LOCAL AND GENERAL

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21198, 22 August 1940, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Borough Control Provision for the continuance of commissioner control in Thames is contained in the Thames Borough Commissioner Amendment Bill which was introduced in the House of Representatives yesterday. It also authorises the conversion of Thames loans over a period of 40 years with full repayment in that time. Negligent Driving A fine of £1 and costs was imposed on Robert Lindsay Neilson when he appeared before Mr S. L. Paterson, S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court, today on a charge of negligently driving a motor-cycle at the eastern end of Fairfield Bridge on June 14. The charge was a sequel to a collision with a motor-car. Relief Grant Validated The grant of £SO made by the Huntly Borough Council to the Glen Afton Relief Fund is validated by a clause in the Local Legislation Bill, which was introduced in the House of Representatives yesterday. This amount was to open a fund for the dependants in Huntly of the victims of the disaster in the mine on September 24, when 11 men lost their lives. No Warrants of Fitness Charged before Mr S. L. Paterson, S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court, Hamilton, today with failing to carry a warrant of fitness for his car and with driving without being the holder of a license, Malcolm Claude Flintoff was fined 10s and costs on each charge. Also charged with failing to carry a warrant of fitness for his vehicle, Albert James Gallichan was fined 10s and costs. Australian Army Camps Australian military camps are inferior in amenities to those in New Zealand, according to Mr James Fletcher, managing director of the Fletcher Construction Company, Limited, who has returned from a month’s visit to Australia. Mr Fletcher said that the grounds were in a very rought state as compared with the trim and orderly conditions brought about by the Public Works Department in this country. He felt bound to say that the general standard of comfort provided was lower than here and recreational buildings were conspicuous by their absence. Hongkong Evacuees

Two women who were evacuated from Hongkong early in July, have reached Auckland from Australia with their children. They expect to stay with friends in Auckland for the duration of the war. The two families left Hongkong on July 5 by a ship carrying 700 women and children, the wives and families of British civilians in the colony. The evacuees were first taken to Manila. Stressing that the evacuation was only a precautionary measure, the two women said conditions in Hongkong were little different from normal when they left.

School Term Dates Information on the amount of leave taken by teachers and pupils because of sickness was sought by the Federation of School Committees in a letter received by the Auckland Education Board yesterday. The letter stated that the information was required to enable the federation to consider the merits of a resolution from a constituent committee asking for a rearrangement of the period of school terms to allow farmers to take advantage of the slack farming period in arranging their children’s holidays. It was suggested that the first term might be lengthened and the others shortened accordingly, as the second and third appeared to be those when most illness occurred. The board decided to inform the federation that most illness occurred in the second, winter term, and that it did not favour making the terms longer. Soldiers’ Funerals The new procedure to be followed in connection with the funerals of returned soldiers whose deaths are attributable to war service was outlined by the Minister of Defence, the Hon. F. Jones, in the House of Representatives yesterday in replying to a question asked by Mr F. W. Doidge (Opposition—Tauranga). Mr Jones said the present system of calling tenders for funerals of deceased exsoldiers had been in operation since the matter was taken over by the Pensions Department in 1922, and there were no records of previous complaints. In future the full cost of the funeral was not to exceed £l3, | as allowed under the war pension? regulations. A polished casket would be provided in all cases. All funeral directors would be allowed to participate in the scheme and no canvassing would be permitted. “It will be a breach of the contract by the funeral director in any circumstances to make arrangements or offers that will entail added charges to the relative? of the deceased soldier,” Mr Jones added.