LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 4 May 1938, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Ruahine Pipe Band. The Ruahine Pipe Band, which competed with marked success at the contest at Palmerston North at Easter, will be the guests of the St Andrew Society at its gathering on Saturday evening next. St. Matthew’s School Concert. There was a good attendance of parents and Old Girls at St. Matthew’s Collegiate School on Saturday night, when Grey House gave a concert in aid of the baths fund. The senior girls presented two plays, “Twice is Too Much,” and “The Pied Piper of Hamelin,” and the juniors gave recitations. Dry Month at Invercargill. April, 1938, in Invercargill, will be remembered as one of the driest months through which the city has ever passed. Only .70in of rain fell, and of that amount .52in fell on four days. There were 19 days without rain, and on seven other days the fall was more or less negligible. Taken over a period of 50 years, the average rainfall for April is 4.14 in, and for the last four years 2.99 in. The low rainfall last month was reflected in a shortage of water in some_ districts and in the electric power position. South Park Society.

At the annual general meeting of the South Park Society it was decided to create the position of patron to the Society. This decision was arrived at after Mr R. R. Burridge, supported by Mr R. Milne, had stressed the necessity for Mi- F. E. J. Ractliffe to be relieved from the very onerous duties attached to the office of president. It was pointe dout that Mr Ractliffe was in need of a rest from the duties of president owing to ill-health. The meeting unanimously supported the proposal, which was carried unanimously. Steamers Resume Running. The small coasters whose sailing was held up in Wellington on Monday to enbale the masters and officers to attend a meeting to discuss conditions of employment, sailed yesterday afternoon. The meeting was held in the morning, the attendance being increased out that Mr Ractliffe was in need coastal freighters which arrived at Wellington yesterday. The meeting was opened on Monday and continued yesterday morning, when it was decided to meet the shipowners and negotiate further with them regarding conditions. As this decision was reached at noon, the ships were able to resume which was carried unanimously. Home Swept Away. When Mr Wi Tauroa and his family returned to their home at Arapawanui last week after attending a tangi at Tongoio, they were astounded to discover that where their home stood before they left nothing remained but a strip of flood-torn ground. Besides the house, many other buildings have gone, also many head of stock. Mr Tauroa’s home was a large one and fully furnished. A search downstream resulted in the finding of many articles from the house, also portions of the house itself. The owner believes that the residence and other buildings were carried bodily out to sea. Mr Tauroa’s loss is not confined to the house, contents and stock, as the land surrounding the residence is completely ruined by silt, boulders and logs.