LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 April 1939, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Aeroplane Wrecked. A small single-seater Compel* Swift biplane was completely, wrecked when it made a forced landing in Te Wera, about 20 miles east of Stratford. The pilot, Mr Tucker, Christchurch, was not injured. Air Tucker is a mechanic in the Royal Air Force in Wigram and the plane was his own. Mile Event at Te Kuiti. At the Te Kuiti Athletic Club’s meeting W. A. Pullar, of Masterton, off scratch, ran third in the one mile handicap, the event being won by L. McCormack, junior New Zealand mile champion, off 60 yards, in 4min. 18secs. S. J. Wade (scr.), the Auckland provincial champion was second. Mr Pullar flew to Te Kuiti and back, Mr Beetham being the pilot. Napier Musical Competitions. Miss Leah Johnston, of Masterton, who is competing at the Napier Musical and Elocutionary Competitions, won second prize in the negro spiritual, was highly commended in the sacred solo and in the national solo. Miss Johnston and Miss Mulvey, of Masterton, were highly commended in the section for soloist and accompanist on the piano. Fijian Gold Mining. Gold now occupies second place in the value of Fijian exports. Sugar exported in 1938 was valued at £ 1,338,183 in Fujian currency. Bullion exported was worth £701,272. In 1934 the value of bullion exported was only about £BOOO. On the basis of present production from the Emperor and Loloma mines output for the 1938-39 financial year should be worth £BOO,OOO to £900,000. Labour Party Conference. The New Zealand Labour Party conference resumed in Wellington this morning and is to conclude on Thursday. Today’s business will include the election of a president, vice-presi-dent, and 17 members of the national executive. The conference today will also fix the venue of the next conference, receive the report on the general election, the report of the Maori Advisory Council and discuss the Labour Dailies campaign. Before the conference closes all the members of Cabinet will give addresses on the work of their departments. Mr Savage hopes to attend the conference at frequent intervals. Wellington Man Reads of Own Death. Returning to Wellington yesterday after spending the Easter holidays in the country, Mr T. A. Andreassen read in the evening paper that a man, believed to be him, had died in the public hospital the-previous day, after being found lying unconscious in the yard of the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel. He immediately telephoned the detective office and was told that someone had actually identified the body as his. After a visit to the morgue, Mr Andreassen was able to identify the dead man as-a friend of his, Mr Frank Bray. Mr Andreassen’s name, it appears, first became associated with the accident when it was found that the victim was wearing some clothes that had belonged to him. Other articles that Mr Bray had with him bore Mr Andreassen’s name, and, strangely enough, a man identified the body as his. 18,000 Wethers Bought. A line of 18,800 fat wethers was purchased by the Westfield Freezing Works, Ltd, from the Native Land Development Department a few weeks ago, and delivery to the works, which involved the use of several special trains each day for 10 days, has been completed. Probably never before in the history of New Zealand has so large a single line of fat sheep been bought from an individual vendor. Most of the line were four-tooths from the East Coast, many coming from Maori-owned stations that are being managed by the East Coast commissioner, Mr J. S. Jessep. They were wellwooled and generally in excellent condition. The new pastures had been treated with fertiliser.