LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 19 August 1938, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Badminton Championships. From the entries already received for the North Island badminton championships it appears that the tournament will be one of the most successful yet held in Wanganui. It is expected that a large number of players from all over New Zealand will be present to contest the North Island titles. Because the drill hall is now required for defence activities on August 27, it has been found necessary to put forward the tournament dates by one day. Play will in consequence begin at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, August 23, and the finals will be played on Friday evening. Rats and Mice in Pianos. Heavy accumulations of dust, the nests of rats and mice, and pepper are some of the things found in pianos by repairers, according to a witness in the Auckland Arbitration Court, during the hearing of the piano tuners and repairers* dispute. Some shops, it was stated, still used old-fashioned bellows to blow out dust and dirt, and it was claimed by the workers that vacuum cleaners should be provided. ■‘Do you ever • find any live mice there?” asked Mr Justice O’Regan. "No, sir, but I have spoken to workers who have,” replied the witness. It was explained that pepper was put in pianos to keep moths away. Orchard Losses.

Heavy losses have been suffered by fruit-growers in Hawke’s Bay. It was repealed at the annual meeting of growers in Hastings that the excessive rainfall had been the cause of great losses in stone-fruit through brown rot. In flood localities, also, large quantities of picked fruit were covered with silt, and some was even washed away. The president reported that the research orchard at Havelock North continued to serve a useful purpose, providing material for many experiments. While it was never expected to make a profit from it, he said, it is regretted that the returns have been so meagre. Parade of old Farm Vehicles.

A parade of old farm vehicles may be seen at the Northern Agricultural and. Pastoral Association’s show at Rangiora in November, if a recommendation made by Mr E. D. R. Smith to the association at its meeting in Rangiora is adopted. Mi- Smith said it would be interesting to hold a parade of farm vehicles used 40 and 50 years ago, as, in addition to providing a humourous item for the public, the parade would also give persons an idea of the great progress made. (A subcommittee was elected to consider the suggestion and to submit definite proposals to the next meeting of the association. Maori Choir Returns. The splendid reception given the Maori choir which visited Australia to take part in the commemoration services held to mark the hundredth anniversary of the death in Sydney of Samuel Marsden, was commented on yesterday by the Bishop of Aotearoa, the Rt. Rev. F. A. Bennett, who returned with the choir to Wellington in the Awatea. Bishop Bennett said that the choir had undoubtedly put the Anglican Maori Mission of New Zealand on the map as far as Australia was concerned and the hospitality extended to the visitors wherever they went was really wonderful. It was the first time in history that a party of Maoris from the Anglican Church had visited Australia. Jean Batten Peak. New Zealand’s famous aviatrix, Miss Jean Batten, through the efforts of Major P. Mackenzie, of Walter Peak Station, has now a mountain peak which bears her name. The mountain is the highest peak in the Ailsa Range, which runs beside tfie Government tourist track from Lake Wakatipu to Te Anau in the Upper Greenstone Valley. Major Mackenzie’s application for the naming of the peak was made to the Royal Geographic Board through the Department of Lands and Survey, which has advised that the mountain will henceforth bear the name “Jean Batten Peak.” The peak has not been mapped, nor has it yet been climbed, so that the regulation which makes it necessary for the person making application to ascend the mountain first has in this case been waived. Lived Two Lives. Having lived all his life under the belief that he was Glasgow-born, a Wairoa resident, who recently applied for an old-age pension, was astounded to find that this detail was incorrect and that actually he was born in Dunedin, and that the second Christian name which he has used for all documents which required signing was also incorrect. Early in his life he was told that he was born in Glasgow on September 23, 1872, and that he came to New Zealand in an emigrant ship early in 1874 He has lived his life on those details, and amongst other documents he signed his marriage certificate with this background. It was not until he applied for an old-age pension that the discrepancies were brought to light, and he has now been informed that he was born in Dunedin on September 23, 1870, and was never out of New Zealand. The first information was supplied by persons who were illiterate and long since dead. Cancer Death-rate.

There is nothing unusually alarming about the death-rate from cancer, according to a leading article in the Australian Medical Journal, which urges that the study of the disease, as well as research into other diseases, should be carried out in an atmosphere of calm. The journal quotes the annual report of the Chief Medical Officer of the Ministry of Health of Great Britain, which says that the death-rate from cancer in 1936 was 1010 a million, a rise of 161 a million compared with the rate from 1901 to 1905. While 1010 died from cancer at ages unstated, at ages under 15 years 297 died from measles, 43 from scarlet fever, 318 from diphtheria, and 228 from whooping cough. When all diseases causing death at ages less than 15 years are considered collectively, says the journal, it is found that 2990 a million died each year in the 1901-1905 period, and 883 in the 1931-1935 period —a fall of 2107 a million. , The dance committee of the Loyal Masterton Odd Fellows has arrangements well in hand for the dance on Saturday night in the Masonic Hall. The popular Blue River Dance Band will supply the music. The ladies’ committee will provide the supper, and a good time is assured all who attend this function.