LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 February 1939, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Swimming Sports Postponed.

Owing to the unfavourable weather conditions the Masterton Swimming Club’s meeting, which was to have been held tonight, has been postponed till Thursday. Boy Bitten by Dogs.

While delivering milk to a house in Lansdowne yesterday a milk boy was suddenly attacked by two dogs, who inflicted wounds in his leg and the lower part of the body. A Slight Earthquake.

A slight earthquake, lasting no more than two seconds, occurred at 2.14 a.m. yesterday. It was felt by very few people and was apparently less severe in Wellington than in the Hutt Valley. The epicentre of the quake is believed to have been about 90 miles from Wellington. Dunedin’s Quadruplets.

' The Johnson quadruplets still continue to attract a good deal of public interest, and it is understood that Fox Movietone has approached their parents with a view to depicting Dunedin’s four famous children on the screen once again. Another indication of the world-wide interest being taken in the children is that Christmas greetings were received from as far away as England and America as well as from many Australian and New Zealand towns. Contrast in Spain.

Contrasting life in the Spanish seaport of Huelva on a visit made in November with one made two years ago, Captain Ellery, master of the British steamer Beatus, which arrived at Auckland from Texas, stated that the civil war had impoverished the people of the town. Huelva, a Nationalist port, was gay two years ago with cafes and life, but when the Beatus paid a recent visit to load pyrites ore for the United States the strain of war was seen in the poor clothing and food of the inhabitants. Infectious Diseases.

For the week ended yesterday, 25 cases of infectious disease and three deaths—one each from tuberculosis, cerebro-spinal meningitis and hydatids —were reported to the Wellington office of the Health Department. In the central Wellington area eight cases of diphtheria, four of tuberculosis, three of erysipelas, two of typhoid, two of hydatids and one case each of scarlet fever and cerebro-spinal meningitis were reported; and in Nelson-Marl-borough there were two cases of tuberculosis, one case of scarlet .fever and one of diphtheria. College Pipe Band.

It is a pleasing indication of the public interest in the Wairarapa College Pipe Band, and of the general desire that the band should attend the contest at Christchurch, that many persons who, owing to other engagements, find themselves unable to attend next Monday’s concert, have made donations to the contest fund. The Chief of the Saint Andrew Society, Mr H. Mackenzie Douglas, reports an entirely unsolicited donation of £1 Is from the Mayor, Mr Thomas Jordan, a generous gesture , which is highly appreciated.

A Hardy Weed. Caretakers of Auckland bowling greens are faced with the prolific growth of the plant known as Onehunga weed, which has a tap root and spreads out flat on the surface of the ground. It makes quite a good surface for part of the summer months, but its seeding stage later brings a rough surface, and for that reason it is undesirable. At Eden Park the weed is much in evidence. One experiment was made there to exterminate it. An area was poisoned, and both the weed and grass disappeared. Later the weed appeared as luxuriantly as ever.

Millions of Jellyfish.

Floated in by a warm current, millions of jellyfish ranging in size from a sixpenny piece to a tea-plate, are to be seen at present’ in Wellington harbour. The small ones are quite colourless and transparent, but the adult jellyfish are opoque and bluish in colour. Though carried about by tides and currents, they possess considerable powers of movement and locomotion, and move through the water by expanding and contracting their bodies. Their bodies are shaped like umbrellas and hanging down inside is a structure known as the manubrium, at the end of which is the mouth. Increased Examination Fees. Increased fees are to be charged by the University of New Zealand for most of the examinations it conducts. This was decided at a meeting at Christchurch yesterday of the Senate of the University on |the recommendation of the finance committee. The increase will be about 25 per cent. The committee’s recommendation was: “That, in view of the financial situation disclosed by the estimates, the executive committee be empowered to include in the statutes an amendment of the scale of examination fees, other than those for entrance examinations, on the basis that a fee of 10s 6d be increased to 12s 6d.”

Visiting Cricketers Arrive. Four former New South Wales cricketers, V. Jackson, J. G. Lush, H. Mudge and J. Walsh, who are members of Sir Julien Cahn’s team, arrived at Auckland by the Mariposa from Sydney on Sunday. They were interested spectators at the Plunket Shield cricket match between Auckland and Wellington at Eden Park. Advice has been received by the Auckland Cricket Association that the remaining members of Sir Julien Cahn's team will arrive at Auckland by the Rangitiki next Monday. The ship is three days late, and the match set down against a secondary schools eleven for next Saturday on Eden Park will now be played on Monday. Brass Band Contests. Christchurch is the venue of the champion brass band contests to be held under the auspices of the New Zealand Brass Bands Association from February 19 to 25. The A grade contest will be distinguished more for quality than quantity, only four bands being engaged. These, however, are probably the four best bands in New Zealand. They are the Woolston (Christchurch), Wanganui Garrison, the Port Nicholson Silver Band and the St Hilda Band (Dunedin). Eight bands are left in the B grade contest, but here again the quality is good, though the number is limited. Possibly the quality of the B grade bands has been improved by the weeding out of the A grade bands and that should make inis contest interesting.