LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 September 1938, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Variety Concert. On Sunday next the Masterton Municipal Band will present a Grand Variety entertainment at the Opera House. The band will be supported by the Blue River Orchestra and will also be assisted by several talented artists. East School Dance. Another very successful dance was conducted at the East School last night. There was a large attendance and Mr P. Ward, M.C., kept things going merrily. The music was supplied by the Rhythm Boys’ Dance Band. The Monte Carlo waltz was won by Miss E. Trass and Mr R. Rollo. Woman Found Dead. Mrs Ethel Mary Flewellen King, wife of Mr E. J. Flewellen King, Avondale Road, Taradale, who had been in illhealth for some time, was found dead in a sunken water trough near hei’ home yesterday morning. Mrs King, who was 53 years of age, left the house shortly after 8 o’clock, and when she failed to return a search was made. It is believed that she was overcome by a fainting turn and collapsed in the trough. A Fish Story. To find a large hapuka swimming round, in a pool among the reefs when the tide goes out is not the good fortune of every party of children visiting the seaside. However, there was a great deal of excitement at Pourerere beach recently when a fish was discovered among the rocks. Adult assistance was called and the hapuka speared. The catch provided a tasty meal for two families. Valueless Cheques. "Accused is the black sheep of the family, and unfortunately has a particularly bad list of previous convictions,” said Detective-Sergeant P. Doyle when Archibald Cameron, a shepherd,- aged 33, appeared in the Magistrate’s Court, Wellington, yesterday on 12 charges of issuing valueless cheques of a total value of £lO5 9s. Mr J. L. Stout, S.M., was on the bench. Cameron was sentenced to twelve months’ imprisonment on two of the charges, the sentences to be cumulative, and convicted and discharged on the other charges. Seamen’s “Joy Ride.” A “joy-ride” in an unlawfully converted motor-car from New Plymouth to the port, where they careered about and nearly knocked a pedestrian down back to town in search of beer, a night in the lock-up, and an appearance in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday morning cost seven seamen from the steamer Tairoa fines of £2 each and 7s towards the cost of the adventure. This was the substance of the story related to thq court by the police when the seven men all pleaded guilty to unlawfully converting a motor-car valued at £250. The dock was unusually taxed to accommodate the seven men. New Air Link. Plans have been evolved by Union Airways Limited for the institution of a Gisborne-Auckland link by way of Opotiki and Tauranga within the next few months. The prosecution of the plan is dependent upon the availability of planes and personnel, but it is hoped that the link will be operating by the end of this summer. Union Airways has applied for a licence to operate on a continuous basis a new Gis-borne-Auckland route. Representations in regard to the application are invited for the consideration of the Minister not later than September 6. Pensioners & Travel.

Pointing out in the House of Representatives yesterday, that under the present law an old-age pensioner could not even go out of the country to the extent of having a month’s holiday in Australia, Mr R. A. Wright suggested that an amendment should be introduced to make it permissible for recipients of benefits to spend short periods out of the Dominion. The Minister of Finance (Mr Nash) said that the question of pensioners travelling overseas was a very complicated one, much more so than appeared on the surface. Investigations were being made at present and probably some arrangement could be found. Customs Revenue. For the fourth consecutive month net Customs revenue collected at Wellington shows a substantial decrease when compared with the corresponding month of last year. Sales tax, beer duty and tyre tax are also lower, but revenue from petrol shows a slight increase. The net Customs revenue collected at Wellington last month totalled £322,772, compared with £359,941 in August, 1937. a decrease of £37.169. For the eight months of the current year the revenue totals £2,371,214 compared with £2,425,563 for the corresponding period of 1937, a decrease of £54,349. Decreases are also recorded in Customs revenue collected at Auckland, Lyttelton and Dunedin. Search for Oil. ' No comment was made by Mr A. A. Weymouth, who is superintending the New Zealand Petroleum Company’s geological survey of Taranaki, when interviewed in New Plymouth yesterday Concerning the statement by the Minister of Mines, the Hon. P. C. Webb, that the most comprehensive survey ever undertaken in the oil search in the province would shortly begin. A geophysicist would arrive by the next Pacific liner and would come direct to Taranaki to co-operate with the geological parties, said Mr Weymouth, but he had not been advised of his name or the nature of his plan of operations. Benefits & Taxes. Those who get benefits under the Social Security Bill, the Hon W. Nash stated in the House of Representatives last evening, will be exempt from taxation. The Minister added that it was proposed to exempt them, but nobody would be exempt by statute. That would be done by Order-in-Council. Referring to the clause providing for exemptions from liability to pay the contribution, Mr W. J. Broadfoot (Opposition, Waitomo) said it was a dangerous type of. clause. “The Minister says everyone receiving benefits under the Bill will receive exemption. Then I think exemption should be written into the Bill itself,” Mr Broadfoot said. To a question by the Leader of the Opposition (the Hon A. Hamilton), Mr Nash replied that a man holding land from which he derived no income would receive the old age benefit, but if there was income the benefit would be reduced accordingly.