LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 May 1938, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Alan Loveday Fund. The Alan Loveday Fund, which is being raised in Palmerston North to help the city’s talented young violinist to continue his studies abroad, has now nearly reached £250, and the committee, which is endeavouring strenuously to further the boy’s interests, has authorised the chairman, Mr A. E. Mansford, to aproach the Prime Minister and Minister of Education for further assistance. Itinerant Traders. The problem of itinerant traders was again discussed at the Hastings Chamber of Commerce at its monthly meeting, when a letter from the Hamilton Chamber urging increased fees and greater restrictions against such traders was under consideration. The chairman, Mr W. E. Bate, said the question had been before the Hastings Chamber periodically since 1935, if not before that, and local bodies had been urged to amend their by-laws with a view to restricting the visits of itinerant traders. The meeting agreed to make further representations along the previous lines to the Government. A Curious Find. A number of old but spurious coins has been found under the floorboards of the old jail at Palmerston North, which has been demolished by workmen before the erection of the new station begins. One of the coins is a shilling, slightly larger than the present coin, and the year of its issue, which is clearly discernible, is 1860. Below this date is a likeness of the head of young Queen Victoria, encircled by the lettering, "Victoria, Dei Gratia, Britanniar, Colon Reg. F.D.” The value of the coin is lettered on the obverse side, above which is a crown encircled with leaves. It is understood that a counterfeit halfsovereign was also found with the other coins.

No Longer Brewery Owner. The Public Trustee is no longer a brewery owner. This is one of the results of a change that has taken place in the ownership of the brewery which forms one of the chief assets of the estate of the late T. G. McCarthy, which the Public Trustee administers for the public benefit. The statement on the labels of the brewery’s products that the contents have been brewed and bottled by the Public Trustee has been the subject of adverse public comment in the past. The Public Trustee is still the direct owner of hotels and bthei' property assets in this estate, however. P. and T. Labour Party. By a ballot the New Zealand Post and Telegraph Employees’ Association has decided to contribute £lOOO, it is understood, to the fighting fund of the New Zealand Labour Party. The ballot, which included all members of the association other than juniors, was Do-minion-wide in scope. It is stated that 4209 members voted for the proposal, 238 voted against it, and that approximately 2400 abstained from voting. When asked for a statement on the ballot, the secretary of the association, Mr J. H. McKenzie, declined to comment on the position. Startling Experience. Painful, though fortunately not very serious, injuries were suffered on Monday morning by Mr H. Brooker, a blacksmith, at his workshop in Vogel Street, Woodville, when heating a logsplitting gun preparatory to trimming. The gun exploded and peppered Mr Brooker’s left arm and thigh as if with a round of small shot. Mr Brooker did not examine the gun before he put it into the fire, as he did not suspect the presence of a round of powder, as the gun had been brought in for repairs. From waist to upper arm, Mr Brooker’s arm was spotted black with the small pieces of coke from the forge, chips of iron off the gun, and powder from the charge apparently left in the gun. His left thigh had also suffered.