Patriotic Fund.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 130, 2 May 1940, Page 8

Patriotic Fund.

Th Mayor (Mr A. E. Mansford) desires to asknowledge with thanks receipt of a donation of £8 8s to the Patriotic Fund from the ! Manawatu Women’s Bridge Club. National Park Access. New road works nearing conipletion are designed to eliminate blockages on the Bruce Highway, giving access to the Chateau Tongariro, during heavy snowfalls in the winter. Closing of Exhibition. On Saturday afternoon the Govern-or-General, Lord Galway, will officially declare the Centennial Exhibition closed. Yesterday the two-aiid-a-lialf-millionth visitor entered the gates. An attendance of 22,627 carried the total up to 2,507,000. National Song Purchased. ■ The purchase by the Government of the -copywright and performing, reproduction, and similar rights of the words and music of Thomas Bracken's song, “God Defend New Zealand,” was announced yesterday by the Minister of Internal Affairs (Hon. W. E. Parry'. Records of the song, the Minister said, had been made for distribution throughout the country and would be played largely at patriotic functions. Farm Accommodation.

Housing accommodation for married workers on farms was discussed at a meeting of tlie Marion branch of the AVanganui District Council of Primary Production, when a motion was carried urging the Government to take steps to provide suitable accommodation on. farms for married men, and suggesting that where a farmer undertook to employ V married man the Government be asked to provide 75 per cent, of the cost. , V

Fruit for Soldiers. So far 551 cases of fruit for men iD camp in the Central Military Command have been despatched from Hastings. I '' Rich Sand.

During the last few weeks miners at Bruce’s Bay, Westland, have secured over £4OOO worth of gold from a layer of black sand exposed by the' sea. The next rough sea will probably cover once more the black sand, and it may bs many years before the leads are again exposed. School Principal’s Donations.

A further contribution to tho National Patriotic Fund has been received from the principal of a girls’ secondary school, who anonymously since January has been making n monthly donation to the fund from her monthly cheque on ; the basis of Is a day.

l.v cheque on ; the basis of Is a day. Winter in Switzerland An idea of the severity of the winter ill Switzerland is given in a letter to a Dunedin resident. “I sat in the sun for 20 minutes this morning—the first real sunshine we have had for almost a.year.” The winter had been particularly hard on the soldiers guarding the frontiers. Much-Travelled Farmer. After completing his eleventh trip round the world, Mr James Lobb, an 80-year-old native of Padstow, Cornwall, and formerly a farmer at Lawrence, Central Otago, is visiting Wellington. In his travels he lias covered approximately 250,000 miles. He has been to every part of the world except some parts of Europe, Russia, and the Far East .Soldiers’ Rehabilitation. The need for a definite decision as to what funds should be made available for the rehabilitation of soldiers on their return to New Zealand was urged at a meeting of the Hawke’s Bay Patriotic Council. Mr E. T. Cattenach (Woodville) said there were many people who had declared they would not contribute a penny till the national council had defined the position. Vital Statistics. Increases are shown in the numbers of births, deaths and marriage certificates issued during April, as compared with those of the corresponding month of last year, in the statistics issued for the month just closed by the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages at Palmerston North (Mr H. B. Reid). The figures are as follow, those for the corresponding month of last year being in parentheses: Births, 62 (49); deaths, 34 (26); marriage certificates issued, 32 (28); marriages performed by the registrar, 7 (7). Householders’ Meetings. ‘‘There seems to be a certain amount of misunderstanding about persons eligible to attend the biennial householders’ meetings,” stated Mr A. E. Penfold'at a meeting of the West End School Committee, last evening, when the question of the small attendance at the recent meeting of the school was raised. He added that some people believed that , only property-holders could attend. The chairman (Mr G. Tremaine) stated that any parents or occupier of a house in the school district was eligible to attend, but only the parents or head of the house could vote at the election.