional to the municipal abattoir at an estimated cost of £llOO were outlined in a special report presented at last night’s meeting of the Borough Council by the borough engineer, Mr C. R. Mabson. Three proposals were outlined by Mr Mabson with a view to increasing the carrying capacity of the abattoir. Consideration of the report was deferred until next meeting.

Striking a new note in its varied propaganda to popularise New Zealand meat in England, the London office of the New Zealand Meat Producers’ Board has been utilising the attractions of the jig-saw and picture geography question cards, linked up with newspaper and periodical advertising. When the Board advertised that it was prepared to send to any school a series of 25 attractive little cards with a New Zealand scene on each, and a geography question, the first day’s mail produced 400 applications, and in a short time the response totalled 4280, which, the. Board’s manager estimates will introduce the subject to at least a. million children throughout Great Britain.