LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 May 1938, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

News Posted Daily. For the convenience and information of the public, brief particulars of leading items of the latest news are being posted daily at noon on the “TimesAge" display window in Chapel Street. Late sporting news, arriving after publication hours, is also posted as it is received.

Motorised New Zealand. “We are the second highest motorised country in the world,” declared the Minister of Transport, Hon R. Semple, at Pukekohe in a recent address. “We have a car for every five persons —man, woman and child —in the Dominion. America leads us at present, but we have to pay just double the price for the cars here, so if we only paid the same price, America would not see the way we went” Mr Semple referred to the growth of motor transport. The Minister said that in 1912 the first through trip was made from Auckland to Wellington, and it took eight days to do, but, he added, “there are some men who would do it in eight hours if I’d let them.” Record Fruit Crop. A record end-of-season day was experienced by Mr N. J. Adamson, Government orchard instructor, and his staff, at the Hastings export fruit assembly shed yesterday, when a total of 9000 cases of apples was handled, following an extension of the export season by a week to give Dougherty apples a chance to show a better colour. Yesterday was the final day for receiving fruit for export this season. The total number of cases of apples and pears exported from Hawke’s Bay this season is 348,000, which is well ahead of the previous record of 314,000 cases. Orchardists had an exceptionally busy weekend preparing final consignments for export. Fine weather enabled the work to proceed without interruption.

A Masterton Athlete. That Masterton youth is able to hold its own in competition with those from any part of the Dominion was demonstrated at the N.Z.A. sports held at Fort Dorset last week by Gunner R. G. Hanaghan, who won two boxing events, as well as the six-mile crosscountry run. Peacock Memorial Fund. To advise the directors in the utilising of the Peacock Memorial Fund, which amounts to approximately £9O, a committee has been set up by the Y.M.C.A. as follows: —The president, Mr W. A. Clarke; the general secretary, Mr A. E. Bate, Mr G. Masters and Mr L. B. Maunsell. The election of officers for the year resulted: —President, Mr W. A. Clarke; vice-presidents, Messrs E. M. Hodder and C. E. Jones; secretary, Mr E. G. Coddington; treasurer, Mr H. L. Pearse. Week-end Joyriders. Two Wellington youths arc believed to have paid a flying visit to Masterton during last week-end in a motor car taken from Wellington. This car was found abandoned in Villa Street, near the Waipoua River, and it is alleged that, aftei - making an unsuccessful attempt to start another car in Queen Street, the youths journeyed to Carterton by bus and took a car from that town. This vehicle was later recovered in Lower Hutt. League of Nations’ Union. The public is invited to attend the annual meeting of the Masterton branch of the League of Nations’ Union in the Women’s Division of the Farmers’ Union Rest Room. King Street, at 7.30 p.m. tomorrow. The speaker will be Professor F. L. W. Wood, Professor of History at Victoria University College, who returned quite recently from a visit to Geneva. Professor Wood, who is an exceptionally interesting speaker, will take as his subject “The League and the Crisis.”

Young Farmers on Tour.

A party of 23 Young Farmers from Wairarapa Clubs left Masterton yesterday on an educational tour of the North Island. The party will be on tour for ten days, and is due back home on June 2. Mr N. Lamont, Agricultural Department Instructor, Masterton, is in charge of the party. Drunken Drivers.

“Irrespective of what the North Island Motor Union has to say, in the long run traffic inspectors will have that power,” said Mr W. L. Brown, president of the Automobile Association (Manawatu), at the meeting of the executive last night, when a letter from the union was received referring to the proposal to give power to traffic inspectors to arrest drunken drivers. The president said the question was discussed recently by the union, and voting was 50-50 on the point. Hit-and-Run Motorist.

Although the police are still vigorously pursuing their inquiries, there have been no fresh developments in connection with the hit-and-run motorist who knocked down and injured a cyclist, Mr Frederick McKelvey, on the Carterton Road last Wednesday night. A broken headlamp found at the scene of the accident is believed to be a clue that will ultimately lead to the arrest of the person responsible. The injured man is still in the Masterton Hospital, but is making satisfactory progress.

Football Enthusiast. The difficulties of travel along some flood-damaged roads in Hawke’s Bay, and the keenness of a Rugby player to take the field with his side, are illustrated in the case of Mr A. Proctor, a member of the Napier High School Old Boys’ senior team. Since the flood, Mr Proctor, who lives at Kaiwaka, less than 20 miles from Napier, has been obliged to leave his home at 7.30 on Saturday mornings in order to reach Napier in time for the game in the afternoon. Last Saturday week Mr Proctor on one stretch of road was compelled to push h’is motor cycle through 2 miles of mud and silt.

A Japanese Mission. From the Association of the International Exposition of Japan, which is to be held under the auspices of the Japanese Government in 1940, a semiofficial mission is to arrive at Wellington by the Awatea on Thursday. The mission comprises Messrs Haruki Yamawaki and Hisashi Kawaguchi, accompanied by their secretary, Mr Ichiro Umibc. The members of the mission will make courtesy calls on Ministers of the Crown during their brief visit to Wellington. A general invitation will be issued by the mission to the manufacturers of the Dominion to be represented at the exposition.

Aerial Ropeway at Glacier. The aerial ropeway which it is proposed to construct above the Franz Josef Glacier at Waiho will give the engineers one of the most spectacular construction jobs ever undertaken in New Zealand, states the Christchurch “Press.” The survey of the route has not yet been completed, and the definite decision to build the ropeway depends ont the outcome of that survey. But already tentative plans are being discussed for the provision of this new alpine facility, which will take tourists, mountainers, skiers and their equipment up to the magnificent snowfields that fed the Franz Josef Glacier. No-License Rally.

Plans for the no-license campaign in Masterton were put in train at a wellattended meeting held last night. Mr W. H. Milner, Dominion Organising Secretary of the New Zealand Alliance, gave a general report on the progress being made in the various districts, and also offered many helpful suggestions with reference to the local campaign. Mr J. Morgan was elected secretary of the Masterton branch, and the meeting enthusiastically discussed plans for the coming contest.