LOCAL & GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 June 1939, Page 6

LOCAL & GENERAL

Another Severe Frost. A frost of 8.8 degrees was registered in Masterton this morning. Sheep Dog Trials. The North Island sheep dog trials concluded at Gisborne yesterday. The Short head championship resulted: R. O. White's Boy, 54 points, 1; S. Steedman’s Scot, Taihape, 534 points, 2; H. R. Hickling's Gyp, Nuhaka, 531 points, 3. Donkey Derby. A donkey Derby, with professional horsemen in charge, it is understood, will be one of the attractions of the Palmerston North Winter Show, which will open next Saturday. Twentyfive donkeys will be available and considerable interest will no doubt attach to the ability of the pilots to bring the "donkey” home. Court of Review. The Court of Review has returned to Wellington and the president, Mr Justice Johnston, will shortly resume his ordinary duties on the Supreme Court bench, thus bringing it up to its usual strength. The Court of Review will not be disbanded yet and will continue to deal with miscellaneous matters as they arise and with applications by mortgagees to exercise their rights. A Brilliant Meteor.

A meteor of unusual brilliance was observed from the Carter Observatory, Wellington, at 11.17 o’clock last night. First seen in the vicinity of the Southern Cross, it flashed about a fourth of the way across the sky and was visible for two seconds. The meteor was of a brilliant red hue and was described as being as bright as the planet Venus. The most remarkable feature of its transit across the sky was that it left behind a train of equally brilliant red light which drifted rapidly toward the south, indicating that a wind of very high velocity was blowing at that height.

Australian Workers Arrive. A total of 38 Australian workers arrived at Auckland by the Awatea from Sydney. They included a party of nine under contract to the Government for employment in the Hutt railway workshops. These men left for Wellington by train. The rest of those who arrived, 28 men and a woman, came to the Dominion independently in search of work. Among them were seven carpenters, four farm labourers, two motor drivers, two plasterers and two builders’ labourers. Representative of an uncommon occupation among workers arriving from overseas was a butler.

Short-Wave Radio. “No I have not abandoned the idea of a shortwave broadcasting station for New Zealand,” said the Prime Minister, Mr Savage, in reply to a question in Christchurch last evening. The question of erecting the station could stand over till the Government, had other big things out of the way, said the Prime Minister. The Government had to handle housing and also the Social Security Act, and the latter involved the bringing in of hospital boards. “With these big things, we are not likely to run out of a job for a while,” he said, "and the question of beginning shortwave radio broadcasts, important as it is, will have to stand over for the time being, while we are getting these more pressing things through.”

Johannesburg Traffic Problems. The traffic problems of Johannesburg were referred to recently by Mr H. A. Robertson, who has returned to Auckland after an extended visit to South Africa. The town portion of Johannesburg, said Mr. Robertson, was built in small blocks, and had far too many and narrow streets. The result was that traffic became very congested, and this had necessitated the installation of “robots” at many intersections. The traffic congestion was accentuated by reason of the fact that there were few suburban shopping centres such as existed in Auckland, and practically all shopping was done with the use of cars. Parking was restricted to a few minutes in certain streets. 1

Pig in Queen Street. Considerable amusement was afforded Masterton shoppers and townspeople yesterday afternoon, by the antics of a sucking pig which had escaped from a box on the back of a motor car. The car was parked in Queen Street about the centre of the town, and on the rear carrier was a box containing a pig. The lid of the box was on, and was apparently thought by the owner to be quite strong enough to keep the pig in. When the time arrived to depart and milk the cows, the owner of the car was astounded to find, the lid of the box off, and the pig missing. A search party was at once organised and with the aid of a large number of people, the porker was eventually captured while gazing at the latest fashions in Messrs Hugo and Shearer’s window.

“The Robin’s Return” at Sea. The worries of a traveller with a sensitive ear for music were recounted with amusement by Miss Betty Hannam, who addressed the Society for Imperial Culture, Christchurch, about her trip to England. Finding many musical people on the boat leaving New Zealand Miss Hannam was pleased, and “many were anxious to talk of music, though some rather too anxiously. One played one or two pieces incessantly and awakened one at strange hours of the early morning with the inevitable fragment of ‘The Robin’s Return.’ Morning after morning he was still announcing his return; how one selfishly wished that the prodigal robin had died and never returned to such rejoicings,” said Miss Hannam. Quail Rearing. Poor results in the rearing of quail in the district of the North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society are shown in the annual report of the society. The report states that while small coveys of quail were reported to be fairly numerous, it could be reliably stated that there was not the number of birds there were two seasons ago. This decline, however, was general throughout New Zealand.’The society had met with poor results in the rearing of stocks, due to lack of vitality in the breeding stock and unfavourable weather at the time of hatching. The belief is expressed in the report that, although the society regretted that success had not been achieved, the rehabilitation of quail in the district would ultimately be successful. Garden Notes. Our weekly Garden Notes, which usually appear on Friday, will be found oh page 5 today.