LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 December 1938, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Heavy Christmas Mail. When the Union liner Awatea left Wellington for Sydney last night she was carrying the Christmas airmail for Great Britain, totalling between 80 and 90 bags. This is said to be the heaviest airmail yet dispatched from New Zealand overseas.

Shop Day. A choice array of goods was displayed in the produce jumble and Christmas cake and pudding stalls at a sale held in the Occidental Mart today by the Women’s Division of the Farmers’ Union. The various articles found a ready sale, and a satisfactory financial contribution was made to the funds.

Plague of Slugs. Lettuces and other vegetable pro-, ducts in Timaru are at present suffering heavily from the onslaught of slugs. One amateur gardener said that all-his lettuces had been destroyed and despite every effort it seemed impossible to keep the numbers of the slugs down. He attributed this to the wet weather and said that many other gardeners had also suffered from the ravages of the slugs.

Improving the Footpaths. As part of the general overhaul Wellington is being given in view of the coming year of its centennial, the city engineer’s department is turning its attention to the rehabilitation of the pavements of the main streets of the city. This work, has been in hand for the greater part of the year. It is not generally known that wobbling pavement flags are caused by burrowing rats who make their homes under the feet of the people. Only recently one of these flags in Cuba Street was lifted. Underneath was a large rat hole, and nesting there were eight baby rodents, which were ultimately destroyed. The new pink flags are a distinct improvement to the western side of Cuba Street.

Bicycle as Ambulance. A slow and painful journey of two miles on a bicycle before receiving attention for her injuries was endured by a seven-year-old schoolgirl, Susie Gifford, after fracturing her thigh in an accident in Swanson, Auckland. The girl, who is a daughter of Mr H. A. Gifford, Swanson, was returning to . her home after school when she was knocked down by a bicycle ridden by two boys. No immediate treatment was available, and, after placing the injured girl on a bicyble, the boys wheeled it to her home some two miles away. In spite .of the rought nature of the road, and the considerable delay in receiving attention, she bore the ordeal with fortitude. After receiving attention the girl was taken to the Auckland hospital in an ambulance. Her condition is not regarded as serious.

N.Z. Chess Championships. The following 14 entries have been accepted for the annual New Zealand chess tournament to be played in Wanganui during the Christmas holidays:— J. A. Erskine (Southland), H. McNabb and G. Cole (Nelson), C. J. Taylor and D. I. Jones (Auckland), D. Lynch and J. D. Hennan (Hastings), R. O. Scott (Wanganui), E. H. Severne and E. J. Dyer (Wellington Chess Club), F. K. Kelling and W. J. Fairburn (Wellington Working Men’stClub), J. B. Dunlop (Otago). Entries for the premier reserves tournament will not close till December 15. So far six entries have been received for this event. No entries have been received for the women’s championship tournament and Mrs Abbott (Christchurch) will retain for another term the title she won at the Wellington congress three years ago. Bees in Charge.

Alarm on the part of some people and amusement in the case of others occurred in Broadway, Newmarket, Auckland, when a dense swarm of bees took possession of the street. For three-quarters of an hour the bees buzzed about angrily as people tried to avoid them. No one seemed to have been stung. The bees appeared from the direction of the old railway workshops site, when there were many people in Broadway. Most of the bees stationed themselves at the intersection of Broadway and Remuera Road. There was a scatter of pedestrians, and motorists hurriedly closed the windows of their cars before driving through the bees. Drivers of motortrucks, the cabs of which did not have windows, were less fortunate. People in tramcars hurriedly raised the windows and then set about' to ward off bees that were already inside. Lorry On Railway Line.

Swerving across the road and crashing through a fence after being involved in collision with another vehicle at the junction of the Onslow and Hutt roads late yesterday afternoon, a motor lorry came to rest on the railway and fouled both sets of track of the double line between Wellington and Petone. Two trains were approaching from opposite directions, and the prompt action of a Transport Department traffic inspector, Mr A. V. Lutter, who sprinted to warn the engine crews, prevented what might have been a more serious smash. Both lorries were damaged, and the vehicle which blocked the railway was moved by the combined effort of two other trucks. Nobody was injured. When the accident occurred the lorry which crashed through the fence was travelling in the direction of Petone. It is understood that immediately after the collision it swerved sharply and, out of control, mounted the footpath and headed for the railway. Retail Price of Coal.

Retail prices of coal in Auckland will be increased from the end of the present week, it being expected that the rise will be about 2d a sack, or approximately 2s a ton. Increases by retail distributors have been decided upon in consequence of a decision by the Waikato Coal Mine Owners’ Association to advance wholesale rates, chiefly because of the higher railway freight rates to take effect from December 11 and partly because of the higher cost of production through wage increases. No decision had yet been made to increase the price of coal in Wellington, said Mr W. J. Gaudin, a Wellington coal dealer, when asked to comment on the statement that the price of coal in Auckland would be increased. So far the Wellington Coal Dealers and Merchants’ Association had had no advice about the increase in Auckland, he said. If the wholesale price were increased the dealers in Wellington would probably have to charge customers more.

The total number of vehicles licensed in England on August 31 was 3,005.607. England has the greatest road congestion, with 17 cars to the mile, as against nine in America, six in France and five in Germany.