LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 30 April 1938, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

A Clean Sheet. No bankruptcies were recorded in Wairarapa during April. State Houses at Carterton. Mr D, Andrew, of Masterton, has secured the contract for building a number of Government houses in Carterton. Johnson Quadruplets. The Johnson quadruplets, of Dunedin, who celebrated their third birthday on March 0, have now begun their school career at the Kaikorai Free Kindergarten. They entered on this new phase of their life with enthusiasm and were warmly welcomed by the other children. Bruce led his three sisters, Vera, Kathleen and Mary, into the school, and they were soon sharing in what the kindergarten had to offer, including the morning ration of milk and raisins.

Young Farmers’ Dance. A most enjoyable dance was held in the Arcade Hall on Wednesday by the Masterton Young Farmers’ Club, when the guests of honour were four Young Farmers from the British Isles. An energetic women’s committee, headed by Mrs W. F. McLaren (wife of the' Dominion president of the Young Farmers’ Federation), had charge of the supper arrangements, and the club’s social committee, under the direction of Mr Keith Donovan, also worked hard. Mr D. McGregor, the club’s chairman, introduced the guests of honour, and they were accorded a warm welcome. Superannuation Protest.

“The employees we represent are satisfied with their present arrangements for superannuation and retiring allowances and are of opinion that under the State scheme they will not be, by any means, in so good a position,” stated evidence pi’esented to the Parliamentary Committee yesterday by a committee representing the permanent employees of New Zealand stock and station companies. The statement was read by Mr G. L. Clark, representing the Wellington union. Very real concern was felt by the employees, Mr Clarke stated, at the prospect of having to pay the tax of Is in the pound on their wages. National Dental Scheme.

Stating that a national scheme developed as an extension of the Government’s existing dental service for school children would be a natural and logical development, the director of the dental division, Department of Health, Mr J. L. Saunders, 8.D.5., in evidence yesterday before the Parliamentary Committee on health and superannuation, outlined proposals under which every person ultimately would have the opportunity of being kept dentally fit by means of regular re-examination and treatment from pre-school age to the age of twenty. This age-limit, Mr Saunders stated, was merely a suggestion and was made without any knowledge of the probable cost. Radio Workers’ Wages.

Complete agreement in the Wellington electrical radio workers’ dispute was reached in Conciliation Council at Wellington yesterday, the Commissioner, Mr M. J. Reardon, presiding. The new award will operate for one year from June 1. Minimum rates of pay for workers employed in factories in the manufacture, assembling, repairing and servicing equipment are to be: —Licensed servicemen, first year, £5; second year, £5 2s 6d; third and subsequent years, £5 ss; unlicensed servicemen with 10 years’ experience, £4 15s; all other male workers over 21 years of age, £4 10s. The previous day it was agreed that wages for male workers under 21 years of age should range from 15s to £3 10s, and for female workers under 21, from 15s to £2 7s. Too Many Free Meals. A comparison of the methods used in supervising slum clearance schemes in England and Scotland was given yesterday by the charge nurse of Plunket work in Wellington, Miss J. W. Samson, who recently returned from a trip abroad. In England, said Miss Samson, practically no change in the people's way of living had resulted from the application of the scheme, but in Scotland the poorer classes were undoubtedly gaining a better standard of living than previously. The number of free meals given in Scotland, was, in her opinion, undermining the morale of the people however. One thing that impressed her was the provision of rooms and flats for spinsters and ’ elderly couples who had previously no option but to go to the workhouse if unable to support themselves in their old age. “Most of the houses built for former slum dwellers consist of two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom,” added Miss Samson. “They have all been fitted with electric lighting and gas appliances. But the people in England do not know how to use them, and have drifted back into their old ways of living.” Miss Samson said she visited many of the new homes put up for the poorer classes, and in only one case had she found the bathroom being used for its correct purpose. In one house it actually housed pet fowls belonging to the children.