LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 16 November 1938, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Frost in Masterton. A frost of 3.5 degrees was registered in Masterton this morning. Mawley Park Camp. During October 25 motorists availed themselves of the facilities at Mawley Park motor camp site. Fees collected for the month amounted to £1 13s 6d. New Zealand's Day. Not only did a New Zealand horse win the Melbourne Cup this year'but in a Tasmanian Consultation on the big Victorian event New Zealand investors won five of the big prizes—two of £12,500 each, two of £lO,OOO each and one of £5OOO. Taken Over by Government. After months of negotiation, the New Zealand Railways Department has officially taken over the Welling-ton-Dannevirke-Napier carrying service owned by Mr C. Doggett, Dannevirke; the Wellington-Dannevirke-Ohakune service controlled by Mr W. Lakey, Dannevirke; and the Symes Transport Co., Ltd., Wellington-Wood-ville-Dannevirke service.

Root of Scottish Character. The root of Scottish character was the sheer inherent honesty in it, said Mr Andrew Stewart, of Edinburgh, at a social evening in Dunedin. The Sabbath was looked upon as God’s day; that was why many Scotsmen refrained from even cleaning their boots on a Sunday. Wherever they went they carried the spirit of fair dealing with them. Queen Carnival.

In connection with the proposed Wairarapa Sports Queen Carnival a wrong impression may be gathered from the report which appeared in yesterday’s issue. A proposal setting out the representation basis and the composition of the executive together with the suggestion that Mr F. Toft be the organiser, will come up for discussion at the next meeting of representatives of those interested.

A New Society. The formation of any new society in the town always evokes a certain amount of curiosity, and interest attaches this week to the initial performance of the new-formed Little Theatre Society, which makes its debut in the Opera House this evening with “Lovers’ Leap.” At the concluding presentation tomorrow night, the Mayor of Masterton (Mr T. Jordan) will make a few remarks in support of the society.

Municipal Band Success. The Masterton Municipal Band held 15 practices during October. A concert was given in the Opera House on October 9. The Band competed at a Band Contest held at Feilding on October 24, gaining third place in the quickstep, third in the hymn test, third in the selection and third in the aggregate, At its meeting last night the council congratulated the Band on its performances at Feilding. The Mayor, Mr T. Jordan, said he hoped the band’s success would lead to greater success. Municipal Library.

The following are the figures for the Municipal Library for the month of October:—Books issued: Fiction, 3599; travel, etc., 237. Books added: Fiction, 78; travel, etc., 8. Subscribers at end of September, 408; new subscribers, 4; total subscribers at end of October, 412. The amount spent in books from April 1 to September 30 was as follows: —Librarian, £159 17s lOd; committee, £49 15s 6d. The amount spent in books for the month of October was, librarian, £lB 17s Id. “Women Haters.”

Divided opinions regarding the advisability of sending women athletes overseas to compete at Olympic Games were evident, at the annual meeting of the Hawke’s Bay-Poverty Bay Amateur Athletic Association, held at Napier recently. A motion that the selection of women athletes be placed on the same footing as male competitors was put to the meeting. Six hands were raised in support of the motion, and when five hands recorded their opposition to the proposal, a member was heard to remark, “Woman-haters,” the interjection bringing forth a hearty round of laughter. Dunedin Memorial.

A park on the slopes of Signal Hill planted in native and exotic trees with a motor drive through avenues of stately trees to the summit is to be Dunedin’s memorial to mark the Dominion’s Centennial. The summit will command a unique view of the city and harbour and the coast line in the far south. There were four main proposals before the committee, the other three being for a park and aquatic centre at Anderson’s Bay inlet, hot water baths in St. Kilda, and a community centre and garden on the site of the old Garrison Hall. The accepted scheme will cost about £3OOO, and will permit of extensions. Importance of Rongotai.

Rongotai, the airport for New Zealand’s capital city of Wellington, is now handling more than 20,000 passengers a year, according to the “De Havilland Gazette.” Across Cook Strait 20 per cent of the Wellington-Marlborough passenger traffic now went by air; flying reduced to half an hour the Wel-lington-Blenheim journey of nearly four hours by boat and train, and obviates an all-night steamer crossing (frequently rough) if one is going to Nelson. The two-day journey of more than 750 miles from Auckland to Dunedin has been reduced to seven hours. In 1937, the airways carried 38,210 passengers, 185,7331 b. of mail, and 69,2991 b. of freight, and flew 1.1 million miles. Held Captive by Arabs.

Held captive by Arabs in Jericho for six hours, Mr and Mrs W. Calder Mackay, Auckland, had an exciting adventure during a recent visit to Palestine in the course of a world tour. Writing from the P. and O. liner Strathmore to a friend, Mr Mackay said they had had a most exciting experience. Arabs had captured them on their arrival at Jericho and kept them under close guard until assured that their visit had no political significance. “We really took our lives in our hands,” he wrote, “and if I had not worn an Arab headdress we would all have been shot. As it was, we were held captive by the Arabs for six hours in Jericho, and did not know when and how we would get out. When we were, released the only way we could get out of the country was by aeroplane from Lydda, as the railway was blown up in so many places there were no trains.” Mr Mackay was well known in Masterton, having visited here on sev eral occasions on business, being associated with the firm of Laidlaw and Mackay.