LOCAL & GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 June 1939, Page 4

LOCAL & GENERAL

Charity Ball. The annual Charity Ball will be held in the Municipal Hall, Masterton, on Wednesday, August 2. Bren Gun Unit. Palmerston North is to have a new military unit under the defence expansion scheme, which is to take the form of a Bren gun company and which will be recruited entirely from the city and environs. Major L. M. McGaffin has been transferred from the Hawke's Bay Regiment reserve of officers to take command of the unit, which will be part of the Wellington West Coast Regiment. Ration Orders.

The reintroduction of ration orders for single men who are beneficiaries under the .Social Security Act is not proposed by the Government. ■ In a letter to the Christchurch branch of the National Unemployed Workers’ Movement, the Acting-Minister for Social Security, Mr Parry, stated that the question of reinstating rations orders had been very carefully considered, but it was thought that adequate provision had been made for single men. A Rough Trip.

Members of the Masterton Harrier Club who made the trip to Wanganui on Friday night for the Benson Gate contest had an unenviable experience in negotiating the Manawatu Goige. There were several slips on the roadway, and although they did not seriously block the traffic, it made driving somewhat hazardous. The journey throughout the gorge was accomplished in driving rain and with a strong wind blowing. East School Dance.

Another of the popular East School Dances was held on Saturday night, when a considerable increase in attendance gladdened the hearts of the Committee. Mr G. W. Ihaka ably carried out the duties of M.C. Te Tau’s orchestra supplied the music. The Monte Carlo, was won by Miss Pulford and Mr H. Phillips. Vocal items by a party of Maori entertainers were greatly appreciated. Another of these popular dances will be held on Saturday, July 8. Maori Fortifications.

Professor R. Speight, who recently visited the Onawe Peninsula, Akaroa Harbour, has suggested that the old Maori fortifications and trenches should be accurately surveyed with, a view to preserving‘them for their historic significance. Part of the surface, he said, was now being ploughed, and although the owner of the property had taken every care not to interfere with the old earthworks the fortifications must in time disappear. The ramparts were still distinct and also the outworks of bastions and the foodpits. There were also covered ways to the springs. He said that some accurate record should be preserved in Akaroa. A map of Onawe was available and a surveyoi could accurately place the position of all the works. There was also a pa at Flat Point, and it was possible to do something there also. A Noble Ideal.

The need for strength in the service of God and the Empire was emphasised by the Archbishop of New Zealand, the Most Rev A. W. Averill, in an address given at a parade at St Matthew’s Church, Auckland yesterday morning of the New Zealand Division of the Legion of Frontiersmen. The legion marched to church, there being about 200 men under Commandant J. C. Findlater. Archbishop Averill said there was something exhilarating about the ideals of Frontiersmen, something which needed to be emphasised in an age in which getting ofteji took precedence of giving. Softness was in danger of supplanting hardness, and readiness for voluntary service was not so prominent as it should be. The noble ideal of readiness to serve, which was one of the characteristics of Frontiersmen, was the real backbone of the Empire, said the Archbishop.