LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 10 January 1940, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

False Fire Alarm. The Mastertdn Fire Brigade was called out last night at about 9.45 o'clock. The alarm was a false one. Duration of War. Sir Ali Bin Salim, representative of the Sultan of Zanzibar in Mombasa, who has been credited with the gift of second sight, declares that the war will be over in six months. Sir Ali is an honorary captain in the R.N.V.R. Exhibition Attendance. Yesterday's attendance at the Centennial Exhibition was 18,956 —slightly below the average necessary to achieve the millionth admittance by Saturday. This brings the total up to 904,357, leaving only 95,643 visitors before the lucky millionth —an average of a little over 23,900 a day for the next four days. The Second Echelon. Between Friday of this week and Tuesday next approximately 1700 soldiers will enter the Central Military District mobilisation camp at Trentham as part of the second echelon of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force. The Wairarapa quota is 255 and these men will go to Trentham camp by train. "A Saintly Man.”

When Harold Hesketh. a Lancashire farm worker,- appeared at Manchester Conscientious Objectors’ Tribunal, he was described by the Rev. Harry Lonsdale as a -‘saintly man and a Christian pacifist.” Judge E. C. Burgis: "What is there about his life that made you think he is a Christian pacifist?” Mr Lonsdale: “Because he lives with his mother-in-law.” Hesketh was registered as an objector on condition that he continued his farming work.

Aiding and Abetting. Alexander Archibald Campbell was sentenced at Dunedin yesterday to 10 days’ imprisonment for aiding and abetting George Jones in the commission of an offence, intoxication in charge of a motor-truck. The charge arose out of a case in which Jones received a similar sentence. Campbell was a senior officer to Jones in the Public Works Department, Jones driving under his direction from Beaumont to Dunedin.

Pictures for Troops. The National Patriotic Fund committee states that American film producers, through their local representatives, the Film Exchange Association of New Zealand, Inc., hav'e made a considerable contribution to the happiness and comfort of the first echelon of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force. Aboard the troopships are 60 programmes lifted from the supplies of the eight major producers represented in New Zealand. The pictures are a gift to the fighting forces, and are to be destroyed at the wish of the producers when the troopships have reached their destination.

International Contest. A match, which may well claim to be unique in the history of New Zealand athletics, has been arranged by the Hawke's Bay-Poverty Bay Centre of the N.Z. A. A. A. at McLean Park, Napier, tomorrow evening. On this occasion Sid Stenner, the Australian champion hurdler, Frank Sharpley, the New Zealand champion hurdler and record holder, and C. R. Bradwell, the Canterbury champion hurdler and a rival to Sharpley for New Zealand honours, will meet in two match races over 120 and 220 yards hurdles. This may be regarded as an international contest and it is anticipated that new figures will be set up in at least one event. Mr. J. A. Lee’s Position. It was reported from Auckland yesterday that recently published statements by the member for Grey Lynn, Mr. J. A. Lee. having, it is stated, given rise to some concern among supporters of the Labour Party, Mr. Lee had been invited to attend a special meeting of the Auckland Labour Representation Committee on Thursday evening. Mr. Lee, who is at present in Wellington, said yesterday that he had no comment to make, and that he could not indicate whether he would accept the invitation to attend the meeting or not. The meeting is to be open to all delegates to the committee, and it is expected that there will be a large attendance.

Mysterious Wreck. A massive bolt t>f solid brass, three feet long and about one and a half inches in diameter, taken from the wreckage of a ship believed to have arrived on the New Zealand coast in pre-Tasman days, was brought back to Wellington by the director of the Dominion Museum, Dr W. R. B. Oliver, after a trip to Kawhia. It was lent by Mr E. H. Schnackenberg, Kawhia. This bolt was taken from the wreck of an ancient ship, which lies buried in the sands at the mouth of the Toreparu River, between Raglan and Kawhia. Three times in history the wreck has been exposed by the action of the river. It was first discovered about 1877. and was last seen about 19)4.

British Motor Industry. New Zealand, it is stated, will play an important part in the wartime policy of the British motor industry. The New Zealand demand for British motor vehicles is expected to be a vital factor in the wartime production of British motor factories. While it is realised that New Zealand may not be able to maintain the peak demands of the 1936-38 period, representing 15.000 to 20,000 vehicles a year, every order will help to ease the economic burden on an industry which, having lost much of its basic home demand, will be striving to maintain its export trade. British car manufacturers express appreciation that 60 per cent of the New Zealand motor trade depends on British machines and are fully prepared for an increase in this proportion. “Bring Your Own Bags.”

The "Taranaki Herald" states that New Plymouth shoppers need not be surprised if they are soon requested by retailers to provide their own wrapping paper or paper bags to carry their purchases away. Shopping bags will be in demand for many articles will be handed to customers without being clad in the familiar wrappings, secured often by rubber bands. The reason is that brown wrapping paper, paper bags and rubber bands are in short supply and the position is causing concern to many New Plymouth retail establishments. With the materials for wrapping goods now so scarce some retailers have issued instructions to their staffs that every possible care is to be exercised to avoid waste of any kind in an effort to conserve what supplies They still have on hand.