LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 January 1939, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Frost in Masterton. A frost was registered in Masterton this morning, a most unusual occurrence at this period of the yea)-. False Fire Alarm. The Masterton Fire Brigade received a telept one call to a supposed fire in Miriam Street at 9.28 a.in. yesterday. The alarm proved to be a false one. Charge of Drunkenness.

Charles Birt, of Masterton, a second offender for drunkenness, was convicted and fined £l. the amount of his bail, by Mr L. J. Taylor, J.P., in the Masterton Police Court yesterday.

Borough Council Property. Mr E. B. Terry, of Nireaha. was the successful tenderer for the Masterton Borough Council’s Rongomai property. With Mrs Terry and family he will take up residence at the end of the present milking season. . It is not Mr Terry’s intention to build in the immediate future. Esperanto in Schools.

A motion urging the Government to put into effect its policy plank providing for the introduction of Esperanto into the curricula of all State schools, was carried at the ninth annual congress of the New Zealand Esperanto Association, which was held in Wellington at the week-end.

Japanese Tree Tulip Flowers. A Japanese tree tulip in the garden of Mr D. J. Hughes, Normanby, Taranaki, has flowered after 40 years’ life. The flowers are pale green in colour and have six petals, each blotched with orange, and large yellow stamens. Because of the shape of the leaves the tree is sometimes known as the saddlecloth tree.

Traffic Over Rimutaka Hill. As evidence of the motor traffic over the Rimutaka Hill yesterday, between the hours of 4.30 p.m. and 6 p.m., 920 motor cars were counted going Wellingtonwards. A large number of cars also crossed the hill into the Wairarapa between the -same hours. The race meeting at Tauherenikau was chiefly responsible for this extraordinary traffic.

Monarch Butterflies Appear. The beautiful monarch butterflies are now making their appareance. A fine specimen was observed the other day over the scrub lands near Blockhouse Bay, Auckland. It alighted on the roadway where it remained for a time, opening and closing its wings as though to emphasise the beauty of its colouring , and markings, which were in perfection.

Sea Birds Identified. A bird sent into Invercargill from Otahuti has b.een ' identified as a broadbilled prion, a sea bird that is found round the coasts of New Zealand. The discovery was followed by another in the city, a bird of the same species being picked up in a helpless condition in the middle of Esk street, near the Dee street corner. The broadbilled prion nests in burrows in the soil or in rock crevices of cljffs, generally on small islands. A single egg is laid in September or October, and is incubated by both the male and female birds.

International Friendship: The following appeal for international peace and friendship, addressed to all Justices of the Peace, has been issued as a New Year message by the Manawatu Honorary Justices’ Association: —“In token of the universal desire for international peace and friendship in this first centenary year of our failland, ‘Aotearoa,’ may we invite each and every British association to communicate through its federation with similar institutions throughout the world, giving them definite assurance of our own people’s goodwill, and inviting them to reciprocate heartily.”

Jockey Suspended. The jockey, D. Lamb, was suspended for one month for careless riding at the second day of the Wairarapa Racing Club’s summer meeting, held yesterday. The committee decided that the fall of Golden Flame and Happy Heels in the Greytown Handicap was contributed to by Lamb’s careless riding. The fall occurred half a mile from home. Lamb was riding Gay Hunting, sixth favourite, and was at the rear of the field with Golden Flame and Happy Heels, third and seventh choice represpectively, when the accident happened. Fortunately, M. Gilmore, rider of Golden Flame, and R. Hawkings, rider of Happy Heels, escaped with superficial .injuries and a shaking. Gilmore injured a hand.

Esperanto Congress. At the ninth annual congress of the New Zealand Esperanto Association, held in Wellington during the weekend, the following officers were elected for 1939: —President, Mr B. Potts, J.P., F.8.E.A., Wellington; vice-presi-dents. Mr G. W. Parkyn (Dunedin), Mr E. A. Watkin (Wanganui), Mr W. H. King (Masterton), Mr H. W. Thoms. A.D.B.E.A. (Auckland); treasurer, Mr F. A. Bailey (Wellington); joint secretaries, Mr F. Major (Wellington)., Mr D. Kirk (Wellington), Mr .J. Allan (Wellington); auditor, Mr ;D. L. Irwin (Wellington). Arrangements were made for New Zealand to be represented at the thirty-first Esperanto world congress, to take place in Berne, Switzerland, next August, when more than 2000 Esperantists will'meet. The tenth congress is to be held in Wellington. The president, in a concluding address, referred to the international aspect of the congress, in whose sessions several Esperantists from abroad took part and invariably used the international auxiliary language. It had been one of the most outstanding congresses to date, and he was sure that the tenth, to be arranged by the clubs of Wellington and district, would even surpass the successes of the past three days.