LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 October 1939, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Tennis Championships. The Wairarapa tennis championships are to be decided at the tournament to be held at Masterton from January 20 to 25. Military Enrolments. Mr W. D. Balfour, Carterton, has enlisted in the special force for naval or military service overseas, and Mr A. J. Mikarea, Masterton, has enlisted in the Maori Battalion. Little Taste for Milk. Only half the pupils attending Wanganui Technical College avail themselves of the full issue of milk, according to a statement made by the principal, Mr I. E. Newton, at a meeting of the college board of managers. Show Success. Reference was made at last night’s meeting of the Wairarapa College Board of Governors to the third prize won by three lambs exhibited at the Carterton Show on Wednesday by the College Agricultural class. College Boys Visit Hutt. The senior boys of the day industrial class at Wairarapa College are visiting the Hutt Railway Workshops and the Ford Motor Works today. They travelled to the Lower Hutt in the school bus and were in charge of Mr A. J. Drew, of the College staff. Power Interruption. Lightning was responsible for an interruption of electric power throughout the Wairarapa this morning for about three quarters of an hour. The trouble occurred at the Woodville sub-station. Power was off from about 9.55 to 10.35 a.m. Enrolment Figures. Final enrolments for the New Zealand National Military Reserve totalled 35,784, according to figures issued by the Minister of Defence, Mr Jones, last evening. Enrolment for the reserve ceased at 5 p.m. on Saturday. The Wellington military area heads the list with a total of 3477, Christchurch (4631) coming second, Napier (3947) third and Auckland (3799) fourth. Armistice Day Observance. An official announcement in last night’s “Gazette” requests citizens and traffic control authorities throughout New Zealand to observe the practice adopted on former occasions of two minutes’ silence from 11 a.m. and the suspension of all vehicular’ traffic during that period on Armistice Day, November 11. Where a service is held it is suggested that it should be at the local cenotaph or war memorial. Primary Production.

The potentialities of the Hawke’s Bay district for the growing of sugar beet have been considered by the Hastings District Council of Primary Production in connection with the desirability of increasing the production of seeds of arable crops, and it has been recommended that land be utilised foi- this purpose. Special emphasis is laid in the report of the council on the need for a greater production of ensilage to assist dairy production by ensuring reserves of feed. Death Penalty in the Army.

Except for such offences as treacherously assisting the enemy, or for crimes which would in the civil law merit capital punishment, that form of punishment has been abolished in the army, according to a statement by the Minister of Defence, Mr F. Jones. The Minister said he had received inquiries on the point from a number of organisations. “The death penalty in the army is now only inflicted in respect of serious criminal offences,” the Minister said. “It would not apply in the case of desertion and similar lesser crimes, but generally speaking it has been retained for offences such as treacherously assisting the enemy, and for a crime which in civil law would merit capital punishment. In regard to a suggestion that a copy of Army Regulations be advertised with all appeals for recruits, this is considered to be unnecessary and impracticable.”