LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 December 1938, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

A Clean Sheet. No cases of infectious diseases have occurred in Masterton during the current week. Bather Fleeced. While several bathers were enjoying a swim in the Waipoua River one day this week one of the party had 18s 6d taken from a purse. It is stated that the culprits were children who had been playing in the vicinity. Power Board Boundaries. Alterations to the boundaries of the Wairarapa Electric Power Board’s district are gazetted this week. The whole of the Castlepoint County has been added to the outei’ area and the board's boundary has been amended in the Featherston County. Matriculation Examination. The hope that the matriculation examination would soon be abolished was expressed by the Minister of Education, Mr Fraser, speaking at the closing ceremony of the Wellington Teachers’ Training College yesterday. He asked members of the University Senate present to convey to that body his earnest hope that the abolition of the examination would be considered at the next meeting. Nobody wanted it in its present form, he said. Sustenance Frauds. Six charges of making false statements under the Employment Promotion Act were preferred against John Valentine Mahan in the Magistrates’ Court, Wellington, yesterday. He pleaded guilty and was fined £2 and costs 10s on each charge. The case was heard before Mr J. L. Stout, S.M. Detective-Sergeant P. Doyle told the Court that while living in Timaru in 1935 Mahan made 24 false weekly statements when obtaining sustenance relief. The amount involved was £2B 16s. Accused had not previously been before the court. Accused was allowed time in which to pay the fine. Noted Dolls 1 House. “Manor Hall,” a handsome doll’s house in the Tudor style, which won the admiration of the Queen, and which was built in New Zealand by the Rev. E. Mowbray Finnis, is on exhibition in Nottingham. The “Nottingham Evening Post” says that the model is perfect in every detail. The great hall is panelled throughout with over 2000 pieces of mahogany and has a glass staircase and surrounding gallery and dome. On either side of the great hall are eight rooms. The furnishings are exquisite. The grounds have a lily pond, fountain and tennis courts. Kawhia Harbour Survey.

After a lapse of a number of years the entrance to the Kawhia Harbour is being sounded and resurveyed by a party under the direction of Mr L. May, district public works engineer at Taumarunui. The party consists oi seven men, who, besides sounding the bar. are establishing trig stations on each side of the mainland. The men have been favoured with smooth seas, but the persistent rainfall has made the work difficult, especially for those working from launches. When the survey is finjshed, new leading lights wili be erected. The harbour is recognised as a' shelter for coastal and fishing boats in stormy weather on the Tasman Sea during the winter months, and as a landing-place for seaplanes.

Fines for Killing Seals. For killing seals illegally, William Edward Lawrie, aged 23, and Hugh Phillips, aged 24, appeared in theMagistrates’ Court in Bluff yesterday. Each was fined £5O. Counsel for the Collector of Customs said Phillips and Lawrie were master and mate of a trading launch. They had been suspected for some time, and a raid resulted in the finding of 10 sealskins. The two men admitted clubbing seals on Chalky Island. Only one of the three years of the close season had passed. “I cannot believe ,these, men were ignorant of the law,” said Mr R. C. Abernethy, S.M., “and I am not prepared to regard the offence as a senseless escapade.” Price of Bread.

It is assumed by many Auckland bakers that if, as a result of an inquiry now being made by the Government into the cost of baking in Auckland, it is decided that the margin of profit is not sufficient for the proper conduct of the industry, any relief will not be given by increasing the price of bread but by reducing the rates for flour. This assumption is based on a pre-election statement by the Prime Minister that it was not proposed to advance the price of bread. Under the two years’ stabalising plan of the Government, rates for wheat, flour and bread were fixed in January, 1937, to the end of‘February, 1939. In the past few months bakers have made representations to the Government for relief under the scheme in view of the wage increases imposed for drivers and bakers and the higher cost of all materials except flour. White Pine For Australia. Consent to the export to Australia of 17,000,000 feet of white pine timber over a three-year period is to be given by the New Zealand authorities in the event of approval by the Australian Tariff Board. The Commissioner of State Forests, Mr Langstone, in an interview last evening said he understood that the question was to be considered by the board within the next few days. Mr Langstone said that some weeks ago a delegation from the Sawmillers’ Federation had visited Australia with a view to encouraging the export of timber from New Zealand to Australia. The delegation had ascertained that there was a demand for New Zealand white pine if the people in Australia could be given some guarantee of supplies over a period. The Australian Tariff Board had been considering the matter.

Immigration and Unemployment. “It is often objected that immigration would cause unemployment, but this is by no means self-evident,” said Dr I. L. G. Sutherland, Professor of Philosophy at Canterbury University College, speaking at Christchurch at a meeting of citizens who decided to ask the Government for the adoption of a more liberal policy of admitting European refugees to New Zealand. “Carefully selected and controlled immigration can, I believe, actually result in increased use of capital and labour and increased production. I do not believe that practical considerations really run counter to humanitarian duty. Practical considerations apart, this country has a duty to those in distress. We should not be deaf to those who appeal to us for refuge. New Zealand has much to gain and nothing to lose from opening the doors a little wider.”