LOCAL & GENERAL NEWS

Marlborough Express, Volume LXXVI, Issue 244, 16 October 1942, Page 4

LOCAL & GENERAL NEWS

A decision to apply for membership of the Blenheim Chamber of Commerce was made by the Automobile Association yesterday afternoon. A further £1000 of its funds are to be invested by the Marlborough Automobile Association in the War Loan. The association previously devoted a similar sum to this purpose. Grants of £10 each for the Pelorus, Onamalutu and Ngakuta, and of £5 for the Lake Rotoiti reserves were made by the Marlborough Automobile Association yesterday afternoon. Similar amounts were granted by the Association last year. "It may interest you to know that this man drilled his peas in last week, eommencing at 10.30 p.m. and finishing at about 1 a.m., so that he could keep his promise to help a fellow farmer to get his erops sown the next day. This shows a fine spirit." This information was supplied to the Armed Forces Appeal Board sitting in Nelson yesterday by the National Tobacco Co., Ltd., who were appealing for exemption from military service for M. S. Mead, a tobacco grower and farmer. The presence of a small hoarding on Hale's corner, at Springlands, was reported to the Marlborough Automobile Association yesterday afternoon. Members expressed the opinion that the location of such signs on corners, particularly ones which possessed such a record for accidents, was dangerous, as the attention of drivers was apt to be distracted. It was decided to ask the secretary (Mr D. L. Duncan) to approach the owners of the hoarding with a view to having it removed. The Mayor and Mayoress and three officers of the Borough Council staff attended the opening of the Blenheim Croquet Club's season yesterday afternoon, along with members and friends of the club. The president, Mrs T. F. Bull, extended a welcome to those present, and said that al-= though the lawns were not as velvety as they might be, top-dressing not having been possible this year, the playiers were d^tejrmined 'to en'joy themselves fully on the greens. The Mayor expressed the pleasure of the Borough Council at the use that was being made of the ground to provide much-needed recreation. He wished the players a pleasant season, with, he a'dded laughingly, plenty of good news exchanged amongst the hoops, and no bad rumours. Mrs Smitii then played the first hoop, and was presented with a posy of freesias by Mrs Bull. Afternoon tea was served in the pavilion. Arrangements for to-morrow's opening day were made at a committee meeting of the R.S.A. Bowling Club last night. It was reported that the green and gardens were in splendid order, and that a pleasant afternoon's sport was assured. Visitors would be especially welcome. Invitations were received from sister clubs to send rinks to take part in their official opening.s, and the following were selected to play at the Marlborough and Blenheim greens respectively: Messrs R. Twidie, P. F. Simmons, A. L, Willsteed, A. Paynter, and Messrs H. Sowman, T. H. Ranger, A. Gardner, and A. W. Homes. It was decided that a half day tournament be held on Labour Day. Dr N. F. Boag was eiected an honorary member of the club. Tliose present were: Messrs H. O. Findlay (chairman), G. C. Jennings, G. G. O'Neill, H. Sowman, W. C. M. Jackson, W. Waters, W^H. Mills, C. Hoult, A. Gardner, F. A. Harrison and the secretary (Mr J. A, Mitchell).

