LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 2 January 1940, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Bible Class Dance. A combined dance between the Boys' and Girls’ Anglican Bible Class Union was held in the Wairarapa College Assembly Hall last night. Music was provided by members attending the conference. There was a large attendance and a happy time was spent. False Fire Alarms.

The Masterton Fire Brigade was called out to three false alarms during the weekend. All the alarms were given from street boxes, the first at 12.47 a.m. on Sunday from the box at the corner at Albert and Victoria streets, the second at 7.1 a.m. the same day from the Lincoln Road-Coradine Street box. and the third at 1.36 a.m. from the box at the corner of Te Ore Ore Road and Totara Street.

Hot Days Followed by Rain. Hot weather was experienced in Masterton on Saturday, Sunday and yesterday. The glass registered 78.2 degrees in the shade on Saturday, 80.7 degrees on Sunday, and 84 degrees yesterday. During last night a heavy wind blew in Masterton from the north, accompanied by showers of rain. About 8 o’clock this morning the wind changed to the south, and fairly heavy rain set in.

Exhibition Stamps On Sale. The new Exhibition stamps, which were placed on sale at the Masterton Post Office for the first time this morning. found a ready market, many collectors being keen to secure them for posting on first day covers specially prepared by the Postal authorities. The stamps, which range in value from id to Is, form a particularly attractive series and no doubt will be popular with collectors throughout the world. Leader Pleased With Men.

At Trentham Camp on Sunday, in surroundings that for 25 years have been associated with the training of New Zealanders who served in the Great War, 2000 men of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force met Major-General B. C. Freyberg, V.C.. D. 5.0.. who is to command the New Zealand Forces in this war. The distinguished soldier expressed approval of the men and of the camp. A Fast Mile. Competing against a strong field at the Wanganui Amateur Athletic and Cycling Club’s sports on Saturday night. W. Pullar (Masterton), the national mile champion, won the mile handicap by five yards from A. Fell (Palmerston North). His time of 4.21 2-5 was the fastest ever recorded on Cook’s Gardens. Both the 100 yards and 220 yards handicap events were won convincingly by F. D. Morgan (Wellington). New Year’s Eve. New Year’s Evo was observed very quietly in Masterton. The passing of the old year and the arrival of the new was celebrated in traditional style by a large but fairly subdued gathering at the Post Office corner. The Masterton Municipal Band played “Auld _ Lang Syne,” the crowd assembled joining hands and forming a circle round the band. There were very few people about on Saturday night, the conditions prevailing being comparable to those on an ordinary week-night. British Battleship in Wellington. H.M.S. Ramillies, a battleship of the Royal Sovereign type, having a displacement of 29.150 tons and including in her armament eight 15-inch guns, has arrived at Wellington. The great ship presented a splendid picture as she steamed up Port Nicholson on a brilliant summer day. Word quickly spread that she was entering port, and hundreds watched her from Wellington’s many vantage points. A streamer displayed prominently from the masts of the Ramillies, bearing the words, “Well done the Achilles,” is a tribute from the Royal Navy to the part played by a ship from the New Zealand Naval Station. H.M.S. Achilles, in the battle with the Admiral Graf Spee. The Church and War. The need for self-denial and a return to Christian principles and Christian leadership to win the war and reconstruct civilisation, was discussed by the Rt Rev G. V. Gerard, Bishop of Waiapu and chaplain to the Forces in at interview in Wellington at the weekend. He emphasised the disparity of sacrifice between those who enlist, and those content to stay at home, “It has been suggested that the days of the Christian Church are numbered," said the Bishop, “because such forceful leaders as the political dictators claim to have devised a mystical formula for the solution of the present ills of mankind. Too often it is those people who are themselves making no great sacrifices, either for Church or State, who are most insistent about what somebody else ought to do. At present there is an enormous gap between the responsibilities accepted by those of our men who have enlisted in the Forces and have thus accepted the Consequent disruption of their lives, and the rest of the community who face at most a few losses or inconveniences. And at all times there is a somewhat similar contrast between those citizens of Christian lands who accept the obligations of their religion, and do not merely claim its benefits when wanted.