LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 May 1938, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Suspected Diphtheria Case.

A suspected case of diphtheria, a little girl, has been admitted to the isolation ward at the Masterton Hospital. A recent suspected case —that of a woman —proved to be negative.

Legal Five-day Week. The five-day week has spread to Christchurch legal offices. The Canterbury Law Society has decided that offices shall close on Saturdays as from June 1, although there'will be no reduction in the total weekly hours through a half-hour increase daily on other days.

A Captain Cook Relic. Believed to have been used by Captain James. Cook on board the Endeavour in his voyage of discovery to New Zealand, a cup and saucer of blue and white porcelain have been received by the Dominion Museum.

Large Mangolds. Three mangolds of exceptionally large size, grown by Mr G. E. Yule, of Featherston, are at present on view in the window of the New Zealand Farmers’ Co-operative Distributing Co,. Queen Street. The varieties and weights of the three roots are: —Jersey Queen, 411b5.; Prize-winner Yellow Globe, 351b5.; Mammoth Long Red, 45 lbs. Oldest Labour Branch.

Speaking of the formation nearly 25 years ago of the Woolston branch of the Labour Party at a function in Christchurch during the week-end, Mr J. Roberts said the branch was the oldest in New Zealand. “The speakers at the inaugural meeting were Mr D. G. Sullivan (now Minister for Railways), Mr J. A. McCullough (now a member of the Legislative Council), and Mr Hiram Hunter, who has fallen by the wayside,” added Mr Roberts. Homer Tunnel Work.

The continued absence of snow in the Hollyford district has made’it possible for work at the Homer tunnel to be continued without interruption, and no date has yet been fixed for the withdrawal of workmen because of the danger’ of avalanches. No snowfall has yet been reported from the district this winter, but it is expected that immediately after the first fall of any magnitude the men will be withdrawn.

Rights of Property. A statement that the Government never would stand for anything in the nature of confiscation of property rights was made by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Hon W. E. Parry, in an address at a meeting of the TownPlanning Board yesterday. The Minister said he was afraid that amending legislation dealing with town-planning would have to stand over until after the general election.

New York Exposition. New Zealand is to be represented at the World Fair at New York next year. The Minister of Industries and Commerce, Hon D. G. Sullivan, said yesterday that his department had arrangements well in hand for a display that would do credit to this Dominion. “Preliminary plans of the space allotted to New Zealand have been received from the New Zealand Trade Commissioner at Toronto,” said Mr Sullivan, “and the layout and arranging for the provision of the display units is now being planned.”

Nothing to Add. No reply to the statement issued by the Minister of Defence, Hon F. Jones, was made yesterday by either Colonel C. R. Spragg or Colonel N. L. Macky, the two Auckland officers who were among the four senior officers responsible for the recent manifesto on the state of the Territorial Force. Colonels Spragg and Macky said the officers concerned had issued their manifesto with a full sense of responsibility, and had nothing further to add. Burial at Sea.

“When the Union Company’s steamer Waikouaiti leaves Bluff next Monday for Sydney she will be carrying the ashes of her former commander, the late Captain J. G. Watson, who died at Wellington on April 23. The urn containing the ashes has been placed in the care of Captain M. McKenzie, the present master of the Waikouaiti, and when the ship reaches a position midway between Bluff and ■ Sydney she will be stopped for a brief period while the urn is being committed to the deep in the presence of the assembled crew. The late Captain Watson spent 45 years at sea, of which 35 years were in the service of the Union Steam Ship Company. He commanded at various times 29 of the company’s ships, the last being the Waikouaiti, which he joined in 1929, and which he left on March 2, 1935, when he finally retired from the sea. “Social Security.”

Addressing a gathering at the National Club, Wellington, last night, Mr O. C. Mazengarb said that although the Government’s health and superannuation scheme was labelled “social security,” it had many of the elements of a political hoax. No reserve fund was proposed, and there was therefore no real security for the man who was to be compelled to pay. A young man in his early twenties, if permitted to lay aside through insurance what he was asked to pay by way of direct and indirect taxation under the proposed scheme, would have over £3OOO on which to live in his retirement. Instead, all the State now proposed to offer him for his superannuation contributions was an 1.0. U. in a future generation of £1 10s a week, with no guarantee that the draft would be met on presentment, and subject to the condition that he did not himself have more than £1 a week from other sources. “A Rude Shock.” “These people had a very rude shock the other evening,” said Sub-Inspector A. D. McLean, when prosecuting Andrew Young, ship’s steward, aged 44. in the Magistrate's Court, Wellington, yesterday, for being on premises without lawful excuse. Accused pleaded guilty. He was found asleep in the bedroom of a house in Abel Smith Street on the night of May 20. “The owner of the house and his wife were leaving the premises when they noticed a sack of manure near the front of the house. They took no notice at the time, but they returned to find this man asleep in their bed and the sack on the floor. They did not know the man then, they have never known him, and they don’t know him now.” Accused said that he was very drunk, and lhat he "did the only natural thing” by falling asleep to get over his drunkenness. He said he woke up in a strange house to find himself sober. A fine of £2 and costs was imposed. Optimist Club Address. The speaker at the Optimist Club meeting on Tuesday was not Mr E. G. Coddington, as reported in error yesterI day, but his son, Mr E. Coddington, jun.