The right of women to serve as jurors should they desire is given in the Women Jurors (No. 2) Bill introduced and read for the first time ii/ the House of Representatives. The Attorney- General (the Hon. H. G. R. Mason) explained that the bill is identical with one which was introducedi by Mrs M. M. Dreaver and declared out of order. The bill says that any woman between 25 and 60 years of age who possesses the necessary qualifications and notifies the fcheriff in writing that she wishes to serve as a juror shall be qualified and liable to serve on juries. — P.A. The first month's collection after the Marlborough County rate notices went out must just about constitute a New Zealand record for prompt payment. Of a total of £21,753 struck, £16,469 was paid in during the 30 days of the rebate, leaving only just over £5000 still to be paid. "With all the calls people have at present, it is a fine achievement," Cr. A. M. W. Adams declared. The county clerk, Mr A. J. Maclaine, said that the rate collector, Mr L. J. Manning, had almost lived on the telephone for ten days, and in that time over £8000 had come in. Many new Government departments have been created as a result of the war, and the president of the Dunedin Manufacturers' Association. Mr J. C. H. Somerville, at the annual meeting of the association this week, expressed the opinion that they had not been limited in personnel as they might have been. The people should see to it that after the war special and necessary departments for wartime must not be allowed to develop functions during peaee time, said Mr Somerville, who added that at the present time one person in every four, excluding the armed forces, was employed by the Government. Through mistaking a £1 ticket for a £5 one when paying out on a horse that paid over £13 for a place at Wingatui on Saturday, a clerk in the totalisator found himself wondering, "when he eame to balance up, how he was going to meet a shortage of approximately £53 (states the Otago Daily Times) . A seareh through the crowd failed to disclose anyone who appeared to have more money than he wanted, and he returned to the totalisator building just in time to discover that he had found an honest man. An elderly investor had come in to tell the proprietor that he had received what is known in sporting parlance as "over half a century" more than he was entitled to receive. Their annual choral fecital, with several new features, will be given by the girls of the Intermediate Department of Marlborough College next Friday afternoon in the Masonic Hall. All the classes are represented as fully as possible, in spite of a good deal of sickness still present amongst the pupils. The groups of songs comprise old and new ones, classical compositions, folk-songs, and one or two well- known ballads. These groups will he interspersed by three short play-reading sketches, and a piano solo. Except for the necessary presence of a class teacher to play aocompaniments, the whole entertainment will be managed, from start to finish, by the girls themselves, and it is hoped that this fact alone will induce parents and friends to encourage the children by their attendance. "At last year's camp children from the West Coast, Marlborough and Nelson districts attended," said Mr H. J. Savage, president of the Nelson Children's Health Camp Association, at the seventh annual meeting this week. "The West Coast children always seem to benefit more than the ones from Marlborough and Nelson," he added. Mr S. W. Street commented that each camp matron had different ideas about the benefit of increased weight of the children, and different ideas about what they should eat, but the fact remained that all the children derived great benefit from the camps (reports The Mail) . It was decided to hold a camp this year provided that staff could be secured, and the suggestion was made that some school teachers might be willing to give their services during the holidays. Some interest was aroused among members of Parliament in the rearrangement of front-bench Opposition seats in the House of Representatives following the withdrawal of the National Party from the War Administration and the consequent difference of opinion between Messrs Coates and Hamilton on the one hand and other members of the party on the other. Mr Polson has taken the place of Mr Hamilton, who formerly sat in the same bench as the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Holland. Mr Hamilton has moved into another front-bench seat in place of Sir Alfred Ransom, who has gone into a front-bench seat vacated by Mr Kjde, who now shares a crossbench with Mr Lee. Mr Coates has not s'hifted from his old place in the Opposition benches, and is now joined by. Mr Hamilton. Some miscrea-nts went lip-toeing through the tulips t.6> good purpose last night as the owner cf a flower gnrden in the Monro-Percy street. area has good reason to. know. They didn't confine their energies to kissing in the moonlight, however, for there was notliing romantic about the visit. Instead they went armed with a knife and neatlv severed the blooms of a. collection of prize bulbs that had been the1 admiration; of passers-by for some days. No child was responsible for the raid, for nothing but the best — and that was almost. the whole lot — was taken. The only blooms spared were four dwarf tulips which had found their way into the bed by mistaka Perhaps the miserable theft was not perpetrated for love of flowers either. Perhaps the blooms are even now en route to the richly remunerative flower markets of Wellington. Shortage of domestic staff is acute at the Nelson Public Hospital, as at the Wairau Hospital. On aeeount of the increasing difficulty, the Nelson Hospital Board has decided to approach the Women's War Service Auxiliary to see if arrangements could be made to find voluntary workers to give assistanee at the hospital. "It would appear that the ' National Service Department cannot prevent staff from leaving their employment," said Miss B. I. Taylor, the matron, in her report. "A kitchen maid walked out without giving any notice. The Manpower Officer was informed but she crossed to Wellington the next night. Another domestic who had asked for holidays, at a time inoonvenient to the hospital, provided a doctor's certificate and so had her three weeks' lioliday. I could not obtain a reliever from any avenue. The position regarding domestic staff is hopeless, and would appear to be going from bad to worse."