LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 10 August 1938, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Allowance for Cyclists. A bicycle allowance of one penny a mile is provided for grocers’ assistants in the new Dominion award. Employers and workers may by agreement fix the rate at 2s a week instead. Bookmakers Fined. Patrick Lawrence Gordon and Richard Cornellius Altham were each fined £25 by Mr J. L. Salmon, S.M., at Palmerston North, for carrying on the business of bookmakers. St Andrew Society. Advice has been received that the Wellington Caledonian Society has accepted the invitation for its Pipe Band and a party of its members to attend the next monthly meeting of the Saint Andrew Society, to be held on September 3. Racing Club Stewards. The full complement of stewards of the Masterton Racing Club is fourteen, some of whom retire each year. The complete list of stewards is:—Messrs R. Buick, J. A. Betts, Walter Cameron, A. Corskie, W. R. P. Cooper, F. E. Chalmers, H. L. Esau, E. C. Fowler, H. P. Hugo, J. Jameson, J. Mulvaney, J. H. Payton, F, B. Vallance and N. G. F. Whiteman. Mole and Tile Drainage. Arrangements were made by the Martinborough Young Farmers’ Club, at a meeting held last night, for a field day on Thursday, August 18, on the property of Mn W. J. Martin, Martinborough. A demonstration will be given of the McLeod system of mole and tile drainage by Mr Hamblyn, Fields Superintendent, Department of Agriculture, Palmerston North. An invitation is being extended to all farmers and others interested to attend.

A Stormy Night. Although many parts of New Zealand, both north and south of the Wairarapa, suffered more or less severely from the storm that swept the country yesterday, little or no damage appears to have been done in this district. Fairly heavy rain fell during the night, and at times the wind reached gale force. Rivers were flooded, but enquiries this morning showed that roads and power lines were not affected by the storm in the Wairarapa. Wainui-o-Mapu Bridge. Three settlers advised the Masterton County Council“at its meeting yesterday that they could not agree to contribute towards the cost of constructing a bridge across the Wainui-o-Mapu stream. It was decided to inform the settlers that if they would not agree to assist in the construction of the bridge in the manner determined by the council, then it was proposed to inform the Government that the grant would not be taken up, and that an effort would be made to have it transferred to other works. Methodist Social Afternoon. A very pleasant afternoon was spent at the Methodist Parsonage yesterday, when another of the very popular “shilling social afternoons” was held, Mesdames Blinkhorne, Speight and Parker being the hostesses. . Among those present was Mrs Dyson, formerly of Masterton, who is visiting here on holiday. The following contributed items: —Miss E. Beale, mandolin solos; Mrs Dyson, solos; Mrs G. Milne, reading; Mrs H. Speight, solos; Mrs L, Jansen, short talk; Mesdames H, Speight, G. Milne and Miss D. Jamieson, trios; and Miss P. Jamieson, solo. The serving of afternoon tea brought a very happy function to a close. Billiards and Snooker. In connection with the Y.M.C.A. billiards and snooker tournament last night, the Post Office defeated Y.M.C.A. by 7 games to 3. The individual results are as follow, the Post Office players being mentioned first in each instance:—Billiards: J. Dunbar beat F. Bodie, L. Astridge beat P. Watson, H. Marsh beat S. Onion, H. Worthington lost to W. Clarke, B. Thompson lost to W. Reynolds. Snooker: J. Dunbar lost to F. Bodie, L. Astridge beat P. Watson, H. Marsh beat S. Onion, H. Worthington beat W. Clarke, B. Thompson beat Reynolds. Tomorrow night Daniell’s will play Pioneers, and on Tuesday the Catholic Club will play Post Office. Mails to Spain and China. Newspapers cannot be sent by private individuals to any address in Spain. The Universal Postal Union has notified the New Zealand Post Office that only newspapers sent by their publishers or agents can be accepted for that country. So far as letters are concerned, New Zealand sends them to' London for inclusion in the British mails to that disturbed part of Europe. New Zealand correspondence for .China, including parcels, is being regularly exchanged. Parcels are handled at Hongkong as a central distributing point, delivery being at senders’ risk. Direct mails are being forwarded as usual to Canton and Shanghai, and despatches are being received from these points. Coursing Club Social. The social held by the Wairarapa Coursing Club last night at the Odd Fellows’ Hall, in honour of the successful competitors at the recent Waterloo Cup meeting at Invercargill, was quite successful in spite of the inclement weather conditions. An apology for absence was received from Mr Alex. Ross, - the club's patron, who suffered a bereavement recently in the loss of his mother, the chairman asking those present to stand in silence as a mark of respect. Messrs J. Bradbury, J. H. Payton and J. Watson also sent apologies. Musical items, rendered by Messrs Blake, Gallagher and R. Donald, were greatly appreciated. Messrs W. James, J. Wing and L. Archer acknowledged the compliments paid to them. Penalty for Smuggling. Smuggling things into New Zealand is a serious offence, and the maximum penalty is three times the value of the goods, or £lOO, whichever is the greater. The minimum penalty is 25 per cent of the maximum. It therefore follows that the smallest punishment that the Court can inflict is a fine of £25. In certain cases, however, the Collector of Customs has discretionary power to deal with the case without recourse to Court of law. Provided that the culprit is agreeable to this course and is prepared to sign a declaration of guilt, it is competent for the Collector of Customs to fine him up to £5. In the case of a man charged at Bluff with smuggling, he was offered this opportunity, but declined it, preferring to throw himself on the mercy of the Court, which had no option but to impose the minimum penalty, which is mandatory. This explains an apparently severe fine of £25 for evading the payment of duty which amounted to about 3s 6d. The Abyssinians became Christians in the fourth century.