LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 8 July 1938, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Methodist Fellowship.

At the next meeting of the Methodist Church Fellowship, Messrs Conly, Goudge, Hancox and Hodder will speak on the life of John Wesley. Picture Business Purchased.

Greytown Pictures, Ltd., who operate the Town Hall at Greytown and the Cosy Theatre at Featherston, have purchased the business of the firm of Blackwell and Wright, who control the pictures at the Town Hall, Martinborough. Indoor Basketball.

Two further games were played in the Y.M.C.A. Rooms last night in the indoor basketball contest. Reliance (F. Bodie 9, B. Bodie 2, B. Barnes 3, D. O’Connor 3, W. Reynolds 20) beat Harcombe’s (Toxward 1), 37/1. Faulknor’s (C. Faulknor 5, N. Faulknor 3, R. Faulknor 3, S. Faulknor 3) beat Hamill’s (C. Greager 4, O. Hatton 4), 14/8.

Crown Jewels Missing. Parties of school children were taken along to the Durham Street Art Gallery, Christchurch, by their teachers to inspect the Coronation robes. The reactions. of the youngsters were generally favourable to the display, but the remark of one small boy caused amusement to those who heard him. “Oh, it’s not bad,” he said, “but they ought to bring round the Crown jewels and make it a real show.”

A Bright Meteor. The fall of a particularly brilliant meteor was witnessed in Auckland on Monday morning. During the height of a gale, shortly before 3 a.m., a resident on the slopes of One Tree Hill, upon looking out from a window saw a bluish ball of flame falling swiftly toward the sea beyond Manukau Heads. The phenomenon persisted for fully 10 seconds, but no noise followed it, indicating that in spite of its brilliance the meteor must have passed more than 30 miles away from the city. Indians at Timaru.

The Indian hockey team beat South Canterbury at Timaru yesterday by two goals to nil. The ground was the worst on which the visitors have played, being almost a sea of mud as a result of recent heavy rain, and a frost. In the circumstances good hockey was out of the question, but the home team put up a stubborn defence and their display was classedi by the visitors as the best given against them on the tour in similar conditions. There was no score at half-time, but in the second half Abdul Latif scored and Sultan Khan goaled from a penalty bully. A Dangerous Practice.

Hanging on to the door of a closed car, a cyclist attracted some attention in a Christchurch street recently. The car was travelling at 20 miles an hour, and the cyclist, gripping the door, coasted along beside it. He was carrying on an animated conversation with the driver, and at no time did his position looked to be very safe. He did at least let go of the car at corners, but each time he took up his former position after the motorist had slowed down for him. He apparently did not know that he was liable to a substantial fine.

A “Standing Army.” A proposal that young men should be taken from the Public Works camps to form a “standing army” of 1000 men in each main centre may be placed before the defence authorities by the defence committee of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce. The proposal was made to the council of the chamber last evening by Mr H. S. Williams, who said he Considered the chamber was not going far enough in proposing the formation of a Christchurch association to assist in developing a land defence policy. He asserted that young men would be “far better” in military training.

Scarcity of Flowers. Hawke’s Bay is at present experiencing a marked shortage of flowers. The unusually prolonged dry spell is held to be responsible for the position, growth of flowers planted in February and March having been seriously retarded. Napier florists state that jonquils and Iceland poppies—in rather smaller supply than . usual—are the types of flowers in which the shortage is less apparent than in other classes, while prices are somewhat higher than is ordinarily the case. The season for flowering shrubs has to a certain extent been extended by the warm conditions.

War Anniversary. Customers stood unserved in Chinese fruit-shops of Wellington at noon yesterday, while the greengrocers stood silent with bowed heads, in respect for compatriots who had fallen in the Sino-Japanese conflict. In shop and mart and market-garden, the anniversary of the outbreak of war was marked by Chinese throughout the world by three minutes’ silence and a partial fast. The proceeds of their abstinence were devoted to buying gifts for soldiers at the front. In Wellington the collection for this purpose was handled by the. Chinese Association. There was apparently no set observance of the anniversary in Masterton.

Billiards and Snooker. Playing in the Y.M.C.A. billiards and snooker competition last night, Y.M.C.A. A defeated Post Office by seven games to mree. The results are as follow, Post Office players given Ist in every case: Billiards —L. Astridge lost to G. Coleman; H. Worthington lost to E. J. Coleman; H. Marsh lost to J. Nicholls; W. J. Miller lost to D. Rosenbaum; L. Thompson lost to A. McWhinnie. Snooker: Li. A. Astridge beat G. Coleman; H. Worthington beat E. J. Coleman; H. Marsh beat J. Nicholls; W. J. Miller Jost to D. Rosenbaum; L. Thompson lost to A. McWhinnie. Next Tuesday Catholic Club will meet Pioneers and on Thursday Daniell’s will play Y.M.C.A. B. Southland Railways Development. The district engineer of railways at Invercargil reports that storage accommodation at the Invercargill station yard has been enlarged to provide for 80 additional waggons to facilitate the speedier and more economical handling of rolling stock. Lumsden station is now an important centre for the change-over of passengers between trains and road motor services. Passengers arriving by train from other stations on the South Island Main Trunk line and branches change over there to the department’s road motor ' services for either the Eglinton and ' Hollyford Valleys or Queenstown and * beyond. The increased business has made it necessary to provide additional ’ office accommodation at Lumsden and ‘ to enlarge the station veranda. These 1 extensions will enable the staff to ‘ handle more effectively the increased ‘ business now passing through the sta- J tion. 1