LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 August 1938, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wellingon Compeitions. At the Wellington elocutionary competitions yesterday Noeline Graham, of Masterton, was highly commended in the girls’ recitation 7 to 10 years, in which there was 09 entries. Optimist Club.

Optimist Frank Tregurtha was the speaker at the weekly meeting of the Masterton Y.M.C.A. Optimist Club last night. His subject was “Salesmanship.” On the motion of Optimist Max Rogers, a hearty vote of thanks was accorded the speaker for his address. Jockey’s Trophy.

A silver-mounted whip, presented to Ashley Jenkins, of Masterton, rider of Clarion Call, the winner of the Grand National Steeplechase, is on view in the window of Mr J. Bradbury, Masterton. The presentation was made by a body of sportsmen at a boxing tournament held in Christchurch, following the race meeting. The Cider Industry.

Support for the proposal to build an apple-juice factory in Nelson, at a cost of £12,000, on the grounds that it would prevent low-grade fruit from being sent south and thus depressing the Christchurch market, was offered by Mr H. R. Sampson to a meeting of tomato and stone-fruit growers. Whether the cider industry was profitable to the orchardist, Mr Sampson explained, depended on the price received for his apples. Under present conditions, perhaps Is 3d a bushel could not be expected in Loburn, but 6d or 8d a bushel might satisfy Nelson growers, whose first consideration was the price ■in their export market. Bullock Drivers’ Chant.

The building of Maori war canoes is accompanied by ritual which has been followed in building the earlier of Princess Te Puea’s fleet of seven for the Centenary. This fact was mentioned by Mr M. Lee in an address at the Auckland Museum, the speakerstating, however, that as time was Dressing, the ritual had, he understood, been omitted in the case of one canoe. Although there was no ritual in the ordinary way, Mr Lee said, there was nevertheless some ceremonial chanting by the bullock drivers who hauled the sections of the canoe out of the forest —the chanting being a sort of combination of European cursing and Maori pleading. , Fears of Japan.

The opinion that there is no ground for this country to entertain fears of Japan was expressed at Auckland by Bishop J. Ross, who after 12 years as Vicar Apostolic of Hiroshima in Japan, has been spending six months in I visiting New Zealand. Asked if he had found prejudice against Japan among the people of New Zealand, he said he had not found prejudice, but there was much apprehension, which personally he thought was unfounded. There seemed to be-an idea that Japan had an eye on New Zealand with the intention of coming to take it. “I have never heard anything of that in Japan,” said the bishop. “I can say that.” Growth of Education. The remarkable progress in the pro-’ vision of education facilities over the 80 years of school history in Otahuhu was mentioned by Mr C. R. Petrie, M.P., at the jubilee reunion dinner. He recalled that the first national educational grant was £60,000. That had included everything deemed necessary in matters educational. “This year the Dominion educational vote amounts to £4,600,000,” added Mr Petrie. There had been a persistent appeal for improved facilities throughout the years. There was a record of a resolution passed by Otahuhu. residents in 1866 condemning the Government Of the day for the paucity of capitation allowances. Course at Massey College.

Nearly 50 people are attending a week’s refresher course for agricultural teachers as iMassey College, the outcome of an approach made by the Education Department to the college authorities some time ago. It is the first gathering of the kind to be held at the college and teachers have come from all over the North Island and the Nelson area. The course embraces a wide range of lectures touching on the particular avenue of instruction, followed by the teachers, the lecturers being officers at Massey College and the Dairy Research Institute of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. The course is to continue until next Saturday and will conclude with a visit to plots of the grasslands division of the Department of Agriculture. The Flax Industry.

Notwithstanding the optimism expressed a year ago, the flax industry had again experienced a most difficult period; prices for all fibres had seriously declined, so much so that practically all mills were compelled to cease operations some months ago, said the president, Mr D. R. Ogilvy, in his report to the annual meeting of the New Zealand Flaxmillers’ Association at Foxton. “The outlook at present is a dismal one, and until a recovery takes place in overseas markets there seems little prospect of activity in our business,” continued Mr Ogilvy. “To give an idea of the fall of competitive fibres, No 1 sisal was quoted on the London market in August, 1937, at £27 10s a ton; since then there has been a steady decline, the quotation for the present month being down to £l7 10s. Manila fibre shows corresponding figures.” No Tramway Hold-up. Threatened disorganisation of Wellington’s tramway service by the adoption of what, from the public’s point of view, was likely to amount to a “go-slow” policy, has been averted by a decision to hold, on September 1, a special meeting of the tramways committee of the Wellington city council to consider matters in dispute. The agreement reached on the subject of a special meeting was announced yesterday by the Mayor of Wellington (Mr T. C. A. Hislop) and the secretary of the Tramways Union (Mr W. N. Bradley). It is understood that among the points in dispute are the following:—The men object to two motormen being stood down for one day for allowing passengers to ride in their cabs; they object to an inspector, who, they say, was appointed without applications being called after he had had only nine years’ service; they object to conductors being stood down for half a day when passengers who have not paid the proper fare are discovered riding on their cars; they want longer running time to distant suburbs.