LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 13 April 1939, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Queen Carnival Profits. The profits from the Hutt Valley Centennial Queen Carnival are expected to be in the vicinity of £2OOO. The gate takings for the carnival were £B9O. The expenses will be £5OO to £6OO. Visit of Cub Commissioner. Miss N. Wilson, Dominion Chief Commissioner for Cubs, who recently returned from a tour abroad, will be paying an official visit to Masterton on Tuesday evening. A meeting will be held at St Matthew’s Scout Den and all Scouts, Cub masters, group committees and parents are invited to attend. Grafton Bridge Rebuilding. The last stage in modernising Auckland’s Grafton Bridge has now been entered upon with the erection of the new lamp standards for the better illumination of the carriageway. The rebuilding of the concrete span girders, which altered the general appearance of the structure, and the repairing of the weathered concrete in the side parapets -were completed early this year at a cost approaching £25.000, and with the erection of the safety fence it became necessary to replace the obsolete lamp standards with, others of modern design. Early Days at Parkvale. An informative address on the early days of the Wairarapa and of the Parkvale district in particualr, was given yesterday by Mr Charles Bannister at a meeting of the Parkvale Women's Institute. As Mr Bannister pointed out, Parkvale was closely associated with the early days, as it was here that travellers crossed the Waiohine River on their, way to Masterton. Mr Bannister’s address was followed with evident interest and he was accorded a hearty vote of thanks. Poor Spawning of Oysters. Because of the comparatively moderate temperature on the Auckland coast an unusually large number of rock oysters do not appear to have spawned this season, especially on the more exposed areas, while the set of the oyster spat on the rocks is reported to be very poor. Through a series of favourable seasons there are now such heavy clusters of young oysters generally on rocks on most east coast areas that a heavy set of spat this season would have . been unwelcome to the Fisheries Department. If oysters cluster too thickly on the rocks or on the mature oysters, growth is retarded. Australian Tradesmen. With the addition of 37 men who arrived by the Wanganella yesterday a total of 316 Australian tradesmen have arrived in New Zealand since March 10 to work on Government housing contracts. The men who arrived yesterday were mostly carpenters, plasterers and bricklayers, though there was also a roof-tiler and a plumber. Some of the men will remain in Wellington, but the remainder will be sent to Masterton, Gisborne, Wairoa, Dannevirke, 'Waipukurau and Westport. Several boilermakers also arrived by the Wanganella to enter the service of the Railways Department. Disappearing School Straps. Three of the headmasters’s straps which disappeared mysteriously in the early days of the school were mentioned frequently at the golden jubilee celebrations of the. New Brighton District High School. But the Minister for Industries and Commerce, the Hon D. G. Sullivan, was able to clear up at least part of the mystery. He told the big gathering that Dr C. E. Beeby, a former pupil and now Assistant Director of Education, had confessed to having hidden one of them. The disclosure caused "a great deal of amusement, particularly when Mr Sullivan emphasised the high position Dr Beeby now holds in educational administration. The Rat Problem. “We need make no apology for the rat. As a scavenger its use is nil, its economic value to the world is nil, its room is more to be desired than its company,” said Mr H. Pauli, chief sanitary inspector for the Auckland City Council, in a recent address. Mr Pauli dealt fully with the rat problem, giving a comprehensive address covering the problem from the introduction and history of the rat to the present urgent need for destroying it. There was a large attendance of poultrymen. “The rat must be given credit for a good deal of intelligence,” said Mr Pauli, “and the work of destroying it calls for a high order of ingenuity and intelligence in its human enemies.” Import Control and Business. “From letters which I received nobody in London seemed to worry very much about the New Zealand import restrictions when they were introduced; they expected them to clear up vqry soon but they have not cleared as soon as was expected,” said Mr H. G. Christy, an English business man, who is visiting Christchurch. Fie said that his firm, considered New Zealand one of its best customers for the size of the population. Of business conditions in England he said that all he knew was that they were very good last March, and apart from the shocks given by the European situation trade was excellent. He gathered now that the stock exchange did not react so markedly to European crises, as people had become used to them. Perhaps, however, this was because stocks were at such a low ebb that they could no't show any effect. New Zealand Defence. Consideration of the report on defence, peace and immigration was begun by the annual conference of the New Zealand Labour Party in Wellington last night. The Minister of Defence, Mr Jones, in presenting the report,, outlined the defence measures taken ■ by the Government.' Other speakers included the Minister of Education, Mr Fraser; the Minister of Public Works. Mi’ Semple; the Minister of Immigration, Mr Armstrong; Mr Barnard, M.P.; Mr Lee, M.P.; Mr Lyon, M.P.; and Mrs L. Gibson. The following motion was carried: “That fin's conference support the principles if international peace and that in view of the attempts to destroy democratic governments and institutions his conference pledges itself to support the Government in any steps that it may take to provide for the efficient defence of this Dominion.” Consideration of the report is to be continued.

A dance and euchre tournament will be held in St Patrick’s Hall tonight at 8 o'clock. Good music has been ■irranged for the dance and good prizes for the euchre. Supper will be provided.