LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 21 February 1939, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Funeral of Pope. Flags are being flown at half-mast today on the occasion of the funeral of Mis Holiness the Pope. Masterton Borough Rates. The Masterton Borough Council issues a final reminder to those whose rates for the current year are still unpaid, that after Thursday next an additional ten per cent will be added. 1 Fat Lamb Judging. " The fat lamb judging competition at the Masterton Show, open to members of Young Farmers’ Clubs, re suited: —J. West (Masterton) 1; A. P. Southey (Masterton) 2; H. McKenzie (Carterton) 3. Infantile Paralysis. A case of infantile paralysis has been notified to the Wellington office of the Health Department and the patient, a boy of five living in WelI lington, has been admitted to hospital. His is a positive case, accompanied by paralysis. White Ants in Auckland. The extent of the invasion of Australian white ants in Auckland is . viewed with grave concern by Dr D. Miller, of the Cawthron Institute. In an interview yesterday, he said the position was much more serious than was at first thought. Meetings of Cabinet. Cabinet met yesterday morning and afternoon. The Prime Minister, Mr Savage, said last evening that the business transacted had been of an administrative and routine nature. Another meeting of Cabinet is being held this afternoon. Golf Instructor on Ship. The Shaw, Savill and Albion Company has appointed Mr G. Bryant, golf professional, of Hanmer Springs, as golf instructor in the Dominion Monarch, and his instruction and advice will be at the service of passengers during the voyagings of the ship. Mr Bryant will join the ship on her arrival at Wellington. Sawmiller Injured. Hurled round a pulley when his hand was caught in the belting, Ernest Piggott, 58, sawmiller, Buckland, had his right arm torn off when adjusting machinery on Saturday. Mr Piggott was the unsuccessful Labour candidate for the Franklin seat at the last general election. His condition today is serious. Rabbit Control. Nothing further has been heard by the Farmers’ Union with regard to its request for the appointment of an additional rabbit inspector for the Wairarapa district. The members of Parliament for Wairarapa and Masterton have replied promising their support. At present the pest is fairly well under control, but it is considered that another inspector is needed to ensure that there shall be no slackening in the control and in measures to eradicate rabbits. Opossum Skin Market. The market for opossum skins is in a very dull state, according to information received from a Dunedin mercantile firm by the Southland Acclimatisation Society. “For sdme considerable time there has been absolutely no demand for opossum skins, and until there is an improvement in the market it is useless offering the skins held in our store,” said the letter. “Buyers have no skins on hand, and it is impossible to get a bid for them at auction under present market conditions.” Radios in Ambulances. Radio sets are being fitted to ambulances operated by the St John Ambulance Association, and the chairman of the general committee (Dr J. Restell Thomas) reported to a meeting in Christchurch that the National Commercial Broadcasting Service had undertaken to call the vehicles when required. Ambulances could thus be diverted to another urgent case or ac- ; cident when returning from the country and other uses made of the radio . installation for the saving of life. j Fire in State Forest. 1 A fire in the State Forest Balmoral plantation was confined yesterday to J an area of 200 acres by the action of ’ five forestry workers who extinguish- < ed a fresh outbreak beyond a fire- ( break. The area partially destroyed J was planted in young trees, some of - which are expected to revive if there 1 should be rain. The fire was the first t to occur in the Balmoral plantation £ since it was opened in 1916, but is the t I second in North Canterbury within a ' week, the first of which was quickly f checked, breaking out at Medbury last I week. t t Storm at Sea. £ Caught at the beginning of her voy- J age from Liverpool to Auckland by a E terrific mid-winter storm which swept the Atlantic Ocean and English coast in the middle of last month, the New Zealand Shipping Company’s 10,300ton motor-ship Opawa was practically hove to for five days in the Irish Sea and St George’s Channel. When she reached Auckland yesterday, five days behind schedule, it was reported that ' the cargo in No. 1 hatch on the for- e ward well deck had been damaged by i water from a heavy sea which smash- t ed two hatch covers. j

Diphtheria Treatment. A start was made yesterday in Wellington by officers of the Health Department on preliminary skin tests of children who are to be immunised against diphtheria by three small and painless injections of anatoxin. The children attending the Buckle Street Convent will be the first to receive the treatment, after the results of the tests are known. Dr F. S. Maclean, Medical Officer of Health, Wellington, said yesterday that, so far, the response by parents to the department's request for their consent to have their children immunised had been very encouraging. Engineers’ Conference. The twenty-fifth annual conference of the New Zealand Institution of Engineers opened in Auckland yesterday, there being 140 representatives from all parts of the Dominion. The delegates were welcomed by the Mayor, Sir Ernest Davis, and Mr W. H. Cocker, president of Auckland University College, where the conference is being held. Officers, elected by postal ballot, were announced as follows: President, Mr A. J. Baker (Wellington); vice-president. Mr M. C. Henderson; council members, Messrs M. Cable (Wellington), M. Corkill (Invercargill), J. G. Lancaster (Wellington), J. McG. Wilkie (Dunedin), G. E. Breeze (Wellington); treasurer, Mr J. Marchbanks (Wellington); secretary, Mr F. W. Furkert (Wellington).