COUNTRY NEWS

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 23, 22 October 1919, Page 10

COUNTRY NEWS

NOTES FROM VARIOUS CENTRES (From Our Special Oorrespondepts.) WAIRARAPA At tho weekly meeting of tlio Claims Board of the frairarapa Patriotic Association live loai*;, totalling .£105(1, weiu granted,'and forty-six claims for temporary relief we.ro' dealt, with.

The following have been oicctcd officers qf tho Wnirarnpa Bowling Centre; —President, Mr. M., Trotnmn (Greytown); vice-president, Mr. F. AY. Smith (Featherston); secretary and treasurer, Mr. A. PiliilpotU (Carterton). During the month ended October 20 the Mastorton branch of the Hepatization Department granted four business loans totalling .£IOO2 10s., fourteen furniture loans amounting to ,£G9±, and two loans for trade tools, aggregating ,CM 11s. 3d., involving a total expenditure of ,£lßll Is. 3d. In addition twentytwo men were paid subsidies on their wages, amounting to ,€llß 125.. for the month, and twelve men were found employment.

The plans for the proposed woollen mill at tille Waingn.wa. Freezing Works have been approved. The building, which will be erected in fer.ro-concrete, will be 200 ft. square in dimensions, and will be situated to the north-west of the existing buildings. The estimated cost will be ,£IO,OOO, and an additional JiMfl.flOQ will bo necessary to provide machinery, wliio 1 ! will includo twenty looms. The plant will be completed in about two years hence, when the manufacture of blankets, rues, and rough tweeds will be proceeded wi.tb.

Tho following have been elected officers for the ensuing year of the Wairarapa School Committees' A-snciation, the narno of which has been. altered to the North Wairarapa School Committees' Association:—President. Mr. D. A. Pickering; vice-presidents. Messrs. A. T. Hubbard and W. Noble; -'i-cretary and treasurer, ,Mr. A. W. TTollings. , At tho' fortnightly luncheon of the Mastorton Progressive League, held yesterday, Mr. J. M. Coradino gave an address on the proposal to establish a high school in Masterton.

The following will represent Wairarana against Wellington in a match to be fired on the Carterton range 011 Monday next (Labour Day);—C. .T. Nix, IC. M'Kenzie, G. Vincent, J. Donald, V. E. Donald, W. Winslade, A. V. Swanson, J. B. Bairstow, C. Teal, AV. P. Bairstow; emergencies, It. Tocker, J. V. Gordtin, V. Chiirchill..

The Maslerton Borough Council 'has resolved that it form ft committee as a whole to visit tho Wningawn Meat Works respecting the sale or exchange of land adjacent to the borough abattoir at Wningawa, for the purpose of the oreetion of dwellings for the works' employees. MANAWATU' At the meeting of the Palmerston North Patrioiio Society ou Monday evening, a letter was received from tho Primo Minister in reply to a request from the society urging the reinis-non of land stamp duty in cases where properties were purchased by returned soldiers. Mr. Massey said that the matter had been referred to Sir James Allen, who had pin ted out that there was no provision in the present Act which would allow" of any discrimination in the matter of stamp duties in connection with dealings in which returned soldiers were concerned. It was considered that it would create a precedent if the law were amended jn the direction suggested, while it could only result in confusion and innumerable applications for refunds of stamp duties already paid. It would not bo possible to discriminate between soldiors who could well afford to .in-, d'ulge in big land transactions and those, who purchased farms for the purpose 'of making a living on them. In addition it would bo difficult to decide where to tax the neccssary limitations on the number of transactions by exemption in res'pcct to tho one soldier, and to discourage speculation bv _ land agents who would naturally be quick Jo seise the opportunities offered. 'Jylio Minister regretted that under the,existing law he could not see his way to send a more favourable reply. Tho letter was received without comment.

The I'ninier&ton North Patriotic ' Society discussed tho question of the payment of mufti-allowance. The matter vraa brought up by a motion that the secretary should at once send to all ieturned men who bad been domiciled in Palmerston for threo months befovn enlisting the amount due to them for mulri allowance It was pointed out that there wero great difficulties in the way of carrying out the proposal, as many men wl'io had enlisted here were at ''.bo time domiciled in other centres, ami were therefore a charge on other societies, and if they paid out to all on the list cliero woulil bo a danger of over-' lapping and double payment. At ilie present time, every application was closely inquired into, and if it was found that the man had a claim on any other district, tho secreiary arranged to get the money for him. It was mentioned tliat many returned men who possessed considerable wealth had applied for tin? allowance, while others in less fortunate circumstances bad not dono so, and what wa3 desired was to place all tho men, irrespective of their financial position, on tho same plane. The secretary mentioned that he was dealing with about 150 applications each month, and bad already paid out tho allowance to over 90(1 men, and he thought that by the end of the year, or early in January, all would have'been dealt with. Sonio members eaid that obiection was taken to the questions asked the applicants - when, their forms wero being filled in. 'Tho secretary pointed out that it was absolutely necessary to have the forms properly filled in if the system of check adopted wero to be carried out., Some applicants gave him a 2oad deal of trouble by their evasivo answers. It was' eventually decided to leave tlio matter over for Lao pros3nt, it being pointed out that when the rolls were completed by tho De-fence-Department .they could go through them and see that no men had been missed, so that everyone would get their just dues. Members of tho Palmerston North ■Amalgamated Society of I'ailway Servants hold a meeting last night to con- : sider provis.ons -affecting tho service of ! the now liailway Act. Though no official information is available, it is understood that after a general discussion a decision was como to that the provisions for salaries wero not satisfactory.

Tho services to tho Empire rendered by members of tho Monawatu A. and P. Association who enlisted and wont overseas have beou tactfully recognised by Ike committee of tho association. Tho names of tlieso members havo been retained on tho rolls during tho full period of their ateence. All thoso who have returned havo been forwarded complimentary tickets of admission to the coming show. At yesterday's :npoting of the coin mi ttee of the a number of lettens were received from recip.onts of tlieso favours expressing acknowledgment of the courtesy of the association. ' There died at l'oxcon, after a brief illness, Mrs. Agnes Walls, a respected resident of that township. Tlio deceased, with her lato husbnml, settled in Foxton in 1881 and had reside;! Ihoro up to tlio time of her death. She leaves four sona (Messrs. John, George, and li'red, of I oxton, and Mugh. of Wellington), threo daughters (.Mesdames Thompson, of Morrinsvillo, Peri'im, and Wishart, of Foxton), thirty grandchildren, and fivo greatgrandchildren. At a meeting of tho Technical School Committee, tho director {Mr. P. D. Opie) montioned that the old boys' school had promised a supply of polished kauri board for tho proposed Eoll of Ilonur at a cost of JSS, which was about the cost of tho timber,'while'another old pupil ollnred to do the lettering free of charge. All that would have to lie provided in addition was a brass tablet for the names of tlioso who had fallen, lie lmd about J!2O 10s. in hand for tlio Eoll of Honour, and he bc.lioved that tho Government would subsidise tlie amount. Ho had been hoping to havo the roll erected before the school broke up for tho holidays, bat doubted whether this could bo done now, although it might be ready for tho opening of the school next year. Tho matter of arranging for tlio Roll of Honour was left in tho bands of tho diroctor.