LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 25 August 1938, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Heavy Frost in Matserton. Masterton continues to experience heavy frosts, 10.3 degrees being registered this morning. Pukeko Strikes Windscreen. A service bus driver in the Wanganui district a few days ago had an unusual experience. A pukeko rose a few yards ahead of the bus and went through the windscreen, a passenger sitting alongside the driver receiving a slight cut on the face. Roses at Taihape. No fewer than 309 roses have been planted in Development Corner, Taihape, at the southern' entrance- to the town. It is the aim of the the Borough Council to beautify the corner and so add another bright spot to the surroundings. Hitler’s Interest. “Last month I received a letter from Herr Hitler’s secretary, asking for information about the infant welfare work being carried out by the Plunket Society in New Zealand,” said Miss J. Samson, of the Wellington branch of the society, when speaking at the annual meeting of the Masterton branch yesterday afternoon. One car to Every 12 people. Australia had one car to every 12.14 of her people at the end of June. Counting both cars and commercial vehicles, there was one to every 8.77 people. One commercial vehicle was in use to every 2.6 cars. The number of cars and commercial vehicles in use grew by 64,519 during the 12 months, representing gains of 8.13 per cent in cars and 11.26 per cent in commercial vehicles. Indoor Basketball. The games played this week in connection with indoor basketball competition at the Y.M.C.A. resulted as follows: —P. Hamill and Co. won from C. Smith, Ltd., 10-9. (Individual scorers: For Hamill and Co., C. Greager 8, A. Stubbings 2; for C. Smith, D. Leete 2, Handy 7). Reliance Rebuilt Tyre .Co. beat Faulknor’s Service Station, 13-6. (Individual ,scorers: For Reliance, W. Reynolds 6, F. Bodie 6, B. Bodie 1; for! Faulknor’s, N. Faulknor 6). The Passenger. With a mussel firmly fixed to the under portion of its shell, a large crayfish which was caught near Pania Reef is causing considerable interest among members of the fishing industry in Napier. The strands by which the mussel would normally have attached itself to a rock had gained a firm hold on the crayfish, and from their appearance there is no doubt that the crayfish has been encumbered with a passenger for a long time. The crayfish was caught by Mr H. Spiller, of Napier.

Legal Arbitration. The Arbitration Amendment Bill, providing for a simplification of the procedure under which litigation can be referred, to arbitrators for settlement, made its reappearance in the House of Representatives yesterday, when it was reported back from the Statutes Revision Committee. The committee’s report was presented by Mr F. W. Schramm (Government. Auckland East), who said the recommendation was that the Bill should be allowed to proceed with one minor amendment dealing with the procedure to be followed in determining costs. Back from the Brink. Things are not always what they seem. A young Australian came to Auckland a few weeks ago to start employment. One morning he set out for a walk round the city, and, being a keen photographer, took his camera with him. Crossing the Grafton bridge, he was entranced with the sight of blue water and triple-peaked Rangitoto in the background. He climbed on the parapet and poised his camera on the top of the guarding fence. Then a good Aucklander took a hand. He made a rush, pulled the man down on the footpath, sat on him, and said. firmly, “You can’t do that.” “I was only taking a photograph,” pleaded the bewildered visitor, who was sure by that time that he had infringed some local regulation or by-law. “Taking a photo!” echoed the Aucklander incredulously. “I thought that you were trying to commit suicide.”

Lost and Found. With only a hazy recollection of the place where he was boarding, a Wellington visitor to Napier spent the best part of the period between midnight on Thursday evening and daybreak the following morning travelling bj’ car and on foot in the hill area of Napier in search of his bed. Having attended a ball at Napier on Thursday evening, he offered to take some friends to their home on the hill, which was accepted. He left his friends at their home and set out for his own. Foi’ some time he drove round streets on the hills without finding one which even remotely resembled the one he had fixed in his mind. Tiring of this occupation he abandoned the car and began to walk and with daybreak only a short time ahead he eventually arrived at his boardinghouse in Cobden Road. The next day with a friend he set out in a diligent search of the hill roads for the missing car, and last evening as a last resort he went to the Napier Police station. About midnight last evening the police were informed that a car had apparently been abandoned in Seapoint Road —a matter of a few hundred yards from where he was living.