LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 6 December 1939, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Centennial Exhibition. The attendance at the Centennial Exhibition yesterday was 8.851. bringing the total up to 368.464. The daily average is 15.352. Mushrooms Plentiful. Not only in Masterton. but in various parts of the Bush district, mushrooms have been gathered in considerable quantities as the result of the recent warm rains. Good Prices for Potatoes. Some Hawke's Bay growers have done well with early potatoes this year. Mr R. L. Le Quesne. who dug between four and six tons to the acre, is said to have obtained £3O a ton for them. National Reserve Parade. A parade of Class 1 of the National Military Reserve was held in the Drill Hall last night. The men showed great keenness in the light automatic and rifle grenade training which was carried out. “Not Known in Masterton.” A treasured possession of the Mayor of Masterton, Mr T. Jordan, is an envelope addressed to him, post-marked in Auckland and later returned there, bearing the legends “Not known in Masterton.” "Return to Sender,” “Insufficient address.” The letter was addressed to “Mr T. ,T. Jordan, Masterion,” and appears to have been returned to Auckland without inquiry. Training at Waiouru. Waves of khaki-clad men. the sun glinting on their fixed bayonets, swept across a 1500-yard wide tussock and swamp front at Waiouru yesterday in a spectacular attack on a hill position. More than 500 took part in the attack, while 200 were in defensive positions in the foothills and higher up. This was the highlight of field training at Waiouru to date, and was engaged in by the 19th Wellington Rifles Battalion, under Lieut-Colonel S. Varnham, M.C.. E.D. Menace to Motorists. Iron or steel puncture-producing articles exist in abundance on New Zealand highways, as is proved by the operations of the Main Highways Board’s magnetic truck. During the past year the truck operated chiefly in the South Island, clearing 2084 miles of main highways. The weight of material picked up by the magnet was 4742 lb. as against 37831 b. for the previous year when 4427 miles of highways were cleared. The average yield per mile was 2.281 b„ the corresponding figure fcr the previous year being 0.851 b. Oyster Shells in Rock. While doing excavation work with the aid of explosives on McDonald's Road, giving access to a native farm scheme at Manunui, Ttiumarunui, a few days ago, workmen found two large oyster shells imbedded in blue papa rock 20ft. below the surface. The shells measured 6in. in length and over sin. in breadth. There was much speculation among the men as to how old the shells were, and how they came to he found so far away from the sea. The shells were given- to Mr W. R. Cranstoun, of Hamilton, who intends to hand them over to the Auckland Memorial Museum. Off its Course. A story is told of a British seaplane that went ofl' its course recently and landed in a small bay belonging to a country that has not declared war on Germany and that is technically neutral. The seaplane and pilot therefore might have been interned. The local commandant, however, put the pilot up for the night, dined him and wined him and sent him on his way the next morning with a loan of several gallons of his government’s petrol. When he was asked by his Higher Authority the reasons why he did not intern the machine, he replied that he had no space for the pilot, none for the aeroplane, and “who the — are we, after being neutral, against, anyway?” Cancer and Possibility of Cure. The opinion that the public took much too pessimistic a view of cancer and the possibility of cures, was expressed by Dr F. Stanley Batchelor, when reviewing the past year's work of the Dunedin consultation clinic, at the annual meeting yesterday of the Otago and Southland (New Zealand) Branch of the British Empire Cancer Campaign Society. In Dunedin alone, Dr Batchelor said, he was sure that there were many hundreds of cases ip which cancer had been cured, or cured for five years, which was sufficient foi practical purposes. With more modern methods of diagnosis and treatment he was certain that a higher percentage of cases was being cured, but doctors would not reach the standard they could obtain till people learned to present themselves earlier lor treatment. “Wild Cat Scheme.”

"It seems that Napier people are very keen on these wild-cat schemes at the expense of others," said Cr J. F. Swinburn, when protesting at the Waipukurau County Council s monthly meeting against a proposal that the council contribute- toward the cost ol establishing a commercial aerodrome at Westshore. Napier. Cr L. M. Monckton said the proposed aerodrome would not be any use to Waipukurau. It would be no more benefit than to the people of Woodville or Dannevirke, said Cr H. T. Wright. Were these two counties paying anything toward the scheme, he asked. Cr A. W. Elliott said he considered that the council should register a strong protest against the suggestion of levying outside local bodies for a scheme in Napier. A motion to this effect, proposed by the chairman. Mr A. C. Russell, and seconded bv Cr Swinburn. was carried.

Liquor Removed From Police Cell. Investigations by Detective .1. Murray, Wanganui and the police in Taumarunui have led to the arrest of two men who have been charged with the theft of a quantity of liquor, allegedly the property of the Government, which was removed from a locked cell in the police lock-up in Taumarunui. Recently the Taumarunui police made raids in the town and also at Manunui. A quantity of liquor was seized and. pending court proceedings, it was stored in a police cell, which was padlocked. Later the liquor was taken, and it was discovered that the lock had been filed'through. Two men—James Braithwaite. labourer, aged 30. and George White, labourer, aged 33—were arrested by Detective Murray and charged before justices of the peace with stealing on November 2(1 100 bottles of beer and a quantity of whisky, valued at ,Cl 7 19s. the property of the Government. Both men were remanded on bail till December 12