LOCAL & GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 23 May 1939, Page 4

LOCAL & GENERAL

Holding Paddocks. Described by the president, Mr II Morrison, as a most important matter a committee was set up at yesterday's meeting of the Provincial Executive of the Farmers’ Union to interview county councils on the matter of water supplies in stock holding paddocks. Hay Pressing Rates. There was some aiscussjon at yesterday’s meeting of the Farmers’ Union on the question of hay pressing charges, and it was eventually decided to obtain figures relating to the rates charged in other districts with a view to approaching tne Wairarapa mill owners for a reduction. Infectious Diseases. - For the week ended yesterday, 12 cases of infectious disease were notified to the Wellington office of the Health Department from the central Wellington area. There were four cases of diphtheria, four of erysipelas, two of pulmonary tuberculosis, and one case each of septic abortion and lead poisoning. No deaths were reported for the week. Increase in Interest Rates. “That this executive views with grave concern the rise in the interest rate from 3> per cent to 4J per cent,” was a remit adopted at yesterday’s meeting of the Wairarapa Provincial Executive of the Farmers’ Union for submission to this week’s Provincial Conference of the Union.

Bombing Aeroplanes For Dominion. Cabinet has approved of the purchase of six additional Airspeed Oxford bombers for advanced training and navigational instruction in '• the Royal New Zealand Air Force. The Minister of Defence, Mr Jones, said yesterday that the machines were twin-engined and were -of a type similar to those already in use by the force. The order for the machines had been placed. Visit of Dominion President.

It was reported at yesterday’s meeting of the Wairarapa Provincial Executive of the Farmers’ Union that the Dominion President, Mr W. W. Mulholland, would attend the Provincial Conference of the Union, to be held in Masterton next Thursday and Friday. Mr Mulholland will probably arrive on Thursday and will address the conference on Friday. All members of the union and others interested are invited to l hear Mr Mulholland.

Stowaway Sent to Gaol. Handed over to the police on the arrival of the Awatea at Wellington this morning, John Richard Anderson, a labourer aged 40, was sentenced to 14 days’ imprisonment with hard labour. He told the police he went to Sydney by the Awatea a week ago as a stowaway, but was not detected on that occasion. On this trip he reported himself to a steward' after the vessel had left port.

Blind Man Judges Birds. The judge of the roller canary section of the sixth annual show of the Newmarket Canary, Budgerigar’ and Bird Society, which was held in the Newmarket Municipal Hall (Auckland) was a blind man, Mr AV. J. Finlay. A blind person, with his compensating acute sense of hearing, is particularly qualified to judge roller canaries, as these birds are judged solely by their singing. Japanese Use of Flax.

The Japanese have made mail bags from phormium tenax, the New Zealand flax, grown from roots that have been sent from the Dominion, said Mr F. W. Vickerman, one of the employers’ assessors, at a Conciliation Council which dealt with the Wellington district flaxmill workers dispute. He added that the flax was only 18 months old when this was done, but they had produced canvas that could be made into mail bags. Collection of Fossils.

The gift'of a fine collection of fossils has been made to Auckland University College by Professor W. N. Benson, of Otago University,. according to a letter from Professor J. A. Bartrum, which came before the college council. The fossils were collected at Preservation Inlet, South-West Otago, and in Scotland. The gift was accepted by the college council and a letter of thanks is to be sent to Professor Benson. Acclimatised Heather.

The pink and white heather now coming into bloom along the verges of some of the quieter roads in the Auckland district adds a touch of wayside beauty. Disliked by agriculturalists and considered by many a menace to native flora, this plant has a special appeal to overseas settlers whose feet have trod their native heath recently enough for sentimental memories to be still active. The flowers have an irresistible attraction for bees, which are finding the autumn days not too fruitful. Social Security.

“It is suggested that teachers, especially those, in post-primary schools, should incorporate into their schemes of work in civics lessons on the new social security system,” states the current issue of the “New Zealand Education Gazette.” “In senior classes there will, of course, be a necessity to refer to the obligations of every child over sixteen years of age to register, but apart from that there is an opportunity for making all young people aware of the benefits to be conferred by the system and of the nature of the contributions to be made by them at a later stage. The little pamphlet recently issued by the Government to all householders will serve as an excellent basis for lessons on the subject, and it is to be hoped that teachers will readily avail themselves of its assistance in preparing these.” Sensational Motor Accident.

Catapulted out of a motor car after it had fallen over a 90-foot bank on the Raorikia Road and had struck a willow tree, where it became lodged, Miss Shirley Mason, Raorikia, was thrown 10 feet into the Wanganui River. She received minor injuries and was admitted to a private hospital. Miss Mason was sitting between her brothers, Messrs Paul and . George Mason, in the front seat of their sixseater car when the accident happened. About 11 miles from Wanganui the vehicle skidded on the wet surface, turning several somersaults as it plunged over the bank toward the river. After falling about 90 feet the car came to rest upside down in the forks of a willow tree growing on the river bank. Two men found their sister standing up to her neck in water. They helped her ashore and found she was. suffering from minor injuries to. her’back, abrasions and shock.