LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 December 1938, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Kennel Club’s Parade. Mr E. Hall, of Lower Hutt, will judge the events at the Wairarapa Kennel Club’s ribbon parade tomorrow. Handsome hand-painted ribbons will be presented to the successful exhibitors in the variety classes.

Archbishop Julius Memorial. The sum of £5022 has been received by the organiser, the Rev W. E. D. Davies, of the fund to establish a memorial in Christchurch to Archbishop Julius. It is proposed to commemorate the work of the Archbishop by extending Christchurch Cathedral. Protecting Albatrosses.

To prevent disturbance of albatrosses which tried to nest at Otago Heads, several public-spirited citizens of Dunedin arranged for the erection of' a man-proof fence to guard the breed-ing-place. They put about £lOO as well as much time and work into their effort, and now ask other nature-lov-ers to share in the cost. The Forest and Bird Protection Society, which will receive subscriptions, appeals to others to come to their assistance. Careless Passengers.

Articles numbering 4235 were left in the Christchurch trams during the year to March 31, 1938. To this total, umbrellas were outstandingly the largest contributor, accounting for 896 of the articles found on the trams. A long way behind came purses and handbags, with 455, and parcels with 103. Gxoves scored high at 389 pairs and 289 single gloves, and perhaps should take first place with a total of 1067 articles. At the bottom of a list which is a curious commentary on the forgetfulness of tram passengers come pusn chairs with a score of three, and musical instruments with two.

Losses Among Newly Shorn Sheep, i Losses among newly-shorn sheep throughout Central Hawke’s Bay following the sudden change in the weather have been heavy. In many cases the exact nature of the losses sustained is not yet ascertainable. It is known, however, that Mr W. J. Craig Takapau, lost between 150 .and 200 ewes in the rainstorm at the beginning of the week. Mr Craig had finished shearing on the Friday, and the newly-shorn ewes were caught by the unexpected cold snap the following day. On exposed farms on the Takapau Plains numerous sheep have died from the cold.

Swimming Record Broken. Two Otago and two New Zealand records were broken at the Otago amateur championships which were concluded in the municipal baths at Dunedin last night. Miss Winnie Dunn lowered her own record’ for the 100 riietres breaststroke of 1.33 by 1 1-5 seconds, and Miss Christine Garvin registered 2.47 4-5 in the 220 yards intermediate girls’ free style, breaking Miss Kathleen Grey’s record by a second. Colin Sell swam the junior boys’ 75 yards backstroke in 60 seconds, and W. Dyson took 3.2 2-5 for the men’s 22.0 yards breastsroke, both Otago records.

Meeting of Importers. The situation arising from the new export and import regulations was discussed at a meeting of the council of the United Kingdom Manufacturers’ and New Zealand Representatives’ Association held in Wellington yesterday afternoon. The meeting was not open to the Press, but an announcement was made later that a committee had been appointed to wait on the Comptroller of Customs, with a view to obtaining an interpretation of certain aspects of the regulations. It was also stated that satisfaction had been expressed with the assurances by the Government that trade with the United Kingdom would be safeguarded. Longest Letter on Record.

What is said to be, literally, the longest letter ever written since papyrus went out of fashion, was recently received by the National, Farmers Union (England). It was written by an Australian farmer, and is 15ft. l|in. long by Ift. 3|in. wide. Thus it easily beats the letter received by the 8.8. C., on a sheet of paper 7ft. 6ih. long and Ift. 10jin. wide. The latter came from Liverpool, and is written in large, bold handwriting. Its chief purpose was to request that broadcasting of “jazz compositions” should cease. The purpose of the Australian letter was to compare agricultural shows in Australia with those in Britain. The letter was evidently written originally on separate sheets of paper, which have been pasted into a single continuous strip. To read it you have to spread it ou: and sit on the floor alongside it.

Dry Rot in Turnips. Insistence on freedom from dry rot of all turnip seed imported to New Zealand would eliminate much of the trouble, stated Mr A. Stuart, instructor in agriculture at Invercargill, to he meeting of the Southland provincial executive of the Farmers’ Union. Mr Stuart, who was asked to speak in connection with a remit from the Orepuki branch that all seed be tested and treated for dry rot, said that most of the turnip seed was imported,' and the difficulty would be to get English firms to treat the seed before shipment. Officers could test for germination and fry rot all seed before being permitted into the country. One seed affected in 200 would be sufficient to give 100 per cent infection when conditions were favourable for the disease, the spores of which could be carried from one paddock to another by farm implements and horses hoofs. The motion requesting that all seed be tested for dry rot was carried.

Job of Finding Jobs. Almost a thousand civil servants in New Zealand—permanent and temporary —are now officially engaged actively in the work of finding jobs for others to do. The growth of the Employment' Division of the Department of Labour—of which the Placement Office is the branch best known to the public —has been extremely heavy in recent years, since the division was begun, until now it can perhaps be numbered as one of the biggest labour exchanges in the world. In its pay roll are almost a thousand names. The branch, for which elaborate administrative machinery has been built up. is expected to be absorbed in the near future in the work of the social security plan. In the meantime, its activities this year have been increased. Last year’s Budget foreshadowed an increase in expenses due to the appointment of additional inspectors and aistrict inquiry officers. So much interest has been taken in the work of the Employment Promotion Division by the Government that last year a Government grant was made to defray the cost of making a film of the work of the Placement office throughout the country. The expenditure for the year of the Employment Promotion Division is expected to oe about £200,000.