LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 November 1939, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Frost and Rain. A frost of 6.4 degrees was registered in Masterton this morning, while one point of rain was recorded diniiig the night. Injuries Prove Fatal. Alexander James McQueen, farmhand. aged 33 years, who was taken to hospital at the weekend with a fractured skull, the result of falling from a motor-cycle in Hamilton, died from his injuries yesterday. No one witnessed the accident. Mi- McQueen being picked up unconscious in a serious condition. He is believed to have come from the South Island recently. and had enrolled in the special military force. Youth Wounded. A ricocheting bullet struck Neil Charnley, aged 18. Stanley Road, Birkenhead, in Hie back close to the spine, while he and his brother were testing the sights of some .22 rifles at his father’s farm at Glenfield at noon on Saturday. The bullet penetrated the flesh half an inch from the spine. He was attended by Dr K. H. Holdgate, Birkenhead, and taken to ’Auckland Hospital by St John Ambulance. His condition is not serious. Gold Watch Missing. No trace has been found of a gold wristlet, watch belonging to the late Miss Doreen Lumley, a New Zealand champion woman sprinter, which was lost in the motor accident on October 1 when Miss Lumley and her twin sister, Miss Bernice Lumley, were killed. "It was her most treasured possession.” said her father, Mr W. Lumley, of Auckland. “She wore it wherever she went.” The watch was small and Miss Lumley’s name was inscribed on the back. Traffic Control. Commenting on the value of the loud-speaker recently installed in his ear for controlling traffic, the Hastings traffic inspector, Mr 11. A. Green, in a report to the borough council, remarked that, though on the second day »f the Hawke’s Bay spring show there was a record number of cars on the road, at no time was there any sign of congestion. The speaker allowed him to advise road-users without having to stop defaulting drivers and thus disorganise the flow of moving traffic, as had. formerly been necessary. >

Drinking at Country Dances. A statement that the passing of the recent Statutes Amendment Act amending the Police Offences Act had had a salutary effect in checking the evil attending excessive drinking at dances was made by Mr C. W. Lopdell, inspector of police, Hamilton. Mr Lopdell said there had been almost a total absence of drink at country dances attended by police constables since the amendment of the law, and the position had reverted to what it was many years ago, when dances were enjoyed without liquor. That the new regulations .were much needed. Mr Lopdell said, was manifest from the evil effect which drink had on those attending dances, including motorists travelling to and from the halls.

Supplies of Sugar. In a statement yesterday on complaints of the inability of the farming community to purchase sugar in bulk, the Minister of Supply, the Hon D. G. Sullivan, said that there was no shortage and the Government had not rationed the commodity. Once hostilities began, Britain commandeered all Empire-grown sugar and Russia was a heavy buyer of foreign stocks, this causing a hardening of prices. New Zealand had stocks to meet the normal demand for at least six months, and it was panic-buying because of the imagined shortage that led to merchants themselves rationing supplies. If people would be content to purchase normally, farmers would have no difficulty in securing requirements. Turkeys Shot.

Describing the offence as “impudent,” Mr Miller. S.M., declined to believe the explanation of three young Waipukurau men who appeared before him in the Magistrates’ Court, Napier, yesterday, charged with having shot and stolen a pair of turkeys, that they thought, the birds were wild ones. The trio, Eric Lawrence Fergusson. George Keith Burke, and Robert Walker, were each fined £5, with costs £l. It was stated that the men shot the birds near the boundary fence of a property owned by Mr H. H. Hartree, farmer, Waihau, to whom the birds belonged. Their explanation was made to a neighbour of the farmer, who caught them with the birds in their possession, and to Constable Sutton. Waipukurau. to whom the incident was reported. Methodist Children’s Home.

The following gifts are gratefully acknowledged by the matron of the Masterion Methodist Children’s Home: —Mrs Elliott, fruit; Sister M. Ralph, books: Mr Grey, apples; B." C. Camp, groceries; Young Farmers’ Club, cakes; Mrs Patrick, sandwiches; Hawke’s Bay Y.W.8.C.. clothing and gifts; Manawatu Y.W.8.C., clothing and gifts; Mr C. Greenwood, sandwiches, cakes; Mrs Elliott; fruit, vegetables; "anonymous,” swedes; "anonymous.” swedes: Mr Jameson (per Mr Ordish). carrots; Mr Tate, clothing; Miss Ninnes, hats for girls; Men’s Fellowship, tea, sandwiches. cakes; Barber Bros, tin dripping; McDuffs, fireworks; P.M., fireworks: A.E.8., fireworks; Orchestral Society, invitation to concert.

Fishing at Taupo and Rotorua. "There is no scarcity of fish, and fishing is infinitely belter than last season’s weather provided,” said the Minister of Internat Affairs. Mr Parry, in quoting yesterday from reports of staff officers on the first 12 days of this year’s trout fishing season in Rotorua and Taupo. Reporting on the Taupo area, the officer reported that the best fishing had been clone daily in the calm of the early morning and during the evening. The heaviest fish was taken at the Delta, while many bagged from the Tongariro .River weighed between 5 and 611 b. Fishing al Jellicoe and Totutere Points was good. “Four anglers.” the olficer wrote, "accounted for 50 fish in the Tongariro during lhe first (wo days. The Tongariro fished very well." Writing of the fishing in lhe Rotorua district, the officer reports the fly pool of the Kaituna has fished very well and dry fly fishermen have taken very satisfactory bags, some including the limit. Tarawera has not been greatly fished. The best bag reported so far is one of 15 taken on the opening clay, the average weight being about 61b, and the fish generally in very fair condition. To date 127 fish have been accounted fur at Okataina the heaviest being 1 131 b.